O’Brien’s Still Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

The Angels traded for a player on the disabled list last week when they acquired catcher Charlie O’Brien. No problem, club officials said, we’ll just activate him on the first day we can do so.

That day is today, and the Angels will not activate him. O’Brien, on the disabled list since July 19 because of a broken right thumb, is scheduled for examination today by Angel medical director Dr. Lewis Yocum. General Manager Bill Bavasi said the Angels anticipate O’Brien requiring “at least a few more days” of rehabilitation.

The Angels traded minor league pitchers Jason Stockstill and Brian Tokarse to the White Sox in exchange for O’Brien. If O’Brien cannot play soon, Bavasi said he has an agreement with Chicago regarding alternative compensation but declined to reveal specifics.

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Yes, the Angels are slumping and, yes, their disabled list is bulging, but this is ridiculous: Now they’re losing players at the airport customs checkpoint.

The Angels planned to activate infielder Randy Velarde in time for Sunday’s 5 p.m. game. Velarde, on a rehabilitation assignment at triple-A Vancouver, arrived at the Vancouver airport at 7 a.m.

But customs officials detained him so long that he missed his 7:40 flight.

He caught the next flight to Southern California, but it didn’t leave until 1:30 p.m., so he failed to arrive by game time.

“It was a nightmare,” Velarde said in the Angel clubhouse about 9 p.m. “I still haven’t gotten my baseball gear. Who knows where it’s at?”

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Velarde won’t play every day at second base, but the Angels plan to play him often enough that they returned rookie Justin Baughman to Vancouver. Baughman batted .246 in the first 58 games of his major league career.

“I don’t want Justin Baughman sitting on the bench,” Manager Terry Collins said. “He’s got too bright a future to sit here.”

The Angels also swapped left-handed relievers, adding Trevor Wilson and subtracting Mike Holtz. Wilson, 32, who last pitched in the majors for the 1995 San Francisco Giants, rebounded from arm trouble and went 5-9 with a 3.62 earned-run average at Vancouver.

Holtz entered the season with a lifetime ERA of 2.97, but he has a 5.33 ERA this season and walked home two runs Saturday.

Collins said Baughman and Holtz would return, at the latest, when rosters expand Sept. 1.

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Erik Hanson pitched a three-hit shutout in Vancouver’s 4-0 victory over Memphis on Saturday. Hanson, 33, signed to a minor league contract after the Blue Jays released him in June, is 2-2 with a 4.82 ERA in seven starts with the Canadians.

ON DECK

* Opponent--Cleveland Indians, three games.

* Site--Edison Field.

* Tonight--7.

* TV--Fox Sports West tonight and Tuesday.

* Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090).

* Records--Angels 58-52, Indians 62-48.

* Record vs. Indians--1-5.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ STEVE SPARKS (4-2, 4.95 ERA) vs. INDIANS’ JARET WRIGHT (9-6, 4.55 ERA)

* Update--Wright, who attended Katella High in Anaheim and whose father Clyde used to pitch for the Angels, might need a dose of hometown cooking. Wright, who started Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, is winless with a 10.13 ERA in his last three starts.

* Tuesday, 7 p.m.--Chuck Finley (8-5, 2.96) vs. Dave Burba (10-8, 3.87).

* Wednesday, 1 p.m.--Omar Olivares (5-8, 4.22) vs. Bartolo Colon (11-6, 2.92)

* Tickets--(714) 634-2000.