Monday, March 31, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Doug Dascenzo knew that if the San Diego Padres didn't trade Rickey Henderson before the end of spring training, there would be no room for Dascenzo in the Padres' outfield.
The Padres never were able to deal Henderson. So despite having a solid spring camp with San Diego, the 32-year-old Dascenzo was one of seven players cut Sunday morning by the Padres.
Also reassigned to the triple-A Las Vegas Stars were pitchers Pete Smith and Terry Burrows and infielders Rene Gonzales, Terry Shumpert and Jim Tatum. Pitcher Joey Long was optioned to the Stars. All, with the exception of Gonzales, have indicated they will accept their assignments, said Padres general manager Kevin Towers.
"(Gonzales) said he would have to think about it," Towers said of the 34-year-old former major leaguer. "The rest are coming (to Las Vegas) to get ready if we need them."
That was Dascenzo's attitude shortly after learning he would not be returning to San Diego with the big-league team Sunday afternoon.
"We all knew the deal with Rickey and there's just no spot," said Dascenzo, who hit .284 and led the Stars with 15 stolen bases last season. "When you pull into a parking lot and there ain't no spot in the parking lot, you've got to go find a spot somewhere else and that's the case here.
"If somebody gets hurt or if a trade is made with Rickey or whoever, that opens a spot and that way, hopefully, I can pull my pickup truck into that spot."
Dascenzo said he was happy with the way he performed this spring for the Padres. He hit .289 with three doubles, two triples and five RBIs in 25 games before learning he was being sent down.
"Every year you've got to come out and prove that you can still play and I know I did that this spring," he said. "I love the Padres and I'll be ready to play whenever they need me."
San Diego Padres manager Bruce Bochy said he agonized over each of the final seven cuts that were required to reduce the major-league roster to 25 by April 1.
"To be honest, they were all tough -- I can't name one that was easy," Bochy said. "They all had nice springs and some of them had very good springs and they did all they could do to be on this club, we just didn't have a spot.
"I'm sure there are some very disappointed players but I hope they can put that behind them as soon a possible and get ready because you never know what's going to happen. We have all the confidence in the world in all the guys we just sent down and we'll bring them right back up if something happens."
Unfortunately for some, the cuts aren't over. Sunday's moves by the Padres left the Las Vegas Stars with 27 players on their roster. San Diego must make several player moves to get to the 23-man roster limit before the Stars open the season Thursday.
Spring flings
* SUCCESSFUL SPRING: The San Diego Padres concluded their spring with a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics Sunday before a crowd of 7,632 at Cashman Field, giving the Padres a 20-11 spring mark. Last year's team -- which went on to win the National League West -- also won 20 games. Catcher John Flaherty collected two doubles and drove in two runs to lead the Padres. Starting pitcher Tim Worrell pitched three scoreless innings and struck out three and Fernando Valenzuela allowed one run on one hit and struck out two over two innings.
* ADIOS: Outfielder Todd Steverson, the outfielder acquired by the Padres last spring in a trade with the Detroit Tigers, was a surprise release by the Padres over the weekend. Steverson, a former first-round draft pick by the Toronto Blue Jays, hit .239 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs in 100 games with the Las Vegas Stars last season but did not fit into the Stars' plans this year after the weekend acquisition of outfielder Trey Beamon from the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Beamon and catcher Angelo Encarnacion were sent to the Stars in exchange for Stars outfielder Mark Smith and single-A pitcher Hal Garrett.
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