BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Langston Trade Talk Keeps Surfacing

Despite continued denials in Anaheim, rumors persist in New York that the Angels will soon trade left-hander Mark Langston to the Yankees. Langston, who is happy living and pitching in Southern California, says he would veto any trade on the basis of his 10 years in the major leagues and five years with the Angels.

But it turns out Langston hasn’t played five full years with the Angels. Because the strike cut the 1994 season short, he’s still roughly a month shy of the five-year mark and can’t yet refuse a trade.

It’s a moot point as far as General Manager Bill Bavasi is concerned. Bavasi said Sunday the rumors are being floated by the Yankees and there’s nothing to them. He said the Angels aren’t ready to part with Langston.

“They’ve had an interest in our big lefties (Langston and Chuck Finley) since last year,” Bavasi said. “Now, all of a sudden they’ve had an injury (to starter Scott Kamienicki) and they have to tell their press they have an answer somewhere.”

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Third baseman Eduardo Perez’s bat has been a question mark this season, but Manager Marcel Lachemann can’t find fault with his glove.

“A lot of guys aren’t hitting, but he’s played a very sound third base,” Lachemann said.

When Perez bobbled a hard-hit grounder and failed to throw out Seattle’s Alex Rodriguez in the fifth inning, it was his first error this season.

Perez was 0 for 3 against Randy Johnson and his average dipped to .143 (3 for 21).

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Tim Salmon also went 0 for 3 against Johnson, striking out twice. He is 1 for 15 lifetime against Johnson and knows why.

“He was throwing so stinking hard in my first at-bat all I could think of was to get the bat going,” Salmon said of his second-inning strikeout. “Then he throws that 85-m.p.h. slider. . . . He’s given me fits every time I’ve faced him. I’ll get him one of these days. It might be the last game he pitches, but I’ll get him.”

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Sunday was Little League day at Anaheim Stadium and as the youngsters paraded past the Angel dugout on their tour around the field, one child asked innocently: “Where’s Bo Jackson?”

“Fishing,” was the reply from Lachemann.

Jackson, an Angel in 1994, retired this spring.