MINOR LEAGUES / SEAN WATERS : The Eyes of Texas Are on Loyola’s Lowery

The Texas Rangers will challenge any NBA team to a winner-take-all poker game. At stake is Loyola Marymount’s two-sport phenom Terrell Lowery. The question is will any NBA team risk one of their two picks to select him in the 1992 draft.

The Rangers already anted more than $100,000 in a signing bonus to convert Lowery, an established collegiate basketball standout, into a full-time baseball player. And that was only the signing bonus.

Lowery, who has played only 31 collegiate baseball games, impressed scouts with his speed and athletic ability. The Rangers made him their second-round pick and 63rd overall in last week’s amateur draft after he batted .407 with three homers and 25 runs batted in.

“He has all the attributes to compare him to Eric Davis,” said Ranger West Coast scout Len Strelitz. “That’s the type of player we’re talking about.”

But Lowery, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard, also has the potential to play in the NBA. He was fifth in the nation in scoring (28.5) and third in assists (9.1) during the 1990-91 season.

Marty Blake, the NBA director of scouting services, said it is premature to judge Lowery’s potential to play in the NBA before he has finished his senior season. Blake runs the NBA predraft camp in Chicago, one of several tryout camps.

“He’s a bona fide baseball prospect, there is no doubt about that,” Blake said. “He’s (also) a basketball prospect. What kind of prospect? We don’t know.

“He’s only a junior. We can’t make a judgment about any junior until he plays his senior season. He’ll definitely be invited to some (NCAA-sanctioned) postseason basketball tournaments.”

Lowery’s basketball statistics were enough to scare off teams such as the Houston Astros, who had six picks between the Rangers’ first and second selections but feared they couldn’t sign Lowery.

But Texas believes it is worth the gamble to get what Baseball America called “the best athlete” in the draft. The Rangers also did their homework.

“To be honest, we felt Terrell was one of the top three or four players in the country that we would be able to draft in the first round,” Strelitz said. “We were surprised he lasted until our pick in the second round.”

Ranger scout Jim Benedict first notified his organization about Lowery and then reassured the club that he was signable.

Lowery agreed to a contract with the Rangers Monday that will allow him to play minor league baseball this summer before returning to play basketball with the Lions next fall.

If he’s invited, Lowery will also be able to participate in predraft basketball camps, basketball summer leagues and team mini-camps. Monetary terms of the contract were not disclosed, but the average signing package for players drafted in the second round last year was $118,000.

Lowery, 20, reported to the Butte (Mont.) Copper Kings of the Pioneer League on Wednesday.

“We told him he could test the waters in the NBA and still keep his baseball contract,” Strelitz said. “We also told him that if he put in serious time and effort, he would have more success in baseball than basketball. (But) we want him to make his own decision.

“We want him to get basketball out of his system and let baseball take over.”

In 1989, the Rangers drafted Donald Harris, a Texas A & M football player, with the fifth pick overall. Harris didn’t make the expected meteoric rise and is languishing in double-A.

Since baseball drafts are often judged by a team’s first-round pick, the Rangers received low marks for selecting Harris.

Strelitz said the Rangers considered making Lowery their first-round pick, but decided it was too big of a risk. He could conceivably play one season in minors, keep his signing bonus and skip to the NBA and Texas wouldn’t receive any compensation.

“Judgment day will be around Sept. 1, 1991,” Strelitz said. “He’ll be 21 years old and had a shot at the NBA. We feel if he shows up, baseball will be his only path to a pro career. If he’s not there, then he’s landed a spot in the NBA and we may never see him again.”

Getting Nasty--When the Cincinnati Reds needed a right-handed reliever for their much-publicized ‘Nasty Boys’ bullpen, the major league club bypassed Tim Layana and promoted Keith Brown from their triple-A club in Nashville, Tenn.

When Layana heard the news, the former Loyola Marymount standout boycotted two Nashville games before returning to the team Sunday.

“I was mad,” Layana said. “I left for a couple days to get my head together.

“I’ve been throwing the ball well, but I’ve been passed up a couple times.”

Layana had a credible 5-3 record last season, pitching middle relief for the world champions. He made the team this spring, but was demoted after giving up five earned runs in an inning.

The Reds have had to fill two vacancies in their bullpen because of injuries and both times they skipped Layana.

Kip Gross, the first of the Reds’ two pitching promotions, led the American Assn. in earned-run average before being called up. Brown’s statistics (1-2, 2.25 ERA) are almost identical to Layana’s (1-1, 2.42 ERA). Still Layana has more major league experience than either player.

“It was just a boycott,” Layana said. “I needed some answers and I’m in the process of getting them.”

Layana returned to pitch two scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and struck out four.

“All I can do is keep pitching,” he said. “Baseball is a funny game. Maybe they’re testing me to see how strong I am inside.”

Or looking for someone Nasty.

Add Nasty--Layana did show a streak of nastiness when he engaged in what he called “an altercation” with then-manager Bucky Dent of the New York Yankees triple-A team in Columbus, Ohio in 1988.

“Let’s not get into this,” said Layana, who was demoted to the double-A team in Albany, N.Y.

Dent later was selected Yankee manager and Layana knew he didn’t have much of a future with the club.

Cincinnati Red Manager Lou Pinella, who was the Yankee manager and general manager when Layana was in the organization, drafted him when he was left off the New York’s 40-man roster in 1989.

Looking for another Justice--When outfielder Ron Gant started missing games with an assortment of injuries, the Atlanta Braves began to search their farm system for a power hitter with the hopes of finding another David Justice.

Justice, who was the 1990 Rookie of the Year, had 28 home runs and 78 RBIs after being promoted from triple-A Richmond, Va., to replace vertigo-striken Nick Esasky.

This season the Braves promoted Brian Hunter on May 31 and already he’s being compared to Justice, although they bat from different sides of the plate. Hunter, who was born in Torrance, had two home runs and four RBIs in the first week while platooning at first base with left-handed hitting Sid Bream.

“I think people are trying to compare me to Justice to make my head feel good,” said Hunter, who bats right-handed.

Hunter said he is hopeful of remaining with the team at least until the Braves play the Dodgers July 5-7.

“I really want to play in front of my friends and family,” said Hunter, who attended Paramount High and Cerritos College. “I already have requests for 50 tickets.”

Notes

Infielder Joe Redfield (Miraleste High) was recalled from triple-A Buffalo when Pittsburgh Pirates starting third baseman Jeff King was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the second time in six weeks. King suffers from a bulging disc in his back. . . . Craig Grebek (Cal State Dominguez Hills) is back playing third base for the Chicago White Sox. He’s batting .279 with two home runs and seven runs batted in. . . . Pitcher Chris Haslock (Cal State Dominguez Hills) was promoted to the San Diego Padres’ double-A team in Wichita, Kan. . . . Third baseman Chris Donnels (South Torrance, Loyola Marymount) was returned to triple-A Tidewater, Va. after making his second trip to the New York Mets.