CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs Tuesday ended their efforts to keep Cy Young winner Greg Maddux, signing free-agent pitcher Jose Guzman to a four-year, $14.35 million contract.
'I said that if we signed a pitcher, thatGreg would not be with us next season,' Cubs General Manager Larry Himes said at a Wrigley Field news conference. 'It is unfortunate. Greg's greatest years were with the Cubs.'
The Cubs did try to entice Maddux, a 20-game winner, offering him a five-year, $27.5 million deal with an additional $1.5 million in incentives. But Maddux's agent Scott Boras rejected the bid Nov. 19, and Himes announced two days later they would seek another starter.
Maddux, a free agent, was believed to be seeking a five-year, $32 million contract.
'My budget is there,' Himes said. 'It's not there to handle another pitcher of that magnitude.'
However, there is a slim chance Maddux could stay in Chicago. If Maddux does not sign with another team, he could return to the Cubs if he were to accept the Cubs' offer of arbitration. Himes said the Cubs will file on Dec. 7, the last day for clubs to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became free agents.
Guzman, a 29-year-old Puerto Rican, was 16-11 with a 3.66 ERA in 33 starts with the Texas Rangers last season. He will receive a $1.5 million signing bonus from the Cubs, plus $3.125 million for 1993 and '94, and $3.3 million for '95 and '96.
In six seasons, all with Texas, Guzman was 66-62 with a 3.90 ERA. He is not about to make Cubs fans forget Maddux.
'He's (Maddux) a great pitcher,' Guzman said Tuesday from his Texas home. 'I've got to do the same job. I have to go there and do my job and help the team the best way I can.'
Cubs third baseman Steve Buechele and former Cubs first baseman Rafael Palmeiro talked to Guzman about Chicago, helping to convince the pitcher to sign. Guzman said the New York Yankees offered him more money.
'I got another high offer but Chicago was my first choice,' Guzman said. 'I know I won't regret it.'
This season, Guzman established career highs in victories (16), innings pitched (224) and strikeouts (179); and ranked fourth in the American League in strikeouts and tied for 10th in victories. He averaged 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, the fifth best ratio in the American League.
Guzman also suffered from seven blown saves, the highest for any major league starter. He has not missed a start the past two years, compiling a 29-18 record with a 3.41 ERA. Guzman had surgery in 1989 to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, missing the entire season.
'I didn't miss any starts (during a season),' Guzman said. 'I got back to the point where I could pitch on three days rest.'
In 1991, he was 13-7 with a 3.08 ERA, earning AL Comeback Player of the Year honors from The Sporting News and USA Today. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win 10 or more games in a season, not pitch in the majors for at least two years because of an injury, and then record 10-plus victories in his first season back.
