Pitchers’ Duel Here Could Be an 11-10 Game

The question in the American League West: Can the Angels, Texas Rangers or Seattle Mariners score enough to overcome the enemy within?

So far, only the Angels are doing it--and barely.

Through Thursday, the Angels, with an earned-run average of 4.92, had scored 88 runs and given up 81; the Rangers, 6.06 ERA, had scored 83 and given up 100, and the Mariners, 6.31, had scored 73 and given up 95.

In a division of big bats and bad pitching, the Angels’ top three of Ken Hill, Chuck Finley and Tim Belcher were 2-4 with an ERA of 7.59; the Rangers’ top three of Rick Helling, Aaron Sele and John Burkett--who was put on the disabled list Wednesday--were 3-6 with an ERA of 6.84, and the Mariners’ top three of Jeff Fassero, Jamie Moyer and Freddy Garcia were 3-5 with an ERA of 6.21.

Respectability has been a rare commodity.

Rookie Garcia (2-0, 3.54) has provided some for the Mariner rotation; veteran Sele (3-1, 3.22) and the very veteran Mike Morgan (3-0, 3.72) have survived the mound meltdown in Texas, and the nomadic Omar Olivares (2-1, 1.77) has given the otherwise lamentable Angel rotation a lift.

This is a race that may hinge on which team is able to acquire a starter in July. The Angels’ ability to trade was significantly damaged by the extended loss of Jim Edmonds, reducing their outfield depth.

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Among the few starting pitchers available in trade, Kevin Appier turned in his longest stint Wednesday night, going eight innings on 106 pitches in Kansas City’s 3-2 victory over Minnesota. Appier, who had shoulder surgery during spring training in 1998 and pitched only 15 major league innings last year, is 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA through four starts.

However, his salary, $4.8 million, and diminished velocity have yet to inspire any substantive offers, and the scouts’ appraisals of his work tend to be much like Appier’s own tepid appraisal of his shoulder after Wednesday’s game: “Not great, but pretty good.”

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How bad can baseball’s economics be when two groups have put down the $12-million deposit and are prepared to meet the $120-million purchase price for the Oakland A’s--with all of their attendance and stadium problems?

Under an agreement with current owners Steve Schott and Ken Hoffman, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority had until Wednesday to receive bids and until May 11 to select the group that will pursue approval from the American and National leagues. The A’s, as part of the agreement reached in October, must remain in Oakland for three years.

Schott and Hoffman bought the club for $85 million in 1995, meaning the value has grown $35 million in about four years, a nice return amid the industry’s alleged financial woes, particularly in the small-revenue markets.

Oakland’s Schott is not related to Marge, who has accepted a baseball mandate and agreed to sell 5 1/2 of her 6 1/2 ownership shares in the Cincinnati Reds to her limited partners for $67 million, which should keep her in dog treats for quite a while. That sigh of relief came from Commissioner Bud Selig and the owners in both leagues.