Baseball

See You Later! The unkindest cuts are those made in the final days of camp, when promising players—even after holding their own against big leaguers in spring training—get caught in roster crunches and find themselves back in the minors. Here are five late cuts (among them Wilton Veras, right) who shouldn't fret, because they'll be back in the majors soon.
PLAYER, AGE, POS., TEAM	SPRING STATS	WHY SENT DOWN
Nelson Cruz, 27, RHP, Tigers	I ER in 9? IP	Detroit's bullpen already well-stocked with high-quality righthanders
Mike Garcia, 31, RHP, Pirates	2.92 ERA, 15 K's in 12? IP	Despite strong spring and 1.29 ERA in seven games in 1999, couldn't crack deep relief corps
Jesus Pe�a, 25, LHP, White Sox	2.45 ERA, 5 hits in II IP	Spring wildness (eight walks) convinced Chicago he needed more seasoning
Fernando Seguignol, 25, IB-OF, Expos	2 HRs, 7 RBIs 8 K's in 46 ABs	Montreal's stacked outfield and new first baseman Lee Stevens would keep him on bench
Wilton Veras, 22, 3B, Red Sox	.438 BA in 12 games	Despite history of slow starts and injuries. John Valentin has stranglehold on hot corner

Save the Tiger
Can Bobby Higginson reclaim his game—and will he do it in Detroit?

Last season Tigers outfielder Bobby Higginson hit just .239 with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs in 107 games. That diminished production—from 1996 through '98 Higginson averaged .299, 26 homers, 89 RBIs and 144 games played—wasn't all that made him seem a shell of the player he'd been. Once known as one of the American League's most aggressive players, Higginson spent most of 1999 in a fog. "I saw him searching for something," says Detroit second baseman Damion Easley, "like he wasn't 100 percent confident in his abilities."

"He usually does his share of ragging in [the clubhouse]," says Tigers catcher Brad Ausmus. "He did some, but not as much as usual. I don't want to say he was down, but he was quieter."

Higginson admits that his pilot light flickered in 1999. "I lost a little bit of my fire," he says. "Going to the ballpark felt like a job. I wasn't the same player last year at all."

Higginson is at a crossroads: Was his dismal season an aberration, or is he a former star-in-the-making who, as one scout said last week, now plays as if he's "28 going on 58"? Further, in whose uniform will he answer those questions? Trade rumors, which dogged Higginson (who's actually 29) for much of last season, arose again this spring. During the final week of training camp, reports had him on the way to the Mariners, the Mets or the Yankees. Last week, however, the Tigers insisted they were not shopping Higginson, their number 3 hitter, and interest from other teams died down, at least for now. That bodes well for Higginson, who says fretting over possible trades was a factor in his poor showing last year. "You give everything you have to an organization for five years, and the moment you start struggling, it looks to move you," he says. "I took it personally, and I shouldn't have."

Higginson was also bothered by a sprained toe that relegated him to the disabled list for a month before requiring season-ending surgery in September, and by a less-than-friendly relationship with Larry Parrish, Detroit's manager at the time, who publicly called Higginson an overachiever who had peaked. Parrish also criticized his outfield play. Neither should be an issue this season: Higginson says the toe feels fine, and new skipper Phil Garner has raved about Higginson's importance to the Tigers. "Higgy was a bite-you-in-the-ass kind of guy two years ago," says Garner, who was then managing the Brewers. "We need to have him having fun and biting again."

Higginson didn't exactly show his teeth in spring training: He hit just .234 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 64 at bats. He spent much of the exhibition season working on mechanical adjustments, trying to move his hands more fluidly into a cocked position before taking his swing, and struggled to regain his timing. As camp wound down, he sounded as if he was also still chewing over the possibility of a trade—and with a certain ambivalence. "First and foremost I want to stay here," Higginson said last week, "but maybe I should go somewhere else. Making a fresh start wouldn't be the worst thing." Stay or go, he needs to make one.

Lofton's Return
Way Ahead of Schedule

No one would have been shocked had Kenny Lofton's trudge to the dugout during Game 5 of an American League Division Series last October, his left arm hanging at a grotesque angle, proved to be his final act on a baseball field. The Indians' Lofton had dislocated his left shoulder diving into first base while trying to beat out a ground ball. An MRI in late November revealed a badly torn rotator cuff. "That combination in the throwing arm is usually the kiss of death," says orthopedist James Andrews, the shoulder guru who operated on Lofton in December. "I wasn't even sure I could fix the tear, much less make it so he could play again."

Two months ago Cleveland was hoping only that Lofton, 32, would make it back sometime around the All-Star break. Yet there was Lofton, standing in centerfield for Cleveland's opener in Baltimore on Monday. It quickly became clear that his return was anything but premature. In his third at bat Lofton hit a solo home run; he wound up 2 for 4 with two RBIs. He also ended the game by hauling in Brady Anderson's deep fly to center. Says Andrews, who put Lofton on the same rehab program he has used for other players with similar injuries, "In the 28 years I've been doing this, it's the most amazing comeback I've seen."