MAKO OLIVARES manages Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League. He also works for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He called Cam Bonifay, the team's director of personnel and scouting, early in that season and told him 6-7 Angel Garcia was pitching impressively for the Mantei club.

 

Garcia, 21, had been plagued by arm trouble and had undergone Tommy John surgery as a Twins farmhand. General Manager Terry Ryan kept Garcia off the 40-player protected list, making him eligible for the major league draft earlier this month.

 

"After Mako recommended Garcia, we sent a staff scout to Puerto Rico and he saw him pitch several times," Bonifay said. "We wanted to make sure he was healthy. We confirmed that. We felt like Garcia had a real high ceiling, so we decided to take a shot."

 

This was not the normal $50,000 shot taken by teams in the Rule 5 draft. Bonifay was so enthused that the Rays agreed to pay $150,000 to Arizona to take the pitcher with the first choice.

 

WAYNE TERWILLIGER will manage the Fort Worth Cats in the independent Central Baseball League again this summer. On June 27, Terwilliger will join Connie Mack -- the long-ago owner and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics -- as baseball's only 80-year-old managers. "Twig" coached first base for the Twins' World Series winners in 1987 and 1991.

 

Russ Nixon, 70, a Twins catcher in 1966 and 1967, also has longevity going for him. He will manage Houston's Greenville [Tenn.] rookie league team this summer, marking his 53rd consecutive season in pro ball.