Angels Raise Offer to Ryan, Say They Won’t Be Outbid

The Angels increased their offer to Nolan Ryan Monday and informed the agents for Ryan and another free-agent pitcher, Bruce Hurst, that they will not be outbid.

“They understand that it is not our intention to lose either player by financial shortfall,” General Manager Mike Port said of Dick Moss, who represents Ryan, and Nick Lampros, who represents Hurst.

“There may be other factors, but we will not be outbid. The only way we will be outbid is if a club comes in at a figure so high as to make it unrealistic to stay in the competition.”

Port said that he has yet to change the Angels’ 3-year, $4.9-million offer to Hurst, but that he presented Ryan’s representative with two variations of a new offer Monday.

Both, according to sources, raised the Angels’ guarantee from $1.5 million to $1.8 million, excluding incentives that could take the total to $2 million.

“It’s my understanding that we’re in the thick of it with both players,” Port said in the face of reports and rumors to the contrary.

Hurst is believed to be close to deciding between the San Diego Padres, who offered $4.7 million for 3 years, and his own Boston Red Sox, who previously made a 3-year, $5-million offer that they reportedly were on the verge of increasing Monday night.

Ryan, a rancher in Alvin, Tex., apparently has eliminated the Houston Astros, for whom he has played since 1980. But he is thought to prefer the proximity of the Texas Rangers over a move back to Anaheim or to San Francisco, whose Giants have joined the bidding.

The Rangers previously offered $1.2 million, but they also came in with a new offer Monday, matching the Angels’ $1.8-million guarantee with a proposal that calls for $1.4 million in 1989 and $1.6 million with a $400,000 buyout in 1990.

The Astros, meanwhile, have not budged from a guaranteed offer of $1.15 million and reportedly angered Ryan by deciding that they would not offer him arbitration, meaning he has to accept their contract proposal by Wednesday or he can’t re-sign with them until May 1.