Davis Speaks His Mind After Sparking Angels : Baseball: He hits two home runs in a 6-5 victory over the White Sox before blasting management.

Chili Davis quietly has been seething, trying to control his frustrations, but Thursday night after the Angels’ 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Chicago White Sox, he decided it was time to let everyone know what was on his mind.

“People can say what they want, but what we’re doing right now is rebuilding and trying to save money,” he said. “I know it’ll upset some people, but that’s a fact.

“Miracles happen, things happen, guys bond together, but you’ve got to be realistic. We’re a couple of hitters and pitchers away. We’re probably going to have to sacrifice this year.

“I don’t pretend to know what’s going on upstairs, but strange things have happened in the past. I’ve seen guys leave here that I never thought would leave here.

“We’ve given away more talent than we’ve gotten back.”

Davis, who hit two home runs Thursday, including the game-winner in the 10th against Kirk McCaskill, has been so frustrated in recent days that he says he contemplated retiring.

“I’m not a quitter,” Davis said, “but Ryno (Ryne Sandberg) had me wondering. There’s been a lot of things going on that I don’t agree with, and I was wondering. I was down, not suicidal down, but I was getting there.

“You never know what might happen if we strike, I might not come back.”

Davis, who is having perhaps the finest season of his career, batting .339 with 13 homers and 49 runs batted in, conceded that his frustration peaked when the Angels traded Dwight Smith on Tuesday to the Baltimore Orioles for a minor league prospect.

He perceived the trade simply to trim Smith’s $700,000 salary from the payroll, particularly since the Angels didn’t obtain a player in return who will help them in the immediate future.

“He was probably the best pinch-hitter we had,” said Davis, bidding for his first All-Star selection since 1988. “I hated to see him go, especially when we didn’t get anything that’s going to help us the rest of the year.”

Said shortstop Gary DiSarcina: “Who knows what the real reason was for us to get rid of him. I know Jim Edmonds flat-out won the job, but I thought (Smith) was a great asset for us.”

The Angels (28-39), who have won only five of their last 18 games, still are only 4 1/2 games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers in the American League West. Certainly, with no one even playing at .500, the division race is wide open.

Yet, Davis says, it was a similar situation last year when the Angels were only two games out of first place at the All-Star break with a 43-43 record. The Angels failed to make an acquisition, and two weeks later, they were out of the race.

“We were playing well last year,” he said. “We didn’t make that move, and look what happened.

“Everybody wants to win so badly, particularly the Langstons and the Finleys. I’ve had my opportunity to be on a World Series team, and those guys are so eager to be on a winning ballclub.

“Look, you can’t buy a brand-new Mercedes for $5,000.”

Angel management vehemently denies that the club simply is satisfied with another rebuilding year. General Manager Bill Bavasi said the other day that the Smith trade was no reflection of a change of sentiment.

“That’s not the case at all,” Bavasi said. “Absolutely not. Are the players reading into it that way? I don’t know, I hope not.”

Of course, considering the plight of the AL West, it may indeed be possible to rebuild and win the division at the same time.

The pitching of reliever Joe Grahe helped the Angels beat the White Sox. The Angels scored two runs in the eighth inning to tie the score, and Grahe pitched the final 2 2/3 innings for his first victory.