Unhappy Smith Talking Trade

Lee Smith said Wednesday he will ask to be traded or retire before accepting anything less than a closing role in the Angel bullpen.

“I don’t think I could help the team in a non-closing role,” said Smith, the 38-year-old right-hander who was activated off the disabled list Tuesday.

“It would be like asking [clean-up hitter] Chili Davis to hit ninth--do you think he’d be happy with that?

“You’d be taking a guy out of a position he’s been pretty successful in for 15 years. If I can’t do the job, I wouldn’t want to be here any more.”

Smith, who has been struggling all spring to recover from off-season knee surgery, might eventually regain his job, which hard-throwing right-hander Troy Percival has filled capably. But not immediately.

“We’re going to try to get him some innings a couple of times before he has a chance to close; let him get his feet on the ground,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “He hasn’t pitched a competitive inning since April 3 . . . but it won’t take much to see what kind of shape he’s in.”

Lachemann had Smith and Percival warming up in the top of the ninth inning Wednesday night, with the Angels holding a 4-3 lead, but he opted for Percival, who retired the Milwaukee Brewers in order for his eighth save and fourth in the Angels’ past four games.

“The way Percival is throwing the ball now, I can’t say I blame him,” Smith said of the decision. “Was I disappointed? Hell yeah. I don’t like riding the bench. I didn’t like the move, but I understood it.”

Smith, baseball’s all-time save leader with 471, blew his only save opportunity this season on April 3 against the Brewers before going on the disabled list because of swelling in his knee.

He made a one-inning rehabilitation assignment at Class-A Lake Elsinore last Friday but refused to pitch another minor league inning. He told front-office officials over the weekend that “if I’m not the closer, I’m gone,” he said.

Smith acknowledges his stance doesn’t exactly jibe with the team concept--the Angels are paying him $2.1 million this season--and he knows fans may perceive him as a malcontent.

“But I’m not too worried about what anyone else thinks, and I don’t care,” he said. “If I can’t help the team, I have no business being here, and I’ve been doing this for too long to come to the park not knowing what my job is.

“Money is not really an issue too. I’m not exactly broke and on the curb. They hired me to close, and if I can’t do the job, or if the team is better with Percival as the closer, they’ll say, ‘See ya, Smitty.’ ”

Percival, who has been practically untouchable this season, giving up six hits and striking out 14 in 10 innings while leading the league with eight saves, doesn’t mind relinquishing the closer job.

“I figure when the phone rings [in the bullpen], I’ll get up to throw--it doesn’t matter when,” Percival said. “I like closing, and I’m going to close [full time] eventually, but I also like winning, and if being a setup guy will help us win, that’s fine.”