Yankees Get Abbott for Minor Leaguers : Baseball: The Angels obtain a first baseman, a starting pitcher and a reliever. Herzog seeks Molitor.

In a move that confirmed the ascendance of business over sentiment in baseball, the Angels on Sunday traded Jim Abbott, their most popular and recognizable player, because they couldn’t sign him to a long-term contract.

Abbott, 25, was traded to the New York Yankees for first baseman J.T. Snow--the son of former Ram standout Jack Snow--right-hander Russ Springer and left-handed reliever Jerry Nielsen. The teams had spoken repeatedly since early September, but moved closer to a deal after Abbott rejected the Angels’ offer of a four-year, $16-million contract and the Angels rejected his four-year, $19-million proposal. They also spurned his suggested $17.5-million compromise and became intent on trading him while his value was at its peak.

Although Abbott was 7-15 last season, his 2.77 earned-run average ranked among the best in the American League for the second successive season. And with four years’ major league service, he is two years away from being eligible for free agency, when his salary probably will be more than twice the $1.85 million he earned last season.

The Angels are trying to drastically trim a payroll that exceeded $35 million last season. Snow, Springer and Nielsen, who have little major league experience, won’t earn much more than the major league minimum of $109,000.

Whitey Herzog, Angel senior vice president, completed the trade after listening to late bids from the Chicago White Sox and Montreal Expos he said “didn’t measure up” to the Yankees’ proposal.

The Yankees, with a productive minor-league system, were able to fulfill the Angels’ needs for a first baseman, a starting pitcher--Springer--to replace Abbott and a left-hander for the bullpen. Before announcing the trade at a news conference, Herzog received the reluctant endorsement of team owner Gene Autry, who doted on Abbott.

“It’s very tough to give up a guy like Jim Abbott. We made what we felt was a very, very good offer . . . more than any four-year pitcher had ever been offered,” Herzog said.

“It boiled down tonight to waiting for the cowboy (Autry) to come in. He thought a lot of Jim Abbott, and so do I. But this is something we felt we had to do, and we still have to do more.”

Herzog has already made an attempt to beef up the Angels’ feeble offense by offering a contract to free agent Paul Molitor. The Angels’ offer is believed to be for two years for nearly $7 million. The Toronto Blue Jays are also pursuing Molitor, a career .301 hitter who is 36 but has increased his batting average 11 points in the last five years. Molitor probably would be the Angels’ designated hitter, although he could occasionally play first base.

Abbott, who is married to an Orange County native and lives in Newport Beach, has said he wanted to remain with the Angels. He could not be reached for comment Sunday, but his teammates expressed disappointment over losing the player they voted co-winner of the team’s most valuable player award in 1991. Abbott shared that honor with Bryan Harvey, whom the Angels lost in the expansion draft.

“It’s sad that this has come to be such a business that we have to trade Jim Abbott,” pitcher Bert Blyleven said. “I think when you lose a pitcher the caliber of a Jim Abbott, you’re saddened by the trade. But we as players knew going into the winter meetings, the Angels were going to trade Jim Abbott because they couldn’t sign him.”

Said catcher John Orton: “He’s going to be sorely missed. He’s one of our main men as a starter. Losing Harv and now him, that’s tough.”

Snow, who grew up in Long Beach and lives in Seal Beach, has been preparing for the pressure he will face in replacing Abbott.

“At first, when I started hearing the rumors, I said, ‘If I come over for Abbott, I’d expect a lot out of me, and if they don’t get what they’re looking for, they’re going to be unhappy,’ ” said Snow, a switch-hitter who led the International League with a .313 batting average for triple-A Columbus last season. He hit 15 home runs and drove in 78 runs in addition to leading the league in fielding with a .995 percentage.

“But as a player, that’s out of your control,” Snow added. “That’s a management thing. The best thing I can do is go out and play hard and make the Angels a winner.”

Snow welcomed the trade because it not only rescued him from the near-oblivion of playing behind Don Mattingly, it also puts him in the uniform of the team he followed as a youngster.

“This is kind of like a dream come true,” said Snow, who batted .143 for the Yankees in seven September games. “I think this is a good situation for me because I came up through the Yankee minor league system, and all along people kept asking me, ‘What are you going to do about Mattingly?’ I said I’d face it when the time comes. He’s the Yankees’ guy. He’s been there for 10 years and he’ll probably be there for five more and be in the Hall of Fame. . . . This was a good opportunity for me.”

Springer, 24, was 8-5 with a 2.69 ERA in 20 starts with Columbus. He will join Chuck Finley, Mark Langston and Julio Valera in the Angels’ starting rotation. Manager Buck Rodgers said the team is still seeking a fifth starter and will consider Bert Blyleven and John Farrell--who is recovering from rotator cuff surgery--for the job.

Rodgers also said that he is pleased with the Angels’ new acquisitions, although he regrets losing Abbott.

“I don’t know any of these guys, but our scouts said we got plenty in this deal,” Rodgers said. “People I respect in baseball said we got some of the best players available.”

Nielsen, 26, was 3-5 with 11 saves and a 1.19 ERA for double-A Albany-Colonie and 1-0 with a 4.58 ERA in 20 games with Columbus.

“We tried to stay away a little bit from (giving up) Nielsen because we knew we needed middle-inning left-handed pitching, but Whitey wanted him,” Yankee General Manager Gene Michael said. “We knew we had to give up good players to get a pitcher like Jim Abbott. We knew we couldn’t get him for nothing. J.T. Snow is a good one. He’ll be a solid first baseman for years.

“We gave up three good players I think are going to play a lot. Jim Abbott is an attraction for us and he can help our staff just as much as anybody we could make a deal for.”

Said Herzog: “The bottom line is basically, we weren’t able to sign him. We didn’t feel we’d be able to up the (contract) offer and the longer we waited, the less we’d get.

“This is my deal. I take full responsibility. I think we got three people that can help us in three different areas. J.T. Snow can be our first baseman for a long time and Russ Springer can start and Nielsen can be our left-hander in the bullpen. We’ve got to get another hitter or two in the lineup, and we’re not done yet.”

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