Stoneman’s Pitch Is Same, So Is Rotation

Bill Stoneman, the Angels’ general manager, isn’t backing away from his assertion that the team can contend this year. Stoneman also isn’t backing away from his intention to fill a starting rotation with young, unproven pitchers.

So how does he reconcile these seemingly contradictory statements?

“I’m not saying we’re going to win the division,” Stoneman said Tuesday. “I’m saying we’re going to be a competitive ballclub. Competitive means you take the field every day with a chance to win.

“We will have players who belong on the field.”

The Oakland Athletics won 87 games last season, 17 more than the higher-paid Angels. The A’s pitcher on opening day? Gil Heredia, who won three games the previous season.

But even if anything can happen, Stoneman can’t be serious about opening the season with a starting rotation of the oft-injured Ken Hill and Jason Dickson and your choice of Ramon Ortiz, Jarrod Washburn, Scott Schoeneweis, Brian Cooper or Mike Fyhrie. Or can he?

Free agent Steve Trachsel, who attended Troy High, Fullerton College and Long Beach State, wanted to pitch for the Angels this season. Instead, he signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for $1 million guaranteed and $4.5 million in incentives.

“Stoneman said he didn’t like him at any price,” said Trachsel’s agent, Alan Meersand.

Trachsel, 29, lost 18 games for the Chicago Cubs last season. He has, however, pitched at least 200 innings for four consecutive season.

“Stoneman told me, ‘Every inning that Steve Trachsel would pitch for us would be an inning he would take away from a younger guy,’ ” Meersand said. “When I heard that, I was floored.”

Trachsel might not win the Cy Young Award, but someone like him would allow the Angels to send another young pitcher who might not be ready for the major leagues back to triple A. Ortiz, the brightest star among the Angel prospects, disappointed club officials when he failed to show up for the recent major league rookie seminar in Virginia.

“If we go in with this staff, that would not be an unhealthy thing,” Stoneman said. “We have some young but talented people. That’s how you get better, by giving talented people opportunities. . . . Jim Abbott pitched pretty well here when given the opportunity.

“I would much rather have a talented young player than a mediocre experienced player.”

Abbott, who jumped from the University of Michigan into the Angels’ starting rotation, won 12 games as a rookie. Unlike all of the current rotation candidates, Abbott was a first-round draft pick.

Stoneman has made no trades since he was hired 10 weeks ago. Dan O’Dowd, the new general manager of the Colorado Rockies, has acquired eight pitchers in trades, five of them potential starters.

Stoneman talks of acquiring “high-end” players, gifted if unpolished youngsters with exceptional potential. So where was Stoneman when O’Dowd acquired Manny Aybar, 25, and Jose Jimenez, 26, from the St. Louis Cardinals? Jimenez lost 14 games as a rookie last season, but he pitched a no-hitter.

“We talked to St. Louis,” Stoneman said. “Everybody has a different opinion of a different player.”

Manager Mike Scioscia, who joined Stoneman at the Orange County Sports Newsmakers luncheon at the Arrowhead Pond Tuesday, predicted better days ahead for the Angels. He hopes the injury bug that bit Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon, Gary DiSarcina and Jim Edmonds will no longer infect the offense, which scored the fewest runs in the American League last year.

“Everyone talks about how we haven’t made any moves or any major changes,” Scioscia said. “The biggest change you’ll see is in the health of the club. You can’t call it status quo if no changes are made. Status quo is if all those guys have all those injuries again.”

Angel Notes

The Angels exchanged salary proposals with four players eligible for arbitration. Jason Dickson, who did not pitch last year after shoulder surgery, asked for a raise to $600,000. The Angels offered $375,000, same as his 1999 salary. Also filing were reliever Mark Petkovsek (asked $1.95 million, offered $1.3 million), catcher Todd Greene (asked $750,000, offered $500,000) and reliever Mike Holtz (asked $440,000, offered $300,000). Outfielder Orlando Palmeiro agreed to a one-year contract. . . . The Angels begin informal winter workouts today at Cal State Fullerton. The workouts, on Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., are open to the public but will include mostly minor leaguers. . . . Pitchers and catchers report to the Angels’ spring training camp in 29 days.

Staff writer Tim Brown contributed to this story.