THE ANGEL NINE: FREE AGENTS TO BE : A ‘Team’ of Veterans Bids for Title Amid Uncertainty

The great subplot of the not-so-great race in the American League West has been the uncertain fate of certain Angel players--nine veterans who may not exactly be playing for their lives but definitely are playing for their livelihoods.

Seldom, if ever, have so many who have been paid so much and played for so many years known so little about their future employment. The longtime nucleus of the club--Bobby Grich, Doug DeCinces, Brian Downing, Reggie Jackson, Bob Boone, Rick Burleson--is on shaky ground. So are Don Sutton, Ruppert Jones and Doug Corbett.

All are playing out the final days of the final year on their Angel contracts.

They have been called the Last Chance Gang. Their drive to the 1986 American League West championship has been categorized as their last hurrah, one final grasp at the brass ring before Mike Port shuts down the merry-go-round.

Port, the Angels’ budget-conscious, youth-conscious general manager, has steadfastly refused to renegotiate expiring contracts until the off-season--and will barely even talk about it.

“I don’t think it would thrill the fans of Southern California to announce that we have signed all our players to new contracts, rather than win a pennant,” Port said. “There will certainly be time to discuss contracts after our work on the field is done. Hopefully, that will be around Nov. 6.”

By Nov. 6, the World Series will be completed. Port’s not-so-subtle message to the veterans: Win in ’86 and then we’ll think about ’87.

Reactions to this edict have varied.

Jackson blasted Port. Burleson blasted Manager Gene Mauch. DeCinces blasted baseballs. Some sulked, others tried to ignore it.

Mauch is attempting to win a division championship amid this atmosphere but would prefer a different one.

“What if I sat there while Brian Downing is at bat and thought, ‘I wonder if Brian Downing will be back next year?’ ” Mauch said. “I can’t do that. I wish they didn’t, either, but I guess it’s hard for them to do.”

Trying to help matters, Mauch recently suggested that the success of 1986 wouldn’t go unrewarded in 1987.

“They’ll be back, especially if we win,” Mauch said. “Why clean out a combination of people if they help you win? I haven’t seen that happen too many times.”

Few of the affected Angels, however, buy that one.

“You would think that would be the case,” Downing said. “But they could still come back and say, ‘Well, we want to give so-and-so a chance.’ I’ve seen it happen over and over.”

Grich said: “Everybody is unsure about what’s going to happen. I don’t think anybody believes that if we win it, it will ensure us all staying.”

Burleson believes that the Angels on the bubble can have that bubble popped, regardless of the outcome of the playoffs. “The club can justify letting us go, win or lose, and still look good to the public,” he said.

“If we don’t win, they can say, ‘We’ve never done it with these guys, let’s clean house.’ If we win, they can throw the age thing at the fans and in our faces--’Now that we’ve won, let’s take a year or two and rebuild.’

“If we win, they may give everyone a token contract, and it will be so far off the scale that . . . they’ll turn it down. And the ballclub knows it will be turned down.

“If we don’t win, then, for sure, we’re gone. If we do win, there will be two or three that get to stay.”

Who will stay and who will go? The unofficial consensus breaks the nine Angels into four groups:

--Probable: Boone and Sutton.

--Possible: DeCinces and Downing.

--Either way: Grich and Corbett.

--Probably gone: Jackson, Jones and Burleson.

A closer look:

BOB BOONE Ordinarily, a 38-year-old catcher with a .226 batting average in the final year of his contract would be left wondering where his next pitchout might come from. But with the Angels, who have produced as many quality major league catchers as they have pennants, Boone is about as secure for 1987 as Mike Witt.

If the Angels do not re-sign Boone, where do they turn behind the plate? Darrell Miller? Not ready yet. Jerry Narron? A nice backup. Erik Pappas? Still a prospect.

For the Angels, it’s Boone or nothing. Boone needs about 100 more games to catch Al Lopez as baseball’s most prolific catcher, and he figures to earn that distinction in an Angel uniform.

“I signed a closed-end contract that is up at the end of this year,” Boone said. “I knew that three years ago.

“After the season, there’ll be a decision made, and that decision is out of my hands. If I can’t control it, I can’t concern myself with it. My approach all along has been to concern myself only with my game. Doing well and performing well enhances your position.”

RICK BURLESON Priorities change. For Burleson, the challenge at hand during the previous four years was rehabilitating a rotator cuff in his shoulder that was twice torn.

But once that minor medical miracle was complete, Burleson soon discovered he wanted more.

“Coming back after four years, my only concern was making the club and playing one year,” he said. “But after I made it back, by the middle of the season, I started thinking about playing another year.”

He also started thinking about playing more this year.

Instead, he found himself relegated to part-time duty as a designated hitter during the second half of the season. By early September, Burleson lashed out against Mauch, saying, “The man buried me.”

Burleson still feels that way.

