Kansas City’s 1994 rookie of the year, Bob Hamelin, might end up in Japan as soon as this season. Hamelin said his agent, Jim Bronner, had been talking to the Royals about getting permission to sign with a team in Japan as soon as possible. The Royals are trying to accommodate him. . . . Detroit’s Opening Day lineup consisted of Cecil Fielder at first, Mark Lewis at second, Alan Trammell at short, Travis Fryman at third, John Flaherty behind the plate, an outfield of Melvin Nieves, Chad Curtis and Bobby Higginson, and Eddie Williams at DH. The regular lineup now includes only three of those players–Fryman, Lewis and Higginson. Fielder, Flaherty and Curtis have been traded, Trammell and Nieves are on the disabled list and Williams is on the bench. Only three players on the active roster were with the team at the All-Star break last season: Fryman, Higginson and Felipe Lira . . . The A’s lost Todd Van Poppel on the waiver wire when Detroit claimed him for $20,000. The A’s paid Van Poppel what was then a club-record $1 million bonus and received just 18 wins from a man who was supposed to be the most celebrated high school pitcher to emerge in decades.
