BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Will Catalyst Phillips Return in ‘96?

When the Angels traded Chad Curtis for Tony Phillips in April, General Manager Bill Bavasi said the deal “puts us in a better financial position to get more pitching next year.”

Bavasi didn’t say it, but the inference was there: The Angels did not expect Phillips, who is making $3.5 million this year, to be here in 1996.

Four months later, Angel fans are probably wondering what the team would do without him next year. The 36-year-old third baseman entered Friday’s game against the Orioles with a .281 average, an American League-leading 105 runs, 20 homers, 52 runs batted in and a .404 on-base percentage.

Though he hasn’t sparked memories of Brooks Robinson defensively, his unselfish move from the outfield cleared room for Garret Anderson in left.

Phillips, who ranks fourth in the league in walks, has ignited an offense that leads the major leagues in runs, and with no other clear-cut candidate for the lead-off position, the Angel front office will likely have to reconsider its stance on the proficient Phillips.

“We’d love to have everyone back, but a lot of those decisions won’t be addressed until after the season,” said Tim Mead, assistant GM. “With a new owner [Walt Disney Co.] coming, all the thinking from spring training goes out the window.”

Phillips wants to return--his family lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., close to the Angels’ Tempe spring-training facility and only an hour flight from Orange County--but it could take a major commitment on the Angels’ part.

“I’m not signing a one-year deal,” he said. “I feel I deserve a two- or three-year deal, maybe two years with an option. I know the end of my career is coming, but I’m going to play more than one more year if I score 100 runs and keep doing the job.”

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Pitcher Chuck Finley, who, along with Phillips and pitcher Jim Abbott will be the team’s most prominent free agents this fall, hopes to become a rarity in baseball circa 1995: a player who starts and finishes his career with the same team.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who is 13-8 with a 3.78 earned-run average, said team officials have told him they want him back, and he is even willing to take a pay cut from his $4.5-million salary to remain an Angel.

“I’m not going to break anyone’s bank--it doesn’t mean that much to me,” Finley said. “I’m content with being happy, which means more to me than a couple more zeros before a decimal point.”

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The Orioles called up pitcher James Hurst from triple-A Rochester Friday, but when they found out he appeared in spring-training games with the Texas Rangers, he was released. It was a costly decision. The Orioles will honor Hurst’s contract for the remainder of the season. Price: About $24,000.

Hurst had traveled to Anaheim Stadium Friday, “but after speaking with [owner] Peter Angelos, we decided keeping him would be inconsistent with the club’s policy on replacement players,” GM Roland Hemond said. Angelos refused to field a replacement team in April.

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Shawn Boskie pitched six innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs with four walks, one strikeout and one home run Friday night for triple-A Vancouver. He left the game with a 6-2 lead over Tacoma. . . The Angels will celebrate their 35th anniversary with a “Turn Back the Clock Night,” in which the Angels and Orioles will wear replicas of their 1961 jerseys for tonight’s 7 o’clock game. The game is a sellout, the Angels’ second of the season; the first was July 4 against Toronto.