Trouble in Disneyland

The Angels, labeled “soft” by left fielder Darin Erstad, showed a little backbone Thursday night, pounding out 15 hits, including three each by Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon, against the Texas Rangers.

Above the neck, the Angels weren’t as successful. Baserunning gaffes by Orlando Palmeiro and Gary DiSarcina in the sixth inning cost the Angels two runs, and they eventually lost, 9-7, to the Rangers before 31,101 at the Ballpark in Arlington.

That completed the Rangers’ two-game sweep of a series the Angels believed they had to sweep to remain in contention, and left the Angels in tatters. They have their worst record of the season (42-52) and are 12 1/2 games behind Texas in the American League West.

“You don’t like to look at a two-game series as life or death, but it’s obviously disappointing,” DiSarcina said. “We just have to be professional as a team, go about our business the right way.”

It won’t be business as usual in the Angel front office. The Angels’ one-week, six-game plunge in the standings probably will trigger intensified trade talks surrounding Angel pitcher Omar Olivares, whom the Giants and Cardinals have shown interest in, and pitcher Ken Hill, whose trade value could go up if he has two more good starts this month.

But the Angels’ first order of business is to decide what to do with pitcher Chuck Finley, the 14-year veteran who said he would be open to a trade to a contender if the Angels are out of the pennant race at the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.

The dilemma for the Angels: Do they retain Finley and risk getting only a draft pick or two as compensation for their longtime ace if he decides to leave as a free agent next winter? Do they trade Finley and risk him never returning to the Angels, a team that will need him in 2000?

Or do they roll the dice and trade Finley for a couple of good prospects, thinking they can re-sign him over the winter?

“I’d like to stay, but what good would it do for me to be here and be 18 games out when they can trade me and get some help?” Finley said. “I’m trying to get a good gauge on where we’ll be in a month. It’s not an easy call, trying to pick a number [of games] your team can rebound from.”

Several teams, including the Yankees, Indians and Astros, are interested in Finley. The Rangers would love to have Finley, but it’s highly doubtful the Angels would deal with an AL West rival, and the Rangers are concerned they would not be able to re-sign Finley for 2000.

At some point in the next week or so, Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi likely will have a long talk with Finley to determine the pitcher’s intentions.

If Bavasi is convinced Finley wants to stay and that Finley believes the Angels will make the necessary moves to contend next season, there’s a good chance Bavasi won’t trade him. If Finley is hesitant about returning, he likely will be traded.

“Somebody has to come to me sooner or later,” said Finley, who had lunch Thursday with Randy Hendricks, the agent who no longer represents the pitcher but still handles some of his business dealings. “We still have nine days to go.”

Finley said the Angels “definitely have some issues. . . . They’ve got to figure out what to do with [center fielder Jim] Edmonds, they’ve got to address the catching situation, decide who’s going to lead off or get a leadoff guy, get another starting pitcher.”

But he still believes the Angels have the core of a team that can challenge in the West.

“You give Troy Glaus another year, get Edmonds, [Tim] Salmon and Mo [Vaughn] healthy, have Gary [DiSarcina] for a full year and bring Randy [Velarde] back . . . who wouldn’t want to try their luck with that lineup?” Finley said. “If you could tell me we would be able to run our nine guys out there for 130 games, I’d take my chances with this team.”

Of course, the injury-ravaged Angels never seem to run their regular lineup on the field.

“You get teased here,” Finley said. “In spring training you go, ‘Look at this team!’ Then when the season starts someone breaks out a hammer and chisel and starts pounding away. By the All-Star break you’re saying, ‘Where was that beautiful statue?’ It turned into a bunch of pebbles.”

The Angel offense looked rock solid Thursday night, as Vaughn and Glaus homered and Salmon doubled twice, but Glaus’ third-inning error helped pave the way for Texas’ six-run third, which was highlighted by Rafael Palmeiro’s grand slam off knuckleballer Steve Sparks.

After Palmeiro led off the sixth with a single, he was picked off first by cannon-armed catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Later, with DiSarcina on first and Steve Decker on second, Erstad grounded to first baseman Lee Stevens, who threw wide to second.

When the ball nicked shortstop Royce Clayton’s glove and dribbled toward left field, DiSarcina rounded the bag and headed for third. But Decker had stopped at third, and DiSarcina was tagged out in a brief rundown.

Velarde followed with an RBI single, but instead of a three-run inning, the Angels scored one. The Rangers scored twice in the sixth, once in the eighth, and the Angels were done.