Floyd Plays It Cool in Florida

MIAMI — In the heat and humidity of south Florida, “chill factor” has a double meaning for Cliff Floyd. In the lingo of the Florida Marlins’ hulking clean-up batter, their leading run producer as they come of age at the top of the National League East, reaching a state of “chill” at the plate is reaching that perfect state of concentration and contact.

It may be a simplistic way to put it, but now that Floyd continues to shed the injury-prone label he acquired with the Montreal Expos, now that he continues to pile up plate appearances and fulfill a potential that appeared scarred by the sutures, Floyd has been producing an abundance of chills and thrills.

At 29, the All-Star of last year is looking like a most valuable player candidate, and in the opinion of John Boles, the former Florida manager who is now a senior advisor with the Dodgers, is really “just beginning to scratch the surface of his talent. The sky’s the limit.”

Floyd doesn’t disagree.

“I guarantee that if I play every day and continue to keep the confidence level I have right now, I’ll do some things that deserve attention,” he said. “I might not make the Hall of Fame, but I think I can continue to be one of the best players in baseball.”

If he has yet to catch the attention of Miami’s abused fan base, Floyd does seem to have caught the attention of a Tampa, Fla., resident named George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankee owner who is reportedly concerned about the sizzling pace of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East and the lack of production from his right-field platoon of Shane Spencer and John Vander Wal.

The 6-foot-4, 235 pound Floyd is a left-handed batter who would be a perfect fit in Yankee Stadium, where one of his best friends, former Montreal teammate Rondell White, now plays left field. Floyd is making $6.5 million in the last year of a four-year, $19-million contract, can become a free agent at the end of the season, and unless the Marlins sustain their early success and produce a miracle at the gate, there is little chance they can afford to keep him.

In addition, the media drumbeat grew louder last week when the Marlins moved Floyd from left field to right in a switch with Kevin Millar. The Marlins said it was done at the suggestion of Millar and teammates to improve the defense, but media cynics saw it as a showcase for Yankee scouts.

It isn’t clear whether owner Jeffrey Loria, who simply swapped his Montreal migraine for one in the sun, would capitulate on his promising young team by trading Floyd to the Yankees or another team this early, or wait and examine the situation closer to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

Loria and staff won’t confirm or deny the speculation, but it’s a concern in the clubhouse. Outfielder Preston Wilson said that if Floyd is traded, “You’ve got to wonder who’s next.” Wilson pointed out that he and catcher Charles Johnson also have large contracts.

“Didn’t Seattle lose Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey and Alex Rodriguez in three successive years?” he asked. “Trading stars has become part of the game, but it’s just that we’ve got something special going here.”

Said Floyd, “I honor the uniform I’m wearing, but as much as I love living and playing here, if you don’t want to be in that [Yankee] situation, you have to be crazy. It’s the best in baseball. Look at the tradition there. It’s an honor being mentioned in the same sentence with the Yankees.

“At the same time, until it happens, if it even does, I have to try and not think about it. I’ve been through this kind of thing before, so that helps. It’s out of my control. My main goal is to help this team be what the Yankees are and get it back to where it was in ’97 [when the Marlins won the World Series, only to be dismantled by then-owner Wayne Huizenga].”

He is doing all he can in that regard. A physically sound Floyd had 555 at-bats last year and responded with career highs of 31 homers, 103 runs batted in and .317 average. Through Saturday, he was tied for third in the majors with 12 homers, had 28 RBIs, was batting .328 and was among league leaders in slugging and on-base percentages.

He has become the player the Expos envisioned when they picked him, a Chicago high school star, in the first round of the 1991 June draft. His professional progress was sidetracked by a succession of injuries--a shattered left wrist that threatened his career in 1995, two knee operations and a torn Achilles’ tendon.

He debuted with the Expos in 1993, was traded to Florida in 1997 for pitcher Dustin Hermanson and outfielder Joe Orsulak in one of those frequent Montreal sell-offs, and until last year had only one season with 500 or more at-bats.

“I always felt that if I’m out there for 150 games, I’ll bring something home to help the team,” Floyd said. “Dealing with the injuries was the toughest time of my life, but I haven’t heard much about that label lately. I’m slowly getting that monkey off my back, and that’s big.”

So is today. Floyd won’t forget Mother’s Day, having already ordered the patio furniture Olivia Floyd has wanted for the backyard of the house he bought his parents a couple of years ago. Floyd credits them with helping him through the difficult times. He still phones them several times a week, looking to his mom for mental support and his dad, Cornelius, for the mechanical tips he has been providing since Floyd first lifted a bat.

Now, he said, “I’m at a point where I just need to be playing regularly. I have a good plan, a good swing, and I just need the fine tuning to continue. If you’re going to be considered one of the best players in the game, you can’t just have one year of 30 [homers] and 100 [RBIs], a .300 average and 100 runs. You have to do it every year.”

It’s a search for the chill in the heat, but the question is, is he destined to continue the search in the Bronx?