As Galarraga Proves, It’s Now About Dollars, Not Loyalty

Don Baylor isn’t happy. The manager of the Colorado Rockies had made the changes in Andres Galarraga’s stance and approach that enabled the powerful first baseman not only to resurrect his career but to become baseball’s most productive run producer.

Galarraga’s thanks? The three-year, $24.75-million contract he has agreed to with the Atlanta Braves as a free agent.

“So far I haven’t seen any loyalty,” Baylor said. “Guys are going for the money. It’s disappointing for me. It’s disappointing for the fans. It’s disappointing for the organization.

“There are not many Tony Gwynns, I guess.”

The reference was to the Padre outfielder who traditionally takes less to remain in San Diego.

Galarraga said he would have taken less to remain in Colorado, but by that he meant $24 million for three years, or as Colorado owner Jerry McMorris said, “a $250,000-a-year discount.”

Baylor had a tough time with it.

“We were together six years,” he said, having been Galarraga’s hitting coach in St. Louis in 1992 and manager with the Rockies since 1993. “ . . . He resurrected his career here. He was in the middle of the lineup. He was an all-star, our first superstar.

“If he played here a couple more years, you’re talking about our first retired number.”

The Rockies had been a mile high, having just obtained second baseman Mike Lansing from the Montreal Expos. And this weekend they are entertaining free agent Darryl Kile, a high-caliber pitcher who has expressed no fear about pitching in Coors Field.

But Galarraga’s departure was deflating.

General Manager Bob Gebhard said the Rockies simply couldn’t guarantee a third year, mentioning that Galarraga will be 39 then.

“He’s earned a lot of money [with the Rockies]. And we still wanted to pay him a lot of money,” Gebhard said. “We just weren’t comfortable with that third year.”

Galarraga was coming off a four-year contract on which he made $4.8 million last season. He drove in 290 runs the last two seasons and hit 88 home runs. The touted Todd Helton, a former Tennessee quarterback, will play first base now, and Dante Bichette, who had been on the trading block, will bat cleanup.

The Braves will use Walt Weiss, the former Colorado shortstop who signed a three-year, $9-million contract last week, in the leadoff role, put Andruw Jones in center field, keep Ryan Klesko in left, and bat Galarraga in cleanup, replacing Fred McGriff, who was traded Tuesday to Tampa Bay.

McGriff is guaranteed $10 million over the next two years, and former shortstop Jeff Blauser would probably have expected $5 million or more, given the $34-million contract shortstop Jay Bell got from Arizona.

“We signed Weiss and Galarraga for almost the cost of McGriff and Blauser,” Atlanta General Manager John Schuerholz said.

PEDRO PATTER

Pedro Martinez is the sixth pitcher in the 41-year history of the Cy Young Award to change teams the season after winning the award. If the 26-year-old right-hander’s ultimate destination is Cooperstown, he will not be the first future Hall of Fame pitcher acquired by the Boston Red Sox in trade. Lefty Grove, Juan Marichal and Ferguson Jenkins preceded him, but Grove was 34, Marichal 36 and Jenkins 32.

Martinez is in his prime, and Boston pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, who was also Martinez’s pitching coach with the Montreal Expos before last season, thinks Martinez will love Boston and not want to leave as a free agent after only one season.

“He’s going from a place where they go wild over exhibition hockey to a place where there will be pennant stretch excitement,” Kerrigan said. “He’s going to find the people here in Boston are just like the people in the Dominican Republic. They have a tremendous passion for the game.”

Martinez made $3.615 million in salary and incentives last season and could double that in arbitration. Greg Maddux signed a five-year, $57.5-million contract with the Braves, creating a ripple effect.

However, agent Bob Gilhooley denies reports Martinez will not sign a long-term contract with the Red Sox, saying, “We’re going to keep our ears open and see how it goes.”

BOMB SQUAD

When the last trade had been made Tuesday in Phoenix, the Diamondbacks were left with 16 pitchers with a big league record of 40-30 in 1997. Tampa Bay had 18 pitchers with a 37-40 mark.

Despite the 61 homers Roger Maris hit in the first expansion year, 1961, the same year Mickey Mantle hit 54, expansion years have not always produced the anticipated offensive onslaught.

But Joe McIlvaine, the former New York Met and San Diego Padre general manager who provided draft analysis for ESPN, walked out of the Civic Plaza ballroom muttering, “I bet we have a 61 homer year [in ‘98] and I bet we have a .400 batting average.”

HILL’S SCORE

In a market that includes Kile and workhorse Andy Benes, why the Angels’ infatuation with Ken Hill? That $16.05 million seems a staggering sum for a pitcher who has worked 200 or more innings only twice.

On the other hand, Hill ranks ninth among American League starting pitchers in the Elias Sports Bureau’s two-year statistical standings used to determine draft compensation for clubs losing free agents. That puts him ahead of Jimmy Key, Orel Hershiser, Kevin Appier, David Cone, Jaime Moyer, Scott Erickson, David Wells, Jaime Navarro and others.

CRYSTAL CLEAR

The minority owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks circulated freely during Tuesday’s draft.

So how long has Billy Crystal been a Diamondback fan?

“I’ve always been a Diamondback fan,” he said of the 3-year-old franchise. “Since the time I was a kid I’ve always dreamed of wearing these colors.”