Thursday, November 12, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 5
Major League Baseball
Dierker selected Manager of Year
The Associated Press
NEW YORK—Larry Dierker won the NL Manager of the Year award yesterday after leading the Houston Astros to a team-record 102 wins and their second straight division title.
Dierker, in his second
Dierker, in his second year as a big-league manager, received 16 first-place votes, six seconds and four thirds in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
San Diego's Bruce Bochy was second with five first-place votes
and 70 points, followed by Chicago's Jim Riggleman, who got five firsts and 55 points, and San Francisco's Dusty Baker with the other six first-place votes and 39 points.
Dierker came out of the broadcast booth to manage the Astros in 1997 and led the team to 84 wins and their first division title in 11 years. The Astros built on that success this year.
improving by 18 games and tied for third best in baseball, and won the NL Central again.
In the regular season, the Astros led the league in runs scored and RBL and were second in batting average. The pitching staff had the second-best ERA in the NL.
But once again the Astros faltered in the first round of the playoffs, losing in four games to the Padres. Houston was swept by Atlanta in 1997. The voting, however, was conducted before the playoffs.
bocchy and Riggleman led their teams to 22-game turnovers, the biggest in baseball this season. The Padres won a team-record 98 games and their second NL West title in three years.
Riggleman took the lovable loser Cubs to the playoffs for just the third time since 1945, beating Baker's Giants in a one-game playoff to win the wild-card berth.
Bochy won the award in 1996, when he took the Padres to the NL. West title in his second year in San Diego. Last year Dierker finished third, behind Baker and Pittsburgh's Gene Lamont.
New York's Joe Torre is the overwhelming favorite to win the AL Manager of the Year, which will be announced today.
Detroit Tigers snag Palmer from Royals
The Detroit Tigers signed their first significant free agent in years, agreeing yesterday to a $36 million, five-year contract with Dean Palmer.
Palmer, who turns 30 next month, hit 278 this year for Kansas City, leading the Royals in both homers (34) and RBI (119). He was acquired by Kansas City from Texas on July 25, 1997, for Tom Goodwin.
Palmer, who made $ 7.5 million this season, turned down a $ 4.75 million player option and became a free agent following the World Series. He gets a $10 million signing bonus that is payable over five years, $3 million in 1999, $5 million in 2000, $5.5 million in 2001, $5 million in 2002 and $6.5 million in 2003.
Detroit also made an offer to Ken Caminiati, another free-agent third baseman, but he turned it down. The Tigers, getting ready to move into a new ballpark in 2000, have said they planned to upgrade their payroll next season in an effort to get competitive before the move.
The Tigers were last in the AL Central this season at 65-97, 24 games behind first-place Cleveland. They have had five straight losing seasons for the first time in their history.
The Associated Press
Dodgers trade hitter for Mets pitcher
Bonilla goes to N.Y.; Rojas heads to L.A.
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers, seeking to bolster their bulpen and give themselves financial flexibility, traded third baseman Bobby Bonilla to the New York Mets yesterday for right-hander Mel Rojas and cash.
The switch-hitting Bonilla, hampered by injuries last year, batted 249 with 11 home runs and 45 RBI
in 100 games following off-season surgery on his left wrist and left Achilles' tendon.
Bonilla was traded to the Dodgers on May 15 along
with Gary Sheffield,
Charles Johnson and Jim Eisenreich and a minor league pitcher for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile
as part of the Florida Marlins' pay-roll purge.
Piazza was traded to the Mets a
week later and recently signed a $91 million, seven-year contract with them.
Bonilla, 35, played for the Mets for 31/2 years before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles midway through the 1995 season. He is under contract for two more years at $5.9 million per season.
Rolias, who turns 32 next month,
was a major disappointment for the
Mets last year, going 5-2 with a 6.05
ERA and two saves in 50 games. He is
signed for 1999 at $4.5 million.
bolster its bullpen. Rojas figures to pitch in a setup role to closer Jeff Shaw.
Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone has said the team needed to
When the Dodgers hired Davey Johnson as their new manager last
spelled the end of Bonilla's tenure with them. The two clashed when Johnson managed the Baltimore Orioles and Bonilla didn't want to be a designated hitter.
Bonilla has 273 homers in his big-league career, hitting a career-best 34 for the Mets in 1994.
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