When All the Talk Is Over, Edmonds Is Still an Angel

Angel outfielder Jim Edmonds spent 10 minutes on the radio Thursday morning discussing the possibility of replacing Ken Griffey Jr. as the Seattle Mariners’ center fielder. By early afternoon, Edmonds learned he wasn’t replacing anyone.

A 12:30 p.m. call to Angel right fielder Tim Salmon for reaction to an Edmonds trade was met with a request for a reporter to phone back in half an hour. By 1 p.m., the question had changed. What did Salmon think of Edmonds remaining an Angel?

“Really?” a stunned Salmon said when told Edmonds would not be part of Thursday’s blockbuster deal that sent Griffey to Cincinnati. “How about that? This guy has got nine lives.”

It appears the first seven or eight will be as an Angel. Edmonds has been part of so many prospective deals he should have Monty Hall as an agent, and he was all but certain Thursday he was headed to the Mariners for pitcher Brett Tomko and another player.

But Seattle, fearful of losing Edmonds to free agency after 2000--the two-time Gold Glove Award winner said he had no interest in signing a contract extension with the Mariners--backed away from Edmonds, deciding instead to acquire center fielder Mike Cameron from the Reds.

Seattle General Manager Pat Gillick and Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman claimed Thursday that the Angels were never part of a potential three-way deal involving Griffey and the Reds.

“There was nothing there but a lot of speculation,” Stoneman said. “All of a sudden things started coming out as facts that weren’t facts.”

But several baseball sources confirmed the Angels had separate negotiations with the Mariners and Reds about Edmonds this past week, the talks centering on Seattle’s John Halama and Cincinnati’s Tomko, and Gillick requested additional scouting reports on Edmonds as late as Thursday morning.

One National League source insisted that Seattle demanded certain players from Cincinnati to facilitate a trade for Edmonds.

“Boy,” said Paul Cohen, Edmonds’ agent, “this day has taken some weird twists and turns.”

What next? Almost since the day the Angels selected Darin Erstad with their No. 1 pick in the 1995 draft to give them four top-flight outfielders--Edmonds, Erstad, Salmon and Garret Anderson--there has been speculation they would deal Edmonds.

Edmonds almost went to Oakland for Mark McGwire in 1997. He nearly went to Cincinnati for a package of players including Tomko before the 1998 season.

There have been numerous rumors involving the Mets, the Rockies inquired about Edmonds this winter, and the Angels were involved in serious trade talks with the A’s about Edmonds at December’s winter meetings.

Trade talks are expected to continue this month, but when asked what the odds were of Edmonds reporting to spring training as an Angel, Stoneman replied: “I think they’re 100%.

“I thought we made this clear. Jim Edmonds, as far as I’m concerned, is going to play here, and we’re counting on him for a big year.”

Don’t count on him remaining an Angel for long.

“He’s resigned himself to going to free agency,” Cohen said. “He’s excited to be going to camp as a baseball player. I wouldn’t characterize it as him being excited to go as an Angel.”

Stoneman said last November that his primary off-season objective was to acquire a high-caliber starting pitcher, using one of his outfielders as trade bait. So far, mission unaccomplished.

If Edmonds opens the season with the Angels and Stoneman can’t trade him by July 31, the Angels, who received no compensation when they lost ace Chuck Finley to the Cleveland Indians, risk losing Edmonds for a draft pick or two. There are no current negotiations between the Angels and Edmonds on a contract extension.

“I can’t believe Bill [Stoneman] is going to lose Jim for a draft pick, he’s too smart to do that,” Cohen said. “But once July 31 comes, it’s over. The Angels lose. There’s not a lot of time.”

The trade rumors used to bother Edmonds, but Cohen said the 29-year-old, who has a .290 average and 121 homers in six seasons and is coming off a year in which he sat out four months because of shoulder surgery, is no longer overwhelmed by the burden of a possible deal.

“I can’t say I want a change, but I’m prepared for one,” Edmonds, who grew up in Diamond Bar, told XTRA (690) sports Thursday. “I wouldn’t be glad to leave. I have a lot of friends and family here.”

Edmonds’ name comes up so much in trade rumors, “he’s probably numb to it,” Salmon said. “It’s got to be an unsettling feeling knowing that any day you could be shipped out. But he’s still got the last year of his contract to play for, and that’s enough motivation.”

Salmon has braced himself all winter for an Edmonds deal, and he still wouldn’t be surprised if Edmonds is traded before the Angels hold their first full-squad workout Feb. 24 or during spring training.

“He’s definitely one of those guys,” Salmon said, “who you have a running wager on to see if he’s going to make it through camp.”