Going (Griffey), Gone-zalez

Bill Stoneman has been on the job for 48 hours and already the Angels are more competitive in the American League West.

While the Angels’ new general manager familiarized himself with his new organization and refused telephone calls, the Seattle Mariners announced they will try to trade future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and the Texas Rangers traded power-hitting Juan Gonzalez to the Detroit Tigers in a nine-player deal.

When three American League most-valuable-player awards leave the division, two of them with Gonzalez, that’s a pretty good first day.

The off-season wasn’t a week old when Griffey and the Mariners, then the Rangers and Tigers, conspired to change the personality of the West.

Affected by the sudden death of his friend and Orlando, Fla., neighbor Payne Stewart, Griffey turned down an offer of $135 million over eight years and asked to be traded to a team that plays and trains closer to his home.

The Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles were immediately on the clock, and Houston, Cincinnati, Cleveland and both New York franchises fit all or some of Griffey’s criteria. As a player with 10 years’ service, five with the same club, Griffey can veto any trade.

The Dodgers have the resources to acquire a talent such as Griffey’s, not to mention the crying need, and indeed probably will look into the cost. Fox, like Disney, could find the combination of Griffey’s talent, personality and promotional possibilities irresistible.

The Mariners said Tuesday that they would not grant a negotiating window, a potential hurdle given that Griffey’s contract runs out after next season. Only last winter, Roger Clemens orchestrated a similar power play that bought him a World Series ring.

“This has been an extremely difficult decision for me,” said Griffey, who threatened his move for most of last season. “Mariners’ fans throughout the Pacific Northwest have been very loyal and devoted to me. I will truly miss them.”

Griffey, 29, has 398 home runs. The club that gets him, could watch him break Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs. It won’t be the Mariners, who face a similar financial decision with shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

“The Mariners agreed to Ken’s request and will seek to trade him during the current off-season,” the team said in a statement.

Said Brian Goldberg, Griffey’s agent, “It strictly has to do with family, time and geography.”

Except, during the season, it had to do with the Mariners not being very good.

Even as the Mariners announced the availability of Griffey, the Rangers were shipping out Gonzalez, reliever Danny Patterson and reserve catcher Gregg Zaun in the hopes that the players they were receiving might somehow get them past the Yankees one October.

The Tigers sent the Rangers left-handed starter Justin Thompson, reliever Francisco Cordero, outfielder Gabe Kapler, infielder Frank Catalanotto, catcher Bill Haselman and a minor league pitcher.

Regular-season champions of the West Division, the Rangers have lost nine consecutive playoff games, all to the Yankees. In the last two years, the Rangers scored two runs in six games.

Even then, they lagged behind in pitching, and could lose Aaron Sele to free agency. Thompson, who had shoulder surgery in August, might not be the answer. He is 1-4 with a 5.84 earned-run average in the last three seasons against the Yankees.

The big deal, another for Tiger General Manager Randy Smith, who has a reputation for such blockbusters, gives the Tigers a strong bat to go with their new ballpark next spring.

“I guess it heated up over the last couple of days,” Ranger General Manager Doug Melvin said. “Thompson has been highly regarded, and we feel that, with him and Cordero coming to our pitching staff, we’ve improved our ballclub.”

Like Griffey, Gonzalez is eligible to become a free agent after the 2000 season. “We just weren’t prepared to go into next season with that over our heads,” Melvin said.

Gonzalez told Puerto Rico television station Teleonce: “The trade hurts my feelings, because it’s after 13 consecutive years with one organization, giving them my best.”

Kapler, 24, hit 18 home runs for the Tigers, and Cordero, 22, had a 3.32 ERA in 20 relief appearances. Thompson was 9-11 with a 5.11 ERA before his surgery. He was an All-Star in 1997.

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The Angels received permission from the Toronto Blue Jays to interview former Toronto manager Cito Gaston, and Angel coach Joe Maddon was told by Stoneman that he would be interviewed for the team’s managerial job, as well.

Gaston, who guided the Blue Jays to World Series championships in 1992 and ‘93, interviewed for jobs in Cleveland and Milwaukee, but the Indians hired Charlie Manuel, and Gaston, 55, told the Brewers on Tuesday he was no longer interested in that position because he felt it required “someone younger who was going to be there for a long time.”

With the New York Yankees having already granted the Angels permission to interview third base coach Willie Randolph and batting instructor Chris Chambliss, that brings to at least four the number of finalists to replace Terry Collins. Stoneman said he hoped to interview six candidates.

In other developments, left-hander Chuck Finley filed for free agency Tuesday, but the Angels hope to complete a deal with him before Nov. 11, the last day they can retain exclusive negotiating rights.

Baseball Notes

Cincinnati’s Jack McKeon was the overwhelming choice for the Associated Press manager of the year with 43 votes to 27 for Boston’s Jimy Williams. . . . Cleveland exercised a $4.25-million option on outfielder Manny Ramirez and a $2.7-million option on catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., but declined a $3-million option on pitcher Dwight Gooden, choosing to pay a $400,000 buyout. . . . The New York Yankees exercised Paul O’Neill’s $6.5-million option and Darryl Strawberry’s 750,000 option.

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Staff writer Mike DiGiovanna and the Associated Press contributed to this story.