The Associated Press
Frank Thomas seems to have done the impossible. He’s united baseball players and owners - against him.
Mark McGwire is incredulous that players making $9 million or $10 million a season are grumbling they’re underpaid.
“Nobody puts a gun to your head to sign a long-term deal,” the St. Louis Cardinals star told ESPN.
“If you sign it, play it out. It’s that simple,” McGwire said, referring to complaints by Thomas and Gary Sheffield, who want multimillion extensions. “If you have three, four years left on your contract, there’s no complaining. I think it’s ridiculous to sign an 8-to-10 year contract. Why would you want to lock yourself into one team for so long?”
Thomas, who claims his $9.9 million salary is intolerably low, missed his sixth straight day of workouts with the Chicago White Sox and was scheduled to speak with owner Jerry Reinsdorf in Tucson, Ariz.
White Sox manager Jerry Manuel was hoping Thomas would come to camp Tuesday, the first day the team could take disciplinary action against its top player.
“Tomorrow is the mandatory date for reporting, so hopefully he shows,” said Manuel, who’s had two telephone conversations with Thomas. “I’m disappointed for Frank. The team is going to be fine. I think he’ll come back and have a great season.”
In Mesa, Ariz., Sammy Sosa reported to the Chicago Cubs with a smile on his face and salsa on the clubhouse boom box. It was six days after the team’s voluntary arrival date, but a day ahead of the mandatory deadline.
“What’s up fellas? Welcome to my house,” the home-run hero said as he walked into the clubhouse.
Sosa said his contract squabbles are a thing of the past, that he’s content to play the final season of his $42.5 million, four-year contract. He’s eligible for free agency after the World Series.
“I came here to be happy and play baseball,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens. But right now, I’m not thinking about, ‘Is this going to happen, is it not going to happen.’ Whatever happens, God bless.
“I’m here to be a leader, to be a team leader, whatever it’s going to take for me to play here,”he added.
Elsewhere, the New York Yankees scratched shortstop Derek Jeter from their intrasquad game because of a sore right shoulder.
“It’s from throwing,” Jeter said in Tampa, Fla. “Probably most of the people here have a stiff shoulder.”
Jeter, who earlier this month agreed to a $189 million, 10-year contract, took batting practice and grounders Monday, but only lobbed the ball when throwing.
“To me, it’s just maybe getting his arm in shape,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “If it was during the season, it’s not even a consideration, - he plays. But if we ever have an opportunity to get over something, it’s now. I pretty well shut him down right now until the end of the week.”
At Sarasota, Fla., Deion Sanders had two hits and scored a run in the Cincinnati Reds’ intrasquad game. Alex Ochoa had a two-run double and Pokey Reese added two hits as a squad led by coach Ron Oester beat coach Bill Doran’s unit 4-2.
At Jupiter, Fla., the St. Louis Cardinals said Rick Ankiel won’t be used in their first five exhibition games. Ankiel, who threw nine wild pitches in four innings during the playoffs, might pitch in a “B” game.
Most of Ankiel’s workouts have been held early in the morning, away from reporters. Besides one bad workout, the 21-year-old left-hander is making progress, pitching coach Dave Duncan said Monday.
The next step for Ankiel is pitching batting practice. If that goes well, he should be ready for “B” games against the Montreal Expos on March 4 and March 9.
At Fort Myers, Fla., the Boston Red Sox said Pedro Martinez will make his first spring training appearance March 7 against Philadelphia at Clearwater, Fla. The two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner reported after Boston’s other pitchers for the second consecutive year. He arrived four days after the others this year after showing up two days after the others last year.
