Edmonds a Hotter Commodity as Indians Join A’s in Pursuit

A deal to send Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds to the Oakland Athletics was stuck in a holding pattern Tuesday, and a new team, believed to be the Cleveland Indians, has jumped into the bidding for the two-time Gold Glove Award winner.

“All I can say is it appears things didn’t shut down [Monday night],” Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said of the close of baseball’s winter meetings in Anaheim. “We’re still open to trying to do things. We’ve had discussions with teams, including a new one [Tuesday]. So the close of the meetings is not the close of the trading season.”

Stoneman and A’s General Manager Billy Beane are expected to resume discussions about a trade that would send Edmonds to Oakland for minor league pitcher Brett Laxton, highly coveted minor league outfielder Mario Encarnacion and another prospect.

But the teams are apparently having trouble agreeing on the third player. The A’s, according to sources, want to give the Angels triple-A shortstop Jose Ortiz or possibly double-A third baseman Adam Piatt, but the Angels want pitcher Jesus Colome, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound right-hander from the Dominican Republic whose fastball has been clocked in the 98-mph range.

Colome, 19, went 8-4 with a 3.36 earned-run average and 127 strikeouts in 128 2/3 innings for Class-A Modesto in 1999, his third professional season.

“The only way this will resolve itself quickly is if one side blinks for the sake of making a deal,” said A’s assistant general manager Paul DePodesta. “And, I don’t see that happening.”

There was also no indication Tuesday that Oakland owners would allow Beane to increase his $29-million payroll to accommodate Edmonds’ $4.65-million salary for 2000. In addition, Beane is grappling with the difficult decision to part with top prospects for a player who is eligible for free agency after next season and could command between $6 million and $9 million a year in his next contract.

Another potential wrench in the Edmonds-to-Oakland deal: The Indians, who lost center fielder Kenny Lofton to rotator-cuff surgery Tuesday, have expressed interest in Edmonds.

The Angels came close to trading former ace Chuck Finley to the Indians at the July 31 trading deadline last season, and it’s possible several of the names in that deal--second baseman Enrique Wilson and minor league pitchers Willie Martinez, David Riske and Jimmy Hamilton--could be revived in a potential deal for Edmonds.

Cleveland, which lost closer Mike Jackson to free agency, might also seek to expand a deal to include Angel closer Troy Percival, and the Indians probably would be willing to part with starting pitcher Jaret Wright in such a package.

The New York Mets have been monitoring the Edmonds talks but will not part with young pitcher Octavio Dotel, coveted by every team that has discussed deals with the Mets, for Edmonds. The Angels have no interest in injury-plagued pitcher Bobby Jones, who will make $5.25 million next season and has been offered, and it would probably take more than right-hander Masato Yoshii to net Edmonds.

“I think the discussions will result in something,” Stoneman said. “The flames are still burning.”

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Finley and agent Tim Shannon traveled to Cleveland on Tuesday and had dinner with Indian owner Dick Jacobs, prospective owner Larry Dolan, General Manager John Hart and assistant general manager Mark Shapiro, and there were strong indications that the veteran left-hander was on the verge of signing with the team.

Hart has asked ownership for permission to increase his three-year, $22-million offer to Finley, and Finley was believed to have undergone a physical in Cleveland Tuesday. Finley and Shannon reserved hotel rooms in Cleveland through Thursday, leading some to believe the sides were hammering out final details of a contract and were prepared to remain in town for a news conference.

Finley, who has played his entire 14-year big league career in Anaheim before parting ways with the Angels on Dec. 7, is also weighing offers from the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles, both in the three-year, $22-million range.