Bird Dogs Consider Raven the Angels’ Future

He’s considered the Angels’ outfielder of the future. No, we’re not talking about McKay Christensen, the club’s top pick in last week’s amateur draft.

Meet Luis Raven, who has established himself as one of the organization’s top power-hitting prospects at triple-A Vancouver and made Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi wonder why he ever doubted him.

Since being moved up from double-A Midland, Raven is batting .370 (10 for 27) with one home run, nine runs batted in, four doubles and eight runs. He was named the Angels’ minor league player of the month for April, batting .357 with 10 homers, 34 RBIs, six doubles, four triples and 24 runs.

Even after two weeks in triple A, he continues to lead the double-A Texas League with 18 homers.

“Raven is making himself a hell of a prospect,” Bavasi said. “I almost released him. We had him at double A last year and he was doing pretty well. But we were pressed to find a way to get (Mark) Sweeney to double A. The only way was to move Raven back to Class A. It really crushed the kid.”

Raven, 25, from La Guira, Venezuela, batted .277 with seven homers and 52 RBIs in 85 games at Class-A Palm Springs and .257 with two homers and 30 RBIs in 43 games at Midland last season.

“He has a lot of power and runs well,” Bavasi said.

It may be a while before Raven is in an Angel uniform at Anaheim Stadium, however. Current plans call for Jim Edmonds, Chad Curtis and Tim Salmon to be the every day outfielders.

Bo Jackson and Dwight Smith will fill in occasionally for Edmonds. Curtis and Salmon rarely take days off.

What’s more, Bavasi said Saturday that Garret Anderson probably will be the next outfielder recalled from Vancouver. Anderson is batting .332 with four homers and 37 RBIs for the Canadians.

Still, Raven has impressed Bavasi and jump-started his pro career. And when the Angels needed to make room for Raven at Vancouver, the man they sent to Midland was none other than Mark Sweeney.

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Quality evaluations for pitcher Greg Hansell continue to cross the desk of Dodger farm director Charlie Blaney.

Hansell, a 6-foot-5 right-hander from Kennedy High, is pushing for a promotion from triple-A Albuquerque with a 4-1 record and a 4.95 earned-run average. Finding a place for him in the Dodger rotation might be a little difficult, though.

They would seem set for the time being, but Hansell keeps earning rave reviews in his most successful pro season since the Mets drafted him in 1989. He came to the Dodgers as part of a deal that sent Hubie Brooks to New York in exchange for Bob Ojeda in 1991.

Hansell led Kennedy to the Southern Section 3-A title, defeating Saugus and current Seattle Mariner pitcher Roger Salkeld, 1-0, in a nine-inning pitchers’ duel at Dodger Stadium.

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Mike Schooler always was a fighter, battling through an injury in a motorcycle accident his senior season at Garden Grove High to later land a spot as Seattle’s closer.

The Mariners released him last season after he led the team in saves in four of the last five seasons. But Schooler won’t let his pro baseball dreams die.

He caught on with the San Diego Padres organization this season, although he hasn’t regained the form he once had in Seattle.

He is 0-7 with a 5.29 ERA in 15 games, including nine starts, for Wichita, the Padres’ double-A affiliate.

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Oft-injured pitcher Pete Janicki of El Dorado got his first professional victory May 13. Janicki, who broke his arm in his first pro game last year, is 2-5 with a 5.40 earned-run average for Midland, the Angels’ double-A affiliate. . . . El Paso outfielder Scott Talanoa, from Orange Coast College, has cleaned up by hitting seven of his nine homers this season at Cohen Stadium. It’s tradition that fans in the front-row seats hand out cash to El Paso home run hitters. “I’ve made close to $1,000 so far,” Talanoa told Baseball America.

Former Esperanza standout Tom Redington is batting .303 with three homers and 26 RBIs for Lake Elsinore, the Angels’ new class A affiliate. Earlier this season, the Storm had the second-worst record in professional baseball, but have recently crawled out of the California League’s Southern Division cellar. . . . Philadelphia has apparently had their fill of former Esperanza and Cal State Fullerton standout Jason Moler at catcher. Moler was moved to first and third bases at double-A Reading. He has since been promoted to triple-A Scranton where he is hitting .325. . . . The double-A Texas League all-stars are scheduled to play a Mexican League all-star team in a two-game exhibition June 12-13 in Monterrey, Mexico, and San Antonio. Fernando Valenzuela is expected to pitch for the Mexican all-stars.