Larry Stone / Baseball reporter
Baylor a hot commodity in managerial sweepstakes

By Larry Stone
Times baseball Reporter

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP Don Baylor, foreground, bench coach for the Mets this season, says he would like to manage the Mariners. Art Howe, rear, recently fired as the Mets' skipper, also is interested in the M's vacancy.

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In 1992, Don Baylor was the runner-up for the Mariners' managerial opening that went — for one miserable season, at least — to Bill Plummer.

Woody Woodward, then Seattle's general manager, said that he passed over both Baylor and Bob Boone, another finalist, because neither had any managerial experience.

In the ensuing 12 years, Baylor has gained considerable experience — eight-plus years managing at the major-league level with the Rockies and Cubs. And now he'd love another crack at the Mariners' job, vacant again with the recent firing of Bob Melvin.

"I'm interested in the job, absolutely," said Baylor in a phone interview from New York, where he just concluded his second season as the Mets' bench coach under Art Howe. "One of my best times interviewing for a job was in Seattle, when Bill Plummer was hired. Still to this day, it's the fairest interview I ever was involved in."

Baylor, who guided the Rockies into the postseason in 1995, their third year of existence, is emerging as a hot managerial candidate this winter. He will interview for the Phillies' vacancy next week (along with Grady Little, a potential Mariners candidate, and former Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel), and is considered a dark-horse candidate for the Mets vacancy.

The latter could be an awkward situation, because Baylor would succeed Howe, a close friend who served as his hitting coach in Colorado, then returned the favor on his staff in New York after Baylor was fired by the Cubs.

Howe has also expressed interest in the Mariners job; both have strong credentials. If the Mariners were concerned that Melvin didn't have the gravitas to be a commanding dugout and clubhouse presence, that wouldn't be a problem for Baylor, a former American League MVP who has always been lauded for his leadership ability.

Baylor, 55, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow, in March of 2003. It is the same disease that befell Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre in 2000, and like Stottlemyre, Baylor is waging a successful battle. Since returning to the Mets at the end of spring training in 2003, Baylor hasn't missed a game because of the illness, and he added hitting coach to his duties in mid-June when Denny Walling was fired.

"It's in remission," Baylor said. "I've gotten clearance to do whatever I need to do."

Baylor has an interesting background with Buzzy Bavasi, father of Mariners GM Bill Bavasi. In 1981, two years after Baylor was named the AL MVP with a 139-RBI season, the Angels' scoreboard flashed a picture of Baylor, Rod Carew and Fred Lynn, all past MVP winners playing that year on the Angels.
 
Buzzy Bavasi, then the Angels' executive vice president, cracked, "What's Baylor doing up there with two hitters?"

Baylor, mired in a horrible slump at the time, caught wind of the comment and was not amused. In a 1983 New York Times article, Baylor recalled, "The next afternoon, I told Buzzy if he didn't want me, he should trade me or release me because I was retiring."

Baylor went home, then came back to the ballpark that night to tell manager Jim Fregosi personally of his decision. Baylor said he was eventually talked out of quitting by Gene Mauch, then an Angels scout, who told him, " 'Little guys do little things, big guys do big things. Don't let something like that bother you.' And a few innings later, Jim Fregosi asked me to put my uniform on, he wanted me to pinch-hit, and I did."

Now Baylor wouldn't mind trying to do big things in Seattle, for Buzzy's son.

Fiery competition

Wally Backman, who a few years ago was in Pasco managing the Tri-City Posse of the Western Baseball League, could be Bob Melvin's toughest competition for the Arizona Diamondbacks' managerial opening.

The buzz in baseball circles has Dodgers bench coach Jim Riggleman, a Mariners finalist when Melvin was hired in 2002, as another strong candidate in Arizona. Former Diamondbacks player Mark Grace, now a team broadcaster — the same route to the D-backs' dugout taken by Bob Brenly — interviewed Friday.

Backman managed the Class A Lancaster team for the Diamondbacks this past season. Backman's temper is a concern — he was ejected six times and suspended twice — but his fiery personality is liable to be viewed as a plus for a team that lost 111 games.

I can attest personally to that fire. In 2000, I went to Pasco to do a story on Kevin Mitchell, playing for the Sonoma Crushers of the Western Baseball League. Backman, managing the Posse that night against Sonoma, was ejected for arguing balls and strikes — on the first pitch of the game.

It was quite a night. Floyd Youmans, Backman's pitching coach, took over as manager, and he, too, was ejected in the first inning.

See ya, Sosa? Not likely

The Cubs are very open to dealing Sammy Sosa, the declining slugger who walked out on the team on the final day of the season.

Very, very open. But it's hard to imagine they'll find a taker for Sosa, considering his exorbitant salary.

The Cubs owe Sosa $25 million if he plays for them next year, including buyouts and severance pay on his '06 contract.

That's bad. But any team trading for him is in for $14.5 million more than that — a total of $39.5 million over two years. His $19 million option for '06 becomes guaranteed if he's traded, as does a $3.5 million buyout on his '07 option. All that on top of his $17 million salary for '05.

In other words, expect Sammy back in Chicago, unless the Cubs get so desperate to dump the icon-gone-bad they eat most of his contract.

Madritsch honored

Mariners rookie pitcher Bobby Madritsch is getting his jersey retired.

It's not happening, yet, in Seattle, where Madritsch opened eyes with his 6-3 record in 15 games (11 starts). The honor occurred Friday night at his alma mater, Reavis High School in Burbank, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.

Madritsch attended the ceremony at halftime of Reavis' big football game with arch-rival Oak Lawn, both contenders for a state playoff berth. He was presented with a pair of framed jerseys, one representing the Mariners, the other his Reavis jersey from 1994, Madritsch's senior year. Madritsch is the first Reavis Ram in the 54-year history of the school to play in the major leagues.

Don Erickson, Madritsch's baseball coach at Reavis, said the lefty didn't appear to be necessarily on a pro path in high school, where he was twice named all-conference, but not all-state. He was "wiry," in Erickson's words, and his fastball barely topped out at 80 mph.

"It's a testament to his work ethic that he's gone as far as he has," Erickson said. "He was always running, always working in the weight room."

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com