BASEBALL : Bavasi Won’t Stand for Threats

Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi on Wednesday issued a stern warning to any of the team’s major leaguers who intend to harass replacement players, either during the strike or after it is settled.

“There’s not one major league player who will decide where replacement players fit on the food chain,” said Bavasi, who is in his second year as the Angels’ general manager. “We are not going to tolerate any disruptions in our clubhouse.

“I have no problems with them holding some type of union activity, but they’re not going to cause any harm to these guys. And if any of these (replacements) go back to the minor leagues, they will not suffer. We’re not going to turn our backs on these guys.”

Bavasi has said he considers about 11 of the 47 players in Angel camp to be prospects, and when the strike is settled, he hopes to make room in the organization for as many replacements as possible.

Several major leaguers have threatened replacement players this spring, some as specific as New York Met reliever John Franco, who said he would throw at a replacement if given the chance, some as subtle as Angel pitcher Mark Langston, who said replacements “should be as far away from the game as possible” when the strike is settled.

“I don’t know how they’re going to (harass replacements), but they’re not going to do it in our clubhouse,” Bavasi said. “We have work to do, and we’re not going to let petty jealousies get in the way of that.”

And what would Bavasi do if he found out a major leaguer was harassing a replacement?

“Suspension, fines, we’d take it to the limit, whatever is available,” Bavasi said. “I’ll take it as high as I can.”

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Soon after the playing of the national anthem in Tempe Diablo Stadium on Tuesday, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Angel replacement player John Fishel on a warrant that he owes about $50,000 in child support to a Phoenix-area woman who claims Fishel is the father of her 6-year-old daughter.

Fishel, who was not in the lineup for the game against the Milwaukee Brewers, was pulled from the dugout by an Angel executive and brought to the team’s front office, where deputies were awaiting.

The 32-year-old outfielder/first baseman then spent the next 12 hours in a cell at the Madison Street jail in downtown Phoenix.

He was released at 1:14 a.m. after satisfying a judge’s request to pay $50,000, according to Lisa Allen, sheriff’s department public information officer.

Fishel was in uniform but did not play Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants.

Fishel, who said he has been paying child support to two other women for the past three years, plans to dispute the Phoenix-area woman’s claim that he is the child’s father.

“If it is established that I’m the father, then I’ll be more than happy to support her,” said Fishel, who was most valuable player in the College World Series while leading Cal State Fullerton to the 1984 national championship. “I’ve been paying support for other kids, so the notion of me having lots of money (to pay the Phoenix-area woman) is completely ludicrous.”

Fishel, who retired in 1990 after a six-year professional baseball career, has been living in Columbus, Ohio, for the past four years. He said about 45% of his $28,000-a-year income from a cabinet-manufacturing company has gone to pay child support for an 11-year-old daughter he had out of wedlock and an 8-year-old son from a previous marriage.

He is currently married with two other children and a stepdaughter. He said he knew of the warrant in Phoenix before signing with the Angels but thought it had expired.

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Mike Schooler, a former standout in the Seattle Mariner bullpen, tried out for the Angels and signed a minor league contract.

Schooler had 33 saves and a 2.81 earned-run average in 1989 and 30 saves and a 2.25 ERA in 1990 for the Seattle Mariners. Out of baseball since being released last June by the San Diego Padres after a stint at double-A Wichita, Schooler has been troubled by a shoulder injury since 1990.

Times staff writer Elliott Teaford contributed to this story.