McCaskill or Witt? One Is Out : Angels: Team has bait to trade for offense, but one veteran starting pitcher probably will go.

If Kirk McCaskill wins, he loses. So does Mike Witt. As much as each would rejoice if he isn’t traded, each would be genuinely sorry to see the other go. And one of the two marketable right-handers is likely to be dealt in any move the Angels make to fortify their offense.

Their names were frequently mentioned in deals that never took place during the winter, but the opening of training camp has brought the reopening of trade talks. With pitching an especially valuable commodity this spring--and rosters expanded from 24 to 27 until the end of April--they could get a reprieve, at least for a while. Inevitably, though, six starters will be one too many, and either McCaskill or Witt will have to leave his family and the new house he just bought.

“We talked about it once,” McCaskill said. “Mike and I are good friends. I don’t want to go and I wouldn’t want to see Mike get traded, either. Mike’s helped me a lot in my career.”

Still, McCaskill knows both aren’t likely to stay.

“It wouldn’t be fair,” said McCaskill, 29 next month and almost a year younger than Witt. “I don’t think either one of us is a reliever . . . Obviously, I want to stay with this team for a number of reasons. I’ve spent my whole career with the Angels, and I’ve established roots in the community. This is a good club, with a good chance to win.”

Witt led the Angels in victories for five consecutive seasons before falling to 9-15 in 1989. A Fullerton native, he was the first Angel to pitch more than 200 innings in six consecutive seasons, and he allowed only 26 walks, third in the American league behind Doyle Alexander and Charlie Hough.

Free-agent signings of Mark Langston and Mike Smithson and the acquisition of Scott Bailes loosened Witt’s hold on a starting spot. Left-handers Langston and Chuck Finley will be starters, as will veteran Bert Blyleven and 22-year-old Jim Abbott, who was 12-12 as a rookie last season. Smithson is slotted for long relief and occasional starts.

McCaskill is coming off a season that in many ways was his best. He was 15-10 with a 2.93 earned-run average and four shutouts, which tied him for second in the American League.

McCaskill has relieved only three times in 133 games, most recently in 1987 after elbow surgery. Witt hasn’t appeared in relief since 1983, but he split that season between the bullpen and the starting rotation. He was 3-3 in relief with five saves and a 3.48 ERA.

Like McCaskill, Witt has heard trade rumors, and he has steeled himself to ignore them and concentrate on preparing for the season.

“I know what the reality is and what the numbers are,” he said Wednesday. “All I can do is get in shape and prepare to do my job, wherever it may be. I just can’t worry about it and I don’t. If that’s what they end up doing, I’ll take it as it comes . . .

“If the time comes, I’m sure I’ll sit and think about everything that’s happened in the last nine years. But I haven’t had the opportunity or the inclination to think about it.”

Manager Doug Rader had intended to start the season with 11 pitchers, but he will instead keep 12 or 13 because starters may last only a few innings for several outings. He considers his abundance of starters a gift that gives him room to maneuver.

“Look at the Oakland A’s. What made them successful was the flexibility of their pitching staff because their pitchers were interchangeable,” he said. “Look at the (Super Bowl champion) San Francisco 49ers. They had two top-flight quarterbacks. I know it’s a difficult situation for them to be in, but from my standpoint, I have to direct myself toward winning . . .

“Who’s to say Mike Witt is not going to be a starter? It looks cut-and-dried right now, but it’s not. We have at least six healthy major league starters available, and we need to figure out how to best utilize their talents instead of pigeonholing them.”

McCaskill hopes he’s not trade bait.

“It’s hard to differentiate to what extent the Angels are trying to trade me and to what extent other clubs are asking about me,” he said. “(Angel officials) don’t come up to me and say, ‘We’re trying to trade you.’ I talked to (pitching coach) Marcel Lachemann about it because I just wanted to let him know I’m preparing to be part of this staff, and I’m going about my business, and I want to be part of this team . . .

“To be honest, I don’t think they should trade me. I think I can help this team by winning ballgames. But it’s not in my hands. I can’t control it.”

Angel Notes

Five of the six players who missed Tuesday’s opening workout reported Wednesday, leaving only non-roster invitee Tony Armas still out of camp. Angel officials said they had not heard from Armas, who spends the off-season in Venezuela, but assumed that he had experienced travel problems. . . . Chuck Finley worked out for the first time Wednesday. He had been in New Orleans and didn’t find out the lockout had ended until Monday. “It was St. Patrick’s Day,” he explained. “So I didn’t find out until late, and then I didn’t know they were working out (Tuesday.)” St. Patrick’s Day was Saturday.

The Angels have added two split-squad games and one B-squad game and may add another B-squad game in Palm Springs. That will give them 11 exhibition games. . . . Kirk McCaskill objected to a rule change that allows starting pitchers to earn a victory with three innings instead of five during the season’s first weeks. “It means you can’t compare stats from this season to other seasons,” he said. “And reality says that if you’re breezing in the third, they’re going to leave you in for the fourth and fifth.”

Manager Doug Rader objects to scheduling doubleheaders to make up games postponed because the season opens late. “I personally think a shortened season would be appropriate,” he said. “Doubleheaders at the end of the season are potentially very dangerous (because of fatigue) . . . And postseason play drags on so long after the season, I’d hate to see it go even longer.”