Outfielder Crunch Isn’t Causing Any Controversy Yet

One of the biggest issues of this spring--how the Angels will squeeze four outfielders into three spots--seems to be of concern to everyone except the primary subjects in this unfolding saga.

Jim Edmonds and Darin Erstad both said, “These things work themselves out.” Tim Salmon knows he’ll play as long as he’s healthy.

And Garret Anderson, deemed most expendable this winter because he doesn’t possess the power of Salmon and Erstad or the glove of Edmonds, and considered the most likely outfielder to lose some at-bats, is unfazed.

“There is no competition with me or the others,” Anderson said. “We’re all proven major league players. I’m not fighting for a job, because that wouldn’t be the right approach. I don’t feel any uncertainty.”

But if Todd Greene can’t catch and if Dave Hollins doesn’t win the third base job but hits well this spring, Anderson might feel some uncertainty, because both Greene and Hollins are prime designated hitter candidates.

Assuming Salmon will need time off from right field as he recovers from foot surgery, Anderson--again the subject of heavy trade speculation this winter--may wind up rotating between three outfield spots and designated hitter.

“But I’m not a utility player,” said Anderson, who has a .299 career average in four seasons. “I can play all three outfield spots and DH, and if that’s what they want me to do, I will. As long as I have a chance to play every day, I don’t have a problem with that.”

The man who must make the decisions is consumed by the situation. “I’m constantly thinking about how I can shuffle guys around,” Manager Terry Collins said. “I’m not going to settle on three guys for the outfield.”

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Cecil Fielder, still bitter over the Angels’ decision to release him last August despite his team-leading 68 runs batted in, was highly critical of Collins during an interview with Toronto reporters Wednesday.

“Terry Collins’ whole game in the clubhouse is he wants to keep control of those young guys and be something of an intimidator,” said Fielder, who signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays.

“That wasn’t the team I should have been on, with a manager who wanted a control situation. Screaming and hollering and getting those guys nervous just wasn’t going to work. . . . Those kids were a bit gun-shy.”

Said Collins: “I’m disappointed that’s the way he feels. I like Cecil a lot. We did what we felt was best for the club. The one thing I don’t want to do is control guys. I just want them to play hard.”

And the screaming? “I don’t yell very much at all,” Collins said.