Baseball

Liar's Poker
L.A. outbid itself in giving Kevin Brown an embarrassment of riches

Here is a man-bites-dog story about a baseball owner who actually said, "Enough!" It happened last month, right after Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner agreed to retain his free-agent centerfielder, Bernie Williams, by paying him $12.5 million per year over seven years. That's when Williams's agent, Scott Boras, broached the idea of including incentive clauses, which have become an industry standard. Steinbrenner, recognizing that a $12.5 million player should make All-Star teams and win Gold Gloves, snapped, "Stop. Don't even bring it up." Boras, with Williams's blessing, backed down.

Steinbrenner's resolve, albeit on an ancillary matter, is rare in a business in which teams throw in luxury suites as sweeteners to $13 million-per-year contracts, as the Mets did for catcher Mike Piazza and the Diamondbacks did for lefthander Randy Johnson. The Dodgers stretched the boundaries of acquiescence further last Saturday at baseball's winter meetings in Nashville by adding a seventh year to a contract proposal to Kevin Brown—paying him through his 40th birthday—and tossing in the use of a Citation 10 jet to ferry his family from its Macon, Ga., home to Burbank, Calif., 12 times per season. For $105 million Brown, who was 18-7 with a 2.38 ERA in '98 for the pennant-winning Padres, became not only the sport's first player with a nine-digit deal but also another example of the way clubs are becoming increasingly creative in spending money. If Brown, who has as many 20-win seasons as the Rangers' Rick Helling (one) and who will turn 34 in March (making him four years older than Sandy Koufax was when he last pitched in the majors), can command that kind of package, what could satisfy Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez, arguably the best young player in the game, who can be a free agent in 2000 at age 25? Equity stake in a team?

"It depends on what the player wants," says Boras, who represents Brown and Rodriguez. "I'm sure if Kevin Brown wanted to be involved in a [Fox] TV show, that could be included," Boras added, referring to the network that owns the Dodgers.

Though they incurred the wrath of other clubs, the Dodgers were not alone in their zest to sign Brown. The Cardinals, Orioles, Padres and Rockies were also eager to accommodate him. "I've never seen anything like it," says Boras, who had predicted a six-year deal. "We had to turn off the faucet."

Only the Dodgers and the Rockies, however, presented firm offers that would make Brown the game's highest-paid player, according to one source familiar with the talks. The Cardinals spoke only in general terms with Boras; the Orioles offered $55 million over five years with indications that they'd add a sixth; and the Padres offered $60 million over six years. Colorado was willing to add dollars to its original six-year, $81 million offer.

The Dodgers' front office was unaware that on Dec. 2, Brown told Boras that he preferred to play in Los Angeles. Still, last Friday, Boras told the Dodgers that they could close the deal with Brown if they added another year to their six-year, $90 million offer. Los Angeles, which earlier this year agreed to pay rightfielder Gary Sheffield's $5 million state tax bill upon his trade from Florida, quickly swallowed the hook.

"We felt fairly certain that if we didn't [add the seventh year], someone else would have," explained Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone. "This is not just about the Dodgers. Other teams were willing to go the distance."

Said Padres owner Larry Lucchino, "The Dodgers were bidding against themselves. We're operating in a wide-open system of liar's poker."

The signing touched off the usual sky-is-falling wailings that are heard every time the salary ceiling is raised. Baseball's newly appointed executive vice president of baseball operations, Sandy Alderson, joined in the chorus of complaints—the same Sandy Alderson who, in 1990 as general manager of the Athletics, made outfielder Jose Canseco the highest-paid player in the game ($4.7 million per year). Alderson exceeded the previous high salary ($3.86 million), which the Yankees had given to first baseman Don Mattingly less than three months earlier, by 22%. The Dodgers raised the bar 12.5% higher than Mo Vaughn's record, set just 17 days earlier when he signed a six-year, $80 million deal with the Angels.