“By going from an everyday player to a backup player, I know I’m in for a big (salary) cut,” he said. He is in the final year of a six-year contract totaling $4.6 million. “But I don’t know if I’m wanted back. At my age (35), and considering the lack of confidence they have in me in the field, I don’t see how (the Angels) would be interested in me.”

In 87 games, Burleson is batting .286, which ranks him second to Wally Joyner among Angel hitters. That also ranks him as the probable choice for American League comeback player of the year.

Wouldn’t that warrant some interest in Burleson, if not by the Angels, then elsewhere?

Burleson takes a more pessimistic view.

“Maybe nobody will come knocking,” Burleson said. “I may have to work out all winter and come February, nobody will be interested.”

DOUG CORBETT As they did with Burleson, the Angels waited four years to see what had become of Corbett. They paid a high price for him in 1982--power-hitting outfielder Tom Brunansky--and have been feeling fleeced ever since.

After saving 40 games in two seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Corbett had just 12 Angel saves between 1982 and 1985, spending part of each season in Triple-A.

But 1986 has seen the second coming of Corbett. He has appeared in more games than Donnie Moore. He has saved 10 games and won 4 others. While Moore spent time on the disabled list, Corbett helped hold together an Angel bullpen that included three rookies in May and June.

“There’s been a lot of reminiscing by management, players and sportswriters about that period of time and how we hung in there when many people were writing us off,” Corbett said. “I’m happy to have been a vital part of the ballclub this year.”

And that brings us to the bottom line.

“I feel like I’ve warranted a new contract,” Corbett said.

Corbett, 33, earned a little more than $300,000 in 1986. He is looking for a two-year contract.

Port, not fond of multiyear deals for the over-30 set, has other, cheaper options--such as T.R. Bryden, Todd Fischer, Mike Cook or Stewart Cliburn, the man Corbett replaced as the right-handed complement to Moore.

“We all know where we stand,” Corbett said. “I feel an allegiance to the Angels. They stood with me through some very tough times. If they’re interested in having me back, there will be no old-fashioned bidding war. I want a fair contract.”

DOUG DeCINCES This is where Port may have gambled and lost with his play-now, we’ll-pay-you-later philosophy. DeCinces could have been re-signed at bargain rates in midseason, when he was a sore-shouldered, slump-ridden third baseman sharing playing time with Jack Howell.

In August, though, DeCinces went on a home run binge, becoming the American League’s player of the month. By late September, he had overtaken Joyner for the team leadership in home runs and is pressing him for the lead in RBIs. Before Thursday night’s game, DeCinces had 25 home runs and 92 RBIs.

The Angels took off with DeCinces, breaking open the race in the West as he broke out at the plate. DeCinces will receive strong consideration as the team’s most valuable player and may be the focus of the team’s most interesting off-season negotiations.

DeCinces, 36, will earn $900,000 this year, plus incentives. He is reportedly seeking a two- to three-year contract. He wants to stay in Anaheim, but former teammate Fred Lynn has lobbied for his return to Baltimore, where he was once derided for having the gall to replace Brooks Robinson. Those fans remember DeCinces more fondly, now that they’ve seen Juan Beniquez and Floyd Rayford at third base.

“You see another team like Cleveland renegotiate a guy like Phil Niekro and it makes you wonder about the situation here,” DeCinces said. “But business is business. That’s the approach (the Angels) have taken, and I accept it.

BRIAN DOWNING Bronchitis and a subsequent loss of weight haven’t been the only factors affecting Downing’s play this season. His uncertain contract situation has also made an impact.

“I worried about it the first half of the season, and it dragged me down,” he said. “Around the All-Star break, I realized it was hurting me. I decided to stop caring about it. It’s not worth it.”

A conversation with Boone helped Downing forget contract and concentrate on contact.

“I asked him how he deals with things that happen to him off the field,” Downing said. “He had asked the same question of Pete Rose, when Rose was going through his divorce problems in Philadelphia. Rose told him, ‘Hey, I love getting out on the field. This is my release.’

“I thought that’s a heck of an approach--and that will be my approach. I’ve just tried to play with that in mind.”

Downing has recovered and is closing out a typical season for him. He is batting .270 with 18 home runs and 87 RBIs. He continues to run into outfield fences--and sometimes other outfielders.

At 35, Downing is in the last year of a three-year contract totaling $2.1 million. He says he isn’t sure how long he wants to play. “It could be that I don’t play again . . . or I play another five years,” he said.

Downing does have a booster in Mauch--and that’s significant. “The man plays hard every single day, every single game,” Mauch said. “Nobody who has ever watched the Angels play can have anything but positive words for every move Brian Downing makes.”

BOBBY GRICH This time last year, Grich was a potential free agent hopeful of signing for one last season with the Angels. Sixteen major league seasons--and a decade in Anaheim--would be enough.

That still sounded great to Grich in spring training as he talked about retirement. But pennant fever can do strange things. Lately, as the Angels near their third division title, Grich has taken to hedging on quitting.

