Thursday, March 13, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Apparently, the San Diego Padres weren't busy enough with the Hideki Irabu situation. Now, they're trying to trade Rickey Henderson, too.
Or are they?
Depending on whom you believe, the Padres are close to swinging the biggest deals of the spring. The club is said to be considering offers from 10 different teams for Irabu, the highly touted Japanese pitcher. In addition, San Diego has also worked out a deal to send Rickey Henderson to the Anaheim Angels.
The Yankees, Mets, Indians, White Sox and Mariners were all thought to be among the teams vying for Irabu's services, and on Wednesday the Cincinnati Reds also entered the bidding, reportedly offering pitcher Pete Schourek.
Hey, who doesn't want this guy? Then again, who's seen him pitch?
Mets manager Bobby Valentine has. While in Japan, Valentine managed Irabu with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1995. Valentine, who has said Irabu is one of the 10 best pitchers in the world, disputes the claim that the hard-throwing 28-year-old only wants to pitch for the Yankees.
"'Not only don't I believe that now, I didn't believe it the first time I heard it," Valentine said. "He never mentioned the Yankees. I'm not even sure he knew they existed. As a matter of fact, our uniforms looked like the Yankees', and he never even mentioned how good he looked."
If it was always Irabu's wish to pitch for the Yankees, as his agent, Don Nomura, insists, Valentine says the right-hander is in for a big surprise.
"If that does go through, I'll say one thing," Valentine said. "He's in for a rude awakening. If it's his childhood dream, and he realizes that dream, he's in for a rude awakening."
Valentine, like almost everyone else in baseball, wishes he had a better handle on the Irabu saga.
"There's only been innuendo and mystery to this whole intrigue," Valentine said. "No one really knows what's going on."
Meanwhile, the Padres have been trying to trade Henderson this spring, rather than keeping him as a backup.
Henderson has a base salary of $2 million for 1997, plus he is set to get $5,000 for each plate appearance over 301 and up to 600 -- a chance at $3.5 million overall. Last season, he had 602 plate appearances for the Padres.
A source close to the possible deal said the Padres would receive middle reliever Chuck McElroy for baseball's career leader in steals.
While the Padres exchanged phone calls with other clubs, the Reds and St. Louis Cardinals swapped threats.
The teams completed their two-game spring training series in Plant City, Fla., with an ugly affair featuring three hit batters and Deion Sanders' ejection.
"We'll remember it," said Bret Boone, hit by St. Louis pitcher T.J. Mathews (a former UNLV standout) in the eighth inning of the Reds' 3-2 win. "That's all I have to say."
Tensions have been high between the clubs for months since Cardinals manager Tony La Russa guaranteed to a group of fans that his team would win the NL Central again.
* ROYALS (ss) 2, METS (ss) 0: At Haines City, Fla., Jose Rosado and three relievers combined on a five-hitter as Kansas City stopped a seven-game losing streak.
* BLUE JAYS 2, PIRATES 2: At Bradenton, Fla., Dale Sveum hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning of a game stopped after 11 innings, when the teams ran out of pitchers.
* ROYALS (ss) 14, WHITE SOX 4: At Sarasota, Fla., Jeff King hit a grand slam in an eight-run fourth inning.
* ASTROS 6, METS (ss) 3: At Port St. Lucie, Fla., Thomas Howard went 3-for-4 and rookie Bob Abreu had three RBIs for Houston.
* PHILLIES 3, BRAVES 1: At West Palm Beach, Fla., Chris Tremie drove in the go-ahead run with a squeeze bunt in the ninth and David Doster hit a run-scoring single.
* EXPOS 4, ORIOLES 3: At Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Vladimir Guerrero led off the 10th inning with a homer as Montreal stopped Baltimore's six-game winning streak.
* CUBS 6, BREWERS 5: At Mesa, Ariz., Brooks Kieschnick hit a two-run homer off Mark Dewey in the eighth as Chicago rallied.
* ANGELS 10, MARINERS 7: At Peoria, Ariz., Anaheim's Darin Erstad hit two home runs and Eddie Murray added another, sending the Mariners to their seventh straight loss.
* ROCKIES 11, GIANTS 10: At Tucson, Ariz., Colorado's Jason Bates singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* RANGERS 3, YANKEES 1: At Tampa, Fla., Ken Hill extended his scoreless innings streak to 12 this spring in a five-inning stint.
* TWINS 4, RED SOX 0: At Fort Myers, Fla., Boston committed errors on three consecutive plays in the second inning, leading to all of Minnesota's runs.
* TIGERS 7, INDIANS 4: At Winter Haven, Fla., Cleveland starter Charles Nagy pitched four no-hit innings, but allowed Brian Johnson's two-run homer in the fifth.
* MARLINS 9, DODGERS 1: At Viera, Fla., Devon White and Charles Johnson hit two-run homers as Florida improved to 14-1 this spring.
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