Schofield Is Shipped to the Mets

Having fulfilled their promise to trade Dick Schofield if he wasn’t their starting shortstop this season, the Angels now hope right-hander Julio Valera will fulfill the promise he showed in the New York Mets’ farm system.

Besides honoring their word to Schofield, who was supplanted by rookie Gary DiSarcina, the Angels fortified their depleted pitching staff Sunday when they traded Schofield for Valera. The deal was prompted by Chuck Finley’s toe injury, which will put him on the disabled list today retroactive to April 6, and Scott Bailes’ disabling hip pointer. The Angels will also receive a player to be named.

“The fact is we needed a pitcher and we didn’t feel we had one of that quality,” said Whitey Herzog, the Angels’ senior vice president for player personnel.

Schofield was the senior Angel, with eight years, 25 days’ service to start the season. That distinction is inherited by Finley, who began the season with five years, 134 days’ service.

“It’s a clean slate now, so they can go up and on from here, “ Schofield said of his departure, which follows the exits of longtime Angels Wally Joyner and Kirk McCaskill. “I think they’re going to do well. Maybe not this year, but they’ve got a lot of young players who are going to do well.”

Schofield had been frequently mentioned in trade rumors, but he gave them no credence until he was told of the deal Sunday.

“It’s kind of a surprise, really. I’ve been hearing things since December, but when (Senior Vice President) Dan O’Brien called this morning and told me, I said, ‘This can’t be happening,’ ” said Schofield, who batted .232 in 1,061 games with the Angels. “I was hearing all these rumors, but when they called me, it was reality, it was ‘Wow, my days with the Angels are over.’ . . .

“I was a little disappointed not to be playing, and I kind of had the feeling from Day 1 they were going in a different direction . . . I think this is going to be great and it’s going to work out the best for all of us.”

The deal concluded discussions that began in early spring and halted when the Mets tried to get by with Kevin Elster at short. They soon determined that Elster, who underwent shoulder surgery in September, 1990, and started only 98 games last season, couldn’t throw well enough to play everyday. That compelled them, however reluctantly, to deal Valera for Schofield.

“He’s a fine shortstop, but this was a trade I would have liked to forestall,” Met General Manager Al Harazin said. “The staff felt we couldn’t wait any longer for Elster’s arm strength to improve.”

Nor could the Angels wait much longer, if they were to get a respectable return.

“The fact was that the longer Schofield (sat), the less his value was going to be,” Manager Buck Rodgers said. “We saw his value deteriorate and deteriorate during the winter and all spring, and it wasn’t going to get any better. We felt this (deal) was the best of the ones we could get. We needed a starting pitcher, that’s obvious.”

Valera was to meet the Angels today in Arlington, Tex., where they open a 10-game road trip. Rodgers planned to watch Valera throw today and probably will designate Valera as Wednesday’s starter against the Rangers.

Valera, 23, was 10-10 as a starter with triple-A Tidewater last season. The 6-3, 215-pound Puerto Rico native was 1-0 with triple-A Tidewater this season and 1-1 in two stints with the Mets in 1990 and 1991. Highly regarded by former Manager Bud Harrelson, who gave him three starts during the Mets’ NL East title run in 1990, Valera fell out of favor last season. He made only two appearances, both in relief during a seven-day promotion last June.

Although Herzog said he had never seen Valera pitch, two Angels who faced Valera in 1989--when Valera tied for the Texas League-lead with a 2.49 earned- run average--gave him impressive reviews.

“He’s the type of guy who had a presence and intimidates you when he gets on the mound,” DiSarcina said. “I remember walking back to the dugout after facing him and saying, ‘This guy’s pretty good.’

Said Bobby Rose: “He throws hard and he’s got a real good slider. He’s got good stuff. He pretty much owned us.”

DiSarcina interpreted the trade as a strong vote of confidence in him.

“Before, if they kept Dick around here, in a month or so they might have said, ‘Let’s go with Dick.’ Now, there’s never that doubt that they’ll pull the rug out from under me,” DiSarcina said. “I’m glad to see they moved Dick so he could play. He’s got some good years left.”

Although he never hit as well as Angel scouts and executives predicted, Schofield left with fond memories that outweighed his disappointments.

“The (1986) playoffs were awesome. I’ll never forget that,” he said. “I saw Reggie (Jackson’s) 500th home run, Rodney (Carew’s) 3,000th hit, (Don) Sutton’s 300th win, Mike Witt’s no-hitter . . . stuff like that, I’ll remember. And the guys. My eight years here have just flown by. It’s been fun.”

Schofield’s Angel Statistics

YR TEAM AVG G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI SB 1983 California .204 21 54 11 2 0 3 4 0 1984 California .193 140 400 77 10 3 4 21 5 1985 California .219 147 438 96 19 3 8 41 11 1986 California .249 139 458 114 17 6 13 57 23 1987 California .251 134 479 120 17 3 9 46 19 1988 California .239 155 527 126 11 6 6 34 20 1989 California .228 91 302 69 11 2 4 26 9 1990 California .255 99 310 79 8 1 1 18 3 1991 California .225 134 427 96 9 3 0 31 8 1992 California .333 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0

YR AVG G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI SB 10 Seasons .232 1,061 3,398 789 104 27 48 278 98