It wasn’t quite Ft. Sumter but Jerry Colangelo, the former Bloom High School basketball gunner, fired the first shot in baseball’s expansion skirmish here Monday with the signing of free agent Jay Bell, a veteran shortstop, to a five-year contract for an annual wage of about $7 million.
“If we had our druthers we would have had a couple more free-agent signings to announce,” said Colangelo, the managing partner of the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks. “And by this time we would have made a trade or two.”
The Diamondbacks, or rather the Diamondbucks, have been frightening the baseball establishment because of the possibility they may buy a facsimile of an All-Star team before they begin play next April. Several owners already have advised Colangelo not to open his purse too wide. The more he pays, the more they will be expected to pay.
“Everyone should look in the mirror before they cast stones,” Colangelo said at a heavily attended press conference triggering Tuesday’s expansion draft.
The Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays each will choose 35 players off the rosters of the existing 28 big-league clubs.
“We’ll spend whatever we think is appropriate,” Colangelo said. “We’ll decide how much we will spend.”
The Bell signing is further evidence Colangelo has money to burn. Though he is an outstanding shortstop, Bell will be 32 next month and 37 during the final year of his contract. His pay last season with the Kansas City Royals was $5 million.
“Jay is a young 31,” Colangelo said. “We feel comfortable with the contract.”
It’s the other moguls who are uncomfortable. In previous acquisitions of four unproven players, three of them pitchers, Colangelo shelled out $19.7 in signing bonuses. The Tampa Bay club has kept the pace with $20 million for three prospects.
But it is Colangelo who is the most feared by his fellow owners. The Diamondbacks already have sold about 30,000 season tickets for the coming campaign, prompting the prediction they immediately will join the dwindling crowd of high-revenue clubs.
The result will be a widening of the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. For example, two of the clubs at–or diving to the bottom of–the economic pile were reportedly on the verge of trading one of their stars for the purpose of cutting payroll.
The Montreal Expos, it is believed, are about to trade National League Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez to the comparatively financially sound Boston Red Sox. In a similar transaction, also expected to be announced soon, the Florida Marlins will continue to downsize by sending Kevin Brown, one of their best pitchers, to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wayne Huizenga, a billionaire owner, insists he lost $34 million last season despite the Marlins’ World Series victory. Huizenga has the club up for sale and more than likely will sell to a group headed by club President Don Smiley.
If Huizenga suffered such massive losses, why is Vince Naimoli, the principal owner of the Tampa expansion club, so eager to get into the grand old game?
“It’s possible to make money in baseball,” Naimoli insisted during Monday’s press briefing.
For one thing, unlike Huizenga, Naimoli doesn’t have a ballpark problem. The St. Petersburg Thunderdome, previously adequate for tractor pulls and rodeos, is being renovated at a cost of $70 million.
A Notre Dame alumnus who worked hard and struck it rich, Naimoli said he would not meddle in club affairs. This is, of course, the wise approach. Many owners, in the beginning, also express this philosophy. But after two or three seasons, sometimes less, they are convinced they know more than most of their executives. More often than not, disaster results.
“I have hired and will continue to hire the best people and will let them do their jobs,” Naimoli said.
He said he would be involved only in “business matters and in budgets,” areas in which he has more than ample expertise.
Tuesday’s expansion draft also was discussed, with particular emphasis on the previous expansion clubs that made poor selections.
Chuck LaMar, the Tampa general manager, admitted, “It’s not an exact science. The two No. 1 picks (by Colorado and Florida) in 1992 (David Nied and Nigel Wilson) were good selections. All the pieces were there. They just didn’t work out.”
Chances are there will be a flurry of deals immediately after the draft. It is expected to be the busiest trading day in baseball history. Even the Cubs and White Sox may participate.
