RetroSimba

The Cardinals wanted free-agent pitcher Kevin Brown and thought they had a legitimate chance, offering to extend their payroll budget to get him, but the Dodgers took the bidding to unexpected heights.

On Dec. 12, 1998, the Dodgers signed Brown to a seven-year contract, making him the first $100 million player in baseball.

Brown, represented by agent Scott Boras, got a $105 million deal, with an average salary of $15 million a season. The contract also called for the Dodgers to provide a private jet to fly Brown’s family back and forth from Macon, Ga., and Los Angeles 12 times a season.

The Cardinals were willing to give Brown, 33, a six-year offer, general manager Walt Jocketty told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and were stunned by what he got from the Dodgers.

“It’s insane,” said Jocketty. “I don’t understand it.”

Baseball mercenary

Kevin Brown majored in chemical engineering at Georgia Tech, pitched for the baseball team and was selected by the Rangers in the first round of the 1986 amateur draft.

A 6-foot-4 right-hander, Brown pitched eight seasons for the Rangers, including 1992 when he was 21-11. He became a free agent, played one season for the Orioles, became a free agent again and went to the Marlins.

In two seasons with the Marlins, Brown was 33-19 and they won a World Series championship in 1997. The Marlins traded him to the Padres and he was 18-7 in 1998, helping them win a National League pennant and a berth in the World Series against the Yankees.

Brown was 0-3 with a 6.04 ERA in four World Series starts for the Marlins and Padres, but those setbacks didn’t damage his value. He became a free agent for a third time after the 1998 World Series and let it be known through Boras he was seeking a six-year contract at $13 million per season.

High stakes

The Cardinals were in dire need of starting pitching. Kent Mercker (11-11, 5.07 ERA) led the Cardinals in wins in 1998 and the club finished out of title contention at 83-79. Jocketty told the Post-Dispatch “we have expressed interest” in Brown.

On Nov. 5, 1998, Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz declared “the Cardinals were thought to be favorites” in the bidding for Brown and noted, “Brown looms as an exciting purchase, but how smart is it? For Brown money, Jocketty may be able to get two starting pitchers.”

Jocketty said he thought the length of a contract for Brown “could, and should, go down to five years” rather than the six the pitcher sought.

The Padres, Rockies, Orioles, Angels and Dodgers joined the Cardinals in pursuit of Brown.

On Nov. 25, 1998, Miklasz reported the Cardinals “have quietly remained at the table” as the “expensive and risky poker game” for Brown unfolded.

“I believe we’ll go over budget to get him,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “Our ownership would get so fired up about him coming to St. Louis, they’d go get him. If he says, ‘I want to come to the Cardinals,’ our owners will find the money.”

La Russa said “several people close to Brown keep telling us that he’ll seriously consider the Cardinals.”

Golden Brown

On Dec. 2, 1998, the Post-Dispatch reported the Cardinals “would balk at six years but would be interested at five” as the length of a contract for Brown.

“They know of our interest and we know he’s interested in here,” Jocketty said.

A week later, on Dec. 11, 1998, as the baseball winter meetings were getting under way, the Post-Dispatch reported Jocketty still was pursuing Brown “as his first pitching choice.”

The next day, Brown and Boras announced the agreement with the Dodgers. Boras said the deal was sealed when the Dodgers agreed to a contract length of seven years.

“I basically knew the Dodgers were his primary choice and I went to the Dodgers and told them they could have exclusive negotiations if they went to a seventh year,” Boras said.

Boras said the Dodgers, owned by Rupert Murdoch and the Fox media empire, were among four teams willing to pay Brown an average of at least $15 million a season.

Jocketty told Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch the Cardinals were prepared to give Brown a six-year pact. “I told (Boras) after the fact that if we thought the dollars were right for six years we would have considered doing that,” Jocketty said.

Boras confirmed the Cardinals “were in the running” at six years.

Regarding a seven-year contract at $105 million, Jocketty said, “It’s too much and too long. It just doesn’t make good sense. I don’t think it’s a very good deal for baseball.”

Miklasz, who described Brown as “Kevin Green, the new U.S. mint,” concluded, “It’s a sobering day when the Cardinals, prepared to offer Brown a fortune, think they have a legitimate chance, only to discover that they couldn’t wipe Brown’s cleats with their contract proposal.”

Padres owner John Moores said he offered Brown six years at $60 million and “held my nose and got nauseated.”

Return on investment

Kent Bottenfield was the ace of a weak Cardinals pitching staff in 1999 and the club finished 75-86.

Brown was 18-9 for the 1999 Dodgers, but they finished 77-85. Brown alone couldn’t carry a Dodgers rotation with Darren Dreifort (4.79 ERA), Chan Ho Park (5.23) and Carlos Perez (7.43).

Brown’s records in his other four seasons with the Dodgers: 13-6, 10-4, 3-4 and 14-9. In five seasons with the Dodgers, Brown was 58-32 with a 2.83 ERA, but the club never qualified for the postseason while he was with them.

On Dec. 13, 2003, Brown, with two years left on his contract, was traded by the Dodgers to the Yankees for a package of players, including pitcher Jeff Weaver, and cash.

In two seasons with the Yankees, Brown was 14-13 with a 4.95 ERA. He was 40 years old when he pitched his last game for them.

Brown, who never won a Cy Young Award, finished a 19-year big-league career with a 211-144 record and 3.28 ERA. In 11 career starts against the Cardinals, Brown was 6-2 with a 2.21 ERA.