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For Now, Collins Moves Glaus to Shortstop

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It appears Manager Terry Collins will do what many do when faced with an extremely difficult decision: Put it off as long as possible.

Instead of picking between veteran Dave Hollins and youngster Troy Glaus as his opening-day third baseman, Collins on Friday resurrected a plan he’d scrapped two weeks ago, moving Glaus to shortstop to replace injured Gary DiSarcina.

Glaus, who played shortstop at UCLA, will start there again today, and if he does the job defensively, he probably will open the season at shortstop, displacing utility player Jeff Huson.

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Collins eventually will have to choose a third baseman when DiSarcina, who broke a bone in his forearm, returns, but until then the Angels will sacrifice some infield defense for a lineup that could pack considerable punch.

“If Troy does what we think he can, we’ll have a shortstop who can hit home runs and produce runs,” Collins said. “We have to look at what’s best for this team at this particular moment and worry about what we have to do down the road when we get there.”

Hollins gave the plan a ringing endorsement.

“I like that lineup, the one with me in it,” Hollins said after an 8-2 exhibition loss to San Diego in Tempe, Ariz. “I don’t see any Gold Glovers at shortstop, so yeah, put the kid there. That solves the problem. Then we’ll see what happens when DiSar gets back. If Troy and I are both playing well, do I go to [designated hitter]? Or is it see you later?”

Glaus, who played two games at shortstop two weeks ago, fielded two grounders cleanly Friday but wasn’t really tested.

“Gary is probably one of the best shortstops in the league--I couldn’t fill his shoes totally,” Glaus said. “I can go out there and make the plays.”

Collins doesn’t expect the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Glaus to be the next Omar Vizquel.

“But Larry [Bowa, third base coach] was saying that if the Orioles didn’t have Mike Bordick, [the 6-4, 220-pound] Cal Ripken would still be playing shortstop,” Collins said. “Troy’s hands and arm are good enough. We just have to position him as best we can.”

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Team physician Lewis Yocum said he found unexpected rotator cuff wear when he performed surgery for torn cartilage on pitcher Jason Dickson’s shoulder Thursday. Dickson will be sidelined for at least four months.

Yocum added that the broken bone in DiSarcina’s forearm is healing on schedule, but he couldn’t pinpoint an approximate date for the shortstop’s return. He was injured Feb. 28.

“Those fractures take six to eight weeks to heal,” Yocum said. “If it took 10 weeks, that would not surprise me. I just don’t want him to do something prematurely and pay the price.”

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Chuck Finley gave up one hit--Ruben Rivera’s two-run homer--in four innings Friday, striking out five and walking two in a 72-pitch outing, his third start of the spring. “I’ve had no problems with my neck,” Finley said. “Once those [upper back spasms] went away, I knew they wouldn’t come back.”

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Seattle reliever Jose Paniagua took offense at Angel catcher Phil Nevin’s threatening comments in the wake of Wednesday’s near-brawl, which was precipitated by Paniagua’s brushback pitch to Nevin.

“For me, baseball is not for girls,” Paniagua told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

To which Nevin replied, “Yeah, that’s why he was running away from me.”

The Angels play host to Seattle today, but Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said Paniagua will not make the trip.

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“That’s OK,” Nevin said. “I’ll see him eventually.”

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