Five-Player Trade Is of Minor Scale

Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman swung a five-player deal with the Chicago Cubs Friday. A blockbuster it was not.

Of the three minor leaguers the Angels acquired, only one, Chris Hatcher, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound outfielder-first baseman with considerable power from the right side, has a decent chance of playing for the Angels this season.

The Angels also got reliever Mike Heathcott and infielder Brett King in exchange for triple-A pitcher Brett Hinchcliffe and infielder Keith Luuloa in a trade that barely registered a blip on a baseball radar screen full of deals Friday.

Of course, there are still two more shopping days before Monday’s nonwaiver trade deadline, and Stoneman has been busy perusing the aisles, looking for something in his price range that might fit the Angels.

But the more one talks to Stoneman and Manager Mike Scioscia, the more it seems the Angels will leave the store empty-handed.

Though the Angel rotation combined for a 10.16 earned-run average in six games entering Friday and young pitchers Brian Cooper, Seth Etherton and Scott Schoeneweis have been hit hard in recent starts, Stoneman said he felt no added pressure to deal for a pitcher.

“Everyone has a bad day at the office,” Stoneman said. “They’re young and resilient, and they’ll bounce back. I have full confidence in them. I think they’ll do well down the stretch.”

Scioscia said he is not expecting any major trades.

“This team is not going to be blown up and redesigned by July 31, and it doesn’t need to be,” Scioscia said. “The core of this club is the one we’re going with. This is the one that has to get us there.”

*

There may not be a trade in the Angels’ immediate future, but there will likely be some changes. With their starting pitchers struggling, left-hander Jarrod Washburn should have little trouble regaining a rotation spot when he’s eligible to come of the disabled list Aug. 6.

Left-hander Kent Mercker, who begins a minor league rehabilitation assignment today, will be considered for the rotation, as will triple-A right-hander Ramon Ortiz, who won four of five starts before being shelled for seven earned runs on seven hits in five innings against Fresno Friday night.

The Angels will take a look at Hatcher in Edmonton before calling him up, but considering their feelings toward reserve outfielder Edgard Clemente, that might not take long.

Clemente is batting .218 with 27 strikeouts and no walks in 78 at-bats, and the Angels have lost so much faith in him that they started Benji Gil, a .214 hitter, at designated hitter instead of Clemente Friday night against White Sox left-hander Mike Sirotka.

Hatcher, 31, is still looking for his first major league at-bat since beginning his professional career in 1990. He hit 46 home runs for triple-A Omaha in 1998 and batted .344 at triple-A Colorado Springs in 1999, but he has a propensity for strikeouts--125 in 485 at-bats in 1998 and 89 in 334 at-bats in 1999.

“If he shows us in Edmonton that he has the talent to help us and deserves an opportunity, he will get it,” Stoneman said. “I’m anxious to see how he does there.”

*

Hatcher was batting .278 with 24 homers and 71 RBIs in 86 games at Iowa this season. He is no relation to Angel batting instructor Mickey Hatcher. “We checked the genealogy charts just to make sure,” Scioscia joked. “And then I OKd the trade.” . . . The White Sox signed Stanford outfielder Joe Borchard, the 12th overall pick in the draft, Friday for a bonus believed to be in excess of the $4-million range. That may drive up the price on Auburn pitcher Chris Bootcheck, whom the Angels selected with the 20th overall pick and still have not signed.

TODAY

ANGELS’

KENT BOTTENFIELD

(6-8, 5.61 ERA)

vs.

WHITE SOX’S

MARK BUEHRLE (1-0, 4.15 ERA)

Edison Field, 1 p.m.

TV--Channel 11. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Of the Angels’ 103 games before Friday, 56 were decided by two runs or fewer, and 39 were decided by one run, the most one-run decisions in the majors. The Angels were 21-18 in those games. Bottenfield’s string of three straight solid starts came to an end when the right-hander gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings against Texas Monday night. Buehrle, a left-hander, will be making his third career start after replacing the injured Cal Eldred in the rotation.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000