Angels’ Make-Over Just Beginning

Mike Scioscia, tanned and hale, accepted the Angel manager job Thursday from General Manager Bill Stoneman, who already looked to be showing the wear of too many 18-hour workdays.

Thing is, there is still so much to do. There is an organization to rebuild, a clubhouse to reinvent, a pitching staff to retool, an organizational philosophy to retire and a public to reenlist.

Starting now.

It was mentioned to a weary-looking Stoneman that spring training would be here before he knew it.

“And we’ll be ready,” he said, pleasantly enough.

Scioscia and his irreverent comic-book-print tie had barely been introduced when the what-next questions came for Stoneman and his boss, team President Tony Tavares. Many of them centered on pitcher Chuck Finley, who no one in the organization believes will return for a 15th season.

In fact, there already is talk within the organization of replacing Finley with Tampa Bay’s Rolando Arrojo, the Cuban right-hander with a recent history of minor shoulder trouble.

That aside, Stoneman must hire a scouting director and a farm director, not to mention a dozen or so scouts. Scioscia will assemble his own coaching staff, though Stoneman will handle the background checks.

For his scouting director, Stoneman received permission to interview Donny Rowland, a scout with the New York Yankees; Fred Wright, an assistant general manager with the Mets, and others, and is close to a decision.

In the midst of all this, a national publication recently ranked baseball’s 30 organizations; the Angels finished last. The edition currently is burning a hole through Tavares’ coffee table.

“I kind of chuckle a little bit when people say, ‘Geez, things are getting shaken up,’ ” Tavares said. “Well, you know, when you finish dead-blankin’ last, I want to know what everybody’s clinging to. An honest evaluation would be that we have problems and we’ve got to be realistic about them. We have holes to fill and the best way to do this is put a group together, a group of people that are highly capable, and let them do their jobs.

“What I like is that there’s a new fresh look and an open mind. We’re not coming into this thing with prejudices.”

It appears that one of the open and trusted minds belongs to longtime scout Gary Sutherland, who probably will rise into a key player personnel role under Stoneman. The two were teammates in Montreal--”When Bill hung sliders Gary had to run them down at shortstop,” Angel scout Moose Stubing said, laughing--and Stoneman has frequently turned to Sutherland for advice in his first weeks with the club.

A respected baseball man, Sutherland left after three years with the Dodgers when Kevin Malone was hired as general manager.

Sutherland said he did not know what his role would develop into, but added, “I can tell you I’m always ready for another challenge. It’s not something I need to do, but I’d like to continue to grow. There’s possibilities there, but we haven’t discussed them.”

Said one team official: “Gary’s been very active since Bill got here.”

Former Angel Manager Buck Rodgers also appears headed for an influential position beneath Stoneman, perhaps as a special advisor.