RetroSimba

In his first venture into free agency, Ozzie Smith had two options: stay with the Cardinals or go with the Astros.

Curious to learn what he would get on the open market, Smith became a free agent for the first time on Nov. 2, 1992.

Over the next month, the shortstop met with the Astros and Royals, heightening concerns among Cardinals fans about his future with the club.

Though the Astros offered him the contract he wanted, Smith secured his legacy as a Cardinal by remaining with St. Louis and finishing his Hall of Fame playing career there.

Test market

Acquired from the Padres after the 1981 season, Smith was a central figure in the Cardinals’ rise to prominence in the 1980s. He helped them to three National League pennants (1982, 1985 and 1987) and a World Series championship (1982), hit an iconic home run to win Game 5 of the 1985 NL Championship Series and earned a Gold Glove Award every year during that decade.

In 1992, Smith still was an elite player. He batted .295 for the Cardinals that season and won the last of his 13 Gold Glove honors.

With his 38th birthday approaching in December 1992, Smith was looking for one last lucrative contract. He decided becoming a free agent gave him his best leverage.

“Ozzie is going to talk to anybody and everybody that wants to talk to him, but we’re still talking to the Cardinals,” Debbie Ehlmann, Smith’s agent, said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

(At the time, Ehlmann was one of two women certified as an agent by the Major League Baseball Players Association.)

Smith wanted a two-year contract at a guaranteed salary. The Cardinals offered him a one-year deal with a club option for a second year, according to columnist Bernie Miklasz.

Aggressive Astros

One of the first clubs to contact Smith was the Astros, who were seeking an upgrade at shortstop after Andujar Cedeno batted .173 in 1992.

The Astros offered Smith a two-year contract with a guaranteed salary totaling $5.5 million.

Saying Smith would bring a “winning presence,” Astros general manager Bill Wood told the Houston Chronicle, “He’s not making any compromises with Father Time. He didn’t give anything away on the field last year. From what we saw, he played the game like a young man. If you say you’re going to go out and get a shortstop, he’d be the place to start.”

With concern growing that Smith might depart St. Louis, longtime journalist Bob Broeg wrote in the Post-Dispatch, “If the Cardinals let Ozzie Smith get away, it will be the worst case of materialistic injustice in the colorful century of the ball club.”

Creative offer

Feeling the pressure of public criticism, the Cardinals made Smith a counteroffer:

_ $3 million guaranteed contract in 1993.

_ $3 million for each year he plays after 1993, providing he gets 400 plate appearances in the preceding season and is declared physically fit by an independent doctor.

_ $200,000 a year for six years (a $1.2 million total) after his playing career to do public relations work for the Cardinals.

Calling the Cardinals’ proposal “a generous, creative offer,” Miklasz wrote, “Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Lou Brock never received a sweetheart deal like this. Ozzie says he loves his fans here. Good. He has the chance to stay and seal the valentine, show that he’s more than a mercenary athlete.”

In the meantime, the Royals entered the picture. Smith met with them in Kansas City. Though no formal offer was made, the Royals discussed a two-year deal with a guaranteed salary. “They want Ozzie,” Ehlmann said.

Royals general manager Herk Robinson said of Smith, “If he decides he wants to play in Kansas City, we will try to accommodate.”

Who wants you?

On Dec. 1, the intrigue intensified when the Astros increased their offer to Smith with a guaranteed $6 million over two years.

Smith wouldn’t commit.

Three days later, after the Astros had invested in free-agent pitchers Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell, they withdrew their offer to Smith.

Meanwhile, the Royals still hadn’t submitted an offer.

With his negotiating leverage evaporating, Smith dropped his demand for a guaranteed salary in the second year and accepted the Cardinals’ offer.

In addition to the guaranteed $3 million in 1993 and the $1.2 million for public relations work after retirement, the Cardinals agreed to word the deal so that Smith would receive $3 million for each year he played after 1993, providing he got 400 plate appearances “or played in 95 games” in the preceding season and was ruled physically fit by an independent doctor.

Smith became the first Cardinals player to make $3 million a year.

“This is really where I belonged,” Smith said of St. Louis. “It’s where I should finish my career.”

Smith played four more years for the Cardinals before retiring after the 1996 season. He neither achieved 400 plate appearances nor played in 95 games in 1995 and 1996.

Previously: Ozzie Smith had bitter retirement announcement

Previously: Ozzie Smith had a classy Cardinals farewell