DiSarcina Remains Unsure About His 2001 Options

Gary DiSarcina has regained the range of motion in his surgically repaired right shoulder. His strength is coming back. He is pain-free.

That much, the Angel shortstop is sure about. Everything else seems as up in the air as an infield fly.

DiSarcina hopes he is fully recovered from May 24 rotator-cuff surgery by spring training, but there is no guarantee he’ll be 100% in February. He hopes the Angels pick up his $3.4-million option for 2001, but he realizes they are under no obligation to do so.

“Basically, I’m at their mercy,” said DiSarcina, who made his first visit to the Angel clubhouse in a month and a half Friday. “Maybe they don’t want me back. I just want to play, but they don’t owe me anything.”

The DiSarcina dilemma could be prickly for the Angels this winter. The eight-year veteran has been one of the team’s most popular players, and how the Angels treat him could determine how other Angels--especially soon-to-be free agents--feel about the organization.

But the Angels, who must make a decision on DiSarcina’s option by Nov. 1, don’t want to commit $3.4 million to a shortstop who may not be able to play.

“We probably won’t examine that question until the season is over,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “I love the guy. I love his character. This is the type of person you want on your club. But in terms of making a final decision, it’s just too soon to do it.”

The Angels hope to have a better read on DiSarcina’s shoulder by October. Most players need 10-12 months to recover from such a surgery.

DiSarcina, 32, said he would be open to the idea of a contract with a lower base salary and incentives based on plate appearances, a deal that would provide more financial protection for the club.

“You come to a point in your career where it’s not about money anymore,” DiSarcina said. “You get past that. I want to play here. I missed the opportunity to play for Mike [Scioscia], and I’d love to have a year for redemption. But I know [the Angels] are in a tough spot.”

*

DiSarcina has been doing his physical therapy at an Anaheim clinic and has been to Edison Field only three or four times since his surgery. Scioscia, however, asked him to come to the stadium this weekend and expects him to be around a little more often.

“Part of the mental therapy for myself is to not be around the guys,” DiSarcina said. “There’s no sense being dead weight, getting in everyone’s way, if I can’t play. That’s the way I’ve always felt.”

He has watched almost every game on television, though.

“I’m enjoying the heck out of watching these guys--they’re in almost every game, and they’re hitting a lot of home runs,” DiSarcina said. “It was frustrating for the first month, because I was in pain, wondering whether I should have had this done earlier, but I’m over that now.”

*

Tim Belcher, out since July 3 because of an elbow injury, will make a rehabilitation start for Class-A Lake Elsinore on Sunday. . . . Closer Troy Percival, who made two Lake Elsinore appearances in the past week, will be activated tonight and pitcher Brian Cooper was optioned to triple-A Edmonton. . . . Left-hander Scott Karl, acquired from Colorado on Tuesday, probably will start Tuesday against Toronto.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS

(6-6, 5.02 ERA)

vs.

INDIANS’

JASON BERE

(3-2, 5.59 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

* TV--Fox Sports Net.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Darin Erstad started at designated hitter Friday night after sitting out four games because of a spasm in his left rib cage and went four for five. He hopes to return to left field either tonight or Sunday. Erstad’s first-inning single gave him 190 hits, breaking the Angels’ single-season record for hits by a left-handed batter of 189, set by Garret Anderson in 1997. Schoeneweis came within one out of a complete-game victory Monday night before giving up a game-tying two-run home run in the ninth to Boston’s Brian Daubach. The Red Sox went on to win, 7-6, in 11 innings.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000