Tavares Weighs In

Bill Stoneman hasn’t made a trade, hasn’t signed a major free agent, hasn’t clearly explained his grand vision and hasn’t inspired Angel fans to do much of anything except scratch their heads and toss their ticket renewal forms into the trash can. So, on behalf of his embattled new general manager, Angel President Tony Tavares asked fans a blunt question.

“My message to them is, do you really want more of the same?” Tavares said. “Or do you want a plan we stick to that will make this team a long-term contender?”

The Angels froze season-ticket prices for the first time in three years, and still Tavares confirmed that 20% to 25% of fans have so far declined to renew. In the aftermath of a last-place season that cost the manager, general manager, scouting director and minor league director their jobs, is it not a bad sign that virtually the same cast of players will report to spring training next week?

Not necessarily, Tavares said. In an interview this week, Tavares blamed himself for complicating Stoneman’s job and for not halting what he called the “cronyism” of the regime of former General Manager Bill Bavasi years ago. Tavares also suggested player dissension would no longer be tolerated.

After Tavares compared the Angels’ turbulent clubhouse to “a day-care center” last year, he said, “Someone told me the other day that I can’t trade all 25 guys. I said, ‘Why not?’ ”

Rather than simply serve as an expression of his frustration, Tavares said, that quote might have inadvertently contributed to Stoneman’s inertia.

“You couple that with the discussions about the club being for sale, and other GMs are sitting back and trying to fleece us out of quality players,” Tavares said. “It’s their perception we’re under duress or strain to lower payroll--which is not a mandate--or just get rid of people because we’re unhappy with them.

“And the more time that goes by, because we haven’t made a trade, they perceive that creates pressure from me onto Bill, which there is not. Hence the quality of the offers being made were just awful.”

Although the Angels declined to offer a contract to ace pitcher Chuck Finley, who signed with the Cleveland Indians for three years and $27 million, Tavares insisted the team is not slashing its payroll. The projected opening day payroll, in the $50-million range, is down slightly from last year.

In fact, Tavares said, another team rejected a trade proposal that would have landed the Angels a veteran pitcher and increased their payroll. Tavares would not identify the pitcher or the team, but it is believed the Angels discussed a deal that would have sent outfielder Jim Edmonds to Oakland for pitcher Kevin Appier ($5.2 million) and prospects.

If Stoneman cannot make a trade, why not sign a free agent?

“We can’t afford a mentality that says we’re living for today,” Tavares said. “We’re not that good yet.”

Within the past few weeks, Angel officials have started using the verb “compete” rather than “contend” in discussing the team’s objective this year.

“If nothing else, health and a better environment should place us in a position to at least be competitive,” Tavares said. “If we can improve our pitching, even by one guy, we’re not nearly as bad as people are calling us.”

Still, Tavares almost sneers as he utters the word “competitive.” These Angels finished second in 1995, ’97 and ‘98, but they never won, and now they have a major league team lacking at pitcher, catcher and second base and a minor league system one national baseball publication calls “the worst in the game.”

Said Tavares: “If somebody brings a deal to us and says, you may have to take a step back at one position for this season, but you’re getting back players that can fill those gaping holes you have in two or three years, that’s the kind of deal we’re interested in making.”

By then, the Angels might struggle to fill new holes. After Finley was let go, outfielder Tim Salmon spoke openly about signing with his hometown Arizona Diamondbacks after his contract expires in 2001, and the agent for all-star closer Troy Percival said the pitcher would welcome a trade to a contender. Percival’s contract expires this year, although the Angels hold options for 2001 and 2002. Bavasi encouraged players to speak freely and shrugged off player criticism of the front office. Tavares would rather not hear from them in that regard. He said the players who objected to the contract extension of former manager Terry Collins last year greatly overestimated their influence.

“One of the issues I have with this team is, there’s been a little too much input coming from the locker room,” he said. “Tim Salmon should play right field. Troy should be our closer. We haven’t invited any of them to be our GM or head of player personnel. If everybody does their jobs and lets the other professionals do their jobs, then things will be fine.”

Tavares asked fans to place their faith in Stoneman’s five-year plan. But soon after Disney assumed control of the Angels in 1996, Tavares signed Bavasi to a contract extension and directed him to prepare a five-year plan. So what happened?

“We asked [him] to put a five-year plan in place,” Tavares said. “The first one we got was last year.”

Bavasi declined to comment.

Tavares faults himself for not reining in Bavasi years ago. He wouldn’t have fired Bavasi, Tavares says, but he would have insisted Bavasi diversify his staff beyond longtime Angel associates like scouting director Bob Fontaine Jr., minor league director Jeff Parker and minor league field coordinator Marcel Lachemann. With that close-knit group drafting, signing and developing players, Tavares said he wondered whether minority opinions were stifled at the risk of alienating friends.

After Bavasi resigned under pressure, Fontaine, Parker and Lachemann all left, and 12 scouts lost their jobs. In filling those vacancies, Stoneman’s high-profile hires included a manager (Mike Scioscia, from the Dodgers), scouting director (Don Rowland, from the Yankees) and minor league director (Darrell Miller, from the Angels) with whom he had never worked during his 16-year tenure as an executive with the Montreal Expos.

“The problem with [Bavasi’s] group was that everybody looked at the players the same way. There wasn’t enough creative dissension,” Tavares said. “I know Bill is a loyal person, but the culture here was bad. Too much cronyism.

“I saw it two years ago. I knew it wasn’t healthy. In hindsight, I wish I had done something about it then. Had I acted sooner, as many people wouldn’t have been let go.”