Greene Gets Doctors’ Clearance to Land as Angel Catcher

The Angels added another powerful bat to their lineup this week, but not by free agency or trade. Doctors cleared Todd Greene to catch this season, Manager Terry Collins said, providing the Angels a way to get his bat into their order.

“That’s a huge plus,” Collins said. “Even if we start out catching him a couple days a week, by the end of the summer, it might be up to three or four.”

Greene, 27, hit 40 home runs in the minor leagues in 1995 and, after the Angels traded Jim Leyritz in 1997, he hit nine in a month for Anaheim. The Angels projected him as their starting catcher in 1998, but lengthy recovery from off-season shoulder surgery limited him to 29 games, none at catcher.

The Angels used six catchers last season, primarily Matt Walbeck and Phil Nevin. Both return this season, as does Charlie O’Brien.

None of those players, however, can provide the power of Greene. When pitchers and catchers report to spring training in two weeks, Collins said the Angels will limit Greene’s defensive work so as to nurse his shoulder back into playing shape.

Greene cannot start if he cannot catch, barring a trade. Mo Vaughn will play first base, with Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds, Darin Erstad and Tim Salmon expected to fill the designated hitter and outfield spots.

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The Angels promoted phenom Troy Glaus from the minor leagues July 30 and inserted him into the starting lineup July 31, in the heat of a pennant race. Third base belongs to Glaus for the next decade, right?

Not so fast, General Manager Bill Bavasi said. Whether Glaus starts the season in Anaheim or at triple-A Edmonton will depend upon how he performs compared to veteran Dave Hollins in spring training.

“That’s completely up to Troy and Dave,” Bavasi said. “If people want to count Dave out just because we brought the kid up, that’s a mistake.

“If Dave comes into camp and plays like Dave Hollins did in ‘97, it’s going to be tough for someone to beat him out.”

Hollins, 32, hit .288 with 16 home runs in 1997, scoring 101 runs and driving in 85. In 1998, hampered by an injured shoulder that eventually required surgery, he dropped to .242 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. Hollins will earn $2.4 million this season, the final year of his contract.

The Angels promoted Glaus, 22, after just four months--and 35 home runs--in the minor leagues. He hit .218 with one home run in 48 games, striking out 51 times in 165 at-bats.

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Spring training will start without Justin Baughman. So, almost assuredly, will the season, one in which Baughman had hoped to emerge as the Angels’ leadoff hitter and second baseman.

Baughman, 24, jumped from Class A Lake Elsinore in 1997 to triple-A Vancouver last spring and into the Angels’ lineup in May, playing respectably in place of the injured Randy Velarde. Baughman hit .255 in 63 games with 10 stolen bases.

But he broke his left leg when he collided with an outfielder in a winter league game, and rehabilitation from surgery should extend well into the spring. His future, if delayed, is still bright. The Angels brought back Velarde, but the winter passed without the team acquiring a leadoff hitter or spending freely on a second baseman.

“That was real encouraging,” Baughman said. “They signed Randy for one year, which was good for Randy and good for the team. They could have gone out and signed somebody like Roberto Alomar to a long-term deal and sealed my fate with the Angels.”

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Larry Kahn will host the pregame and postgame programming surrounding Angel games, KLAC General Manager Ed Krampf said. Kahn, the former radio voice of the USC football and basketball teams, will focus on features and interviews before games and a call-in talk show after games.

Because the radio station and not the Angels hired Kahn, Krampf believes his new host can and will criticize the team when warranted.

“He is professional enough and savvy enough to handle it and to call it as he sees it,” Krampf said. “I think the Angels will encourage him to do it. If you’re fair and you tell the fans the truth, I think they’ll respond to you and respect you.”