BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Will Faulk Try Another Sport?

Although it seemed at the time as little more than a publicity stunt, Dan O’Brien, Angel vice president/baseball operations, said the club’s interest in signing Heisman Trophy candidate Marshall Faulk is legitimate.

Faulk, the running back for San Diego State who finished third in last year’s Heisman balloting, has been offered a signing bonus and a guarantee that the Angels would pay for his last year of college if he wanted to continue his football career.

“He seemed very, very interested,” O’Brien said. “We told him that we didn’t want to embarrass him, and he didn’t want to embarrass us, but it was something that excited him.

“His biggest concern was losing his college scholarship, but we told him we’d take care of that and pay for his last year of school. We’d send him to Mesa (Ariz.) for instructional ball, and then Boise (Idaho), and when it was time for football he could go ahead and play.

“His agent, though, didn’t want him to go.”

Although Faulk has not played competitive baseball since high school, the Angels selected him in the 43rd round of the June free-agent draft as an outfielder.

“We don’t know what kind of outfielder he’d be,” O’Brien said, “but we all know he can run, so he had a great start. That’s why I bought season tickets last year, just to see him.

“My gut feeling is that it’s not going to happen. But, hey, the offer is still pending.”

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Angel third baseman Kelly Gruber is scheduled for neck surgery this week at Centinela Hospital, according to a source close to the family.

Gruber, who played only 18 games for the Angels after being traded from the Toronto Blue Jays, has been told that there’s an 80% chance that the surgery will alleviate any further problems with the bulging disks in his neck.

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The Angels will put second baseman Damion Easley on the disabled list today or Monday, allowing him to undergo extensive testing Monday on his chronic shin splints.

The Angels still hope to replace Easley on the roster with Kurt Stillwell, who cleared waivers Friday after his release from the San Diego Padres. It will cost the Angels only about $35,000 to pick up Stillwell, but they still are debating on a possible option for the 1994 season.

Stillwell, who lives in San Diego and grew up in Thousand Oaks, batted .215 this season with one homer and 11 RBIs after losing his starting shortstop job.

“A lot of us in this organization liked him at one time,” Manager Buck Rodgers said of the former All-Star shortstop. “We’d like to look at him for a month or so, and see if the skills are still there.”

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The Angels are planning to send triple-A infielder Kevin Flora to the Arizona Fall League in October in hopes he can fit into their plans for 1994. Flora, who missed most of his season after recovering emotionally from the death of his wife, probably won’t be called up in September, Rodgers said. “It might be a waste of time to call him up before the end of the season with his psychological condition,” Rodgers said. . . . J.T. Snow, who was optioned to triple-A Vancouver Monday night, continues to struggle. In Snow’s first three games at Vancouver, he’s 0 for nine with seven strikeouts and a walk. . . . The Angels have had 23 players in the big leagues this season who were in the minor leagues at some point last season or this year. . . . O’Brien, raving about the work of Bob Fontaine, scouting director, and Bill Bavasi, minor league operations director, said that each will be retained for the 1994 season.