Ramirez impresses LV coaches

Steve Guiremand

Monday, May 18, 1998 | 10:58 a.m.

Roberto Ramirez remembers his last start for the Mexico City Red Devils well.

"There were scouts from the Rockies, Padres, Texas, Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and the Mets there," he said. "I threw eight innings, didn't give up any runs and struck out six or seven."

And left those scouts drooling.

After all, nothing is more precious in major league baseball than quality pitching. And quality left-handed pitching is a very big premium.

The 25-year-old Ramirez, nicknamed "La Metralleta" (The Machine Gun), is a four-time Mexican League All Star who began the 1998 season with a 6-0 record. He owns the highest winning percentage in Mexican League history.

So when he got off to an impressive start again this year, it touched off a recruiting battle between several teams, most noteably the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies.

In fact, the Rockies thought they had reached agreement with Ramirez's agent, Oscar Suarez. However, at the last minute, Ramirez opted to sign a contract with the Padres, the team he had spent spring training with before heading back to Mexico.

The Rockies eventually filed a grievence with the National League over the matter, but NL President Leonard Coleman sided with the Padres.

Ramirez signed a split contract that pays him $170,000 if he plays in the major leagues and $7,500 a month in triple-A. The Padres, who reportedly would like to groom Ramirez for injured left-handed reliever Ed Vosberg's spot, also paid the Mexico City Red Devils $300,000 for his rights and could pay another $100,000 based on how many days Ramirez plays in the major leagues.

Although the grievence was settled on April 23, Ramirez, who was assigned to Las Vegas Stars by the Padres, didn't make his triple-A debut until last Saturday because he had to wait for his work visa to be issued.

Ramirez's statistics were hardly eye-popping in that contest --- he yielded six hits and four runs while striking out four in just three innings in an eventual 12-4 Stars win over Tucson --- but that did little to dampen the enthusiasm over the pitching prospect.

"I thought he did fine," Stars manager Jerry Royster said. "He was just a little rusty from not being out there. I liked his stuff. His fastball was nice. His location was the only thing that was off."

Ramirez had not pitched in a real game situation in 42 days before Saturday night's Stars' debut.

"I felt good," Ramirez said. "My curveball, fastball and changeup were good. I hadn't pitched in a while, so I need to get more work. I think I need to pitch in two or three more games before I find a groove."

Royster said he was impressed with what he saw of Ramirez in spring training with the Padres.

"I like his command and his stuff," Royster said. "He also had good poise. He has very command of his pitches, especially his change-up and curve."

Sounds like your typical "crafty" left-hander.

"Crafty wouldn't be in his vocabulary," Royster said. "He throws the ball hard."

So was Royster surprised the Padres didn't keep Ramirez this spring?

"Nope," Royster said. "There just wasn't room for everybody this spring. We have a very good situation at the major league level here. That's why guys like Donne Wall, Dario Veras and Carlos Reyes started the season here."

And what about those reports that Ramirez is being groomed for the injured Vosberg's spot on the Padres?

"Again, all that really is right now is talk," Royster said. "Ramirez has a chance to be a major league pitcher for us, but so does Heath Murray and Al Newman and Bubba Dixon."

Murray, Newman and Dixon are also lefties like Ramirez, and all three are having solid years for the Stars.

Ramirez seems confident he'll be pitching in San Diego sometime this season.

"Maybe in a month, maybe two months," he said. "When I'm ready, I'll go up."