Entering Its Second Season, How Much Longer Can It Run?

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

March 27, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

TEMPE, Ariz. —

For all the knocks the Angel farm system has taken in recent years, there’s no doubt it has groomed one of baseball’s finest young outfields in Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson.

The challenge for the front office: keeping the talented triumvirate together in the face of mounting economic pressure and determining what to do with the surplus outfielders.

“They’re young, they’re signed, they’re under our control,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said of Salmon, 27; Edmonds, 25, and Anderson, 23. “It shouldn’t be too difficult keeping them together. You just pay them and don’t trade them.”

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It may not be in a few years.

Cleveland Indian fans would argue that their outfield of Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez is the best in baseball, but Salmon-Edmonds-Anderson is by far the most economically efficient.

The home-grown trio last year batted .312 with 83 home runs, 281 runs batted in, 83 doubles and 281 runs, all for the bargain-basement price of $1.2 million in base salary.

Cleveland’s outfield batted .312 with 88 homers, 286 RBIs, 100 doubles and 299 runs, but the Indians paid $6.4 million.

The 1995 Seattle Mariner outfield of Ken Griffey, Jay Buhner and Vince Coleman, with an $11-million sticker price and a star center fielder who spent a few months in the shop, hit .271 with 52 homers, 192 RBIs, 53 doubles and 204 runs.

Cleveland’s 1996 outfield payroll increased to $10.1 million, and the Mariners’ remains a hefty $10.5 million.

Even with Salmon’s salary jumping from $900,000 to $2.5 million this season and Edmonds, at $550,000, and Anderson, at $250,000, more than doubling their 1995 salaries, the Angels’ 1996 outfield will still cost only $3.3 million.

But the group can’t remain in the low-rent district for long.

Salmon, who batted .330 with 34 homers, 105 RBIs, 34 doubles and 111 runs last season, will make $3.5 million in 1997, the final year of a four-year contract, and the durable and dependable right fielder should command a salary of $4.5 million or more for years to come.

Edmonds, who batted .290 with 33 homers, 107 RBIs and 120 runs and combined flashes of brilliance with his steady defensive play, has agreed to a four-year, $9.5-million deal that is awaiting ownership approval, if there are to be new owners. The contract will pay about $2 million in 1997, $3 million in ’98 and $4 million in ’99.

And if the smooth-swinging Anderson shows that 1995 was no fluke--he batted .321 with 16 homers and 69 RBIs in only 106 games and finished a close second to Minnesota’s Marty Cordova in American League rookie-of-the-year voting--he will soon be a million-dollar player.

Projected Angel outfield salaries if this group remains intact: about $6 million in 1997, $8.5 million in ’98 and $10.5 million in ’99.

“Obviously, we have the potential to be a very expensive outfield,” Edmonds said. “But if you ask any of the three, none would say he wants to be the highest-paid player in the league. We all want to stay together as long as possible so we can give this team a chance to win.”

Clouding the issue is the unresolved ownership situation. If the Autry family and Anaheim officials can’t revive the deal to sell the Angels to the Walt Disney Co., and if a potential new owner can’t strike an agreement for a new or renovated stadium and revised lease, the Autrys might have to keep the team for a few more years.

Jackie Autry says she and husband Gene can no longer absorb annual losses of $5-10 million and has warned she may have to strip the club of some high-priced stars to remain economicallyviable.

“As it has all off-season, logical heads will prevail, and we’ll end up doing the right thing,” Bavasi said.

There is another force encroaching on the outfield. His name is Darin Erstad, the No. 1 pick in the 1995 draft who received a $1.575-million bonus to sign with the Angels and spent several weeks with the major league team here this spring.

The front office loves this Nebraskan, and he drew rave reviews from Manager Marcel Lachemann for his power, speed, instincts and work ethic. Erstad can play center or left and many believe he will be ready for the big leagues by 1997, perhaps even by the end of this season.

But where would the Angels play him? Edmonds, Anderson and Erstad all bat left-handed, so a platoon is not feasible. And designated hitter Chili Davis is signed to a $3.8-million-a-year contract through 1997.

Davis has said he will retire after the ’97 season, and Bavasi envisions rotating the DH spot among Anderson, Edmonds, Erstad and Salmon in 1998. But what if interleague play takes off and the designated hitter is eliminated?

“Then we’d have an overload and would have to do something,” Bavasi said. “We’d either move one of them [in a trade] or we’d have a heck of a lot of depth.”

The current outfield doesn’t seem threatened by the possible presence of Erstad.

“If they want him to be here he will, but it’s hard to say what they’re going to do,” Anderson said. “We don’t run the team. We just have to do our job. He still has to prove he can play, and he has to get here and stay here. It might be too early to tell.”

Said Edmonds: “He’s not going to put pressure on anyone but himself, because he has to beat us out. Who do you say he’s better than? If you look at every aspect of the game--offense, defense, throwing arms, base running, willingness to play--I think we’re the best outfield in the league.”

Bavasi isn’t fretting over Erstad’s development or what to do with him yet.

“We all saw a lot of things in Darin we like, and it’s a foregone conclusion he’s going to have a nice career in the big leagues,” Bavasi said. “But we’re not in any hurry. We have three fine outfielders and Chili for another two years. We’re going to take advantage of that time and make sure Darin learns to play the game the right way.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Troublesome Trios

A look at some of the projected best-hitting outfields in baseball for the coming season, with 1995 statistics:

ANGELS

Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds, Tim Salmon

*--*

Avg R 2B HR RBI .312 281 83 83 281

*--*

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez

*--*

Avg R 2B HR RBI .312 299 100 88 286