Stoneman May Take Risk With Edmonds

The clock continues to wind down on Jim Edmonds’ Angel career. Talks with numerous teams have failed to net a trade for the Gold Glove center fielder, and if the Angels don’t deal him by July 31, they run the risk of losing him to free agency with only a draft pick or two as compensation.

But you will find no sweat on the brow of Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman. If he’s feeling pressured by the situation, he isn’t showing it.

In fact, Stoneman perks up at the thought of getting a first-round pick and a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds for a premier free agent who departs.

“If that’s a better alternative, that’s the one we’ll choose,” Stoneman said. “I know that runs counter to the way some other clubs have done it . . . but I’ve got no problem with gambling a bit.

“If the risk is getting draft picks instead of making a trade, taking a chance that the players our scouts come up with are better than the players a team is offering in a deal, we’ll take that risk.”

The trend in recent years has been for teams to trade marquee players before their “walk years,” the season in which a player’s contract expires and he becomes a free agent. The deals involving Ken Griffey Jr., Juan Gonzalez and Mike Hampton were the most recent examples.

But Stoneman has not been pleased with offers for Edmonds, and the Angel lineup certainly won’t be hurt by Edmonds’ presence this season, so Stoneman sees no urgency to trade him.

Edmonds could start and finish the season in Anaheim, and the Angels could always make a run at re-signing him next winter. If he leaves, the Angels probably would get two high draft picks as compensation, and that would fit nicely into Stoneman’s long-term plan of boosting a sagging farm system with skilled young players.

But the draft is hardly an exact science. In 1983, for instance, 10 pitchers were taken ahead of Roger Clemens in the first round. Five of them--Stan Hilton, Jackie Davidson, Rich Stoll, Wayne Dotson and Erik Sonberg--combined to play zero games in the big leagues.

The Angels have a new scouting director in Donny Rowland, they have hired several new scouts and increased their player development budget in Latin America, and Stoneman is confident they will be able to build the organization into a perennial contender from within, while supplementing the team with occasional free-agent signings.

“If you have faith in scouts like I do in ours, you believe they’ll come up with something good,” Stoneman said. “Patience and discipline pay great rewards in this game.”

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Unable to come to terms with three players before Thursday’s signing deadline, the Angels renewed the contracts of third baseman Troy Glaus, pitcher Scott Schoeneweis and reliever Al Levine. Pitchers Ramon Ortiz, Brian Cooper and Juan Alvarez agreed to terms on 2000 contracts. . . . The Angels will have the 10th and 20th picks in the first round of the June draft. They received Oakland’s first-round pick (No. 20) as compensation for the A’s signing of free-agent reliever Mike Magnante.