Disheartened Downing Wants to Talk to Rader : Angels: Designated hitter says he won’t file for free agency until he and the manager discuss the situation.

Brian Downing said Wednesday he will postpone filing for free agency until he speaks to Angel Manager Doug Rader, but added that he will file before the Sunday deadline if he hears “the same garbage” he heard last week from club executives.

Downing, who hit .273 in his club-record 13th season after playing sparingly until July, was told last week the Angels won’t go to arbitration with him. He called a return in 1991 “possible but remote” and wants to be sure all possibilities have been exhausted before he severs ties with a team for which he holds career records in nine offensive categories.

Rader has been on a Latin American scouting trip and is expected back at his Florida home this weekend. Downing said he plans to talk to him by phone Saturday.

“Through my years of seeing guys disappear, I’ve heard the theme, ‘If they’d just talked to (the manager), he wouldn’t have had to leave,’ ” said Downing, who hit .371 (49 for 132) from June 24 to Aug. 17, when he peaked at .303. “Before I run off and sign somewhere else, I want to talk to Doug so he doesn’t end up saying, ‘He should have talked to me.’

“I’m looked upon by them as a last resort, and that’s not right. It’s their loss. Somebody’s going to get a hell of a big league player. I know I’ve said I never could play for somebody else, but they dumped me. It hurts like heck. This is my home and always has been. I’m going to have to move away and leave my family behind. But I’ve always been a fighter. That’s what’s kept me in the big leagues 18 years.”

Downing, who earned $1.25 million last season, has been plagued by a back muscle problem the past three seasons and considered retirement when he was unable to find a remedy. But since beginning a thrice-weekly treatment program supervised by physical therapist Valerie Sinkus of Whittier, Downing says he has experienced remarkable improvement and is optimistic about regaining his old form at age 40.

“I have very little doubt that I’m not going to be 100%. That alone has taken 10 years off my life and puts me back at 30,” said Downing, who visited Sinkus after being referred by a friend of his wife, Cheryl. “It’s going to be rough because it’s been three years of constant tearing and damage. I did have (Sinkus) write me a letter--I figure I’d need one when I go begging in the streets--that states that I will be 100% in time. Tomorrow might be my last treatment, or it might take a month.”

Sinkus said Downing has a muscle imbalance and a restriction of motion in the fascia, the thick, fibrous layer of tissue that separates muscle tissue, in his right lower back. She said Downing has responded “real well” to micro-current therapy designed to stimulate his muscles and restore muscle balance.

Moving on will be difficult for Downing, but his agent, Tom Reich, expects no difficulty in attracting interest from other clubs if Downing files for free agency.

“As Brian has demonstrated when he’s healthy, he’s still one of the toughest outs with the chips on the line in a game,” Reich said. “He’s going to play next season. He feels better than he has in three years. Brian wants to play, and he’s feeling very upbeat about that.”

Downing was optimistic about returning to the Angels until last Thursday. Although he expected to hear them say they would decline to go to arbitration, he said he was hurt to hear them say he was merely a part-time player, and he contends that they limited him to that role.

“I always knew this is a business, but you never think it’s going to happen to you,” said Downing, a .266 career hitter, .272 for the Angels. “I have no second thoughts about anything that’s happened here. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to win somewhere else. . . . At this point, I don’t have any choice any more (except to file for free agency). They dumped me. I would never have left of my own free will.”

Angel Notes

Richard M. Brown assumes the roles of president and chief executive officer of the Angels today. Brown, the club’s legal counsel since 1981, was given those titles Oct. 4 in a restructuring of the Angels’ front office. . . . The Angels released their spring training schedule and will play their first exhibition game against the San Diego Padres in Yuma, Ariz., on March 8.