Instead of traditional gifts such as flowers or candy, the White Sox gave their fans warm and fuzzy slugger Albert Belle as an apology for the 1994 strike.
This week’s stunning $50 million deal for the controversial Belle is the talk of baseball.
On the other side of town, though, things have been quiet–too quiet for many long-suffering Cubs fans and players. They now are looking for Tribune Co. to follow the lead of Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and spend the money necessary to improve a ballclub that finished last in the National League in hitting and needs pitching help as well.
The Sox’s bold move publicly put pressure on the Cubs to make a similar splash in the free-agent marketplace, where big-name stars such as John Wetteland, Roger Clemens, Bobby Bonilla and Steve Avery could be theirs for the right price. Also, others such as Robin Ventura and Barry Bonds could be snagged in a trade.
But Cubs President Andy MacPhail said Wednesday the Cubs won’t be pushed into action on the free-agent battlefield before they are ready, no matter whom the White Sox acquired.
“(The Belle signing) affects us to a degree,” MacPhail said. “I think the perceptions are tied in some. I’ve learned it’s more important what the perceptions are in July than they are in November. As a result of that belief, we have to do what we believe will bring us the most victories in 1997 and not go out and respond to something that the White Sox did.
“Honestly, I’d rather see the White Sox than the Cardinals get him. Our chief competitors are in St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston and Cincinnati.”
But Cubs fans surely will point to the Belle signing and ask, “Where’s ours?”
“It will be an easy foil for (the fans),” MacPhail said. “But the measuring stick of how well we do will be measured against the four divisional opponents.”
Still, some are anxious and are willing to tweak management.
“The Sox have gone out and (gotten) the best hitter in the American League, and I applaud them,” said Cubs first baseman Mark Grace. “So far, the Cubs’ only transaction has been that we have changed trainers. Enough said.”
But even Reinsdorf shares MacPhail’s view the Sox and Cubs aren’t really in competition, even though both teams are vying for the large segment of Chicago fans who follow whichever team is hot.
“Different people come here than go there,” he said. “If (the Cubs) feel pressure, it’s their own pressure. The best thing for us is if both teams are good. Then you get everyone thinking baseball at the same time. But I don’t think they care what we do.”
If the Cubs don’t care that the Sox made Belle the highest-paid player in baseball history, they would be in the minority among major-league teams. Owners and front-office executives have been grumbling the last two days about the payroll implications Belle’s deal is likely to have.
Free agents no doubt will be hiking salary requests in light of the Belle deal. The Angels’ signing Wednesday of 31-year-old free-agent third baseman Dave Hollins to a two-year deal worth $3.8 million is evidence the early bird often gets the worm, albeit at an inflated price. Arbitration-eligible players also may file for higher amounts.
Cleveland General Manager John Hart publicly ripped Reinsdorf for “busting the market open” by overpaying Belle. Is Hart’s assessment shared by the Cubs?
“John’s perspective was sort of the traditional perspective,” MacPhail replied. “You have one of the game’s marquee players in Ken Griffey Jr., and the average annual value of his contract, negotiated this past season, was $8.5 million. We’re generally used to slight incremental increases. The way I understand Albert’s contract is that it’s $10.5-$11 million. That’s a pretty big jump and sort of an uncharacteristic jump.
“To come at a time when the rest of the free agents out there . . . I’m sure the agents and the players will try to suck everything up a little higher as a result of that signing because it came early.”
Yet MacPhail wouldn’t join in the criticism of Reinsdorf. Three years ago, when he was general manager of the Twins, MacPhail had criticized the Cubs after then-GM Larry Himes handed Ryne Sandberg a four-year deal averaging $7.1 million a year. At the time, Bobby Bonilla’s $5.8 million salary led the majors. MacPhail since has come to the conclusion owners are going to do what owners want.
“I’ve come by my own experience to look at baseball teams as foreign countries,” he said. “They are all going to do what they think is in their own best interest. It is probably naive for us to expect them to do anything different.”
MacPhail and General Manager Ed Lynch probably will spread their budgeted free-agent money around rather than give the majority of it to one star. That means Clemens, Wetteland and Bonilla may be out of the realm of possibility.
The Cubs’ history of free-agent signings in the ’90s has been unimpressive ever since former GM Jim Frey gave Danny Jackson a four-year deal worth $10.5 million six years ago. Jackson went 6-16 in 1 1/2 years. Himes entered and whiffed big on Jose Guzman (four years, $14.5 million) and Candy Maldonado (two years, $3.3 million), before Tribune Co. put a stop to multiyear deals for risky players.
MacPhail already has said the Cubs will spend more money this off-season, but it’s how they spend it that matters. He knows the huge payrolls of the New York Yankees, Baltimore and, now, the White Sox surely will have a domino effect on the rest of the big-market teams.
“The Yankees payroll is so significant,” MacPhail said. “And their margin for error is so wide that they can afford to have two very big investments (David Cone and Kenny Rogers) really not pan out for them to the extent they had hoped for in ’96, and still have been OK. You have the continuation of that problem with the White Sox with Albert and Frank (Thomas). Those two players probably will exceed the payroll of at least three clubs in 1997. It’s not that somebody is evil. It’s just that that is how the game has evolved.”
