BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Herzog Finds Trade Rumors Humorous

Whitey Herzog, Angel vice president, says he can only laugh at the trade speculation that has been focusing on the club’s starting pitchers, but it has yet to stop the rumors.

Let’s see now, Mark Langston is headed to the Chicago White Sox on one day, Chuck Finley to Toronto the next, Scott Sanderson will be going to San Francisco. . . .

Herzog, who joined the team in Kansas City, steadfastly denies that any starters are on the trading block, particularly since the Angels are in the midst of a division race. But no one seems to be listening. Langston also has an exclusive no-trade clause and said he won’t go anywhere, and Finley has a partial no-trade clause.

“I don’t know if I’m the proverbial untouchable guy or not, but the minute they say you are, you’re gone,” said Finley, who started Monday. “I’ll keep believing that I’m not going anywhere until they say, ‘Can we talk to you.’

“Then I’ll say, ‘No.’ ”

Finley, who signed a four-year, $18.5-million contract in December of 1991, is the highest-paid Angel.

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Angel Manager Buck Rodgers, on how long he plans to keep rookie Hilly Hathaway, who has a 10.80 earned-run average, and Russ Springer, whose ERA is 9.28, in the starting rotation: “We’re looking not so much for results right now, but if they’re making progress. Again, what are our alternatives?

“That’s why our division is in such a quagmire, no one’s got enough pitching. All the clubs in this division are as screwed up as we are. We’re a .500 division, and nobody’s taking charge.”

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Angel catcher John Orton, who is eligible to come off the disabled list, took batting practice Monday for the first time in three weeks. He may return to the roster by the end of the week. . . . Reliever Joe Grahe, on the disabled list becase of tendinitis in his shoulder, won’t be activated until at least July, Rodgers said.