Oct. 27

SCOTTSDALE, Ari. -- Drew Henson's game was only 20, maybe 25 minutes from where the Yankees were working out. In the stands were a dozen scouts and baseball onlookers, as well as a few friends and family members, light years from what could be home, with a hundred thousand people on their feet singing the Michigan fight song as he ran out onto the field.

Henson gave all of that up, not to mention the likely possibility of being the expansion Houston Texans' first pick in next April's NFL draft.

	Third baseman Drew Henson batted .222 with 11 homers and 38 RBI in 71 games this past year in Triple-A.

"The only thing I miss is that one final year," he says. "But I really haven't had a chance to watch the games because I've been working too hard at this."

In fact, his principle football contact has been with his former teammate and close friend at Michigan, Tom Brady, who is now the starting quarterback with the New England Patriots. Henson has been known, though, to grab a football and play catch with one of his Peoria teammates in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) like Kenny Kelly, a minor-league outfielder in the Mariners' farm system and a former quarterback at Miami.

"We have a potential quarterback controversy," says Peoria manager Duane Espy.

This could be a time of doubt in Henson's career. He struggled at Triple-A Columbus, hitting .222 with a 10/85 walk/strikeout ratio in 270 at-bats, wth a number of injuries keeping him down. Now, with that Michigan past and the NFL future, even an $18M bonus can have its doubts playing in Arizona at this time of year in front of no one. Some 25 years ago, when Jamie Quirk signed with the Royals and passed on being Notre Dame's No. 1 quarterback recruit, he remembers "sitting in a motel in Fort Myers (Fla.) in the Instructional League watching games in South Bend wondering why I did this -- and it delayed my career."

During the '94 AFL, a struggling Toronto farmhand named Chris Weinke admitted "I still think about Florida State a lot." Josh Booty never reconciled himself to baseball.

"There's no regret, no doubt in my mind," says Henson. "Only the realization of how much work I have in front of me."

"You will never find anyone who'll work any harder," says Yankees coach Dan Radison of Henson.

It's not as if Henson has been the talk of the AFL, like Texas Rangers third base prospect -- and Peoria teammate -- Hank Blalock. But Henson, who is a monster of a third baseman (6'5" and 230 pounds) has hit for the cycle in one game and hit a home run estimated at 450 feet in another. He is in the top three in the league in RBI, is batting over .300 and his patience at the plate has improved so much that his on base percentage is over .400. "Drew is," says Radison, "a quick learn."

For a man already the size of Troy Glaus, Henson has astounding mobility, athleticism and first step infielder quickness. "He shows you things you expect from the quick little guys," says Radison. "Again, he keeps working and making himself better. It's a little hard, because we alternate him with Blalock, so Drew's DHing every other day. But he's got a chance to be a very good defensive third baseman with a great arm."

When one is in New York and listening to the voices around the Yankee periphery, Henson is made to sound like a disappointment, two years away at the earliest. But two of the game's best scouts, covering the AFL, both think Henson has the highest ceiling of any player here, and could be ready by July of the coming season.

"He could be one of the great players in the game," says one scout, who recalls that Yankees GM Brian Cashman once compared Henson's skill level to that of Ken Griffey, Jr. "The tools are obvious. But he's got the great face, the obvious work ethic and makeup and all you have to do is watch and you know he oozes character. Everyone who works with him says he has no airs of being the bonus-boy star. He just wants to be a star and is willing to pay the price."

	“	(Drew) Henson's been out there in front of 100,000 people and performed. He's not going to get rattled by anything in baseball. What makes (Derek) Jeter so special is that from Day 1 he understood that it's still just a game. If Henson's got that same approach, and we think he does, he could be special, as well. ”
		— Joe Torre, Yankees manager

Don't think that Yankees manager Joe Torre and bench coach Don Zimmer aren't watching, either. They believe Henson is special, and Torre fought the battle to put Derek Jeter at shortstop and develop him in '96, and fought the same fight for Alfonso Soriano this past spring. "I'm not afraid to develop and stick with young players," says Torre. "It's my job. But when they're special, like Jeter, the talent wins out if you give him enough time."

"Henson's that kind of player in what I've seen," says Zimmer. "He just needs to play, that's all. You can't develop talent like that."

The Yankees have done a remarkable job developing talent, as their All-Star catcher (Jorge Posada), shortstop (Jeter), center fielder (Bernie Williams), ace left-hander (Andy Pettitte), potential All-Star second baseman (Soriano), Hall of Fame closer (Mariano Rivera) and invaluable right-handed middle man (Ramiro Mendoza) are all developed from their own organization. Current third baseman Scott Brosius is a free agent at the end of the year, and there are concerns -- his sometimes erratic defense, his lack of pop driving the ball through the gaps, etc.

So as Torre and Zimmer prepare for another World Series, so too, do they think about tomorrow. The Yankees could re-sign Randy Velarde, find another infielder to platoon with him, and see if Henson is ready by midseason. Or they could see what spring training brings.

However they do it, it is clear that Henson is a lot like Jeter, a special person, a special work ethic and a special view of each game.

"Henson's been out there in front of 100,000 people and performed," says Torre. "He's not going to get rattled by anything in baseball. What makes Jeter so special is that from Day 1 he understood that it's still just a game. If Henson's got that same approach, and we think he does, he could be special, as well."

