Abbott Consents to Triple-A Assignment

Jim Abbott consented to an assignment at triple-A Vancouver Tuesday. He will report and work out today and make his first start for the Canadians on Saturday in Phoenix.

“I think it’s in his best interest,” Manager John McNamara said. “He can go there and find himself. My opinion is that he was just trying to be too fine.”

Pitching coach Joe Coleman says Abbott, who gave up nine earned runs in 3 1/3 innings during his last start Saturday, still has the pitches to win at the major league level.

“People are questioning his stuff, his velocity, but even if you lose some velocity, you can still approach things the same way,” Coleman said. “The stuff I’ve seen in the bullpen is good enough to win, but he hasn’t been able to take that stuff out to the mound.

“I’m not saying anything behind Jimmy’s back because I’ve told him this. He has to learn to trust his pitches again. One day, he’ll realize that, it’ll all kick in and he’ll be back here.”

Abbott probably will make four starts in Vancouver and return to the Angels when the minor-league season ends Sept. 2.

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Right-hander Jason Grimsley, who is 5-7 with a 6.53 earned-run average, will take Mark Langston’s spot in the rotation and start tonight against the Indians.

Langston, who threw his daughter into the family pool Sunday night and irritated the right knee he had surgically repaired in early May, expressed cautious optimism.

“It feels better and I have a lot more mobility,” he said. “It’s certainly a step in the right direction and a lot better than I thought it would be.”

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Jim Lefebvre, former Cub and Mariner manager, said Tuesday he had not been contacted by the Angels, but “If the opportunity presented itself, I’d be very interested. Otherwise, I don’t want to do any politicking.”. . . Bill Lachemann, who was coaching first base while Joe Maddon ran the team during McNamara’s two-game absence from the dugout, will remain at first base and Maddon will become the bench coach. . . . Left-hander Chuck McElroy, in Texas to be with his wife who is expecting the couple’s second child, saw a Houston specialist Tuesday in an attempt to discover the cause of numbness in his left hand. . . . McNamara, who injured his right calf while taking a treadmill stress test while wearing loafers, was still walking gingerly but returned to the dugout Tuesday. “I didn’t know I was going to have the test and then they put me up there and said, ‘Start walking,’ ” he said. “Then when they juiced it up, I thought, ‘I’m not going to let this [bleeping] machine beat me.’ ”