Peter Gammons

ESPN.com | Baseball Index | Peter Gammons Bio

Watkins a perfect fit

By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com

What most owners would like is for the Twins, Devil Rays, Marlins and Expos to just fade away.

But while they may not get what they want in the form of contraction, they may get what they need in the form of new blood, new thoughts and new energy in the ownership ranks.

And no one better fits their needs than Donald Watkins, a financier, businessman and lawyer of wealth, means and dreams.

"I love baseball," says the 53-year old Watkins, who recently has been working with Disney on a huge Sony deal. "I'm interested in Tampa, I'm interested in Minnesota. Anaheim? I just want an opportunity."

Watkins grew up in Birmingham, where Rosa Parks was a close friend. Martin Luther King preached at his church. His family was close to Dr. Ralph Abernathy. And growing up in George Wallace's state, his family has been a model of success, from a chief surgeon at Johns Hopkins to Watkins' success in the business world.

At a time when the baseball business is scrambling to develop minorities on all levels of management, having an African-American owner would be a notable asset. But Watkins is more than just a minority owner. He has a style and grace about him.

"If I can be fortunate enough to purchase one of these teams, I won't be having other people run it for me," says Watkins. "I won't have consultants map out ideas with the political community. I will move wherever I have a team. I believe that if you're going to be able to rally a community and its leaders behind and with you, a person has to be out there dealing in personal relationships and trust. It has to be a two-way street, but the street must first be walked by the owner."

Watkins is already on the list of prospective owners for the Devil Rays, who were put on the auction block last month. He has made contacts with commissioner Bud Selig's office about the Twins. Through his business relationship with the Walt Disney Corp., he has made known his interest in the Angels (who had a deal with Marlins owner John Henry that recently fell through).

"I'd like to think that I can help baseball move on into a golden period," says Watkins. "I grew up appreciating that Jackie Robinson opened a lot of doors through baseball, and that baseball has an important part in American history. The game can and will continue that tradition."

Banter from Boston

No one knows precisely what will happen when new owners take over the Red Sox. Not general manager Dan Duquette. And not manager Joe Kerrigan.

Tony Clark
Clark

Duquette proceeds as ever, grabbing Tony Clark off the waiver wire and adding inventory, such as backup outfielder Michael (Prime Time) Coleman. Kerrigan hopes to have his coaching staff in place by the end of the week.

"We've done a lot of work towards next season," says Duquette, who has had a number of conferences involving Kerrigan, scouts Lee Thomas and Tom Mooney and other members of his staff. "We're in agreement on what has to be done."

"Clark's name is one that we'd talked about at the end of the season as one we'd like to get involved with in terms of a trade," says Kerrigan. "Then, when we had the chance to acquire him for nothing, I thought it was a tremendous move. He's young (29), he's a switch-hitter, he's athletic and he has a tremendous upside."

Since Clark made $4.7 million last season and has played only 186 games the last two years because of back problems, his projected arbitration salary -- at least, according to three teams that project those things -- is between $5.1-$5.3 million, not a lot when one considers the Red Sox gave up nothing in return.

Clark, who hit 97 homers in 1997-99, intrigued Duquette and Kerrigan for several reasons. He can help Boston's anemic attack against lefties (.725 OPS vs. LHP). Fenway Park should help him batting left-handed. Clark is a 2002 free agent and knows this is a critical season. And the Sox appreciate that as a Players Association leader, he brings character they all feel this team needs.

The Sox know they need more than Clark. "The biggest thing is our health," says Kerrigan. "We've led the majors in times using the disabled list -- 26 last year, 25 the year before -- and we need our good players on the field. But there are a lot of things we can do. I want to better utilize Tommy Harper; Felipe (Alou) once said he was the most valuable coach in the business because he is a great baserunning coach and a very good hitting coach."

Duquette is trying to re-sign Hideo Nomo and dabbling in other pitching, searching for another starter and bullpen help. He's in on the bidding for Bret Boone, but understands that Boone has hit as high as .268 just once in seven years and is a right-center field hitter who'd be punished by Fenway. He has also talked to Seattle's David Bell about playing third base, while exploring a number of outfielders, including Moises Alou and Rondell White.

Free agent notes

The Yankees and Arn Tellem, Jason Giambi's agent, understand the parameters of a deal in New York. But Tellem believes it will take at least a week for all of Giambi's potential suitors to shake down.

Jason Giambi
Giambi

The way the MLBPA figures salaries, George Steinbrenner doesn't have to worry about paying Giambi more than Derek Jeter, who is calculated at $19 million per season. But where Giambi falls between Jeter and the next tier -- Manny Ramirez at $17.5 million, Sammy Sosa at $17.2 million and Carlos Delgado at $17.1 million --will be determined by whether or not there are any other serious bidders.

