Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9308010195
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE: OAKLAND, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
An agreement was reached among Toronto, Oakland and the outfielder, who had a no-trade clause in his contract.
When the trade was announced earlier Saturday, Henderson expressed some reluctance, saying he hoped to get something in exchange for waiving the no-trade clause.
"Everything is negotiable," Henderson said. "It's a business, you know. I'm just a businessman myself."
No details were immediately released on what Henderson received for agreeing to the trade. Henderson had said earlier that A's general manager Sandy Alderson told him the Blue Jays would guarantee that he would be allowed to become a free agent after the season. As a recently traded player, Henderson could be denied a chance at free agency if Toronto offered him salary arbitration, and Alderson said the Blue Jays had agreed not to offer him arbitration after the season.
Henderson signed a four-year, $12 million contract in 1990.
"I've suffered for four years," said Henderson, who tried without success to get the A's to rework the contract. "They dogged me for four years. Everybody needs something. I need something, they need something."
In exchange for Henderson, Oakland receives pitching prospect Steve Karsay and a player to be named.
A trade for Henderson had been anticipated because the A's are not a factor in the AL West race and he will become a free agent after the season.
The last time Henderson was in the final year of a contract, the New York Yankees traded him to Oakland on June 20, 1989, and he helped the A's win the World Series.
Henderson, baseball's career stolen bases leader with 1,073, is considered one of the few players able to carry a team.
He has led off the game for his team with a home run a record 61 times, is the only player in history with more than 1,000 steals and has a career batting average of .292.
Henderson is hitting .327 with 47 RBI and 31 stolen bases.
With Toronto, he joins an already formidable lineup that features major-league batting leader John Olerud, Paul Molitor, Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter, replacing a mediocre left-field platoon of Turner Ward and Darnell Coles.
by CNB