Clearing the air
Walker meets with Rockies about contract demands
Posted: Saturday February 20, 1999 09:47 PM
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Larry Walker drops by the Rockies' spring training camp Friday, five days before position players are scheduled to report. AP |
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Upon hearing secondhand about Larry Walker's
candid contract concerns, Colorado Rockies owner
Jerry McMorris feared the worst.
A face-to-face meeting with Walker on Saturday helped alleviate some
of the anxiety, but McMorris admitted the Rockies are far from reaching a
contract extension with the reigning NL batting champion.
"We don't know what they want," McMorris said. "We've had inferences
of what they want, but we've never had an official offer that Larry would
sign. We're kind of negotiating with ourselves."
Walker, 32, named National League MVP in 1997, says he would like to
play until he's 40 and prefers to finish his career in Colorado. He also
was straightforward about his doubts of returning to the Rockies next
season.
"There haven't been pleasant things said about me from the ownership,"
Walker said Friday. "Right now I don't see myself in this clubhouse next
year. This is my last year as far as the way I see it."
The not-so-pleasantries apparently came from Rockies co-owner Charlie
Monfort during contract negotiations with Walker's agents. Walker and
Monfort, incidentally, are close friends.
"It was kind of like it was a disagreement in the family," McMorris
said. "Things are taken perhaps out of context, but I think I helped put
that behind us to get back to letting the professional people work on
getting this done."
Walker, who will make $5.075 million in the final year of a five-year
contract, said his meeting with McMorris was intended to clear up any
misconceptions stemming from his frank comments.
"I just wanted to make sure there was nothing that offended him or
ownership or the fans because that's not the way I wanted anything to come
across," he said. "I knew it was borderline to whether it did or not."
No matter where Walker ends up in 2000, odds are he will be paid
handsomely.
Los Angeles pitcher Kevin Brown
(seven years, $105 million), New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza
(seven years, $91 million), New York Yankees
outfielder Bernie
Williams (seven years, $87.5 million) and Anaheim first baseman Mo Vaughn (six
years, $80 million) have set the standard.
McMorris would not discuss specifics, but he said the offer extended
to Walker would surpass the richest contract agreement in Rockies history.
Pitcher Darryl
Kile is in the second year of a three-year, $24 million deal.
"I understand the economics of baseball have changed," McMorris said.
"I know people think we should have tore up [Walker's] contract two years
before it was up. If we had, do you really think he would have been happy
with the one he would have signed two years ago? Come on. I don't think
so."
Walker, who has hit .365 with 72 homers and 197 RBIs in the past two
seasons, said he stands behind his comments but does not want Colorado fans
to look at him as a whining superstar.
He emphasized his joking demeanor, and it was hard to argue with him
as he went through workouts with a sanitary sock wrapped around his
forehead like a karate headband.
"I think unless you know me personally, you might think I'm a real
jerk," he said. "That's something that I wanted to clear up with Jerry
because I can do that face-to-face with him. I can't do it face-to-face
with all the fans. It would take a long time."
Despite a warm handshake and friendly chat with McMorris, there still
is no telling when Walker's future will be settled. He has set April 4 as
his negotiating deadline, saying he can resume talks with the Rockies after
the season if a deal isn't reached.
"I'm done talking [publicly] about my contract," Walker said. "Next
time I talk contract, hopefully it's because I'm going to be signing it."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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