Padres Quick to Give Up on Raines

“I wouldn’t have any problem, if there’s a great free agent out there, with paying him an enormous amount of money for a year. We’re not looking to save money. We’re just not going to get stuck.” --Joan Kroc Nov. 20, 1986

Has Babe Ruth come to life? Or maybe Ty Cobb? Or Tris Speaker?

Is Joe DiMaggio making a comeback? Maybe Willie Mays? Or Mickey Mantle?

Unless I am confused, the above statement was insincere, or the expressions “great free agent” and/or “enormous amount of money” need to be redefined.

I am sure you have been following what might be called The Blank Check Caper. This is how I would describe the Padres’ dealings with Mr. Tim Raines. This can be called The Blank Check Caper, because I don’t think the Padres ever had any intention of filling in the blanks.

Assuming Ms. Kroc’s statement was serious, the Padres must consider Raines to be a not-great-enough free agent whose statistical accomplishments should be written off as mere optical illusions.

I just did not understand what Ms. Kroc meant by a great free agent. I thought she was talking about living players, or at least young men somewhere short of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

In fact, I was thinking a great player might be one whose career, if sustained at its current level, would someday make that player a candidate for the Hall of Fame.

Obviously, Raines does not fall into the Padres’ definition of “great.” Forget that he has more hits than Pete Rose had at his age and more stolen bases than Lou Brock had at the same age. When last I checked, those fellows held the major league career records in those categories. Maybe Raines has slyly fattened his credentials with Little League, high school and church picnic statistics.

It could be, of course, that the Padres consider Mr. Raines to be a great talent, but do not deem him worthy of an “enormous amount of money.”

What is enormous?

There are hitters with .235 batting averages and pitchers with 4.35 earned-run averages who are making enormous amounts of money. The average big league player would have to take a pay cut if he were elected President.

The question, to be sure, is what should be considered enormous in today’s market for one of today’s superstars.

I frankly think that Ballard Smith, the Padres’ president, was a little antsy about this one. His offer to Raines was for two years at $1.1 million a year. In the past, that might have gotten him a nice sirloin in the baseball butcher shop, but Raines, a filet mignon, was seeking an appropriate price. Raines, in fact, had been paid $1.5 million by Montreal in 1986.

No sale.

Smith might have been off the hook. He could say he made an offer and nobody topped it, and I agreed . . . at that point. It makes little sense to bid against oneself.

However, a strange twist developed in this scenario. Tim Raines repeatedly made it known that he really wanted to play in San Diego.

Ballard Smith seemed to greet this news glumly. He blamed the media for perpetuating the interest in these negotiations, when, in truth, the Padres’ training camp in Yuma was abuzz with anticipation that maybe, just maybe, something might be worked out. I’m talking fans, players, coaches and manager.

By everyone, I mean everyone but the people--Ms. Kroc and Mr. Smith--who had the power and money to put something together.

Smith, it seemed to me, began to treat Tim Raines as he would a door-to-door salesman. I sense he wished this fellow would just go away and leave him alone.

Finally, Raines’ representatives came forth proposing a one-year contract for $1.2 million, plus incentives that might enable him to earn somewhere in the vicinity of what he made a year ago.

Smith said he studied this proposal and rejected it. His statement said, in part, that he had decided to “terminate all discussions with Mr. Raines and his representatives.” It came up just short of saying, “And would you please go away and leave me alone?”

You see, I think Smith grew fearful that Raines would finally knock on his door and say, “OK, I’ll take $1.1 million for one year.”

Then what would he do? How would he reject that one?

No, these ludicrous “negotiations” had to be terminated before Tim Raines came to San Diego and said: “Pleeeeeze!”

So as not to appear quite so harsh and bumbling, Smith used his statement on Raines to underscore the lack of need for such a player. He assured the populace that the Padres were going to sustain their policy of developing fine young players in their fine farm system.

That, I finally determined, had to be the glitch that soured the Padre hierarchy on Tim Raines. His age. The guy is going to be 28 years old in September, for heaven’s sake. I guess it would be embarrassing to give such an old-timer a big contract and then find out he’s using it to supplement his Social Security checks.

Alas, a few aspects of The Blank Check Caper continue to baffle me. I left messages for both Ms. Kroc and Mr. Smith Tuesday but got no responses.

I felt a little bit like the way Tim Raines must feel.