Angels’ Equation Needs Pitching to Add Up

Baseball’s standings require some understanding of new math.

The Angels, for instance, are half a game ahead of the Texas Rangers in the American League West but 3 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card race.

Either way, General Manager Bill Bavasi calculates, his team would benefit by a trade aimed at improving the pitching.

“I think we can go on and win with what we’ve got, but I don’t think it’s my job to test that theory,” he said. “I think it’s my job to try and get us deeper.”

Not easy.

The Dodgers’ acquisition of journeyman left-hander Brian Bohanon as a fifth starter illustrates the limited nature of the pitching market.

In addition, Bavasi said, “A lot of clubs can’t decide if they’re in or out of the race. A lot of clubs haven’t defined their year yet.”

What he means is that the wild card has compounded the situation.

Clubs that might be out of the division race but are on the fringe of the wild-card race are pounding the pavement, looking for help.

Clubs with pitchers and players to possibly trade that still have wild-card aspirations are reluctant to deal too quickly, perhaps looking bad in the eyes of their still-hopeful fans.

The result, according to Bavasi, is that 1) the wild card has driven up the price, and 2) most clubs will wait until the eve of the July 31 deadline before making a move--hopeful by then they will have a better picture of their own status and/or that the price will have dropped.

For now, every time Bavasi makes a call, he’s hearing Darin Erstad or Jim Edmonds, which means no deal.

“As an organization with a chance to win, if there was a No. 1 type pitcher out there and it took a top player or prospect to get him, we’d have to consider that, but there’s not a No. 1 out there,” Bavasi said.

“I don’t mind renting a player [for half a season], but only if we get a second player we can keep and who will help us in the future.”

The one No. 1 type most general managers believe will be available before July 31 is Randy Johnson, but the Seattle Mariners still are rejecting all overtures.

Among the pitchers definitely available are Cincinnati’s Pete Harnisch, Kansas City’s Tim Belcher, Minnesota’s Bob Tewksbury and Montreal’s Carlos Perez. Colorado insists it will not deal Darryl Kile. Arizona might deal Andy Benes and/or Willie Blair, but both carry big contracts and have pitched poorly. Pittsburgh, for now, has put a prohibitive price on Jason Schmidt, and St. Louis remains indecisive about trading Todd Stottlemyre, although sources say there have been talks with the Angels regarding a blockbuster deal that also would involve Brian Jordan and Garret Anderson.

With two weeks to go until the deadline, the heaviest action involves Harnisch (7-4, 3.06 earned-run average), with the Angels, Rangers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox among a half-dozen clubs pestering Red General Manager Jim Bowden.

San Diego General Manager Kevin Towers spent the weekend in Cincinnati trying to complete a three-way trade that ultimately would land Joey Hamilton in Detroit and bring Harnisch to the Padres--coincidentally, Hamilton beat Harnisch on Saturday--but Bowden, spurred by the Reds’ recent revival and Harnisch’s effective pitching, also has been discussing a two-year, $6-million offer to retain the veteran right-hander.

“We’re working on both--signing him and trading him,” Bowden said. “Whichever works out best for the club quickest is what we’ll do.

“Mark this down. He will either be signed by us before July 31 or he will be traded.”

For the Angels, struggling in July after a 22-6 June, the need for a veteran pitcher is becoming imperative.

Each day seems to bring a new crack in the mirrors belonging to Omar Olivares, Jarrod Washburn and Steve Sparks. Chuck Finley hasn’t won in his last seven starts and annually seems to garner the freak-injury-of-the- year award. Ken Hill isn’t expected back until late August, and Jack McDowell might not be back at all.

The best thing the Angels have had going in July is the similar ineptness of the Rangers, but the acquisition by Texas of Esteban Loaiza could help change that, and the Angels might not want to look behind them, as Satchel Paige advised, because Oakland and Seattle might be gaining.

The Angels have played with admirable aggressiveness, feeding off Manager Terry Collins, but pitching is now only one issue down the stretch.

Burdened by a star-crossed history, the Angels have to hope that Tim Salmon’s strained ligament doesn’t blow, that Cecil Fielder can generate some elusive consistency (“he has 60 RBIs and should have 80 with all the chances he’s had,” a club official said), that Edmonds can lift his average with runners in scoring position out of the .220s, that Allen Watson (certain to return to a starting role) can refocus on his team’s goal instead of his own, that Anderson can maintain his midsummer consistency, that Justin Baughman can reject rookie jitters, that Bavasi’s calls net, at the least, a veteran catcher to relieve the weary Matt Walbeck-Phil Nevin tandem and stop the parade of stolen bases, that Dave Hollins’ bat starts to provide some of the same distance that his throws occasionally do (no, Troy Glaus isn’t ready) and that Todd Greene, now a first baseman, can return from a rehab assignment to provide some punch off the bench and relief for Salmon as designated hitter.

“I wasn’t looking for another June, but I was hoping to build on it, win six of every 10, keep adding on, adding on,” Collins said. “We’ve been playing as bad as we can play, but we’re still in first place. If our big guys start hitting, we’ll take off.”

If Bavasi can land a pitcher (“I’m not going to stop talking”), that would help.

The chance to win doesn’t come every year, as the Angels can testify, and now those complex standings show they have two chances--as division winner or wild card.