BATTLE READY

Go to any spring-training camp and you’ll find optimism gushing from the clubhouse. It’s the time of year when all teams--OK, maybe not the Florida Marlins--think they have a shot at the playoffs.

The Angels, who will hold their first workout for pitchers and catchers today, are no different. They like their chances of winning the American League West title in 1998.

But when Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina sizes up this team, he senses something beyond the normal spring fever that grips players as camp opens.

He sees the nucleus of a team that grew up together entering its prime, a group of players who signed long-term contracts and banked their millions, but whose priorities have come into better focus.

“It’s great having the security of a three-year deal, but you go home each winter and realize there’s a missing link--winning,” DiSarcina said. “Personal stats get brushed aside. You’re going to get paid whether you hit .200 or .300, so you file that away and put the team ahead of yourself.”

The Angels seemed more cohesive last season, when they hung with Seattle into late August before fading to second, but new Manager Terry Collins doesn’t deserve all the credit.

Some credit, DiSarcina said, should go to General Manager Bill Bavasi, whose strategy of locking up players such as Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson, Chuck Finley, Ken Hill, Dave Hollins and DiSarcina to multiyear deals appears to be paying dividends.

“He’s done a good job of convincing guys that this is the way to do business,” DiSarcina said. “It takes the mercenary feeling away. . . . Guys are looking out for each other. There’s more of a feeling of being a team, and that’s half the battle.”

The other half, of course, is pitching, and as far as the AL West arms race goes, the Angels appear to stack up well.

Finley is sound after sitting out the last six weeks of 1997 because of a broken wrist, an injury he suffered after winning 10 consecutive games and reestablishing himself as one of baseball’s best left-handers.

The Angels have Hill for an entire season, and if the right-hander, acquired last July 29, bears any resemblance to the pitcher who gave up 10 earned runs in 52 innings over his last seven starts of ‘97, the Angels should have a formidable one-two pitching punch.

Left-hander Allen Watson is leaner--and, the Angels hope, meaner--than the pudgy ’97 model, having spent the winter working with a personal trainer, and the deeper gaps in remodeled Edison Field may keep some of his would-be homers in the park.

Right-hander Jason Dickson is a year wiser after a rookie season in which he showed much promise, going 13-5 through Aug. 23 before fading to 13-9.

And the No. 5 spot will be filled by Omar Olivares, the durable right-hander from Seattle, William VanLandingham, the former San Francisco right-hander with considerable but untapped potential, or Rich Robertson, the former Minnesota left-hander who can start or relieve.

“We didn’t have the depth last year that we have this year,” Collins said. “When Finley got hurt in spring training last year, we were scrambling. If someone gets hurt this year, we have Olivares, VanLandingham and Robertson to start.”

It’s not Maddux-Smoltz-Glavine, but the bottom of the rotation has been upgraded from 1997, when the injury-plagued Angels used Kevin Gross, reliever Darrell May and 21-year-old Matt Perisho for key second-half starts and pinned their pennant hopes on unpredictable knuckleballer Dennis Springer, who started 10 games after Aug. 14.

And it’s not as if the Angels are in a premium pitching division. Seattle’s Randy Johnson still has no equal in the West, but he begins camp with one cloud hanging over his head--his trade request was not met this winter--and another below it, 22-year-old pitcher Ken Cloude, Seattle’s No. 4 starter.

Jeff Fassero is an outstanding No. 2, but can the Mariners expect another 17-5 season from soft-throwing left-hander Jamie Moyer? And what about the No. 5 spot, which they hope reliever Paul Spoljaric, who has one start in his 87 games, can fill?

Texas’ ace is John Burkett, who went 9-12 last year, and the rest of the rotation looks like a bunch of No. 4 starters: Darren Oliver, Bobby Witt, Aaron Sele and either Rick Helling, Roger Pavlik or Perisho.

Oakland’s top two starters are Kenny Rogers and Tom Candiotti. No further comment necessary.

“Certainly, Seattle is the team to beat,” Collins said. “I don’t care what anyone says about Randy Johnson, when he walks to the mound he’s going to compete, whether he thinks he’s going to be traded or not. And if Texas stays healthy, they will compete.

“But I like our team. I like a lot of things about it. I like our enthusiasm, the commitment to get better.”

Most of all, Collins likes his lineup. The scrappy Angels finished six games behind Seattle last season, but they believe they’ve added the power--most notably, designated hitter Cecil Fielder and catcher Todd Greene for a full season--to close the gap.

Fielder, who took a $4.4-million pay cut this season, is so motivated to put his sub-par 1997 (.260, 13 homers, 61 RBIs) behind him he lost between 20 and 30 pounds this winter and is in the best shape of his career. “I believe in players who are hungry,” Collins said, “and Cecil is starving.”

