Bichette Is Marking His Spot With Angels : Baseball: He hopes to put to rest trade rumors by winning a job in outfield with his power and defense.

Dante Bichette heard all the trade rumors this spring of how the Angels were in the market for some right-handed power hitting. He couldn’t understand all the talk.

“I was saying to myself, ‘Hey, here I am,’ ” Bichette said.

And there Bichette was Saturday night, smashing a three-run homer in the 12th inning to give the Angels a 7-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins and, he hopes, put to rest discussion of General Manager Mike Port’s shopping list.

Bichette was a part-time player for a little more than two months last season before being sent back to triple-A Edmonton in June. This year, he has started every game and leads the team with two home runs and six RBIs.

“It looks like I’ll be playing every day until I start screwing up,” Bichette said. “They never came out and told me what my role would be this year, but I’m not going to ask any questions. The team needed a big right-handed hitter, and I think they’re going to let me fill that role.”

As a bonus, the Angels have a right-handed power hitter who happens to possess one of the most powerful arms in the American League.

The Seattle Mariners tried to run on Bichette last week, and the Twins tried to run on him this weekend too.

When are they going to learn?

Bichette, who already had four assists in five games this season, showed again Saturday night that he has an arm that shouldn’t be messed with.

Bichette came up with the defensive play of the game, gunning down Kirby Puckett at the plate in the 10th inning when Puckett attempted to score on Gary Gaetti’s fly ball.

With runners on first and third and no outs, Gaetti lifted a fly to medium right field. Bichette made the catch and fired a one-hop throw to catcher Lance Parrish, who applied the tag to Puckett’s left hip.

After walking Randy Bush intentionally, reliever Greg Minton then struck out Junior Ortiz to end the inning. That kept the Angels even, 4-4.

It was Bichette’s fifth assist and, should he continue at this phenomenal pace, he would finish with 135 this season.

Chances for such a statistic are, of course, remote. And the way Bichette has been throwing out runners these days, he might not get many more chances.

“I imagine somewhere down the line they’ll stop trying to take that extra base on me, and that will help the team,” Bichette said. “And the ones who do try to run, those are the guys I’ll have to gun down.”

Bichette had two assists in the Angels’ 7-4 loss to the Twins Friday night. He had two against the Mariners, including a play in which he doubled Harold Reynolds off first on a fly ball to left.

“If he stays in the lineup, he’s got a legitimate shot at being the first 30-30 outfielder in the major leagues,” Manager Doug Rader said. “I know what you’re thinking--that has been done before. But not 30 home runs and 30 assists.”

The key for Bichette is staying in the lineup, and his bat may have more to say about that than his arm. Last season, Bichette had a great spring and began the year with the Angels before being sent to Edmonton on June 19. He didn’t return to Anaheim until the Angels expanded their roster on Sept. 1.

“I was not ready for the role they put me in last season,” Bichette said. “I had never platooned before, and I couldn’t get into a groove or find any rhythm.”

This season, the Angels have given him a vote of confidence, and Bichette, as Rader expected, has responded.

“You’ve got to give people the benefit of the doubt when they’re a year older, wiser and more experienced,” Rader said. “You need a year to get acclimated, to feel you belong. Confidence is easily lost in your first year, but a year makes a big difference in a man’s development.”