Angels Suddenly Facing Question Marks on Future

Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds was enjoying a day off Wednesday when he was jolted by news that the Walt Disney Co. was pulling out of its deal to purchase a controlling interest in the team.

“Holy . . ., I guess you can kiss my $9 million goodbye,” Edmonds said, alluding to a four-year contract offer that was contingent on the Disney deal going through.

“I knew I shouldn’t have signed that [one-year, $550,000] deal Monday. Oh well, I guess I’ll just go to arbitration after this year.”

The futures of first baseman J.T. Snow, reliever Troy Percival and left fielder Garret Anderson were also thrown into limbo Wednesday. Like Edmonds, the three signed one-year contracts that were expected to be restored to multiyear deals they had either agreed to or were negotiating once Disney took over.

But the four young stars have plenty of company in the land of uncertainty--the entire Angel organization remains in limbo.

If Disney does back out of the deal and isn’t creating a negotiating ploy to gain more leverage against the city of Anaheim, Angel owner Jackie Autry might sell the team to former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, who was negotiating to buy the Angels when Autry struck a deal with Disney in May 1995.

But what’s to prevent a prospective owner from having the same problems Disney had striking a deal with Anaheim for a stadium renovation plan and a new lease? What if bids by Ueberroth or another prospective owner also fall through?

Autry paints a grim picture that could include her gutting the team of its high-priced stars over the next few seasons, much as the San Diego Padres did a few years ago and the Oakland Athletics did this year, and possibly moving out of Orange County when the Angels’ lease expires in 2001.

An organization that has drawn recent comparisons to the Cleveland Indians for its attempt to lock up young stars with long-term deals could eventually resemble the Indians of the 1970s.

“That’s a worst-case scenario,” said Autry, who claims to have lost about $30 million in the last five years and is already projecting a $5-million loss this year. “But we can no longer handle the financial burden of owning this team.”

Said Edmonds: “I hope I’d be out of here by the time something like that happens.”

As disappointed as Autry is at the Disney announcement, she said it validates her contention in recent years that she was operating under intolerable financial conditions; that her outdated stadium lease--it was signed in 1964 and leaves the team with little stadium revenue--really is one of the worst in baseball.

“Everyone said I was the Witch of the West, that I was just out for money, but you can only lose money for so long,” Autry said. “And now Disney is saying that even with their resources, they can’t afford to run the club under these conditions.”

Autry held a sliver of hope Wednesday that an 11th-hour deal could be struck with Disney, “but for all intents and purposes, we’re dead in the water,” she said.

There was plenty of life in the Angels’ Anaheim Stadium offices, though. About 20 of the 50 or so front-office employees, including Angel President Richard Brown and many in the marketing and sales departments, were expected to lose their jobs when Disney took over. But they received a reprieve Wednesday.

Disney employees were already heavily involved in the Angel front office and were virtually running the team’s 1996 marketing campaign, helping with designs for season-ticket packages and selling stadium and broadcast advertising. But that affiliation ended Wednesday.

“People are absolutely stunned,” one Angel employee said. “It’s like a nuclear bomb. I feel radioactive just holding the Disney [news] release in my hands.”

Angel players had the day off from spring training workouts Wednesday, but the few who were reached seemed ambivalent toward the news.

“I would say 95% of our players don’t care or know who the owners are or who’s running the club,” pitcher Chuck Finley said.

The upcoming negotiations with Edmonds, Snow, Anderson and Percival should give an indication of whether Autry will remain committed to this team, but as of Wednesday, she wasn’t sure whether she could sign the players to long-term contracts.

“I haven’t even thought about that,” Autry said. “I don’t want to make the players nervous, but I can’t answer the question [of whether the Angels will rescind the offers]. We would like to meet with a proposed buyer immediately, and if someone agrees to move forward with a purchase of the team, we could move on those contracts quickly.”