BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT

Mike Aldrete walked into the clubhouse an Angel on Wednesday and walked out a New York Yankee. He was traded for recycled reliever Rich Monteleone in a deal the Angels hope will shore up their injury-plagued bullpen.

Monteleone, a 33-year-old right-hander who will join the Angels in Anaheim today, had two previous tours of duty with the team. In 1988-89, he went 2-2 with a 2.86 earned-run average in 27 games, and 1995, when he was 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in nine games.

He was 4-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 21 appearances for the Yankees’ triple-A team at Columbus, Ohio, this season. With middle reliever Mark Eichhorn (inflamed right rotator cuff) expected to be on the disabled list for more than 15 days, “we just needed someone to fill that role,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “Rich is a guy who has had experience, and success, in that role.”

Aldrete, who was enjoying a cup of coffee and his daily crossword puzzle when Lachemann informed him of the trade, will be playing for his seventh team in nine years.

“You’d think you’d get used to it, but it’s not something you get used to,” said Aldrete, who was traded from Oakland to the Angels last August. “In a pure sense, this is my team, the team I want to win the whole thing, and it’s hard to change that mid-stream.”

Aldrete, whose quick wit endeared him to teammates, hit three home runs in the first two weeks of the season, including a pinch-hit blast in a 2-1 victory at Toronto on April 10. But he had only two hits in his last 32 at-bats, as his average fell to .150.

How will Aldrete be remembered?

“Well,” he said, “I don’t think there will be an ‘Aldrete Period’ in the chronological history of the Angels.”

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Jim Edmonds’ sprained right thumb was placed in a protective cast Wednesday morning, and the center fielder, injured in a collision with Royal pitcher Jeff Granger on Tuesday night, will be reexamined by a hand specialist today to determine whether there has been ligament damage.

“It’s the first cast I’ve ever had in my whole life,” Edmonds said. “I heard the nurse tell the doctor to send me into the cast room. I was thinking, ‘Please let there be a guy in the next room with a broken leg.’ But it’s only supposed to be on for one day.”

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First-base umpire Larry Barnett almost cost the Angels the game Wednesday when first baseman J.T. Snow collided with him while pursuing Sal Fasano’s ninth-inning foul popup.

Instead of recording the second out of the inning, Fasano walked and advanced to second before Chuck McElroy bailed the Angels out of the jam.

“[Barnett] said he lost it in the sun, and that it was the first time in 29 years he’s been hit on the field,” Snow said. “I could have had it.”

Asked if he felt a sense of gloom after Fasano walked, Lachemann said, “No, I was pretty sure we had it wrapped up--McElroy was warming up.”

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And on the 23rd day, Rex Hudler rested. Hudler, who played in 22 consecutive games, hitting six homers and knocking in 15 runs, finally got a night off Tuesday after collecting one hit in his last 13 at-bats. “I think my mental and physical batteries are worn down a bit,” Hudler said. . . . Royal pitcher Jose Rosado’s first major league strikeout became something of a wild pitch. After striking out Orlando Palmeiro in the second inning, Rosado tossed the ball toward the Royal dugout, but it bounced into the bleachers. Royal designated hitter Bob Hamelin talked a fan into tossing the ball back, so Rosado could keep it.