BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Rodgers Unsure About Young

Angel Manager Buck Rodgers, suspicious of New York Met starter Anthony Young’s injury, is uncertain now whether he wants to trade for him.

Young, scratched from his last start because of a strained groin, according to Met officials, is scheduled to pitch one or two innings today against the Houston Astros.

The Angels, who would trade first baseman J.T. Snow to acquire Young, have assigned scouts Moose Stubing and Matt Keough to evaluate Young’s performance. If Young pitches well, Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi will be left with his biggest decision of his two-month tenure.

“It seems to be they’re hiding something,” Rodgers said of the Mets. “Somebody’s hiding something. It’s all very mysterious.

“The only thing I know is that the Mets are peddling Young very heavily, they don’t want to bring him back to New York, and he’s not pitching. If they want to peddle somebody, you should be running that sucker out there every day.”

Young, who underwent surgery last September to have a spur removed from his right elbow, complained of a strained groin last week. Several of his teammates privately wondered if Young created an excuse just so he would not be traded.

Young has made no secret that he would prefer to stay in New York, or if he’s traded, would like to return to his hometown of Houston. Of course, Snow doesn’t want to be traded, either.

“People are skeptical whether he’s hurt at all,” Rodgers said. “You have 9,000 different kinds or reports. You don’t know if he has a pulled groin, a sore arm, or he just doesn’t want to go.

“That’s why if you ask, ‘Are we comfortable with the trade?’ I don’t think we are. Something’s not jiving. I’ve just got a funny feeling about it because of the circumstances.

“Right now, I’m lukewarm on this whole idea.”

The Mets probably would make available pitchers Eric Hillman or Pete Schourek if the Angels do not want Young, but the Angels have shown little interest in either.

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Angel starter Mark Langston left camp to attend family matters at home, but is still scheduled to start Friday against the Oakland Athletics. . . . Mark Leiter pitched for the first time since joining the Angels, but he might have only one more outing before the Angels decide on Tuesday whether to keep him. Leiter yielded four hits and two runs (one earned) in two innings as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Angels, 8-7, in 10 innings. “I’m disappointed I gave up the runs because I felt better than that,” he said. . . . Starter Joe Magrane pitched 10 minutes of batting practice for the first time since his arthroscopic elbow surgery last month and reported no discomfort.