Angels Manage to Continue Search

With former Pittsburgh Pirate manager Jim Leyland considering the Angels’ lucrative offer, team officials will interview Tim Johnson and Ken Macha today for the manager’s job.

Johnson, a coach with the Boston Red Sox, and Macha, a minor league manager in the Boston organization, will meet with Angel officials in Southern California, a source said.

But those interviews could be for nothing.

“That will depend on what Mr. Leyland does,” said Macha, who managed Boston’s double-A team in Trenton (N.J.). “If he wants that job, I don’t think my chances will be very good.”

The Angels offered Leyland a four-year deal worth about $8 million. The package includes a $1.2-million annual salary, a mortgage-free house, vacation trips, performance incentives and stock options in the Walt Disney Co., which owns controlling interest in the Angels.

After the Angels made their offer, Leyland was visited at his home by representatives of other organizations. The Marlins were considered to have the inside track to Leyland when he resigned after 11 seasons with the Pirates. But offers from the Angels and Chicago White Sox, plus interest from the Red Sox, caused Marlin President Don Smiley and General Manager Dave Dombrowski--a close friend of Leyland’s--to fly to Pittsburgh and meet with Leyland on Wednesday afternoon.

The Marlins had reportedly offered a three- to five-year contract for $5 million to $7 million, but that was before other offers began rolling in. Will the Marlins stand pat on their original offer?

“It would not be safe to assume that,” Smiley said.

Dombrowski said Marlin owner Wayne Huizenga would not be outbid on “something he really wants.”

Red Sox President John Harrington and General Manager Dan Duquette flew to Pittsburgh Wednesday night to make their offer, which was expected to be in the $1-million-per-year range.

Jerry Reinsdorf, Chicago White Sox chairman, and Ron Schueler, the team’s general manager, met with Leyland on Monday. The presence of Schueler was seen as an attempt to mend fences with Leyland, a friend of former White Sox manager Gene Lamont. In 1995, Schueler fired Lamont, who then went to the Pirates as a coach.

The White Sox offered a three- to five-year deal worth in excess of $1.5 million per year.

Leyland, 51, said Wednesday he will take a day or so to study the proposals before choosing his new team.

“I’m going to go home, take the phone off the hook and discuss it with my wife,” said Leyland, who was twice named National League manager of the year.

“This isn’t about money. I would have stayed in Pittsburgh if this were about money. But I never got past high school, and I want somebody smarter than me looking at these. There are real outstanding offers.”

Meanwhile, the Angels continue moving forward with other candidates.

Johnson has been on the Angels’ short list since Marcel Lachemann stepped down as manager on Aug. 6. Johnson was a finalist for the manager jobs in Oakland, Detroit, St. Louis and Florida.

Macha was the Angels’ third base coach from 1992-94.

An Angel source said Tuesday that former Cincinnati and Detroit manager Sparky Anderson was now near the top of the list should Leyland turn down the team’s offer.

“I think everyone is waiting around to see what Jim does,” Johnson said.

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Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna and the Associated Press contributed to this story.