6B
Wednesday, October 30, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Mariners boost pitching staff with trade
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Seattle, which failed a repeat attempt at the AL West championship because it lacked enough starting pitching, acquired left-hander Jeff Fassero in a five-player trade with Montreal yesterday.
Fassero, 33, was the best pitcher on the Expos this season, going 15-11 with a 3.00 ERA in 34 starts. Montreal, deciding it wanted to lower its payroll, has committed itself to getting rid of its high-priced veterans.
The Mariners also got right-handed minor-league prospect Alex Pacheco from the Expos, sending catcher Chris Widger and pitchers Matt Wagner and Trey Moore to
Montreal.
Before making the deal,
Fassero and the Mariners agreed to a $13.5 million,
three-year contract. He
will get an $800,000 signing bonus,
$3.2 million next season and $4.75
million in each of the final two years
of the contract.
Seattle tried to acquire Fassero from Montreal before last season's trading deadline, but the Expos wouldn't give him up in their quest for the NL wildcard berth.
"We have liked Fassero for a number of years." Mariners manager Lou
The Mariners got top offensive years from Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez last season, winning a club-record 85 games. They drew a club-record 2.7 million fans, but they finished 4 1/2 games behind Texas in the AL West and 2 1/2 games out in the wildcard race.
Piniella said. "He was one of the top starters in the National League last year and will be a nice addition to our staff."
Seattle had a team ERA of 5.21, the worst in club history, and pitching coach Bobby Cuellar was fired and replaced by Nardi Contreras.
The main reason for the pitching troubles was the loss of '95 AL Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson, who made only eight starts because of an ailing back. He underwent surgery Sept. 12 to repair a bulging disc.
"Fassero has been the ace of the Expos' staff the last two seasons and will step in nicely alongside Randy Johnson," Mariners general manager Woody Woodward said. "It is no secret that starting pitching is our No.1 priority this winter. With Jeff Fassero, we have taken a huge step in filling that need."
Fassero has a career record of 58-48 and had five complete games last season. He was NL pitcher of the month in June and July, and finished third in theNL in complete games and strikeouts (222). He allowed only 55 walks.
"He was one of the top starters in the National League last year."
Lou Piniella
Mariners manager
Pacheco, 23, was 2-2 with a 6.48 ERA in 33 games last season at
"The youngster Pacheco throws real hard." Piñella said.
Triple-A Ottawa
To get Fassero, the Mariners had to give up three top prospects in Warner, Widger and Moore.
wagner was 3-5 with a 6.98 ERA in 14 starts for Seattle last season and 9-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 15 starts at Triple A Tacoma. Widger, a catcher in an organization behind All-Star Dan Wilson, hit .304 (107-for-352) with 13 homers and 48 RBI at Tacoma.
Moore had a combined 8-11 record with a 5.41 ERA in 26 starts with Double-A Port City and Class A Lancaster.
Former Big 8 foes to play; teams plan next moves
The Associated Press
NORTH COLORADO (6-1- 4-0)
next game: Missouri, Satur
day
Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel appreciates just how lucky he is to have two quarterbacks capable of starting. He remembered it again Saturday when
Koy Detner suffered a head injury and John Hessler came to the rescue, salvaging a victory against Texas.
Last year, Hessler saved the season after Detmer was hurt against Texas A&M. But this year, the junior began the season again backing up Detmer.
"I told him early in the season this was going to be his most difficult challenge because now he's tasted it." Neuheimer said. "To go back and be the understudy is very difficult to do with a good attitude."
Neuheisel said Hessler's success last year obviously had a carryover effect Saturday.
"Confidence is everything — not just knowing he can do it, but also the other guys knowing he can do it." Neuheisal knowing he can do it.
"John will work at the beginning of the week as if he'll be the (starter), but Koy will if he's healthy," Neuheisel said.
Neuheisel said Detner felt fine Monday, with no headaches or vision problems. But he likely would miss several days of practice, just to be safe.
