The New York Mets, the Texas Rangers and several other teams came to the winter meetings hoping to trade for Chuck Finley.
Turned out, they never had a chance.The California Angels made Finley the third-highest pitcher in baseball, re-signing him to a four-year, $18.5 million contract Tuesday.
Finley had been eligible for free agency at the end of next season, and general manager Whitey Herzog said he had no intention of letting the left-hander get loose.
"I called a couple of clubs already to say we signed him, so forget about getting him," Herzog said as he announced the deal. "I'm not going to trade him."
Finley had been rumored in deals to Texas, for Ruben Sierra, and to the Mets, for Kevin McReynolds and Dave Magadan. Earlier Tuesday, Herzog had made two trades, getting Hubie Brooks from the Mets and Chuck Crim from Milwaukee.
Herzog, however, wants to hold onto starting pitchers.
Herzog said he hoped to re-sign free agent pitcher Kirk McCaskill within a few days and said he wanted to sign pitcher Jim Abbott to a long-term deal.
If Herzog is unable to get McCaskill, he said he might try to get a free-agent pitcher such as Rick Sutcliffe.
"The longer you wait to sign someone, the more it costs," Herzog said. "You want to get a plan in place and keep your nucleus together."
Mark Langston led the staff with 19 victories last season and Finley and Abbott each had 18. Reliever Bryan Harvey led the league with 46 saves, but California finished last in the AL East with an 81-81 record mainly because of its weak offense.
Finley, 29, was 18-9 with a 3.80 ERA last season. He also was 18-9 in 1990 and 16-9 in 1989. In the past three seasons, he has never pitched consecutive games without getting a decision.
Finley became the 10th player to make $4 million in a season. Roger Clemens and Dwight Gooden are the only pitchers with richer contracts than Finley.
Finley received a $1.5 million signing bonus and will be paid $4 million in 1992, $5 million in 1993, $3.5 million in 1994 and $4.5 million in 1995.
"Chuck realizes he might've done better and he might've done worse in the free-agent market," said Randy Hendricks, who with his brother Alan represents Finley and Clemens. "But this is the direction he wanted to go."
The club saw it the same way.
"Chuck indicated his desire to remain an Angel," team president Richard Brown said.
Finley is 66-50 lifetime and seventh on the Angels' all-time win list. He was picked in the January 1985 draft and promoted to the majors on a full-time basis in May 1986.
Finley was used almost exclusively as a middle-inning reliever in his first two seasons with California. He has not made a relief appearance since joining the rotation at the start of the 1988 season.
Free agent Mariano Duncan agreed Tuesday to a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies with an option for a third year for a guaranteed total of $6.2 million.
Duncan, 28, hit .258 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs for the Cincinnati Reds last season. In 1990, he helped Cincinnati win the World Series by hitting .306 with 10 homers and 55 RBIs.
The Reds acquired Duncan along with Tim Leary from Los Angeles on July 18, 1989, for Kal Daniels and Lenny Harris.
In five seasons, Duncan has a career average of .252 with 45 homers and 203 RBIs and 124 stolen bases.
Duncan will probably play second base for Philadelphia. He can also play in the outfield.
The Phillies agreed not to offer Duncan salary arbitration when the contract ends, meaning the repeater rights restriction would be lifted and he could become a free agent again after either the 1993 or 1994 season.
Jerry Willard, who won Game 4 of the World Series with a sacrifice fly, agreed to a one-year contract with the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
Willard will receive $66,000 as a minor leaguer and $225,000 at the major-league level. He hit .214 with one homer and four RBIs in 17 games with the Braves. At Class AAA Richmond, Willard batted .300 in 91 games.
Willard, 31, was out of baseball in 1988 and worked in construction.