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Brewers' Vina Tries To Ignore Trade Rumors
All-Star Just Goes About His Business
Chuck Johnson
March 5, 1999
PHOENIX -- Fernando Vina has been around long enough to know that if a 50-home-run hitter can be traded, then surely he can, too.
The Milwauke Brewers' second baseman was with Greg Vaughn, working out in their hometown of Sacramento, when word came of Vaughn's stunning trade from the San Diego Padres to the Cincinnati Reds before spring training.
"He was pretty shocked," Vina says. "But he's looking forward to playing in Cincinnati. I know how hard we've been working. I'm looking for him to have another big year."
Vina doesn't slam homers like his homeboy, but he plays solid defense and does all the things a leadoff hitter must do to make an offense go.
No doubt, that's why his name continues to be mentioned in trade rumors.
"I've heard them all winter," Vina says. "It makes you feel good that teams want you, but at the same time you don't know where you're going to be, so it keeps you in limbo. I'm just preparing myself to be ready for whatever happens."
The Brewers like youngster Ron Belliard and also have veteran Mark Loretta available to play second base. But they're not going to part with Vina unless the right deal, possibly for a front-line starting pitcher, comes along.
"There have been conversations, but that's no disrespect or lack of confidence in Fernando," Brewers manager Phil Garner says. "I think he's the best second baseman in the National League.
"But if you're going to get a good player, you have to give up a good player. Anything that can improve the ballclub, you have to look at that."
Vina, 29, hopes to stay with the Brewers. They gave him his break as a full-time starter in 1995 after brief stints with Seattle and the New York Mets.
A fractured right ankle limited Vina to 79 games in 1997. But he came back to have a breakout year in 1998, hitting .311 with seven homers and 45 RBI while leading the Brewers with career highs in at-bats (637), runs (101), hits (198), doubles (39), stolen bases (22) and hit batsmen (25). He also flashed the leather with a .986 fielding percentage.
"I did the things I always knew I could do for a full year," Vina says. "I stayed healthy, thank God. It was like the ankle injury never really happened."
Vina said the thrill of his six-year career in the majors was playing in his first All-Star Game. He was the Brewers' lone representative last July in Colorado.
"That was a dream come true," he says. "I was numb the whole three days."
The occasion was made more special because Vaughn, whom Vina has known since their days as high school rivals, was his National League All-Star teammate.
"We came from the same tough area of Sacramento and had basically nothing," Vina says. "When you've stood in lines for government cheese, you don't forget how hard you've worked to get where we're at. To this day, we work our rear ends off because you never know what might happen."
USA Today
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