Columnist Dean Juipe: Hermansen can salvage his career

Dean Juipe

Friday, Aug. 2, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

It barely registered a blip on the radar screen, even in Chicago where fans follow the Cubs with an unyielding devotion.

In fact, the team's TV announcers on WGN barely acknowledged the transaction while setting the table for Thursday's game. Chad Hermansen had joined the club, they mentioned, and -- whoop-de-do -- maybe he would serve as a "fourth or fifth" outfielder in the days, weeks or years to come.

With that lack of fanfare, one of the finest players ever produced in Las Vegas and a young man still with immense potential was introduced to his new surroundings. It was, quite clearly, an inauspicious welcome.

Not that Hermansen merited a red carpet, the Pittsburgh Pirates having given up on him and taken an almost useless player -- outfielder Darren Lewis -- in exchange in a Wednesday deal. But if either side is going to come out ahead on the trade it'll be the Cubs, as the Pirates have no need for Lewis and will likely pass him on.

Hermansen, 24, acknowledged the need for a change of scenery, especially in view of his .341 batting average at Wrigley Field.

If only he could hit that well elsewhere, as his career batting average is a paltry .199. He was hitting .206 this season with the Pirates, adding seven home runs and a flimsy 15 RBIs in limited duty.

Hermansen has never hit better than .233 in the majors, and, if he can't top that, he will inevitably qualify as a bust. Selected with the 10th pick in the first round of the 1995 amateur draft, he came into pro ball not only with aspirations of stardom but with a need to live up to the very high standard that accompanies such a high-profile (and expensive) draft choice.

Thus far, he has accomplished neither.

Yet those who saw him play at Green Valley High and those who have not given up on him can look at Hermansen and see a possible and encouraging parallel to another local and late-developing player, Tyler Houston.

Houston, now 31, was the second overall pick in the 1989 draft -- a left-handed hitting catcher is always a prize -- and for several years was deemed a disappointment. It took him seven years to find his way to the majors and even then there was a return trip to the bushes before he was back for good in 1998, essentially as a third baseman. But when Houston was traded last month from Milwaukee to Los Angeles, it was not only with a reputation as something of a nomad but as a role player who is a proven hitter in favorable situations.

It took him a few years, but Houston has earned his keep. He should also cash in this winter when he becomes a free agent.

Hermansen, with the right handling, development and luck, could chart a similar course. While his statistics may not yet show it, the 1995 national High School Player of the Year is speedy, athletic and capable of line-drive and home-run power.

He remains a player worth taking a chance on, particularly for a struggling team like the Cubs and especially given how little they lost in exchange for him. He could turn out to be a steal.

Or he could flop and live down to the nonchalant greeting he received his first day in Chicago. One thing working in his favor is that his new team and its fans aren't expecting a lot.