BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Young Outfielders Are Still Left Out

The Angels felt center fielder Chad Curtis was expendable because they have a surplus of talented young outfielders, but his trade to Detroit Thursday didn’t exactly boost the hopes of Garret Anderson, Kevin Flora and Marquis Riley.

With left fielder Jim Edmonds sliding over to center and former Tiger Tony Phillips coming to play left, the status of the three youngsters is virtually unchanged.

“They figured with Chad gone they could step in, and I’m sure they had a rush when they heard he was traded,” Edmonds said. “Then, all of a sudden, here comes someone else.”

Anderson, 22, has the most reason to be disappointed. He hit .321 with 42 doubles, six triples, 12 home runs and 102 runs batted in at triple-A Vancouver last season. He hit .293 at Vancouver in 1993.

“There’s not much more for me to do there--I hit for average, power and played good defense,” Anderson said. “It’s always tough to be sitting.”

“If he’s just going to sit up here and watch, I have a problem with that,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said. “He should be playing somewhere.”

Riley, perhaps the fastest runner in the organization, seems destined for triple-A, but Flora is out of options, so if he doesn’t make the Angels, he’d have to clear waivers before being sent down.

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Easley and Edmonds have agreed to terms on one-year contracts, Easley for a package that, with base salary and incentives, could be worth about $250,000 and Edmonds for a package valued just under $200,000. Both received slight increases over last year’s deals. . . . Flora and infielder Rod Correia each had three hits Thursday morning to help the Angels defeat the San Diego Padres, 5-1, in a B game at Peoria. Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn played and did not get a hit in three at-bats against Angel pitchers Jeff Schmidt, Shad Williams and Mark Ratekin. . . . Chuck Finley is scheduled to start today when the Angels travel to Tucson to play the Rockies.