Angel Youth Movement: Wilfong, Narron Gone

The Angel youth movement was shoved along Monday when the club released veterans Rob Wilfong and Jerry Narron, sent Stewart Cliburn to Edmonton and replaced all three with rookies.

Wilfong, 33, spent 4 1/2 seasons as a utility infielder with the Angels, batting .229. He had been expected to provide insurance behind rookie second baseman Mark McLemore, but strong springs by McLemore, who hit .301, and Gus Polidor, .275, prompted the Angels to change that thinking. At the same time, Wilfong hit .095 damaging his cause. Polidor, 25, will be the backup infielder.

Narron, 31, was the No. 2 catcher behind Bob Boone the last three seasons but slipped to No. 3 after the Angels acquired Butch Wynegar and Darrell Miller ended spring training with a .415 average. Narron was hoping to catch on as the second left-handed pinch-hitter behind Ruppert Jones but batted just .200 in exhibition games. That role will be filled by rookie Mark Ryal, 26.

Cliburn, 30, missed all of 1986 with a shoulder injury and was bothered by elbow tendinitis in spring training, pitching just eight innings. In 1985, he went 9-2 with a 2.09 earned-run average as Donnie Moore’s set-up man, a role that will be shared by rookies Willie Fraser and Mike Cook.

Cliburn and Gary Lucas, another reliever beset by spring arm problems, each pitched a scoreless inning in Sunday’s Freeway Series finale. Some considered it a pitch-off. But Lucas is a left-hander and that worked to his advantage.

“After (Sunday), Stewart Cliburn was looking more like the Stewart Cliburn of 1985,” Angel General Manager Mike Port said. “But he only had eight innings or so of work. We want him to go to Edmonton and get some innings in.”

As Cliburn cleaned out his locker after an afternoon workout at Anaheim Stadium, the scene was similar to that after the final game of the 1986 Freeway Series, when Port gave Cliburn the word he was bound for Edmonton.

“It was tougher last year,” Cliburn said. “Then, I wasn’t expecting it. This year, I had more of an idea because of the lack of work.

“It’s a tough business. They went with the 10 best pitchers that they thought they had. But I felt I was close. (Sunday) was the best velocity and best location I had all spring.

“Maybe it’s just a matter of going down and getting in some two- and three-inning stints instead of just one at a time. I’ll go down and get ready. I’ll be back, hopefully.”

The Angels also optioned pitchers DeWayne Buice, Vern Ruhle, Todd Fischer, Ray Chadwick and Sherman Corbett and catcher Jack Fimple to Edmonton.

The team’s final 24-man roster includes six rookies--McLemore, Polidor, Fraser, Cook, Ryal and Devon White--and eight others with three years’ or less experience in the big leagues.