McGwire Trade Talks Confirmed by A’s

Oakland General Manager Sandy Alderson confirmed Saturday he has had trade talks with the Angels about slugger Mark McGwire, but he would not say what the A’s would like in return for the first baseman.

“I’ve talked to the Angels, yeah,” Alderson told Bay Area reporters after the Angels’ 6-3 victory over the A’s on Saturday. “But I wouldn’t say there have been any significant changes.”

The A’s are believed to be interested in one of the Angels’ top young position players, either Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson or Darin Erstad, and at least one of their top pitching prospects, Matt Perisho, Jarrod Washburn, Mike Bovee or Scott Schoeneweis.

It’s doubtful the Angels would part with Erstad, Edmonds or Perisho, but Anderson’s name has been linked with trade talks for more than a year.

McGwire, baseball’s home run leader with 31, would love to play in Anaheim, but the Angels are reluctant to deal for him because he’ll be a free agent after this season.

But if they trade for McGwire this month and sign him to a multiyear deal, the Angels might be able to secure him at a more reasonable rate, avoiding a potential bidding war this winter.

“He would sure be welcome here,” Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. “He would legitimize us in a heartbeat . . . not that we need to be legitimized, but he would be scary in this lineup.”

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Edmonds had an RBI double and Jim Leyritz had an RBI single Saturday, but the rest of the Angels’ runs were not exactly conventional. Tim Salmon, Tony Phillips and Erstad knocked in runs with groundouts, and Dave Hollins was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Hollins’ RBI in the fourth was notable in that it was the second time this season the gritty third baseman purposely froze while a pitch headed directly to his shoulder with the bases loaded.

How do the Angels feel about Hollins’ hard-nosed play?

“I think he’s stone-stupid,” DiSarcina said. “I don’t think he’d move if a ball was going right at his head. He’d just take the RBI and wobble to first. That’s a Don Baylor move, a veteran move.

“I think it’s real neat because [getting hit by a pitch] never hurts him and he gets an RBI out of it. Usually guys do whatever they can to get out of the way. A lot of people don’t notice that he doesn’t make any attempt to get out of the way.”

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First-base coach Dave Parker will be honored in a pregame ceremony today as part of Oakland’s 30th anniversary team. Parker, who played two seasons in Oakland (1988-89) was named the team’s designated hitter. Former Angel Carney Lansford is the team’s third baseman, and former Angel Reggie Jackson is an outfielder. . . . The Angels failed to homer Saturday for the first time in 10 games.

TODAY’S GAME

ANGELS’ DENNIS SPRINGER (4-3, 5.82 ERA) vs. ATHLETICS’ MIKE OQUIST (2-2, 4.03)

Oakland Coliseum, 1 p.m.

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KTZN (710).

* Update--Tim Salmon and Jim Edmonds have been tearing up Oakland pitching this season, Salmon batting .440 with two homers and eight runs batted in and Edmonds hitting .385 with two homers and eight RBIs against the A’s. The Angels, who are 33-15 in games they score first, have won five in a row and a season-high four in a row on the road, and they seem to be developing a bit of a swagger. “I think we have as good a chance of making the playoffs as anyone in our division,” pitcher Chuck Finley said. “I think we’ll be there until the end. I don’t really see any weaknesses on the team. No one’s pushing us around any more. They know if they don’t play the game the way it should be played, they might get killed.” Springer probably won’t be too comfortable today when A’s slugger Mark McGwire steps into the box. McGwire seems to feast on knuckleball pitchers and hit two homers off Springer on May 28.