Port Empties Pockets With Boldest Move

You pay 16 mil and what do you get?

Mark Langston on the mound, but you shouldn’t stop yet.

The Angels looked back in time and far into the ‘90s all at once Friday afternoon as they completed what easily ranks as the boldest move of the Mike Port era. Hello, Mark Langston. Halo Mark Langston. Sixteen million buys a lot of fastballs these days.

This is how the Angels used to do it. This was the Buzzie Bavasi buzz-saw approach to baseball--annual shoot-outs at high noon with George Steinbrenner for the biggest free agents in the land.

That it failed more often than it worked is a lesson that had altered the course of Angel history during the past decade. Memories of Bill Travers and John D’Acquisto die hard, and once they added Reggie Jackson to the payroll in 1982, the Angels sought safe asylum from the free-agent wars.

We would build from within, the Port credo read.

We would hazard no risk.

We would be cheap.

After tentatively testing the waters last winter and getting the chill from Nolan Ryan and Bruce Hurst, the Angels finally decided to damn the torpedoes Friday. More than just taking the plunge, the Angels went in cannonball style.

No one gets five-year contracts anymore?

No one makes more than Rickey Henderson?

They do now.

Time out should be taken to commend Port and Gene Autry for doing the right thing. Considering that the Oakland Athletics still reside in the American League West, it was really the only thing. At least now, the Angels can say they have a fighting chance.

Just don’t let them say they’re done.

At the moment, the Angels still lack anyone approaching the offensive talents of Jose Canseco. Or Rickey Henderson. Or Mark McGwire. Or Carney Lansford.

No one currently wearing a halo is going to contend for a batting championship any time soon. No one is applying for admission into any 40-40 club.

The Angels don’t even have a leadoff hitter.

Steps remain to be taken before thoughts of catching the A’s can be undertaken. Langston was an important one, but let it only be the first one.

Is there any money left for Robin Yount?

As long as the Angels are in the mood, a second strike is in order. Yount, baseball’s next $3-million man, is presently renegotiating with his present employers, the Milwaukee Brewers. Reportedly, Brewer General Manager Harry Dalton recently asked Yount what it would take to re-sign him.

Reportedly, Yount replied, “Sign Mark Langston.”

If Yount still wants to share clubhouse space with Langston, he knows where to look.

If not, the Angels, at last, have some bargaining power at the trade table. They have a surplus of designated hitters (Brian Downing and Chili Davis), a surplus of second basemen (Johnny Ray and Mark McLemore) and, now, a surplus of starting pitching.

A package for Joe Carter or Vince Coleman or Eric Davis or Danny Tartabull is no longer out of the question.

The new question is: Which starting pitcher to trade? Mike Witt is the obvious choice, but his dreadful 1989 numbers (9-15, 4.54) have diminished his market value. The Angels’ best hope is finding a buyer willing to take a flyer on a still-young (29) former ace who won 16 games as recently as 1987.

With old right-hander Bert Blyleven and young left-handers Chuck Finley and Jim Abbott entrenched in the rotation, Kirk McCaskill’s name might start making the rounds. Getting by more on finesse than power since his 1987 and 1988 arm problems, McCaskill’s 15-10 record last season reopened some eyes. Kansas City, among others, is said to have a keen interest.

The Angels can also use some help in the bullpen, and there’s the Lance Parrish matter to attend to, so if Port is truly intent on closing the gap in the AL West, his work has really just started.

But Langston is some first domino. He was the one everybody in Nashville was waiting to see drop, the action that had to be taken before 25 other teams could react.

Now, the games may begin.

And who would have cast the Angels as trend-setters, as catalysts? Finally, for the first time under Port, the safety of the sidelines has been abandoned for a spot in the front line.

Finally, the Big A stands for aggressive.