BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Struggling Magrane Demoted to Bullpen

The Angels, publicly conceding for the first time that signing starter Joe Magrane to a lucrative contract was a mistake, swallowed their pride Saturday and demoted him to the bullpen.

The Angels, who provided Magrane a contract last September that will guarantee him $3 million and can be worth as much as $9.3 million over three years, made the decision after Magrane yielded six hits and seven runs (four earned) in 2 1/3 innings Friday in their 14-7 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles.

Magrane, who has pitched only four times in relief in his seven-year career, will pitch in long relief. Russ Springer (2-1, 6.75 earned-run average) replaces him in the rotation.

Magrane, 2-5 with a 6.64 ERA, has pitched longer than six innings in only three of his 11 starts this season.

Most troubling to Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann is that in Magrane’s last five starts, he yielded 52 baserunners in 27 2/3 innings, including eight home runs. Thus, Magrane becomes the first official casualty of Friday night’s home-run barrage, in which the two teams combined for 11, tying a major league record.

“I’m not happy about it,” Magrane said, “I’m not happy at all. But I’m not going sit here and bitch and moan. I’m going to keep busting my butt to get this right.

“It sounds weird to be talking about it, but we are in a pennant race, and it’s not fair to the team to keep me in there.”

The demotion will have a severe impact on Magrane’s future earnings because it now will be nearly impossible for him to make 20 starts this season.

If he reached 20 starts, the Angels would be required to pay him a $500,000 bonus this year and increase his base pay from $1.5 million to $2.5 million in 1995. He also would receive $100,000 for every start beginning with his 20th.

“Sure, it crosses my mind,” Magrane said. “I make no bones about it. My contract is structured to start games, but the way I’ve been performing, I wouldn’t have been comfortable.

“The contract was made in good faith, and it continues to be. I’m not going to file a grievance, or anything like that. I made my own bed, now I have to sleep in it.”

Said Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi: “There’s not a contract on the club that we weren’t prepared to handle. That really didn’t play in it. The reasons for making the move were purely performance and trying to win some games.”