McDowell Already Making an Impact

The window of opportunity for starting pitchers Omar Olivares, William VanLandingham and Rich Robertson was essentially slammed shut when the Angels signed Jack McDowell on Wednesday night, but Manager Terry Collins told the three pitchers Thursday they shouldn’t get discouraged.

“Somebody is going to get hurt--history just says that somewhere along the line we’re going to need some pitching,” Collins said. “A lot can happen between now and April 1, and they can’t let [McDowell’s signing] affect their approach.”

McDowell traveled to Arizona on Thursday and will join the team today in Tempe, but Collins said his presence has already been felt. “I saw some interesting faces in the clubhouse today,” he said. “For some guys, this will be a real kick in the butt.”

McDowell could have a trickle-down effect on the bullpen too. Olivares and Robertson have extensive experience as relievers, and they’ll be thrown into a pool of eight pitchers competing for the three bullpen spots behind Troy Percival, Mike James and Mike Holtz.

Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Pep Harris and Rich DeLucia are still the top bullpen candidates, but Collins said he will take “the best pitchers, regardless of who they are. . . . It’s going to be an interesting battle.”

If their starters avoid injury and the Angels break camp with a rotation of Chuck Finley, Ken Hill, Allen Watson, Jason Dickson and McDowell, the team will be in a rare position in late March to trade some pitching to shore up another weakness.

“We have some good arms, no doubt about it, and that gives us some maneuverability,” Collins said. “If something happens, we have some security. If we want to make a move, we have some people we can do it with. If someone needs pitching help, I think we’ll be a team people will call.”