BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : In These Times, Inaction Better Than Some Actions

Amid the recent trades and free-agent acquisitions, all the Angels could muster was the signing of three players to minor league contracts.

But take heart, Angel fans. It could be worse. They might be unwilling to spend money on an impact player, but they’re not dumping the ones they do have. Yet.

“The fat-cat teams have the chance to get fatter, and others are moving people out at a fire-sale rate,” said General Manager Bill Bavasi, who arrived at the team’s Mesa, Ariz., training camp Sunday. “So far, I feel fortunate not to be a complete fire-sale club.”

Bavasi, though, said the Angels, along with many other teams, are only “a hairbreadth away” from the Montreal Expos, who last week unloaded four of their best players in payroll-slashing moves.

The Angels’ $25.9-million budget is likely to remain the same or be trimmed in coming weeks, Bavasi said, so if they want to address their most pressing needs--right-handed starters and a power hitter--it probably would involve a trade of one of their higher-priced players.

Center fielder Chad Curtis ($1.9 million) and catcher Greg Myers ($800,000) have been the subject of trade discussions, but Bavasi wouldn’t even rule out moving pitcher Chuck Finley, who is entering the final year of a $4.5-million contract.

“That’s not something we’d want to do, but we’ll look at every option,” Bavasi said. “We haven’t had any blockbuster trade proposals. We’ll consider everything on a case-by-case basis.”

There are several available free agents, such as Toronto pitcher Todd Stottlemyre and Detroit slugger Mickey Tettleton, who could drastically improve the Angels, but Bavasi said such players are out of his price range, even in today’s depressed free-agent market.

“We’re a business, and the industry just got impacted to an outlandish degree by a work stoppage,” Bavasi said. “You work in whatever financial parameters you’re given to make sense of the business. That’s not that tough to do.”

*

Designated hitter Chili Davis said he is disappointed with the Angels’ decision to renege on a three-year, $11.25-million deal he had agreed to over the winter.

But Davis, who is eligible for arbitration and stands to make between $4.3 million and $5.1 million this season, vowed to not let it affect his attitude or play.

“If for some reason I have a crappy season, I won’t blame it on the fact that I went to arbitration and won $5.1 million,” said Davis, who had 53 homers and 196 runs batted in the past two seasons. “It’s nothing to cry about. All’s fair in love and war and the business of baseball.”

Agent Tom Reich, who represents Davis, remained frustrated because of all the work he put into the deal.

“This is not going to wash very well,” he said. “Chili will do his job, but no one can predict what’s going to happen over this. It was not well-received. One important factor should be noted, though. I don’t blame Bill Bavasi for this. He’s a good man.”

*

The combination of a winter blowup with the front office and his name being mentioned in trade rumors has made this a bit of an unsettling spring for Curtis.

“I had some problems with the way things were going to be in my contract, and I wasn’t happy with what I was told,” Curtis said. “I want to play for an organization that respects my hard work and takes care of its people, and there was a point in the off-season where I didn’t think that was happening.”

Curtis wouldn’t reveal the specifics of the disagreement. As for the trade rumors, he said, “I don’t think about them and I don’t care. I’ll play hard for anyone I play for.”

*

Luis Raven, a 26-year-old outfielder from Venezuela who hit .305 at triple-A Vancouver last season, received his visa and went through his first workout with the Angels Sunday. With the addition of Rob Deer, Rene Gonzales and Bob Patterson, who signed minor league contracts over the weekend, the Angels have 48 players in camp.