Angel Forecast Is Chili Again : Baseball: California gets free agent Davis to return as designated hitter after Twins’ offer comes in low.

Chili Davis isn’t the final piece of the Angels’ puzzle, but he is coming back to help put the puzzle together.

Davis, who spent four seasons with the Angels before signing with the Minnesota Twins as a free agent, agreed Friday to a one-year Angel contract with a one-year option. His 1993 base salary will be $1.75 million, with incentives of up to $650,000.

If the Angels decide not to keep him in 1994 they must pay him $500,000; if they retain him, he will get his 1993 earnings (salary plus whatever incentives he reaches), plus a chance to earn another $650,000 in incentives. His potential 1994 earnings could reach $3.05 million.

The Twins offered him a contract worth $750,000 plus incentives for 1993, which he found easy to reject in favor of returning to Anaheim.

“This is not what I expected, but I didn’t expect the Twins to come in with the offer they did,” Davis said by phone Friday from his Arizona home. “I didn’t expect them to be real high, but not that low.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Whitey (Herzog, the Angels’ senior vice president for player personnel), and some good things can happen there if they allow him to do them. Hopefully, I can be part of that.

“I should say ‘thank you’ to the Angels in two ways: for letting me go, because I got a World (Series) championship ring, and for bringing me back.”

Davis, 33 next month, was a key player in the Twins’ 1991 title run. He batted .277 with 29 home runs and 93 runs batted in, matching his personal best and easily outdistancing his 1990 Angel totals of 12 homers and 58 RBIs.

But while his batting average rose to .288 in 1992, his production fell to 12 homers and 66 RBIs. Davis, who is expected to be the designated hitter almost exclusively for the Angels, couldn’t explain the decline. He said he had no recurrence of the back problems that have plagued him.

“I hit the ball well all year. I just didn’t get it in the air as much as the year before,” he said. “I’m not going to try to hit home runs. I’m not predicting anything, but I could start hitting everything over the fence next season. You never know.”

The Angels know they need significant production from Davis and from third baseman Kelly Gruber, acquired last week in a trade for Luis Sojo, to rise from the bottom of the AL West. They sought Davis after failing to sign Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor, who signed as a free agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“I have no trepidation about anything concerning Chili Davis,” said Dan O’Brien, the Angels’ senior vice president for baseball operations. “We were sorry he left, and we’re happy to have him back. He’s a switch-hitting DH, and that’s an advantage to us that he swings from the left side, because that’s something we’re short on.”

The incentives, O’Brien said, “are not something I normally do, but in light of what was presented to us, we worked with them to get it done.”

Davis, who averaged 21 homers and 91 RBIs for the Angels in 1988 and 1989, has only a few regrets about returning.

“I’m kind of disappointed seeing guys like Jim Abbott and Bryan Harvey leave,” he said. “They had a strong nucleus of a pitching staff to build on, and I thought they were going that way. But they still have Chuck Finley, Mark Langston, Julio Valera and Joe Grahe.

“Since leaving the Angels, like when I left the Giants (as a free agent after the 1987 season), I’ve learned what it takes to win. One thing I learned in Minnesota is you can’t win (with) players not being together. It takes a team effort. If you go through highs and lows, you have to do it as a team. I learned a lot from going over there, and I’m glad to come back, even though I didn’t expect it.

“The last two years I played against the Angels, especially last year, I saw a great improvement in Gary DiSarcina from when I knew him with the Angels. And Damion Easley is definitely a very good prospect.

“The main reason they’re getting Kelly Gruber and myself . . . is I think they want people with a winning attitude so something rubs off on those kids.”

To make room for Davis on their roster, the Angels designated first baseman J.R. Phillips for assignment. Phillips batted .237 for the Angels’ double-A Midland farm team in 1992 with 14 home runs and 77 RBIs.

Chili Davis’ Career Statistics

REGULAR SEASON

Year, Team AB R H HR RBI Avg. 1981, SF 15 1 2 0 0 .133 1982, SF 641 86 167 19 76 .261 1983, SF 486 54 113 11 59 .233 1984, SF 499 87 157 21 81 .315 1985, SF 481 53 130 13 56 .270 1986, SF 526 71 146 13 70 .278 1987, SF 500 80 125 24 76 .250 1988, Cal 600 81 161 21 93 .268 1989, Cal 560 81 152 22 90 .271 1990, Cal 412 58 109 12 58 .265 1991, Min 534 84 148 29 93 .277 1992, Min 444 63 128 12 66 .288 Totals 5698 799 1538 197 818 .270

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Year, Team AB R H HR RBI Avg. 1987 vs. StL 20 2 3 0 0 .150 1991 vs. Tor 17 3 5 0 2 .294 Totals 37 5 8 0 2 .216

WORLD SERIES

Year, Team AB R H HR RBI Avg. 1991 vs. Atl 18 4 4 2 4 .222

* STRAWBERRY HURT

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