Jeff Torborg knows all about people asking for trades. He did it as a young catcher with the Dodgers.
So the White Sox manager is not the type to go into a frenzy when one or two of his own players publicly seek a change of venue-which happened with Scott Fletcher Monday and, early last month, with Melido Perez.
”Players don`t dictate when you trade them,” Torborg said Tuesday before the Sox opened a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners in the Kingdome. ”What a player is telling you is, `Hey, I want to play. Give me a chance to play.`
”Schu (GM Ron Schueler) is not going to be moved into making a deal by anybody demanding it.”
Any more than the Dodgers and Walter Alston were when Torborg, weary of going months with just token at-bats between warming up pitchers, asked out.
”I asked the Dodgers a couple of times,” Torborg said. ”Walter said,
`Hey, you`re my insurance policy. That`s the way it is.`
”He told me the truth. What more could I ask?”
The truth on Perez is that even after allowing two inherited runners to score Monday night, he`s staying in the bullpen.
In 11 relief appearances since his first one on May 29, Perez has had eight good ones. He has walked seven men in 25 2/3 innings. In his last start alone, on May 25, he walked seven in 4 1/3.
There apparently is interest in Perez on the market-but the Sox reportedly are seeking a front-line player in return while other clubs are looking for a fire-sale bargain.
So there is no eagerness to move him either off the club or out of the bullpen.
”I like him where he is,” Torborg said, referring to the relief role.
”He gives me that good feeling where he is.”
The truth on Fletcher? Right now, there`s no place for him to play on an everyday basis with the White Sox-not so long as he continues to struggle below .200 while others continue to contribute offensively.
He`s in a tough spot. At 33, his years as a regular may be about done. The Sox will pay him $1.3 million this season, and they hold an option for next year. They won`t pay him that kind of money to be a part-time player in 1992, so Fletcher-unless he`s willing to take a huge cut-has half a season to re-establish himself as an everyday infielder for someone.
He got a brief chance at doing just that when Joey Cora went down with a knee injury June 22 and Torborg gave him three starts. He went 1 for 10, went back to the bench, and that`s where he was again Tuesday night.
”I respect Scotty so much that I understand his situation,” Torborg said. ”He`s a very sincere, intense competitor.
”I know he wants to play. He`s right-the only way he can come out of the slump is by playing. However, we`ve got two other guys (Cora and Craig Grebeck) who have really done a nice job.”
It may be that Fletcher`s best route is to reinvent himself as a utility player, willing to accept a lesser role first with the White Sox, then with whichever team signs him next season. The following year, with expansion, could offer more opportunity, even as he approaches his 35th birthday.
In any event, Fletcher-even with Monday`s statement-is in nobody`s doghouse, certainly not Jeff Torborg`s.
”I can understand,” Torborg said. ”I was in that situation, too. I`m not down on Scotty at all.”
