Rangers get Zeile for 2 minor leaguers

Rangers get Zeile for 2 minor leaguers

Reported By: Webmaster Sibs on 8/1/98

MIAMI -- Todd Zeile was traded for the second time this season, with the Texas Rangers acquiring the third baseman from the Florida Marlins on Friday for a pair of minor leaguers.

Zeile, 32, is hitting .276 with 13 homers and 66 RBI. He was acquired by Florida from Los Angeles in May as part of the Mike Piazza trade.

"This is an unusual situation. It's not often that you get traded and get congratulated by the general manager," said Zeile, who joins his seventh club Saturday when Texas plays host to the Chicago White Sox.

Zeile moves from Florida, the team that had the worst record in the majors, to Texas, which began the day one game behind Anaheim in the AL West.

Fernando Tatis had been playing third base for Texas, but he and pitcher Darren Oliver were traded Friday to St. Louis for shortstop Royce Clayton and pitcher Todd Stottlemyre.

Marlins general manager Dave Dombrowski had told Zeile and Piazza that that he would try to move both as quickly as possible. Piazza was traded a week later to the New York Mets, but Zeile lasted 2½ months.

"At some time, I didn't know whether we'd be able to move him or not," Dombrowski said. "But starting Tuesday, all of a sudden we had four clubs express an interest in him at one time or another."

Florida got third-base prospect Jose Santo, hitting .299 with 21 homers and 90 RBI in 107 games at Class A Savannah, and right-handed pitcher Dan DeYoung, 13-4 with a 4.02 ERA in 20 starts at Class A Charlotte.

Florida's payroll, which was $53 million in winning the World Series last year and $33 million at the start of the season, dropped to $14.2 million. Zeile is making $3.2 million this year and is guaranteed $3.2 million in 1999.

"This situation does not fit him at all," Dombrowski said. "He needs to go to a team where he can help them win. Moving on was only the right thing to do for him. And it fit for us."

Zeile batted .289 with six home runs and 39 RBI in 66 games with the Marlins. More importantly, he provided a steadying influence for a team with 14 rookies. Florida has only two regulars left from last year's World Series champions.

"He was a tremendous influence on the kids," Marlins manager Jim Leyland said. "Nobody could have handled the situation he was in better than Todd. Nobody."

Zeile was visibly disappointed when he was included in the seven-player deal that sent Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and Manuel Barrios to Los Angeles. He had turned down less money last season to sign with his hometown Dodgers, and had just closed on a house in Westlake Village, Calif.

But as the days went on and the shock of the trade wore off, he admitted to enjoying his time with the Marlins' youngsters.

"I'll miss the guys in the clubhouse more than anything else," he said. "They've given me a lot of faces to follow in the future, looking through the boxscores. I know they're going to be some good players."

The right-handed-hitting Zeile has a career average of .265 with 153 homers and 679 RBI in 1,165 games with St. Louis, the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Florida. He had career highs of 31 home runs and 90 RBIs with the Dodgers last year.

Since the start of 1993, Zeile has 485 RBI, two more than former teammate Cal Ripken.

Santo, 20, a right-handed hitter, was second in the South Atlantic League in RBI and third in homers. He is expected to be assigned to Kane County of the Midwest League. DeYoung, leading the Florida State League in wins, will be assigned to Brevard County in the same league.