Scioscia May Face Changes in Lineup

Like so many who have gone before him, Mike Scioscia stood behind a podium Thursday, pulled on an Angel cap and held an Angel jersey to his chest for photographers to capture the hiring of another Angel manager, and spoke of the team’s “good young nucleus” and his goal of “winning the World Series.”

Whether the Angels truly have a good young nucleus is open to debate, and it is certainly noble for Scioscia to aim high. The World Series? Why the heck not?

But there are serious doubts as to what will remain of that nucleus when the Angels begin spring training in February and whether the front office will provide Scioscia with the bricks and mortar to build a championship-caliber club.

While Scioscia was being introduced at an Edison Field news conference Thursday, the agent for Angel pitcher Chuck Finley was sifting through free-agent offers from the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees that are in the three-year, $25-million range.

“The bottom line is, if we return to Anaheim, it will be for substantially less money,” said Tim Shannon, the agent for the Angels’ best pitcher. “And we still need to get a better feel for what direction they’re heading.”

There was no question what that direction was last winter. The Angels signed Mo Vaughn for $80 million and were in the hunt for Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson, the Walt Disney Co. pushing full steam ahead to turn the Angels into a big-market player.

Then came a disappointing last-place finish in 1999 and word this fall that Disney, tired of mounting financial losses, was looking to sell the team.

Angel President Tony Tavares made it clear that the Angels, who already have $43 million committed to 10 players in 2000, will not dramatically increase their projected $60-million payroll next season, adding, “If we’re not good enough to win with Chuck, what’s the point [of bringing him back]?”

If the Angels aren’t backpedaling, they’re certainly stuck in neutral, and new General Manager Bill Stoneman echoed Tavares’ comments when he said Thursday, “If another club makes an offer that blows Chuck away, one that we can’t match, we won’t. We’re not going to go beyond our means to retain him. . . . Whether he’s here or not, we have to improve our pitching. If the question is, are we going to have the same budget as the Yankees, the answer is no. But I think we have a big enough budget to be competitive.”

Stoneman spoke with Finley by phone for 10 minutes Wednesday, and they hope to arrange a meeting in the next few days, but it seems clear the Angels’ chances of retaining the veteran left-hander are remote, leaving the Angels with a potentially frightful rotation of Tim Belcher, Ken Hill and three youngsters. That could be devastating.

“If Chuck turns us away, what’s that saying to me, to Mo Vaughn, to all of us?” Angel right fielder Tim Salmon said. “I’ve been through a rebuilding phase, but I’m at the point now where I want to be on a team that’s going to win. . . .

“If we don’t bring Chuck back, who’s going to replace him? Not a free agent. If they do [try to replace him], they’re going to have to pay someone else just as much. I understand the economics make it difficult, but it would be tough to go into a season without Chuck as the backbone of the staff.

“Are they going to put together a team to try to win or a team that is cost-efficient? I think what Chuck does is going to be a barometer of the direction we’re going to go.”

Besides the potential loss of Finley, outfielders Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson can become free agents after the 2000 season, and it’s likely one--or both--will be traded this winter. The Angels have been trying to unload Belcher or Hill but have found no takers, and neither is expected back after 2000.

“I have no idea, no clue, what direction we’re heading,” Salmon said. “All I’ve been hearing about is trades, and you’re just waiting to hear if your name is called. It’s hard to think optimistically about how we’re going to make the team better. I think everyone is just wondering who will still be standing when everything is said and done. . . . Last winter was exciting. This winter is the complete opposite--uncertainty.”

Into this fray steps Scioscia, the former Dodger catcher who signed a three-year deal in the $1-million range to become the Angels’ 16th manager in 39 years and was already sounding like a company man during his first day on the job.

“I haven’t gotten any indication from Bill [Stoneman] as to the direction of the team, but whatever players we have, I’m excited about making them the best players they can be,” Scioscia said. “This team has a tremendous upside. Things can change quickly. . . . This offense is a sleeping giant. If it awakens, there’s going to be a lot of thunder in Anaheim this summer.”

Scioscia wouldn’t reveal his plans for a coaching staff, but three former Dodgers, Mickey Hatcher (batting instructor), Ron Roenicke (third base) and Alfredo Griffin (first base), are expected to be included. Current Angel bench coach Joe Maddon will be retained, Tony Pena probably will be the team’s bullpen coach, and Scioscia has not secured a pitching coach.

That means the eight-year run of Angel batting instructor and Hall of Famer Rod Carew is over. Third base coach Larry Bowa is expected to accept an offer to coach third for the Mariners.

Besides improving the rotation and maximizing the Angels’ offensive potential, one of the biggest jobs Scioscia and his staff must tackle is uniting a clubhouse that was rife with dissension in 1999.

“I believe communication is very important,” Scioscia said. “If you earn a player’s trust and respect, you’ll alleviate any problems that exist. I don’t know what happened in the past, but I will pay a lot of attention to chemistry and how this team fits in off the field.”

Scioscia, who turns 41 this month, won’t have many team rules, as long as the Angels practice, prepare and play as hard as they can.

“I want the clubhouse to be a relaxed atmosphere,” said Scioscia, who would have been the Rockies’ triple-A manager next season had he not gotten the Angel job. “I want players to be able to unwind, get away from the pressures of the game. There will be a relaxed environment in the clubhouse. I don’t anticipate many problems.”

In choosing Scioscia over six other finalists, among them A’s bench coach Ken Macha and Phillies’ batting instructor Hal McRae, Stoneman said he sought a manager who “would have the ability to bring a club together--25 players, a coaching staff--and form a team, someone who knows what it’s like to be a team player, someone who would have a presence with the players, fans, everyone in the organization, someone who was a winner and knows about winning.

“Mike Scioscia has a couple of World Series rings, and he’s a fellow we’re counting on to help the Angels get a World Series ring of their own.”

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