Angels Don’t Like It, but They Will Play Along

While clearly displeased with an arbitrator’s decision reinstating Tony Phillips, Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi said the outfielder could be in the lineup tonight night.

Phillips, 38, was arrested shortly after midnight on Aug. 10 at an Anaheim motel and later charged with felony cocaine possession. The Angels suspended him indefinitely Monday after he refused to go on the disabled list for inpatient treatment.

“That’s going to be a baseball decision up to Terry and myself,” Bavasi said of Manager Terry Collins when asked what will happen with Phillips upon his return. “And right now, we have to evaluate the kind of shape he’s in. He’s hit about twice since he’s been out, so we’ll have to evaluate that. He’s on the 25-man roster right now.”

Phillips was reinstated by arbitrator Richard Bloch in New York on Wednesday--shortly before the Angels faced the Yankees in a twi-night doubleheader at Anaheim Stadium.

Phillips is expected to be in uniform in the finale of a four-game series between the teams tonight.

“We are deeply disappointed in the decision and believe that we were taking the appropriate course of action in dealing with the Tony Phillips situation,” the Angels said in a statement.

Speaking during the first inning of the doubleheader, Bavasi said the Angels needed to move on.

“We lost an arbitration decision,” he said. “Whether you go on a baseball field or to an arbitration decision, you go to win. So we’re disappointed in the decision because it didn’t validate the suspension.”

Phillips was the everyday leadoff hitter for the Angels before his arrest. They have since acquired Rickey Henderson, but Phillips can be used at several positions and anywhere in the lineup.

When asked what kind of message the arbitrator’s decision sends, Bavasi said he wasn’t sure.

“You’re all going to have to decide what kind of message it sends to kids,” he said. “I have two kids, 8 and 10, and my wife and I try not to let anybody besides ourselves give our kids our messages. I will say one thing--this gave us a great opportunity to open the doors to talk about drugs and what’s wrong with them and the problems you get into.”

When asked how he would explain the decision to his children, Bavasi said: “It’s not easy. You spend a lot of time. I haven’t explained this decision and I’m not sure I’m going to. I mean, I’m going to probably explain how Tony’s going to suffer, and how he has suffered because of his own actions.”

Bavasi said nobody is happy about what’s happened the last 10 days.

“He’s in the middle of due process right now,” Bavasi said. “I’m handling the baseball operations, and until I’m told he can’t play, we’re getting ready to have him on our field.

“[Players] want him back. You’ve got to understand, he’s not just a ballplayer, he’s a friend. They’d like to get him back, they’d like to help him out. They’d like to help him get things straightened out on the field and off.

“This group of guys feel that he’s probably better off with them than alone, I guess. So I think they’re anxious to have him back because they want to win.”