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Mark Shapiro felt he had a lot of explaining to do.
Not that it was the general manager's fault the Indians failed to trade Omar
Vizquel to the Seattle Mariners or were unable to wrap up a deal for free-agent
second baseman Todd Walker. It almost seemed as if the fates were conspiring
against the Tribe.
Shapiro announced Wednesday that he might have to be "vague" and even "evasive" about the previous day's aborted trade, but he felt obligated to put l'affaire Vizquel in perspective.
"We were in discussions with the Mariners regarding Omar," Shapiro
said. "They are now dead, completely dead, not partially dead."
Shapiro was anxious to erase any perception that he might have been trying to
get rid of Vizquel.
"We were not shopping Omar at any time," Shapiro said. "You can
corroborate that with (Seattle GM) Bill Bavasi. It was a very complex deal with
all three parties, and at a certain point, it couldn't be consummated."
When the deal died Tuesday night, Shapiro phoned Vizquel to make sure there
were no hurt feelings.
Shapiro did not want to answer questions about the Mariners' motives for calling
off the deal. Reportedly, Seattle was concerned with the condition of Vizquel's
twice-surgically repaired right knee.
But asked if he had a problem with reports citing Vizquel's knee as the reason
for the Mariners' reluctance, Shapiro said he had "no problem with it."
On the other hand, he does not concur with the conclusions of Seattle officials.
"Based on the medical information from our group of doctors, I am not concerned
with Omar's knee," Shapiro said. "Right now, the knee is about 80
percent, but our medical people expect it to be 100 percent by Opening Day."
Could the Mariners' reluctance to trade their own starting shortstop, Carlos
Guillen, for Vizquel have been prompted by other factors?
After all, Guillen (28) is eight years younger than Vizquel (36) and will earn
$3.5 million less in 2004. Like everyone else, Shapiro probably can only speculate
on Seattle's reasoning.
Shapiro said he expects Vizquel to play the entire season with the Indians.
The guaranteed portion of his contract expires next October, and as a 10-and-5
player (10 years in the majors, five with the same team), he has the right to
veto any deal. Vizquel repeatedly has said he would not accept a trade to anywhere
but Seattle, where he makes his off-season home.
Though Shapiro took his one-year, $2.4 million offer to Todd Walker off the
table, he will gladly resume negotiations with the free agent if he hasn't already
latched onto another infielder.
"Walker remains at the top of our list," Shapiro said. "We're
not closing the door on him, but we've made an offer to another player."
The next free agent on the GM's list is believed to be Ron Belliard, who batted
.277 with eight homers and 50 RBI in 116 games with the Colorado Rockies, who
released him in November.
The offer to Belliard was considerably less than the one proffered to Walker,
probably in the range of $1 million. Last season, Belliard made $425,000.
Walker might still be in the picture. The Texas Rangers have made him a two-year
offer, but it is contingent on the Rangers trading Alex Rodriguez to the Boston
Red Sox.
If Belliard turns down the Tribe, Shapiro might turn to Eric Young or a player
who fails to be offered a contract by his current team. The deadline to tender
contracts is Saturday.
"The free-agent guy we made the offer to is No. 2 on our list," Shapiro
said. "But if we don't get our No. 2 guy, there are one or two players
we think will be nontendered who would have an impact on our list."
Marlon Anderson probably will be a target of the Indians if the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays fail to offer him a contract.
Shapiro planned to use the money saved in the Vizquel deal to spend on players,
but since the trade never materialized, he has is no extra cash.
"Absolutely, that's what we were going to do," Shapiro said. "Otherwise,
we wouldn't have made that deal."
Earlier this week, the Indians tried to lure Danys Baez back into the fold with
a multiyear contract. However, it was for far less than the $4.1 million per
year the Tribe would be obligated to pay Baez if the club acceded to keeping
him under his current contract.
Sources say that even though Baez would not command anywhere near $4.1 million
on the market, his agent is demanding close to that figure in any renegotiation
with the Tribe.
The Indians can either run the risk of inviting a grievance by offering Baez
a contract that includes more than a 20 percent cut or nontender him Saturday.
It will be owner Larry Dolan's call, because should Baez win a grievance, the
Tribe might have to pay punitive damages and allow Baez to become a free agent.
Another candidate
The Indians have signed right-handed reliever Bobby Howry to a minor-league
contract that includes an invitation to spring training.
Howry, 30, made only four appearances (for Boston) last year because of an elbow
injury that led to surgery, but he made a reputation as a solid reliever with
the Chicago White Sox, especially from 1998-2000.
In '98, he was 0-3 with nine saves and a 3.15 earned-run average. He followed
that with a season in which he was 5-3 with 28 saves and a 3.59 ERA. In 2000,
Howry posted a 2-4 record with seven saves and a 3.17 ERA.