Ramon Martinez Returns to L.A.

By JASON REID and JERRY CROWE

Jan. 3, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

The Dodgers have agreed to terms with free-agent right-hander Ramon Martinez on a incentive-laden $5-million, one-year contract, a move that could open the door for Johnny Damon to become their leadoff batter and center fielder.

The signing of Martinez, a former Dodger who turns 33 on March 22, might enable the Dodgers to trade second-year starter Eric Gagne to Kansas City for Damon, one of baseball’s best leadoff batters.

The Dodgers are eager to acquire Damon, 27, because of their concerns about center fielders Tom Goodwin and Devon White.

Either Goodwin or White, along with reliever Antonio Osuna, might be included in a deal for Damon.

The Royals are trying to trade Damon because he can become a free agent after next season and plans to test the market.

In 159 games last season, the left-handed hitting Damon batted .327 with 16 home runs, 88 runs batted in, 136 runs and 46 stolen bases. He also had a .382 on-base percentage and only 60 strikeouts.

Goodwin, acquired by the Dodgers on July 31 from the Colorado Rockies in a deal that included Todd Hollandsworth, was expected to provide the Dodgers with the productivity they have lacked at the top of the order. But he struck out 41 times in 211 at-bats and had a .310 on-base percentage with the Dodgers.

White, who turned 38 in December, is often injured and has become disgruntled with the team, a feeling that appears to be mutual.

Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone pursued Damon before the non-waiver trading deadline last season, but ended talks because the Royals insisted that Gagne be included in a multiplayer deal.

Malone, however, resumed trade discussions with the Royals last month, though sources indicated then that the Dodgers were not willing to part with Gagne.

Martinez, meanwhile, was available because the Boston Red Sox, who paid him $5.25 million last season, declined to exercise an $8.5-million option for 2001, buying it out for $750,000.

Derrick Hall, Dodger senior vice president, acknowledged that the Dodgers have had discussions with Martinez but said a deal has not been finalized.

However, Fernando Cuza, one of Martinez’s agents, confirmed that an agreement has been reached pending Martinez passing a physical. Much of the package, which includes a $1.5-million signing bonus, is performance-based, baseball sources said.

Martinez, who joined brother Pedro with the Red Sox in 1999 after spending his first eight-plus seasons with the Dodgers, has been assured the fifth spot in the starting rotation.

He was 10-8 with a 6.13 earned-run average in 27 starts last season.

In 1998, his last season with the Dodgers, Martinez was 7-3 with a 2.83 ERA before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in June.

He was 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA for the Red Sox in 1999 while recovering from the surgery.

Cuza said Tuesday that Martinez’s relationship with Dave Wallace, the former Dodger pitching coach who has rejoined the club in an executive position, was a major factor in Martinez returning.

“Ramon also had a lot of success in Los Angeles, in that ballpark, and he wanted to go back to the National League,” Cuza said. “All signs pointed to Ramon going back to the Dodgers because he feels comfortable there, he had a lot of success there, and Dave Wallace being there again made the decision very easy.”

Martinez was a team leader during his time with the Dodgers and will be counted on to play that role again.

One club executive said the Dodgers probably would not have had the problems they had with temperamental right fielder Raul Mondesi in 1999 if Martinez had been there to counsel him. Mondesi was traded after that season to Toronto in a deal that brought Shawn Green to the Dodgers.

If Martinez can also help deliver Damon, who was paid $4 million last season, so much the better.

Should they land the center fielder, the Dodgers might be in a position to negotiate a deal with Damon after next season because White, who is owed $5.9 million, and pitcher Carlos Perez, who is owed $7.5 million, are beginning the final year of their contracts.

Also, Chairman Bob Daly and Malone work well with agent Scott Boras, who represents Damon.

Boras represents six players on the club’s 25-man roster--including Gagne and starting pitchers Kevin Brown, Chan Ho Park and Darren Dreifort--and recently negotiated a $55-million, five-year contract for Dreifort.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Career pitching statistics:

WINS 135

LOSSES 86

WIN % .611

ERA 3.62

INN. 1,880

K 1,418

Ramon Empire

A closer look at Ramon Martinez, who pitched for Boston the last two seasons:

* Throws: Right