Heaven Help Them

This being an election year, a takeoff of an oft-used campaign slogan would be fitting for the Angels: Are they better off now than they were a year ago?

Let’s see, when pitchers and catchers report for spring training today, there will be a gaping void in the Tempe Diablo Stadium clubhouse--Chuck Finley, the veteran left-hander who was the Angel ace and the team’s most popular player for the past decade, is gone after signing with Cleveland.

Omar Olivares, the Angels’ most consistent starting pitcher last season; Randy Velarde, the team’s hard-hitting and smooth-fielding second baseman; and Mike Magnante, the team’s only reliable left-handed reliever, are property of the Oakland A’s.

New General Manager Bill Stoneman, who was hired with a mandate to make sweeping changes to an underachieving team that went 70-92 last season, made no trades and signed no impact free agents over the winter, meaning the core of a dysfunctional team rife with strife returns--physically, if not emotionally--intact.

In fact, Stoneman’s moves were reminiscent of the many made by his cash-strapped predecessors, low-budget signings of castaways past their prime, such as aging knuckleballer Tom Candiotti and highly traveled and often-trampled left-hander Kent Mercker, and journeyman clock-punchers such as infielders Pat Kelly and Jason Bates.

As one longtime Angel follower, reflecting public perception of the team’s unimpressive off-season performance, quipped: “Hey, Candiotti was a great signing. . . . He’s got four or five more years before he turns 50.”

Want another knee-slapper? Candiotti has a legitimate chance of making the opening-day rotation, which says plenty about Angel pitching.

This team is putting much faith--blindly, some would argue--in Ken Hill, who went 4-11 with a 4.77 earned-run average in 1999 and was demoted to the bullpen in August, to anchor the pitching staff.

Hill has shown flashes of greatness--for example, in the final month of 1997 he went 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA in his last six starts--but an arthritic elbow that flares up periodically can throw the 34-year-old right-hander into an immediate tailspin.

Tim Belcher, the only other returning veteran starter, had elbow surgery in November and is not expected to be ready for opening day. Not exactly the best route for a 38-year-old who didn’t look too sharp when sound last season to return from a 6-8 record and career-worst 6.73 ERA.

Candiotti, 42, was released by the A’s in 1999, but his experience and ability to eat up innings are a plus. Mercker, 32, is joining his sixth team in five years, but the left-hander could provide an experienced alternative to youngsters Ramon Ortiz, Jarrod Washburn and Brian Cooper, who have combined for 13 big league victories in 35 starts.

Jason Dickson, another possible starter, sat out the 1999 season because of shoulder surgery. Brett Hinchliffe, a 25-year-old right-hander with hopes for a rotation spot, was released by the Mariners this winter.

If pitching, as they say, is 90% of the game, then the Angels, with a new manager (Mike Scioscia) and a revamped coaching staff, have as much chance of winning the American League West as Gary Bauer had of winning the Republican presidential nomination.

Yet Stoneman, in a highly optimistic--some might say delusional--frame of mind, actually sized up his pool of rotation candidates and said: “If they pitch up to their capabilities, we’re going to be fine.”

No, if the Angels get career-best years from every starter in their rotation, they might be fine, but when does that ever happen?

Starting pitching isn’t the only Angel weakness. They might have a better second baseman in the television booth--Rex Hudler--than on the field, where the Not-So-Magnificent Seven--Scott Spiezio, Justin Baughman, Kelly, Bates, Carlos Garcia, Benji Gil and Trent Durrington--will battle it out.

They could have a rookie behind the plate, where Benjie Molina will push Matt Walbeck and possibly Todd Greene, if his shoulder holds up, for the job. Their top two candidates for the left-handed relief spot are Mike Holtz, who has been so inconsistent he has bounced between triple A and the big leagues for two years, and journeyman Greg Cadaret.

Starting pitching, second base, catching, left-handed relief . . . these were all areas the Angels hoped to improve this off-season. They went 0 for 4.

There are some bright spots, though. If the Angels remain sound--an enormous “if,” knowing the star-crossed history of baseball’s most X-rayed and MRI-tested club--they should be strong offensively, with Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds, Troy Glaus, Garret Anderson and Darin Erstad.

They are sure to be picked to finish last by every self-respecting preseason publication, so there should be plenty of that “we’ll show you” mentality that fueled the Angels in 1997, when a team with no expectations went 84-78 and finished second in the West.

There’s always something for Angel fans to look forward to, such as the Jim Edmonds Watch--when will the center fielder get traded? Or, how many days until the first clubhouse meltdown? Organize your office pools now.

And, of course, the real burning question of the spring: What will the Angels’ marketing slogan be? It will take all of Disney’s creative energy or synergy or whatever they call it to sell this club to fans and improve season-ticket sales, which are off by 25% this year.

In the past, Disney has given us catch phrases such as Bring Your Game (huh?), Right Here, Right Now (great tune, awful baseball slogan) and A Breakthrough Season (A Breakdown Season would have been more appropriate).

For the truly die-hard, periwinkle-blue-bleeding fan who is dreading another excruciating summer at Edison Field, perhaps this one will fit:

Angel Baseball . . . You Gotta Bereave.

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Angels’ Tickets Go Up: Despite the Angels’ last-place season, the price for the field-level, terrace-level and the top view-level seats was raised by $1. Page 8

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KEY DATES

Today--First day for pitchers, catchers and injured players to report.

Feb. 23--First day for other players to report.

March 1--Mandatory reporting date for all players.

March 3--First Cactus League spring training game, vs. Seattle

April 3--First regular-season game, vs. Yankees at Edison Field, 7:30 p.m.