No Contract Offer for Vande Berg : Dodgers Say Poor 1986 Season Didn’t Justify a Renewal

Ed Vande Berg, obtained by the Dodgers last season as the answer to their left-handed relief pitching problem, was told by team officials Wednesday that he will not be offered a contract for the 1987 season.

Just last week, the Dodgers traded for Matt Young, another left-handed relief pitcher. Young, like Vande Berg, was acquired from the Seattle Mariners and is being counted on for short relief.

Vande Berg had a 1-5 record, no saves and a 3.41 earned-run average in 71 innings last season for the Dodgers, who apparently thought that those statistics did not justify renewing his contract for a reported $455,000 a year.

“He has a pretty high salary for the kind of year he had,” Al Campanis, Dodger vice president, said. “We were disappointed in him. (But) this does not preclude us from getting him back if he doesn’t sign somewhere else. We’ve left that door open.”

Technically, the Dodgers can re-sign Vande Berg, presumably at a considerably reduced price, if he does not sign elsewhere as a free agent. But Vande Berg said from his home in Arizona that his Dodger career was ended.

“It’s over,” he said. “They could’ve even cut my salary by 20%, but they didn’t even make an offer. It’s obvious they don’t want me. The salary had to be pretty high to them for a 1-5 pitcher, even if I am left-handed. On Monday, we’ll start looking for an offer from another team.”

Vande Berg made an impact right away last season, but not in the way the Dodgers had hoped. He had a horrible April, losing twice in eight appearances and building a bulging 4.09 ERA. After his ERA had risen to 5.40 in July, he wasn’t used much.

Vande Berg blamed his poor season on failure to adjust to being a Dodger and facing National League hitters. Still, he said he had figured to have a chance to earn that elusive first save with the Dodgers during the 1987 season.

“I thought they’d at least give me another year to see for sure if I really was a lousy pitcher two seasons in a row,” Vande Berg said. “In the beginning, I was still adjusting to this idea of being a Dodger and being the No. 1 lefty reliever. But the opportunities were pretty slim in the middle and the end of the season.”

Said Campanis: “We were disappointed in Ed because we felt we were getting something for nothing (in the trade). We thought (catcher Steve) Yeager, at 37, couldn’t help us and we needed that left-hander.

“I don’t know what happened with (Vande Berg) last season. Like I said, this does not preclude us from re-signing him. The clubs out there may not want to pay that kind of money for him. A lot of administrations feel the same way we do.”

With Vande Berg and Carlos Diaz gone--Diaz was released at the end of the season--Young is now the Dodgers’ only left-handed short reliever. Jerry Reuss may be switched from the starting rotation to long relief, but the Dodgers have no minor league left-handed prospects ready to fill in.

“I don’t know what will happen yet,” Campanis said.

Dodger Notes The Dodgers also announced that catcher Jack Fimple, who appeared in only 13 games last season and spent most of the year in Albuquerque, will not be offered a contract. . . . The Dodgers have until Saturday to make a first written offer to players whose contracts have expired. They include Orel Hershiser, Mike Scioscia, Mike Marshall, Dave Anderson, Mariano Duncan, Jeff Hamilton, Ken Howell, Alejandro Pena and Franklin Stubbs. . . . Outfielder Ralph Bryant, playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, went 5 for 5 Tuesday and hit for the cycle. He had two singles, a double, a triple and a 425-foot home run to center field off Pascual Perez. The homer was Bryant’s eighth in winter ball. . . . Manny Mota, the club’s first base coach and hitting instructor, was released Wednesday from Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood after undergoing a series of tests to determine the cause of recent dizziness. Mota, 48, became ill last week in the Dominican Republic. The tests failed to identify any cause for the dizziness and showed Mota to be in excellent health, according to team physician Michael Mellman.