NEBRASKA (6-1; 4-0)
urday
Next game: at Oklahoma, Sat. today
The Nebraska
Oklah o m a matchup hasn't been the same for a few years. But playing Nov. 2 is something really different.
Cornhuskers coach Tom Osborne recalls usually having an open date the week before the big matchup, the one he said determined the Big Eight championship 75 or 80 percent of the time in the last 30 to 35 years.
Oklahoma already has upset traditional rival Texas this year, so Osborne is wary of the Sooners.
"I don't view Oklahoma as being any less dangerous than the last four
or five years," Osborne said. "Their record is not as good, but they're playing a lot better football and they've got good athletes. We look at it as potentially a very challenging game."
KANSAS STATE (7-1;4-1)
Nov. 9
Wild cats
coach Bill Snyder doesn't
want the positive of a 42-14 lead over Oklahoma erased by the negative of allowing the Sooners 21 fourth-quarter points.
"I thought we played extremely well the first 20 to 25 minutes of the game, and that's something I don't want to lose sight of," he said. "Obviously, we let them catch up with us. We've got a few things to get ironed out."
Snyder said part of the problem was trying to contain OU quarterback Eric Moore, who replaced Justin Fuente after the freshman couldn't handle the Wildcats' defense.
"He's a very talented quarterback, very athletic," Snyder said. "He was a little difficult to get trapped back there and that created some problems for us."
KANSA$ (3-4; 1-3)
Next game; at Iowa State, Saturday
though it would be easy to do so.
"We've not played well — pure and simple," Mason said. "In some ways, we played better the other night in Nebraska (a 63-7 loss), but not overall. Some aspects were better."
Playing the last-place team in the North division should help KU get back on track. Yet Mason wants to see it before he believes it.
He said the issues could be dodged but it was time for Kansas to play well or they weren't going to play well.
Tigers quarterback Corby Jones was named the Big 12 offensive player of the week after running for
MISSOURI (3-4;1-3)
urday
193 yards and three touchdowns and passing for another touchdown in Missouri's overtime victory against Okla.
Jones broke a 49-year-old school record for rushing yards by a quarterback. Missouri ran for a season-high 377 vards.
homa State.
But that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be starting this week.
"Well, I would think you could assume (he will)," Missouri coach Larry Smith said, laughing. "I can't guarantee you that. We haven't put our game plan together yet. I like to keep the guys going."
Jones' success pretty much kept Kent Skornia on the bench. Skornia was used for only one series, which ended with his pass being intercepted in the end zone near the end of the first half.
"We planned on playing Kent some, but Corby got on a roll and he kept us going." Smith said.
IOWA STATE (2-5;1-3)
Next game: vs. Kansas, Satur-
lay.
State's next four opponents — Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas State — all finished ranked in the Top 10 last season.
"We have amazing challenges ahead, but also tremendous opportunities," he said. "We have an opportunity to earn more respect in these four games — on a national level — than any other time since we've been here."
"We can't give ourselves permission to lose," McCarney said. "We don't ever want our kids to accept defeat.
"Some of them bounce back younger than the grisly veterans," he said. "We're disappointed by our overall record, but we're proud of the improvements we've made."
With 10 freshmen seeing a lot of action, McCarney said it had been easy to get his team to forget about tough losses.
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Selected comments from Big 12 South coaches during their weekly conference call Monday:
TEXAS TECH (5-3;4-2)
team's tendency to improve as the season goes along.
Next game.
vs. Texas,
Nov. 9
Red Raiders
coach Spike
Dykes laughs
when people
ask about his
There's no secret, he said. The answer can be found on Tech's schedule.
"For years, we began with Baylor, A&M and Arkansas," he said, recalling the scheduling of the Southwest Conference that rarely changed patterns. "We'd lost two or three of them, then still finish with a decent record."
That would be because the only major hurdle the rest of the way would be Texas. So, survive the tough games and the second half is paved with the lesser teams.
