ANGELS : Replacement Players’ Identities No Secret

While several teams have been secretive about replacement players--the Giants, for instance, won’t release their entire spring training roster until today, the sixth day of camp--the Angels have been surprisingly candid about the identities of potential strike-breakers.

Their roster, which grew to 49 Tuesday with the addition of infielder Jose Peguero, was released on the first day of camp, along with biographical information and statistics for 46 of the players.

Although many Angel hopefuls have hedged when asked if they’d cross the picket line to play, General Manager Bill Bavasi said Tuesday there are no players in camp have refused to become replacements. About five or so players, Bavasi said, “are on the fence.”

When the Angels move from Gene Autry Park to Tempe Diablo Stadium for the start of their exhibition season next week, “we’re planning on going with what’s here,” Bavasi said.

“We should have about 40 players. If there’s any kind of attrition, through injuries or players having a change of heart, it would force us to look for more players.”

Does Bavasi have a list of potential replacement replacements?

“Yeah, but not a long one,” he said.

Some teams have brought as many as 100 players to camp, mixing minor league prospects with potential replacements, but the Angels have kept those groups virtually separate.

About 150 Angel minor leaguers will report to Mesa in early March, but only one player the organization considers a minor league prospect, 24-year-old pitcher Chris Gunnett, is in camp with the replacements.

“I think a lot of clubs brought in all their minor leaguers and are hoping some of them will cross,” Bavasi said. “But we put a premium on guys who would play.”

They put name tags on them, too, despite fears around the league that revealing the replacements might subject them to potential union harassment.

“The whole problem in this process is secrecy,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “But everyone knows what’s going on here. I have no problems being honest. Most of the guys here are replacement players.”

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Mood swing: There had been almost a fantasy camp atmosphere at Gene Autry Park for the first four days of workouts, with players sharing plenty of light-hearted moments with coaches during drills.

But that tone took an abrupt turn Tuesday when Lachemann chewed out his catchers for not paying close enough attention to some instruction given by Bill Lachemann, Marcel’s brother and the Angels’ catching coach.

“That was kind of a wake-up call,” said catcher Ken Briggs, who played at Foothill High and Chapman University. “The first day I got here things seemed a little loosey-goosey, but today was a little different, a little more intense.

“We have infielders and outfielders coming (today) and we’re getting to the point where we’re looking at ourselves and saying, ‘In another week, we’re going to have people watching us play.’ It’s a scary feeling.”