Greene, sidelined the last six weeks of 1997 because of a broken bone in his right wrist, had nine homers and 24 RBIs in only 34 games last season.

If he and Fielder remain sound, they have the potential to add 50-60 homers and 200 RBIs to an Angel lineup that already includes Salmon, Edmonds, Anderson, Hollins and Darin Erstad.

They may be a shade less potent than Seattle, which features Joey Cora, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, David Segui and Glenallen Hill, but the Angels believe they are strong enough to contend.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ANGEL KEY DATES

Pitchers and Cathcers Report: Today

Full Sqad Reports: Wednesday

First Spring Game: Feb. 27

Opening Day: April 1 vs. New York, Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.

ANGELS AT A GLANCE

* BIGGEST QUESTION OF SPRING: Can second baseman Randy Velarde and catcher Todd Greene return to full strength after 1997 surgeries? Velarde sat out the season because of elbow reconstruction and won’t know how his arm will respond until he tests it in game conditions. Greene’s wrist is fine, but he recovered slowly from a November procedure to repair a slight shoulder tear and is not expected to catch until the first or second week of March.

* YOU CAN BANK ON IT: Designated hitter Cecil Fielder will have a huge year, and we are not referring to his waistline. He lost weight, he’s in great shape, he’s angry about his huge pay cut, and he’s out to prove Yankee owner George Steinbrenner gave up on him way too soon. Manager Terry Collins can’t wait to write a lineup card with Fielder hitting behind Tim Salmon. “If Cecil gets off to a good start where people are intimidated by him, Salmon has a chance to see some great pitches,” Collins said.

* JOB SEEKERS: The hottest competition will be at the back of the rotation, where Omar Olivares, William VanLandingham and Rich Robertson will compete for the fifth spot, and in the bullpen, where the two starters who don’t make the rotation and five others--Pep Harris, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Rich DeLucia, Darrell May and Greg Cadaret--will battle for three spots behind closer Troy Percival and set-up men Mike James and Mike Holtz.

* WHAT, ME WORRY? A remodeled stadium and a competitive team are the focus of an unprecedented Angel marketing push, and Collins acknowledges there’s a temptation to run up the Cactus League victory total to drum up interest. But with seven players--Velarde, Greene, Fielder (thumb) Darin Erstad (shoulder), Gary DiSarcina (elbow), Dave Hollins (knee) and Jim Edmonds (both knees)--returning from surgeries, Collins will bring the Angels along slowly. “The least of my concerns is what our record is this spring,” Collins said. “We’re not going to overdo it too early.”

* WORST-CASE SCENARIO: A bat slips out of a reliever’s hands and nails Chuck Finley in the eye, Percival experiences shoulder problems and is less than 100% to open the season, Velarde blows out his elbow, another starting pitcher suffers a major shoulder injury. . . . Wait, all that happened to the Angels last spring. Well, you get the picture. “We cannot afford to have our front-line guys miss as much time as they did last year,” Collins said.

* BEST-CASE SCENARIO: Finley, Velarde and Greene come back strong and the Angels remain sound; Hill, Watson and Dickson have winning records; Darin Erstad warms to his leadoff role; Edmonds avoids nagging injuries and starts 150 games; Salmon has his usual 30-homer, 100-RBI season; Fielder returns to his 30-homer, 100-RBI form; Garret Anderson remains a .300 hitter but adds power; the Angels continue to follow the gritty lead of Hollins, and the bullpen performs to its capabilities. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

ANGEL SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE

* FEBRUARY: 25--Arizona State, 6 p.m. 27--Oakland. 28--Oakland.

* MARCH: 1--Colorado at Tucson. 2--San Francisco. 3--Milwaukee. 4--Seattle at Peoria. 5--Chicago White Sox at Tucson. 6--Chicago Cubs. 7--San Diego (SS) at Peoria and San Francisco (SS) at Las Vegas. 8--Arizona (SS) and San Francisco (SS) at Las Vegas. 9--Chicago Cubs. 10--Seattle at Peoria. 11--Colorado. 13--Chicago White Sox (SS) at Tucson and Oakland (SS) at Phoenix. 14--San Diego. 15--Oakland at Phoenix. 16--Seattle. 17--Milwaukee at Maryvale. 18--Arizona at Tucson. 19--Chicago Cubs at Mesa. 20--San Francisco. 21--Chicago Cubs at Mesa. 22--Chicago White Sox. 23--San Francisco at Scottsdale. 24--Seattle. 25--Chicago Cubs at Mesa. 27--Dodgers at Anaheim, 7 p.m. 28--At Dodgers, 7 p.m. 29--At Dodgers. 30--At Cal State Fullerton, 3 p.m.

* NOTE: Home games at Tempe, noon Pacific time, unless noted. SS-split squad game.