Money Talks, Angels Balk

Angel fans know their baseball team needs a first-rate shortstop. So why, they wonder, are the Angels never, ever mentioned as a suitor for Seattle’s premier free agent, Alex Rodriguez?

Angel fans know their baseball team needs pitching. Lots of pitching. So why, they wonder, are the Angels never, ever mentioned as a suitor for any of the big-name free agent pitchers--not Mike Hampton or Darren Dreifort, who are still out there, not Andy Ashby or Rick Reed or Mike Mussina or Denny Neagle, who already got away?

Disney has lots of money. That’s what Angel fans say. Why can George Steinbrenner spend money and make the New York Yankees the best team in baseball every year? Or is Fox so much more profitable than Disney? So much more wealthy that the Dodgers can go sign Kevin Brown one year, Shawn Green the next and now sign Ashby plus have the time and money to make overtures to Rodriguez?

Why can the Texas Rangers be wooing Rodriguez too?

It is easy to whine now. It is simple to sit back and make fun of the Angels for being uninvolved in the free-agent market. But just for a second, Angel fans, think.

The Angels haven’t been any less successful than the Dodgers the last two seasons. Last winter it seemed embarrassing that the Angels didn’t think to trade for Orange County’s Green, who was about to enter the final year of his contract. The Dodgers invested in a lucrative, long-term deal for the Tustin-reared son of a local baseball school owner.

It wasn’t so embarrassing. No pennant for the Dodgers. The Angels were more exciting, more fun, more intensely competitive than the Dodgers all season.

Yes, we can all complain the Angels are doing nothing. But nobody outbids the Yankees. So getting Mussina was never an option.

Reed signed a three-year, $21.75-million contract with the Mets. He is 35 years old. When he is 38, Reed is guaranteed to be getting $8 million for a year’s work. Or for a year of non-work if his 38-year-old arm gives out. Arms do give out on 38-year-old pitchers.

Neagle signed a five-year, $51.5-million contract with Colorado. Neagle is 32 and will be 37 at the end of the contract. He is a flyball-out guy. Where do so many fly balls end in Denver? On the other side of the outfield fence is the correct answer. It won’t be so long before Colorado fans are figuring out how much per home run given up Neagle is getting paid.

So Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman is sitting and waiting. That is what his bosses at Disney want. It is the way things will be as long as Disney owns the Angels.

And if we’re honest, deep in our own penny-pinching hearts, we would like the Angels to succeed with this go-slow, stay-cheap policy. There is a certain charm to that.

How many of you complained when the Angels signed Mike Scioscia as manager last year? Be honest. It seemed the cheap way out. It seemed the coward’s way out. It seemed the ultimate betrayal, hiring an ex-Dodger to be Angel manager. It was a move that worked.

How many of you stood up and cheered when the Angels spent big bucks on Mo Vaughn two years ago? Vaughn got hurt immediately. Not totally his fault, that sprained ankle on opening day in 1999, but it is fair to wonder whether his ankle might have healed faster that season if Vaughn had been in fighting trim. And whether he’d have been a better first baseman in 2000 if he could have dropped a pound or 20.

Those of you who cheered when Vaughn was signed might understand why the Disney money men aren’t inclined to spend tens of millions on 35-year-old pitchers.

It is a dilemma, this major league baseball thing. It is a tightrope walk--trying not to throw money away but spending enough to be contenders.

The Angels did that last year. They were contenders in the AL West. They were contenders with some home-grown young pitchers, with home-grown player-of-the-year candidate Darin Erstad and home-grown superstar-in-the-making Troy Glaus. No, the Angels weren’t contenders to win the World Series, but nobody else but the Yankees was either. And nobody else will be this year.

What Disney offers the Orange County baseball fan right now is state-of-the-art Edison Field, where the sight lines are good, the concessions are bountiful and children are catered to.

The other part of the Disney baseball experience is this: Stockholders are, collectively, the most important voice in ownership of the Angels and Ducks. Do you think stockholders have been pleased with the return on Vaughn? Disney stockholders aren’t like Fox stockholders. Fox stockholders are used to throwing money away on really bad television shows.

But even Disney stockholders need to understand something. By the force of his personality and his superb knowledge of baseball--and the cult of the game as played in the major leagues--Scioscia earned the respect and the most effort possible from the young Angels. Scioscia was a bargain.

Now, Scioscia and the young talent like Erstad and Glaus deserve something. Some sign that ownership has faith. That sign doesn’t have to cost big money. But it would be nice if the Angels were at least mentioned in talks about negotiations with a top-line starting pitcher, or a designated hitter, or a shortstop. Whether it is through free agency or by trade doesn’t matter.

Last year, team management gave us a sign we didn’t recognize it. Scioscia was the sign. But this is sports and not an amusement park. Adventureland is good for a generation. Baseball teams need feeding every year. Feeding time is now. The Angels need a new ride. One with a strong arm or a big bat. Angel fans need amusing. Soon.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com