Wednesday, May 12, 1999
REDS NOTEBOOK
Villone coming, but who's going?
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
General Manager Jim Bowden became more specific Tuesday about Ron Villone, saying the left-handed reliever's contract will be purchased Friday from Triple-A Indianapolis.
That means a position player must be optioned to the minors, since Villone's ascent stems partly from the Reds' desire to increase their staff to 11 pitchers. Bowden said a roster move will be made after tonight's game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Bowden has said he wants to keep whoever is jettisoned within the organization, which means sending a player with options to the minors, not releasing somebody. First baseman-outfielder Mark Sweeney and outfielder Michael Tucker are the only two players with minor-league options remaining.
“I can't find a move to make that I like at all,” said Bowden, adding that he plans to let manager Jack McKeon decide which player to drop.
Sweeney has appeared exclusively as a pinch hitter, batting .333 (4-for-12) with two homers and five RBI. Tucker has started in 11 of his 21 appearances, batting .229 (11-for-48) with no homers and five RBI. He is 4-for-4 in stolen-base attempts.
Villone, earlier said to be Cincinnati-bound “by the weekend,” was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his first 17 appearances for Indy. He had allowed only nine hits in 17 innings while striking out 22 and walking 13.
Villone, who pitched all or part of the last four seasons with San Diego, Milwaukee and Cleveland, will give the Reds a balanced bullpen — three lefties, three righties — while providing some reinforcement.
“We don't want to burn out our good young pitchers,” Bowden said. “Just because our relief pitchers lead the National League in earned run average (3.22 through Monday) doesn't mean that'll keep up, if you burn them out.”
Baerga watch
The Reds opted to summon Villone and prevent him from requesting his release Saturday, as his contract specified if he were not in the majors by then. But that won't be the case for third baseman Carlos Baerga, who has a similar provision in his contract.
Bowden said Villone has drawn interest from five teams but that nobody has called him about Baerga, the former Cleveland Indians star who has lifted his average to .302 with a nine-game hot streak (.447, 17-for-38).
“He's working very hard,” Bowden said of Baerga. “We've asked him to continue to lose weight. He's starting to do damage and we're going to continue to monitor him.”
Up next
Pete Harnisch faces left-hander Scott Karl in tonight's finale of the two-game series.
Harnisch (2-3, 3.27 ERA) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings Friday. Karl (3-1, 3.29) was 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA against the Reds last year.
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