Giambi's smart -- he said the right thing about the A's, knowing that in all likelihood when he leaves, Oakland owner Steve Schott will launch one of those Bostonesque money-money-money-man campaigns against him.

John Smoltz's options as a starter became far more interesting as the Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Diamondbacks and others jumped in, with the Braves offering closer ($8 million) money. But if the Mets are going to get Smoltz, they have to move the last three years of Kevin Appier's contract.

Last winter, everyone was diving in for pitching. Now, any team can have Denny Neagle and Appier if they'll take the contracts. Appier pitched very well for the Mets, with as many quality starts (22 in 33 games started) as Darryl Kile.

Now that agent Jeff Moorad has a $50 million insurance policy on Juan Gonzalez's back, the Mets are very interested, and it seems a good fit with prime-time team spokesmen like Mike Piazza and Al Leiter.

And two GMs this weekend insisted a Robin Ventura-Jeromy Burnitz deal may happen. So then, the Mets would still have Glendon Rusch and Armando Benitez for other deals, if they so choose.

"If the Mets get Gonzalez or Moises Alou," says one NL GM, "I'll bet Gary Sheffield ends up in Oakland, if Billy Beane stays there, instead of going to Boston. The Dodgers want Billy Koch, and Beane can get him from (Toronto GM) J.P. Ricciardi, then make the deal with L.A."

Scott Boras has floated the rumor that the Rangers have offered Chan Ho Park five years at $14 million per season. But Rangers GM John Hart denies it, and his successful track record leads toward two relievers (Steve Karsay and Jason Isringhausen?) and two lower-priced starters, one being David Wells (also in Arizona's sights).

Jeff Shaw would like to go home to the Midwest, especially Cincinnati if the Reds move Danny Graves. But Hart is interested in Shaw as well, if he's willing to live in the Metroplex.

Seattle continues to push to acquire Jeff Cirillo. The Rockies turned down Cirillo for Carl Everett and Shea Hillenbrand.

The Indians now have a few teams interested in John Rocker, which eases the dilemma of being forced to release him rather than risk the anger of other relievers by bringing him back.

Whoops. The Orioles put a number of players on their 40-man roster earlier than necessary, so they had to lose some pitching, particularly RHP Chad Paronto, whom the Indians grabbed on waivers.

Brady Anderson is 38, his on-base percentage has slipped from .404 to .375 to .311 the last three seasons, and folks around the Orioles grew weary of his attachment to Cal Ripken, his arrival times and his willingness to listen to coaches. But Brady is one of the interesting free-agent gambles out there. With a new start, he can still be a useful player. Remember, this is a guy who willed himself to be an All-Star through a lot of hard work. With his career at stake, he could come back.

Before all this contraction business, the Twins were hot on the trail of re-signing Marty Cordova.

Diamond notes

On Monday, Nov. 26, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera will pose for a GQ cover in an array of Zenga suits. That will be a spring must buy, but you can bet you'll never find Mussina out and about in his real life in a suit.

There are a lot of sports videos, but this one is really good: "The Boston Red Sox: 100 Years of Baseball History." OK, the Red Sox celebrated their 100th season in their 101st year, but that's another matter entirely. This three-hour program, put together by Cramer Productions (and one Jamie Tedeschi, brother of Susan, the best damn singer out there), is worth the $29.95.

How about these numbers from a Pedro Martinezesque 32nd-round pick of the Devil Rays named Chad Gaudin, out of Harahan, La. In 38 innings in the instructional league, the 5-10 right-hander did not allow a run.

Yes, most teams believe that Cecil Fielder's son Prince -- an athletic 260-pounder who has lost serious weight and conditioned like crazy the last year -- will be one of the first 50 picks in next June's draft.

According to the Stats, Inc. 2002 handbook, Roger Clemens is now third among active pitchers in lifetime winning percentage (.659; Pedro Martinez is No. 1 at .691), third in lifetime ERA among starters (3.10; Pedro is 2.66), first in complete games (116, 14 more than Greg Maddux), second in complete game percentage (0.21, following Curt Schilling's 0.25), first in shutouts, first in strikeouts, first in wins, third in lowest career OPS against, third in lowest opponents' batting average.

Someone please tell the Boston talk shows.

Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories


	Gammons: Sale of the century Gammons' mailbag: Offseason moves for D-Backs? Gammons: column archive Gammons: Diamond Notes archive SportsCenter Peter Gammons talks to Trey Wingo about the top names in the free-agent market. Standard \| Cable Modem