Costs Prompt Trade Deficit

By JASON REID

Dec. 13, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Providing more ammunition for their detractors, the Dodgers traded pitcher Ismael Valdes and second baseman Eric Young to the Chicago Cubs for reliever Terry Adams and two minor leaguers Sunday in a seemingly one-sided, payroll-dumping deal that put team officials under a microscope again.

Dodger decision-makers had some explaining to do at the winter meetings in Anaheim after sending Valdes, a proven major league starter at 26, and Young, statistically among the National League’s top five leadoff batters last season, to the Cubs for the package they received. The right-handed Adams has been used primarily as a setup man, and the Dodgers also acquired double-A right-hander Chad Ricketts and a player to be named after today’s Rule 5 draft.

Brian Stephenson, a double-A right-hander, is expected to be the final player the Dodgers receive in the deal. Stephenson’s father, Jerry, is a former Dodger scout.

Some scouts consider Adams, 26, an above-average reliever with the potential to close. In 52 appearances last season, Adams went 6-3 with a 4.02 earned-run average and 13 saves.

He made $736,000 and is eligible for arbitration, fitting in nicely to the Dodger salary structure. Money was the key to the transaction, which was completed late Saturday night when the Cubs agreed to pay the remainder of Young’s contract--something most teams were unwilling to do.

The Dodgers are off the hook for the $9 million Young is owed during the next two seasons, and the arbitration-eligible Valdes--expected to make $6 million next season--has been removed from the Dodger ledger as well.

Valdes, who signed with the Dodgers in 1991, was in Mexico and unavailable for comment. He is eligible for free agency after next season, and a team source said the right-hander wouldn’t have re-signed with the Dodgers.

Adams is expected to help immediately, the Dodgers got good scouting reports on Ricketts and they met their financial goal. That was enough for satisfied officials from Chavez Ravine, who were determined to move Valdes and Young before the meetings close Tuesday because the ballclub’s 2000 payroll would have approached $100 million with them on the roster.

So instead of an opening-day payroll projected at about $96 million before the trade, the Dodgers plan to hold player expenses between $86 million and $90 million. That’s still not exactly toeing the industry financial line, but it’s a step in the direction the Dodgers want to go.

“Our payroll is going to increase from where it was last year, but we’re trying to keep it a . . . controlled increase,” Chairman Robert Daly said. “If we had stayed status quo our payroll would have been too high. And, frankly, I don’t know if we would have been any better.”

The Cubs figure they’re much better with Valdes and Young. They are pleased to have added arguably the best available starter in a pitching-thin market, and a veteran offensive sparkplug who has averaged almost 37 stolen bases in his eight-year career.

“He was a very exciting player for me in Colorado,” Chicago Manager Don Baylor said of Young, his leadoff batter for five seasons with the Rockies. “He brings to us something that this club needed, which is a leadoff hitter with speed.

“With Valdes, he has 150 starts in the major leagues, and 63% of the time he’s gone into the seventh inning. So getting a quality young pitcher, especially a starting pitcher, was one of our objectives this year.”

Mission accomplished.

Young is looking forward to rejoining Baylor.

“No disrespect meant for managers like Bill Russell or Glenn Hoffman, but now I can definitely appreciate a man like Don Baylor,” said Young, who was third in the National League with 51 stolen bases and fifth among leadoff batters with a .382 on-base percentage despite being slowed by numerous injuries.

“I understand more clearly the things he was trying to do to help me improve.

“It’s going to be good to be reunited with him.”

With $10.5 million off the books for next season, the Dodgers hope to strengthen the bullpen and bench by signing second- and third-tier free agents and provide depth for the rotation. They also hope players emerge to fill the 200-inning void created by Valdes’ departure, and the speed at the top of the lineup gone with Young.

Rookie Eric Gagne was the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year last season, and the top candidate to join the rotation next season. Shortstop Mark Grudzielanek might be shifted to second base and bat leadoff, though the Dodgers will consider options in spring training and into the 2000 season.

Cub General Manager Ed Lynch said he expects the major move, considered lopsided by longtime baseball officials and observers at the meetings, to be well received by fans. Judging by the initial criticism of the Dodgers, their fans might view things somewhat differently.

“I can understand some people might look at this and not understand it totally because we gave up two players who I like a lot,” said General Manager Kevin Malone, who experienced difficulty moving Young because the Dodgers were unwilling to pay any of the remainder of his salary. “I like Ismael and I like E.Y., and we might not have done this in a perfect world, but the reality is this isn’t a perfect world.

“We’re committed to winning and bringing back that winning tradition to the Dodgers, and we’re going through a process right now that will help us get better.

“This helps give us some more payroll flexibility, which increases our options to help us improve, so it makes us better in the big picture. And the reality is we needed to do this for a lot of reasons.”

Among them the bad vibes between Young and Manager Davey Johnson, who pushed for Young to be traded.

Malone declined to discuss Johnson’s role in shipping Young out of town, but several team sources said Johnson stressed that the Dodgers couldn’t succeed with Young at second base during recent management meetings with Daly to chart the ballclub’s off-season course. Johnson, and members of the coaching staff, consider Young a defensive liability.

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Disarming

Valdes ranks 10th among active pitchers in earned run average:

1. Greg Maddux: 2.81

2. Pedro Martinez: 2.83

3. Roger Clemens: 3.04

4. David Cone: 3.19

5. Randy Johnson: 3.26

6. Kevin Brown: 3.27

7. Bret Saberhagen: 3.33

8. John Smoltz: 3.35

9. Curt Schilling: 3.37