MLB Notes: Dodgers retain Butler; will sign Zeile

Thursday, Dec. 5, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

Outfielder Brett Butler, whose comeback from cancer last September was cut short by a broken left hand, has decided to play at least one more season.

Butler, 39, agreed to terms of a 1997 con tract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team announ ced Wednesday.

"Brett has been a great contributor to the Dodger team and organization, and we believe he can make a major contribution to the team next season," Dodgers general manager Fred Claire said.

Butler played in just 34 games for the Dodgers last season, hitting .267 with eight RBIs and eight stolen bases.

It was discovered in early May that Butler had cancer of the tonsils, and he underwent surgery to removed a tumor. He rejoined the team Aug. 26 in Montreal, and was activated Sept. 6.

However, Butler's comeback would last only five games. His season ended when he was hit on the hand by a pitch from Cincinnati right-hander Giovanni Carrara on Sept. 10 and suffered a fractured hand.

Butler had squared around to bunt, and the pitch hit his hand while it was on the bat.

Meanwhile, it appears Todd Zeile will fill the Dodgers' third-base vacancy, perhaps signing with the team as soon as Sunday.

Zeile, 31, and the Dodgers have reportedly agreed to a three-year deal worth $10 million-to-$11 million.

If the Dodgers wait until Sunday to finalize the deal, they would not risk losing a draft pick for the signing.

* STEINBACH A TWIN: Free-agent catcher Terry Steinbach and the Minnesota Twins agreed on a two-year, $6 million contract with a club option for a third season. Steinbach, 34, a former University of Minnesota star who has spent his entire career with Oakland, was to sign the deal today, The Saint Paul Pioneer Press and the Alameda (Calif.) Newspaper Group said today. "We agreed to a deal with the Twins this afternoon, and it was not an easy decision, I can assure you of that," Steinbach told the Alameda group Wednesday. "But there was a lot of appeal about playing with Minnesota." Oakland general manager Sandy Alderson said Steinbach took "considerably less money" than the A's had offered. Steinbach made $4 million with the A's last season when he hit .272 with a career-high 35 homers and 100 RBIs.

* SOX RESCIND FERNANDEZ OFFER: Chicago White Sox general manager Ron Schueler rescinded a five-year, $30 million offer to pitcher Alex Fernandez, saying the team can't wait for the right-hander to test the free-agent market. "I've got a team to put together. We'll get more pitching. It's coming," Schueler told the Chicago Sun-Times for a story published today. Fernandez, 27, lacks just three days of service to become a full six-year free agent and would already have that status had he not been sent to Class AAA Vancouver during the 1992 season. Fernandez believes that was a deliberate demotion to buy the White Sox another year of his services.

* LABOR DEAL HANGUPS: A pair of snags involving bonus money and free agent rules is causing a delay in the ratification vote by players on the proposed baseball labor contract. Lawyers are working to resolve problems in two areas: a $2.5 million dispute in 1996 postseason bonus money; and deadline dates for 14 players who will gain free agent rights when the agreement is ratified. Union head Donald Fehr said he expected a ratification vote today, scheduled to be the final session of the players' annual executive board meeting in Dorado, Puerto Rico. However, he said, "We still have a lot of stuff to cover." Under the proposed agreement, which is retroactive to the 1996 season. the players' share of ticket money from the first three games of each first-round playoff series drops from 80 percent to 60 percent, with the difference going into an escrow account.