Angels : Devon White Wants Some Incentives for 1988

Although Angel General Manager Mike Port hasn’t completed all the necessary paperwork, it appears certain that Devon White, along with Wally Joyner, will have his contract renewed for the 1988 season.

And for White, this is nothing new--an annual rite of spring that he regards as wrong.

“They renewed me last year, too,” said White, who earned $70,000 while batting .263 with 24 home runs and 87 RBIs during his rookie season. “So far, negotiating contracts hasn’t been much fun at all.”

According to sources, the Angels’ best offer to White for this season was $170,000--about $30,000 less than the base salary White is seeking. White said he is looking for an agreement “somewhere between Kevin Seitzer and Mike Greenwell, with some kind of incentives.”

Seitzer, who batted .323 with 18 home runs and 83 RBIs as a rookie, recently signed with Kansas City for $175,000. Greenwell (.328, 19 home runs, 89 RBIs) will reportedly receive $205,000, plus incentives, from the Boston Red Sox this season.

The Angels had based their strategy with White around the agreement they reached with Joyner after his rookie season. Last spring, Port signed Joyner for a base salary of $165,000--plus incentives that brought his final 1987 paycheck to $180,000.

With White, however, the Angels have offered no incentive clauses. And that remains the reason for the stalemate between team and outfielder.

“They’re comparing me with someone on my team who is not an outfielder, basing that on what he made last year,” White said. “If they’re going to do that, I feel they should at least include some incentives. He (Port) gave that other player incentives.

“That was a totally different year, too. He has got to put me in the class of last year. He should compare me with the top (rookies) of 1987.”

Such as Greenwell.

“The first deal I heard about was Greenwell,” White said. “He led the way. He finished fourth in the rookie-of-the-year voting, and I was fifth. I thought everything was going to be fine. But it just didn’t work out that way.”

And now, White is faced with the prospect of having his contract renewed by Port for another season. That’ll make him 2 for 2--not the kind of streak he was hoping for.

“Hopefully, my day will come,” White said. “But he (Port) has the upper hand now.”

Angel Notes

The Angels opened their 30-game exhibition season Friday with a 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres. Starter Mike Witt earned the victory, pitching 3 innings and allowing 1 run, a solo home run to Tony Gwynn. Frank DiMichele (2 innings, 1 hit), DeWayne Buice (3 innings, 3 runs, 3 hits) and Ray Krawczyk (1 inning, 2 hits, 1 run) also pitched for the Angels. . . . Mark McLemore batted leadoff and reached base safely four times--singling twice and walking twice. He also scored three runs and drove in another with an infield out. “That was a nice day for McLemore,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “And you know what I liked most about it? Both times he walked, he went up there like he was determined to get a hit and had to accept the walk. He went up there aggressive. Too many times last year, he went to bat looking for bases on balls.” One of Mauch’s dreams this spring is to have McLemore reach base often enough--”about 38% or 39% of the time”--to earn the full-time leadoff assignment. “One game ain’t gonna do it, but with his speed, that would be ideal,” Mauch said. . . . McLemore scored the game’s first run in the first inning when Chili Davis tripled down the left-field line in his first Angel at-bat. Davis also doubled and singled, scoring two runs. . . . Wally Joyner’s first two at-bats were quick ones. Both times he swung at the first pitch, both times he produced RBI singles. . . . Mark Ryal owned the dubious distinction of being thrown out on the basepaths in both the A and B games. In a 1-0 Angel loss in the B game, Ryal was thrown out at home plate in the first inning, and in the A game, he was also erased in the first inning while attempting to stretch a single into a double. . . . Kirk McCaskill, Vance Lovelace and Greg Minton are scheduled to pitch for the Angels against the Padres today.