THE ROOKIES : Canseco and Company Spring Forth : Clark, Incaviglia, Nieves Among Best of the Rest

PHOENIX —  Will Clark, who was the leading hitter on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team and has played a season of minor league baseball, will open the 1986 season as the San Francisco Giants’ first baseman.

Pete Incaviglia, who set NCAA home-run and runs-batted-in records at Oklahoma State last year and has never played minor league baseball, will open the season as the Texas Rangers’ right fielder, and Bobby Witt, less than a year removed from the Oklahoma campus, will be one of the Rangers’ starting pitchers.

Oakland’s Jose Canseco may be baseball’s most publicized freshman, but he’s not in a class by himself.

A minimum of 20 rookies are expected to earn major league berths this spring, with many slated for influential roles.

Consider:

--In addition to Clark, the Angels, Montreal Expos and Milwaukee Brewers will start rookie first basemen.

--The San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners will employ rookies at second base.

--The Dodgers may have a rookie in center field on either a platoon or regular basis.

--The Cincinnati Reds will put pressure on Dave Concepcion by keeping a rookie shortstop from Thousand Oaks.

--The Rangers are expected to have three rookies in their pitching rotation.

--Milwaukee, which may have as many as four rookies on its 24-man roster, is ushering two into the rotation, one of them--left-hander Juan Nieves, considered the game’s top pitching prospect.

All of this seems part of an annual trend now.

Burned by money wasted on free agency, faced with a diluted player market because of expansion and competition from other sports, and encouraged by the caliber of college coaching, more and more clubs are force-feeding at the major league level. The grass-roots approach is again in vogue.

Kansas City showed that it could be done, rebuilding a devastated rotation from within, promoting pitchers Bret Saberhagen, Danny Jackson and Mark Gubicza at a time when their minor league experience was limited to one, two and three years, respectively.

Said Angel General Manager Mike Port:

“When free agency first started, it was the same as when the first automobiles were produced. Everyone had to have one.

“Now it’s been with us long enough that most clubs are taking a more realistic approach, putting it secondary to the development of their own players.

“We’ve all seen that the clubs which have done the best job of maintaining their stability and level of success are those which have continued to use their own farm systems.”

Port alluded to Kansas City, the Baltimore Orioles, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Dodgers.

“In our own case, free agency definitely had not worked to a satisfactory end,” he said. “We stayed out of it last year and won more games than we ever have.

“We stayed out of it again this year and will now have six selections (including two bonus picks as compensation for the signing of free agents Juan Beniquez by Baltimore and Al Holland by the New York Yankees) in the first two rounds of the amateur draft.

“If there’s any depth in this year’s college crop, we could have a good time in June.”

Here’s a capsule look at the leading rookies, excluding Canseco: FIRST BASEMEN

Andres Galarraga, Montreal: The 6-foot 3-inch, 230-pound Galarraga, 24, hit only .187 in 24 September games with the Expos, but he was second in the American Assn. with 25 homers and 87 runs batted in, batting .269 at Indianapolis. The position is his to lose.

Wally Joyner, Angels: The decision not to re-sign Rod Carew virtually handed the opening-day assignment to the 23-year-old Joyner, who has hit a composite .305 in three minor league seasons and was selected most valuable player in the Puerto Rican Winter League, winning the triple crown with a .356 batting average, 14 homers and 48 RBIs.

Billy Joe Robidoux, Milwaukee: Robidoux, 22, led the double-A Texas League in average with .342, hits with 176, and RBIs with 132 in 133 games. He also hit 23 homers. Veteran Milwaukee first baseman Cecil Cooper is recovering from elbow surgery and will open the season as the designated hitter. If Robidoux is successful, he may ultimately move to left field, allowing a recovered Cooper to return to first.

Will Clark, San Francisco: Clark 22, was the second player selected in last June’s draft, hit .309 with 48 RBIs in 65 games at Class-A Fresno and has convinced the desperate Giants that he’s ready with an impressive spring. Said Giant Manager Roger Craig: “It’s hard to refrain from comparing him to a first baseman of, say, Stan Musial’s stature. He has one of the prettiest swings I’ve ever seen.” SECOND BASEMEN

Leon (Bip) Roberts, San Diego: The 5-7, 160-pound Roberts, 22, could be the speedy leadoff hitter the Padres lacked after Alan Wiggins went to Baltimore. Roberts suffered a rib and shoulder injury early last year at double-A Nashua, but came back to hit .272 and steal 40 bases.

Steve Lombardozzi, Minnesota: Lombardozzi, 25, hit a modest .264 at triple-A Toledo, but his .370 average in 54 at-bats with the Twins prompted the club to trade incumbent second baseman Tim Teufel to the New York Mets.

Danny Tartabull, Seattle: Although the Mariners have another fine prospect in Harold Reynolds, they have decided to give Tartabull, 23, the first shot, primarily on the basis of his 43 homers and 109 RBIs at triple-A Calgary. SHORTSTOP

Kurt Stillwell, Cincinnati: Only 20, the switch-hitting Stillwell batted .264 at Denver and will open the season in a utility role, but that may be temporary. Manager Pete Rose is said to be extremely high on the graduate of Thousand Oaks High and extremely concerned about the continuing effectiveness of Concepcion, 37. OUTFIELD

Pete Incaviglia, Texas: This is the same team that rushed a phenom named David Clyde to the majors, after which he quickly disappeared. But Incaviglia, who set NCAA records by hitting 48 homers and driving in 143 runs in 78 games at Oklahoma State last year, may be better prepared.

Said Manager Bobby Valentine: “Pete has shown me the defensive capability and the proper mental approach to go along with his outstanding offensive potential.”

Reggie Williams, Dodgers: The Dodgers are interested in a right-handed hitter to platoon with Ken Landreaux, who isn’t happy about it. Jose Gonzalez, 21, considered the club’s center fielder of the future, has been returned to Albuquerque already, apparently leaving Williams to share the position with Landreaux. Williams, 25, hit .299 at double-A San Antonio last year. PITCHING

Juan Nieves and Bill Wegman, Milwaukee: The Brewers got 15 wins from rookie Ted Higuera last year and are confident that Nieves, 21, and Wegman, 23, can do the same. This is a bold effort to rebuild a suspect rotation, but also a natural advancement.

Nieves was 33-9 in three minor league seasons. Wegman was 10-11 at triple-A Vancouver--he had a 2.95 earned-run average for the second half--and 2-0 in three September starts for the Brewers last year.

Jose Guzman, Ed Correa and Bobby Witt, Texas: The rebuilding of the Ranger rotation starts with the Puerto Rican connection of Guzman and Correa. Guzman was 10-5 at Oklahoma City and 3-2 with a 2.76 ERA for Texas. Correa, 20 in April, was a highly regarded prospect with the Chicago White Sox before they traded him for Wayne Tolleson and Dave Schmidt.

Correa was 13-3 at Appleton, but this is a big jump from Class A.