BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Rodgers Says Trade Might Be Answer

As the Angels begin their final series of the season, Manager Buck Rodgers said that he isn’t expecting a miracle to occur this winter that will solve all of the team’s scoring problems.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s improbable,” he said. “I can see two scenarios I can’t talk about, coming together. Then, taking into consideration Tim Salmon, Damion Easley and Chad Curtis continuing to develop . . . it’s not impossible, but improbable, especially one of the scenarios. That’s not the free agent market. This (scenario) is a deal. One guy is not going to do it.”

He also said that despite a lull in contract talks with pitcher Jim Abbott: “I think the organization wants to sign Jim Abbott and keep him here. I hope there’s enough give and take on both sides that it can be accomplished.”

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Easley, hit on the right arm by a pitch Thursday, was available to play Friday but did not start. . . . If it were up to him, Rodgers said he would put outfielder Junior Felix on the club’s 15-man protected list for the Nov. 17 expansion draft. Most observers expect the Angels to make their team RBI leader available. “I personally believe Junior Felix has had a hell of a year for a first year in center field. From what I’ve seen, he’s played hard from start to finish,” Rodgers said.

Left-hander Hilly Hathaway, who will make his first major league start today, is worried about being rusty because he has not pitched since he gave up three runs to Oakland during a relief inning Sept. 8. “It’s been so long since then, and I’d kind of like to forget about that inning anyway,” he said. And the prospect of facing Jose Canseco and Juan Gonzalez? “I don’t even want to think about it. They know I’m a rookie,” he said. “I’ll just go out there and throw the ball and do what I’ve been doing my whole life.”