Around the Arizona Fall League
Incidentally, Kelly is hitting .390, with an on-base percentage of over .400 for Peoria. ... Blalock is one of those pure hitters you can't take your eyes off. He's hitting over .340, at the top of the league in homers and not far from the Ballpark in Arlington and the eventual decision of what to do with him and fellow third baseman Mark Teixeira. By the way, Blalock's uncle, Sam, was Oakland GM Billy Beane's high school coach. ... Reds OF Austin Kearns and Tampa Bay's flashy, slashing outfielder Carl Crawford continue to have big Fall Leagues and Seattle catcher Ryan Christianson has the big leagues written all over him. But while Grand Canyon manager Gary Jones says "this is a better league than it was when I was here in '96," he concedes the pitching is down. Jones, who was let go as the Red Sox's Triple-A manager in Pawtucket, has one interesting Boston prospect, infielder Freddy Sanchez, who shot through from Class A Sarasota to Double-A Trenton and is batting around .340. "He doesn't do it with great flair, but he gets the job done and can hit," says Jones. "Freddy's like a David Eckstein, only without David's speed." ... Toronto has all kinds of talent: second baseman/third baseman Orlando Hudson, who is at the top of the league in homers, steals, and has a .524 on-base percentage and .750 slugging percentage and has looked so good at second and third that he could end up with the Jays next spring; C Josh Phelps, who has an OPS over 1.000 and has caught well; RHP Mike Smith, a midseason sleeper who has a power arm and is coming quickly; and the amazing Gabe Gross, who was drafted out of Auburn last June and has a 15/6 walk/strikeout ratio and .476 on-base percentage. There are a couple of very wise baseball people who believe that Toronto got one of the best picks in Gross, an outfielder, in the entire draft. ... Two other pitchers who have opened some eyes: Anaheim's Robert Jenks, a hard thrower right-hander who looks as big as Jeff Juden, and Arizona's Chris Capuano, a left-hander from Duke who may make it to The BOB very quickly.

Kerrigan to stay busy in offseason
Red Sox manager Joe Kerrigan was on Alligator Alley. He'd left the Red Sox Fort Myers complex, where he put on a uniform and threw batting practice to Instructional Leaguers, "tried to get to know our minor-league people and let them know how much we need to work together" and observed some of the offseason training regimens, including the Rich Garces workout program that has shed what the Boston manager estimates at "between 20 and 25 pounds."

Kerrigan was on his way back north, first to have dinner with Felipe Alou to talk about the vacant bench coach's job. Next, he was to sit down with Manny Ramirez.

"I'm going to try to get out and meet with almost every one of our players this offseason," Kerrigan said. "I think it's important, after all that was said and reportedly said. We need to talk away from the craziness of that last month. It's gone well. Look, a lot of what was reported at the end of the season was exaggerated. Things are not as bad as it seemed on the outside, and we're working hard to get everything in the right direction. There was a lot that had built up for awhile, and some of it was bound to come out."

On the last week of the home season, Kerrigan tried to deal with some of the alleged unhappiness of some Latin players, and the cliques that many players felt clashed within that group. The manager took all of them out to a local steak house and talked everything out at a cost of $3,000, which will seem like a paltry bill if it helps heal the wounds.

	Urbina

Kerrigan has been in touch with Ugueth Urbina, whose agent had indicated that his client was not happy in Boston and wants out. GM Dan Duquette sat down with Urbina -- as well as Ramirez, who had also indicated his own unhappiness -- and the manager is working to assuage his fears. Urbina was one of the who's who list at Pedro Martinez's birthday party on this past Friday night.

"That whole incident with Pedro was blown out of proportion and context," Kerrigan says. "We had a long talk afterwards and worked a lot of things out. He's coming in to Fort Myers to be checked and to work on his offseason conditioning in both November and December, and is very serious about getting back to being Pedro. We talked. He knows that he came in late last spring, that he didn't pitch until the 12th game and had only four spring-training starts, and that's not enough for him. He's going to be fine."

Kerrigan is convinced Derek Lowe will be a success as a starter, as well. "He's going to be able to have those Maddux games where he's into the seventh with 70 or 80 pitches," says the manager. "He's got a tremendous changeup that he didn't really use in the pen. He threw it 15 to 18 times a start, and with his sinker and curveball gives him a very good out-pitch. I think (Casey) Fossum has a chance, and if he's not ready to start, he certainly gives us a very good left-hander out of the pen as he develops. I hope Hideo Nomo comes back; he likes Boston, but it's his right to go out on the market and see what he can get. Dan's trying to do some things, but remember, we were fourth in the league in pitching (4.15 ERA) with Pedro hurt and a lot of things not breaking right."

Needless to say, Kerrigan eagerly awaits his first spring training as a manager, so he can put his stamp on the team. He is still hoping to convince Walt Hriniak to become his hitting coach. "He's the best in the game, so why not go after the best?" says Kerrigan. "His work ethic is second to none. He shares the same passions for the game as I do. He hurts for his hitters when they have an off-night. What isn't there to not like in Walter Hriniak?"

The manager's mind is also open about Carl Everett's return, but that, like so much else, is all very much up in the air as baseball and the Red Sox are in a state of flux beginning next week and running into 2002. In the meantime, Kerrigan says, "I'm going to run up a lot of mileage. But it will be worth it."