Webb hopes trade helps career path

     By Todd Dewey
     View staff writer
      While most people couldn't name one of the players recently traded for future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., many Las Vegans may have recognized a name in the offseason deal involving two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez.
      Alan Webb, who holds virtually every pitching record at Durango High School, was one of six players dealt by the Detroit Tigers to the Texas Rangers for Gonzalez.
      "I had no idea that was coming," Webb, a 20-year-old left-hander, said of the blockbuster deal. "My agent called me two hours before they announced it and I saw it on TV two hours after that.
      "I was a little shocked but I knew what Detroit was trying to do and it's all right. I'm moving on. I've just got to look at it from the other team's standpoint. They wanted me, and it's good to know someone else wants me."
      Webb was drafted with the first pick of the fourth round by the Tigers in 1997 after a stellar senior season in which he went 9-1 with a 0.53 ERA, 116 strikeouts and only 16 walks in 66 innings.
      In 1999, in just his second pro season, Webb helped the Double-A Jacksonville (Fla.) Suns reach the Southern League championship series.
      "Our scouts do a good job and we had good reports from our scouts on Alan," said Reid Nichols, director of player development for the Rangers. "In '98 he had a dominant year, with over 200 strikeouts in 170 innings. And he gave up 60 (fewer) hits than innings pitched, which is abnormal and very good.
      "He jumped from a low (Single-)A league to Double-A (last year) and held his own at 19 years old. That's very young to be pitching in Double-A."
      Webb, who was named the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year in 1997, played rookie ball the summer after high school and excelled, going 3-1 with a 3.70 ERA and striking out 47 batters in 30 innings at Lakeland, Fla.
      In his first full season in the minors in 1998, Webb -- armed with a 90 mph fastball -- led the Western Michigan Single-A league with 202 strikeouts in 173 innings and finished with a 10-7 record.
      In spring training last year, the ambitious Webb, who stands 6-foot-1-inch, pushed the Tigers to give him a shot in Double-A and -- despite being the only 19-year-old in the league -- rewarded their faith with another strong season.
      Webb, who had three no-hitters in high school, went 9-9 with a 4.95 ERA in 26 games -- including 22 starts -- for Jacksonville.
      "He started off really strong," said Kirk Goodman, assistant general manager of the Suns. "It's kind of tough getting thrown in as a 19-year-old when there are guys in their 30s on the team. ... (But) he showed some flashes and should have a decent future ahead of him."
      The future was supposed to be now for Webb, whose original goal after graduating high school was to make the majors in three years. But the trade to Texas has put his plans on hold -- at least for the moment.
      "I'm on a new team and I've got to prove myself again, and that's all my mind-set's on right now," Webb said a day before leaving for the Rangers' minicamp in Dallas earlier this month.
      Nichols said Webb's performance in spring training, which started Saturday in Port Charlotte, Fla., will greatly determine where he'll be this year.
      "I'm not real sure (what our plans are for him). We'd like to see him pitch in spring training," Nichols said. "We don't want to limit him. Apparently he's a talent ready to blossom. It's going to depend on him."
      Webb said he has developed a two-seam fastball; a big, breaking curveball; and has fine-tuned his change-up, which has been his favorite pitch over the past two years. Despite his development, Webb knows he'll have plenty of competition in his quest to make it to the big leagues.
      "There are a lot of people already in the organization who are a little ahead of me because they're already in," he said. "But if I come in and show them some good things, good things will happen. I'm sure I'll get a good shot. It doesn't matter where you start, it matters where you finish up -- and (the goal), of course, is always to get to the big leagues."
      Nichols said his scouting report on Webb says he has a very good curve and an average change-up.
      "All by major league standards," he said. "He's a Jimmy Key-type pitcher."
      Webb knows he must shine in spring training to have a chance to realize his dream this year.
      "Spring training is going to be a big-time factor with where I go," he said. "I've just got to go out and do my job. I've got to be patient and not worry about it and good things will happen."