Anderson in It for Long Run

As the 1999 season came to a close, with the Angels still grappling with how to squeeze four top-notch outfielders into three positions, Garret Anderson began getting accustomed to the idea of not being an Angel for much longer.

Those thoughts faded with the spring training trade of Jim Edmonds to St. Louis, and any doubt about Anderson’s future with the Angels was removed Friday when the center fielder agreed to a four-year contract extension.

Terms of the deal, which secures Anderson until 2004, were not released, but the value of the contract is believed to be in the $21-million range. Anderson, 27, is in the final year of a four-year, $7.25-million deal and would have been a free agent at the end of this season.

“He wanted to stay here, and that helped [negotiations] a ton,” Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “Not only is he a high-quality player, his power numbers have gotten better [the last two seasons] . . . without a drop in batting average.”

Anderson is a career .300 hitter who has never hit less than .285 in six big-league seasons, but he had his best power numbers in 1999, hitting a career-high 21 home runs. His two-run homer in the eighth inning Friday night was his second this season.

“I don’t know what my ceiling is, but I’m going to keep pushing to find out,” Anderson said this spring. “I knew I could hit 20 home runs, but by no means am I content with those numbers. Now I want to hit 25 or 30 homers and try to hit .320.”

Still, Anderson’s consistency and dependability are what sealed this deal. He is not a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder who makes spectacular catches like Edmonds, and he won’t hit 40 home runs with 130 runs batted in.

But while Edmonds, Tim Salmon and Darin Erstad have been slowed by injuries--some of them major--Anderson averaged 154 games the past four years and never has gone on the disabled list.

“In business, you look for those kind of employees, guys who come to work and play every day, and I’ve been blessed with good health,” Anderson said. “I don’t know if I’ve tapped all of my ability yet, but I’m definitely learning more as a hitter.”

Anderson, a Granada Hills Kennedy High graduate, said the prospect of becoming a free agent had some appeal, but so did the possibility of playing his entire career--or at least the bulk of it--with the Angels.

So when Stoneman approached Anderson’s agent, Chris Arnold, about an extension toward the end of spring training, Anderson was very open to the idea.

“I like the direction we’re going, the moves the front office is making, the coaching staff, the people I work with every day,” Anderson said. “You like to play long enough to become a free agent, but this opportunity was presented, and it’s something I can live with. No one could guarantee me what might happen between now and October, so I took advantage of it.”