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

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

But it could be worse. They might be unwilling to spend money on an impact player, but at least they’re not dumping the ones they 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 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 salary 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 would probably involve the trade of a higher-priced player.

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

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Rob Deer, a former Anaheim Canyon High standout who had a .220 batting average with 226 home runs, 591 runs batted in and 1,379 strikeouts during a 10-year major league career, signed a minor league contract and joined the Angels for workouts.

The 34-year-old outfielder played last season in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers, hitting .151 with eight homers and 21 RBIs. He injured his thumb diving for a ball in early August and returned to the United States two months before the season ended.

“The day I hurt my thumb was a real happy day,” said Deer, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound free-swinger whose strikeouts are nearly as exciting as his homers. “I didn’t like the style of baseball they play there. It’s a real finesse game, and they’re real unaggressive. They’d throw forkballs on 2-0 and 3-0 counts. I walked five times in one game.”

Deer, who played for San Francisco, Milwaukee, Detroit and Boston from 1984 to ‘93, is an outstanding defensive player, but he’ll only make the team if he keeps his strikeouts down. Growing up an Angel fan in Anaheim Hills, he has plenty of incentive.

“A lot of players talk about what a thrill it is to play in Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park,” Deer said. “That’s what playing in Anaheim Stadium does for me.”

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

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

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

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The combination of a winter blowup with the front office and his name being mentioned in trade rumors has made this 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.”