Location a Big Problem for Finley

His 1996 spring debut was so routine, so uneventful, that Angel pitcher Chuck Finley barely remembered where it occurred.

“Hey, you’ve got to start somewhere--why not Yuma?” Finley said Monday after pitching two scoreless innings in the Angels’ 5-0 exhibition victory over the San Diego Padres. “Wait a minute. Where are we? Peoria, that’s right. Wherever. Same thing.”

OK, so Finley forgot the Padres moved from Yuma, Ariz., to Peoria a few years ago. He doesn’t care where he pitches this time of year--just give him a mound, a catcher and a big-league opponent, and the 10-year veteran knows what he has to do to prepare for the season.

But the left-hander did have a keen sense for where he was standing in the top of the second inning Monday, because it was unfamiliar territory: the batter’s box. Finley took three good hacks at Joey Hamilton pitches, fouling one off and missing two others for a strikeout.

“At least I got to feel a little wood on it,” said Finley, who hit because the designated hitter was not used against the National League Padres. “I’ve been here 10 years and have one RBI. It’s a lot of fun getting the chance to swing the bat. It gives you new respect for the pitcher.”

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Finley led a tag-team pitching effort that limited the Padres to six hits. First baseman J.T. Snow had three hits and scored twice, and catcher Don Slaught had a three-run double in the first inning to pace the Angels.

Shawn Boskie gave up three hits in three innings, Mark Eichhorn struck out the side in the sixth, and Juan Agosto, Julio Valera (making his first spring appearance) and Ken Edenfield each pitched an inning.

The five players competing for the fifth spot in the rotation--Boskie, Phil Leftwich, Jason Grimsley, Dennis Springer and Scott Sanderson--have now all pitched, and four of the five were impressive.

“It looks like they’re going to make it tough on me,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said, “which is fun.”

Lachemann was also impressed with Eichhorn, the reliever with the submarine-style delivery who now has six strikeouts in three innings.

“He’s very tough for hitters to pick up because he comes from a different [arm] angle with different speeds, he’s got that Frisbee-like breaking ball and a good forkball,” Lachemann said. “He’s pretty funky.”

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The Angels and Snow are closing in on a three-year deal with an option for a fourth year, and are awaiting ownership approval of the package, which is expected to guarantee the Gold Glove infielder between $5 million and $6 million over three years.

However, left fielder Garret Anderson, who was offered a five-year deal last week, likely will sign a one-year contract with an agreement that discussions on a potential multiyear deal will continue during the season.

The team continues to negotiate multiyear deals with center fielder Jim Edmonds and reliever Troy Percival and could have them signed by the end of the week.

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Steve Ontiveros’ first spring start, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been pushed back at least four or five days because of tightness in his forearm, which forced him to cut a weekend workout short. The oft-injured right-hander has already been slowed this spring by a strained hamstring and inflammation in his elbow. “We’re concerned, but it’s not something we didn’t expect going in,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said. . . . Reliever Bryan Harvey, attempting to come back from an elbow that was surgically reconstructed last May, is experiencing tightness in his biceps, but Lachemann didn’t think the condition would delay plans for Harvey to pitch in an exhibition game by mid-March. . . . Angel owner Jackie Autry is scheduled to be admitted to a hospital this week for what a team spokesman termed “minor surgery.”