Mauch Wavered, So Autry Decided to Hire Rader

Owner Gene Autry said that he probably would have rehired Gene Mauch as Angel manager had Mauch not wavered recently when questioned about returning to the team.

Instead, the Angels eventually chose former Texas Rangers Manager Doug Rader to replace Cookie Rojas. Rojas was given the job last spring when Mauch, citing health and personal reasons, surprised Angel management by retiring.

Autry said: “Quite frankly, I talked to Gene. I asked him point blank, ‘How do you feel about coming back?’ He said, ‘There’s days I say yes, I’d like to. Then there’s days I’d like to take a couple of seasons off and play golf.’ ”

Autry called Mauch “a fine man, a great guy,” but he expressed reservations about Mauch’s desire to return. “I couldn’t make up my mind if he wanted to come back or not,” he said. “When you have somebody who’s on the fringe like that, who knows?--the same thing might happen like last year. I was not quite sure. I don’t think (Angel General Manager) Mike Port was, either.”

Asked if Autry would have rehired Mauch had the commitment been evident, Autry said, “I probably would have, yes.”

As for the negotiations with free-agent pitcher Nolan Ryan, Autry said he hopes to have a contract signed before Thanksgiving, an unlikely scenario after Friday’s talks. Dick Moss, Ryan’s agent, said they were not close.

Of the reported 1-year, $1.5-million guaranteed contract the Angels have offered Ryan, Moss said, “That’s not the offer that’s going to bring Nolan Ryan back to the Angels.”

The Angels and Moss are scheduled to talk again Monday. Meanwhile, Autry said that if Ryan doesn’t re-sign with the Houston Astros, he thinks that a return to the Angels would appeal to the future Hall of Fame pitcher.

“If (Ryan) goes anywhere else, I think we have a good chance of bringing him back to Anaheim,” Autry said.