Angels Give Up on Stevens : Baseball: First baseman, who couldn’t handle the pressure of replacing Joyner, is traded to Expos for a minor leaguer.

Angel first baseman Lee Stevens, haunted by the ghost of Wally Joyner, was traded Friday to the Montreal Expos for minor league pitcher Jeff Tuss.

“I think it was the best thing that could have happened to my career,” said Stevens, who batted .221 with seven home runs and 37 runs batted in last season. “It just seemed like everything that could go bad, did go bad. There were a number of factors that went against me, but that one thing never went away. I was never able to handle the pressure of replacing Wally Joyner.

“I let it bother me from the start, and it just snowballed.”

When Joyner signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Royals after the 1991 season, the Angels believed that Stevens, given the chance to play his first full major league season, would be an adequate replacement. They gave up that hope by midseason, and in September, it became clear he no longer fit into the organization’s plans.

“He just put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said, “and he made the problem much bigger than anyone thought. Wally Joyner had to come in and fill Rod Carew’s shoes, and to me, that’s much more pressure than having someone replace Wally Joyner.

“But Lee put a lot more pressure on himself than was necessary.”

The Angels, who also wonder if Stevens, 25, can ever make the adjustment to major league pitching, made every attempt to trade him once they acquired first baseman J.T. Snow and two pitchers from the New York Yankees for pitcher Jim Abbott at the winter meetings.

It also became clear that few other teams had interest in Stevens until the Expos decided they could use his left-handed bat off the bench. Stevens will back up first baseman Greg Colbrunn.

In return, all the Expos had to surrender was Tuss, who has spent four full seasons in the minor leagues without advancing past the Class-A Florida State League. Tuss, 2-3 with a 3.43 earned-run average at West Palm Beach, will be assigned to the Angels’ Triple-A Vancouver team.

“I figured they were going to have to play (Snow) no matter what I did,” Stevens said. “I mean, you just don’t make a trade like that and have the guy sitting.

“There’s going to be even more added pressure on him now because of Jim Abbott. But he’s still going to have to put up big numbers just to replace Wally. I don’t think it’s fair, but it’s the simple fact.”

The Angels also signed former Dodger outfielder Stan Javier to a minor league contract Friday that will pay him $600,000 plus incentives, and agreed to terms on a one-year, $525,000 contract with reliever Steve Frey, avoiding arbitration.

“I’m very excited about going to the Angels,” said Javier, 29, who is projected to be their fourth outfielder. “It’s a great organization, and now I’ll be with one of my best friends, Luis Polonia.

“I know it’s a young team, but I consider myself a young veteran.”

Said Rodgers: “I think he’ll be a big help to us off the bench, pinch-running and pinch-hitting. He’ll make some contributions, and will be great insurance if somebody gets hurt.”

Javier, who batted .249 with the Dodgers and Philadelphia last season, also was being courted by the Cleveland Indians and the Florida Marlins.