This year, Tech had early games at Kansas State, Kansas, Georgia and at home against Nebraska. Tech went 1-3 in that stretch.
With that schedule out of the way, the Red Raiders can win the division if they win the rest of their games.
"The great thing is that we can slightly control our destiny," Dykess said.
TEXAS (3:4-2; 1-2)
Next game; vs. Baylor, Satur
asked if he had any advice for Missouri, the next team that has to face Colorado's vaunted offense.
"Well, we didn't exactly stop them," Mackovic said, laughing.
No, but Texas did do a decent job of slowing Colorado down. The game went down to the wire, with the Buffaloes finally winning 28-24.
Mackovic admitted Texas did tweak its typical defensive formation.
"We played more of a basic front to contain the ball more, and we were able to do it," he said. "We tried keeping the ball in front of us as much as possible. That made them work harder."
Colorado has so many weapons, defenses can't cover them all. Texas did a decent job, but Colorado backup quarterback John Hessler exposed Texas' weakness.
"We didn't do a good job stopping the tight end," Mackovic said. "Hessler was real good about going to him when the outside guys were doubled."
OKLAHOMA (2-5: 2-2)
OKLAHOMA (2-5; 2-2)
Next game: vs. Nebraska, Saturday
freshman last weekend. He was 3-of-9 for 5 yards a few minutes into the second quarter, so Oklahoma coach John Blake decided to see what former starter Eric Moore could do.
Moore, himself just a sophomore, responded by going 11-of-23 for 234 yards. He threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes, but an interception with 1:35 left sealed a 42-35 loss to Kansas State.
"He did a great job, giving a boost to our players," Blake said. "He has more confidence (than he used to). He's carrying through with what he's done on the practice field. It doesn't surprise me that he did a good job."
So who will start this weekend?
so who will see us week after
"We're going to see how they
both practice this week and see
what happens," Blake said.
BAYLOR (4-3;1-3)
Next game: at Texas, Saturday
The sophomore had junior incumbent quarterback Jeff Watson ahead of him, and incoming freshman Odell James making a charge toward him. Playing time seemed unlikely for Alfred.
But James has been hurt and will be redshirted. Watson has been inconsistent and is injured. Therefore, Alfred is the starter now.
He failed to capitalize when given a chance to unseat Watson earlier this season, but a good game against Iowa State proves he can lead the team.
"He doesn't have great speed, but he has good mobility," Bears coach Chuck Reedy said. "We've been more effective with bootlegs and misdirection passes. He has the ability to throw the deep ball." ...
"And he's a capable runner. When people have made him run, he's been able to. He's getting better and better."
TEXAS A&M (3-5,1-3)
Next game: at Oklahoma
State, Saturday
Texas A&M has been forced to lower its goals for this season al most
weekly, a devaluation that coach R. Slc. Summons says hasn't been easy.
"Any time you have a program that has been as successful as this one and has a high-expectation level, it's a challenge when you're faced with a situation the team has not been faced with," he said. "I think you just have to appeal to the character of the young men involved."
One tool he's used is this fact: in four of their five losses, the Aggies could have died or won the game on their last possession.
"You have to appeal to the reasoning that you're not that far off," he said. "It's true we've lost these games, but we can do something about it."
"We've got four games left and four good challenges. We've got a chance to work out of it."
OKLAHOMA STATE (4-4; 1-4)
Next game: vs. Texas A&M,
Cowboys' coach Bob Simmons didn't promise a quick-fix for a struggling
program when he arrived last year.
program when he arrived last year. "We're in this thing for the long haul. That doesn't mean this season, but the future," Simmons said.
Still, with some success during the next month, the Cowboys can reach milestones they haven't hit since 1988:
—At least five wins
A winning season A bowl berth
"All of those are positive (goals)," Simmons said. "You not only want the older kids to buy into it, but we want younger kids to understand what it means."
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