“I never announced my retirement,” Grich now says. “I said it would be unlikely I’d be back.

“It all depends on, one, if they want me back; two, how badly they want me back; and three, if I want to come back under those terms.”

In other words, Grich will play another year if the Angels want to re-sign him at near the $500,000 figure on his 1986 contract.

“You can’t really expect the Angels to make anything but a cold business decision,” he said. “I don’t expect anything, just because I’ve played 10 years for them. They have paid me an awful lot of money during those 10 years. I don’t deserve any more and I’m not asking for any more.”

REGGIE JACKSON Introducing Mr. October to his own December hasn’t been the happiest of experiences. His storied power hitting, his playing time and his impact on the Angels all have dwindled in 1986.

Jackson has reacted to the changes 40 brings about in his typical style--loudly.

From Day 1 of spring training, Jackson proclaimed he was an unwanted man. There was occasional grumbling through the first half of the season, but it wasn’t until mid-August, when the reality of the situation started to hit home, that Reggie started to roar.

“There ain’t gonna be no next year,” Jackson said after hitting a home run against Oakland. “Anytime you had the year I had in ’85 (27 home runs, 85 RBIs) and come to spring training without a job, what are they telling you? It’s taken me a long time to realize it.”

By the time the Angels got to New York, Reggie was ready for the cameras’ red glare. During one intensified afternoon at Yankee Stadium, Jackson told anyone who would listen that he was through with the Angels and that “if we were 10 games out, they’d have released me. Get rid of the headache--and I’m a headache.”

Further discussions with Port ensued, and Jackson has since reduced the volume. He has also talked of retirement. “This could be my last year as a player, period,” he said. “I have some things in the fire, some business opportunities, and if they present themselves, I would have no choice but not to come back.”

If he does come back, Jackson figures to hang his shingle elsewhere. He has mentioned New York, Baltimore, Kansas City and Oakland as possibilities.

“Oakland is No. 1,” he said. “It’s home.”

RUPPERT JONES For half a season, Jones justified the tentative dip the Angels took into the free-agent pool before the 1985 season. They signed him to a contract worth more than $300,000, and by mid-1985, Jones had responded with a .275 batting average, 15 home runs and 40 RBIs.

Then came August and September, during which Jones hit .212 and .090, respectively, bringing his final average down to .231. Then came 1986.

After 119 games, Jones’ batting average is again .231.

There are better ways to go about selling management on the idea of another contract. Jones acknowledges this.

“This year has definitely not been up to Ruppert Jones performance standards,” Jones said. “I’m not satisfied with my numbers, but I have nobody to blame but myself.”

With the Angels stockpiling young outfielders--Devon White, Darrell Miller, Mark Ryal--Jones realizes that his days in Anaheim are probably numbered.

“I would love to stay here, but the Angels might not want me back,” he said. “I like it here. It’s the best place I’ve ever played, but I may have to look elsewhere.”

Preparing to enter the free-agent market again, Jones believes the most attractive line in his resume will read: Played on 1984 Detroit Tigers and 1986 California Angels.

“If we make the World Series, that would be the second time in three years for me,” Jones said. “That says something.”

DON SUTTON The Angels paid Sutton $550,000 this year, giving him the opportunity to become baseball’s 19th 300-game winner. For 1987, they have the option of bringing back a 42-year-old Sutton for another $550,000 or buying out that option for a paltry $10,000.

Pennies count to Port, but so does winning baseball games. Sutton has won 15 and has two starts remaining. He has also served as unofficial tutor for Mike Witt and Kirk McCaskill, who, coincidentally or not, have enjoyed their best seasons during Sutton’s first full campaign with the Angels.

In a starting pitching rotation that runs four deep and no more, Sutton seems set for more ice baths and Chardonnay in 1987.

And that can set one’s mind at ease.

“Right now, all I’d like the Angels to do is figure out how I can get more World Series tickets,” Sutton said. “This is not the time or the place to concern myself with next year. Let’s see how this ends up first.”

Incentive or distraction? Has the Angel contract situation served as an inspiration or an obstacle to the veterans in question?

Some views:

Corbett: “I don’t know who it was, but I remember one manager once saying, ‘If you give me 25 guys eligible for free agency at the end of the year, I’d win it all.’ If we win it all, it would be very difficult to sell the people on the fact that these guys were through. If it works, don’t fix it.”

Burleson: “I think it’s had a positive effect in that there is a fear that the ballclub may be broken up. We’re looking at this as our last chance to win it all. That has made the situation easier to deal with.”

Downing: “If we win and they sign us, fine. If not, then we’ll go out with our heads high. If you win, somebody is going to want you.”

And DeCinces: “We’ve been told that if you win, it might be a little different after the season. It’s something that’s been held over our heads. If I have to prove I’m a winning ballplayer after five years here, that’s absurd.

“The situation has made things uneasy. . . . We have had a lot of distractions, but we have been able to overcome them. It says a lot about the guys that did that. I’m proud to be on the same team with them.”