Edmonds Deal Is in the Cards

Is Kent Bottenfield a one-year wonder?

Is Adam Kennedy ready to play big league second base?

Hey, 10 days before the start of a season that carried all the signs of another Angel train wreck, let’s not quibble.

Bill Stoneman pulled the trigger Thursday, news in itself.

He may have been able to get more for Jim Edmonds in November or December when a raft of big league pitchers--young and old-- were being traded or signed as free agents, but this 11th-hour deal with the St. Louis Cardinals--his first as Angel general manager-- brought two players, at least, who have a chance of filling major voids, particularly Bottenfield.

“Sometimes patience has its rewards,” Stoneman said. “We now have two players who our [scouts] really liked a lot at two positions where we had a need. This helps immeasurably to balance our club.

“Some people may have felt differently, but it has never been our intention to do anything less than field a competitive club this year and make a run in the [American League] West.”

Make no mistake, that core group of formidable position players in the Angel clubhouse had serious doubts if that was possible without acquiring some veteran pitching help and reliability at second base.

They were hesitant to express it, having been frequently spanked by President Tony Tavares for trying to be both players and general managers during last year’s combustible campaign, but there were plenty of eyes rolled this spring whenever the subject of their ability to compete with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s was mentioned.

To what extent Bottenfield and Kennedy will help close the gap remains to be seen, but Stoneman at least 1) sent a message at a time when both his players and the industry were wondering if he had the fortitude to consummate any deal that wasn’t clearly in his favor and 2) landed a pair of potentially valuable assets.

He also traded a talented player whose market value had taken a hit from the rampant criticism regarding his intensity and dedication by former players and coaches this spring. Additionally, his eligibility for free agency at the end of the season had left many clubs wary of dealing for a player they may not have been able to re-sign.

All of that figured to be an ongoing distraction for a team that had enough of it last year and could afford to move a player of Edmonds’ talent because of an outfield surplus and the need at other positions.

“A general manager today has to have thick skin,” Stoneman said. “All of the rumors and trade speculation--most of it involving names that were inaccurate--didn’t bother me personally, but I was definitely concerned that it might be a distraction to the club and to Edmonds.”

Stoneman was wise to dispense with the possibility of that distraction, while the Cardinals were enthusiastic about acquiring the two-time Gold Glove winner.

Edmonds will play center field and figures to be a major force in a lineup that includes Mark McGwire, Ray Lankford and Fernando Tatis.

Bottenfield, who is also eligible for free agency at the end of the year, had been the Cardinals’ biggest winner at 18-7 last year, but those 18 wins matched his total for eight previous major league seasons and General Manager Walt Jocketty, who aggressively revitalized an injury-riddled rotation over the winter by acquiring Darryl Kile, Pat Hentgen and Andy Benes and who expects the talented Matt Morris back from elbow surgery at some point in the first half, may have been skeptical that the 31-year-old right-hander could repeat that career year.

So are some scouts.

One said Thursday that Bottenfield may have hit on some mechanical--or illegal--magic last year.

He said that Bottenfield’s sinker/slider repertoire was being timed in the unsettling 84-to-86 mph range in Florida this spring and that he had all the earmarks of a Willie Blair, who turned a 16-8 career year with the Detroit Tigers in 1997 into a major contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks only to go 4-15 in ’98 and virtually disappear from the baseball landscape.

For Stoneman, who has seemingly been in denial about the needs and ineptness of his rotation, a series of recent Arizona poundings may have been a wake-up call.

Some may harbor doubts about Bottenfield’s long-term viability, but he at least represents a healthy and veteran presence.

He has also known Stoneman, then a Montreal executive, since he was a young and wild flamethrower with the Expos.

“The pitcher I saw last year with the Cardinals was a very different pitcher from the one I knew in Montreal,” Stoneman said. “He can throw to a dime now and hit it. He understands pitching now in the way that a Greg Maddux understands it. He doesn’t have to throw hard like he once did. I think he found himself and his style last year, and I think he can continue to be that effective.”

Kennedy is more of a question.

He was a first-round draft choice of the Cardinals as a shortstop from Cal State Northridge in 1997. On a team with title aspirations after the series of pitching acquisitions last winter, Manager Tony La Russa questioned if Kennedy was ready defensively and pushed for the acquisition of Fernando Vina, a proven second baseman and leadoff man. Kennedy was clearly expendable--and was reassigned to triple A last week.

Now he’s headed for a last-minute attempt to win the Angels’ second base job from Scott Spiezio and Trent Durrington.

What’s to lose?

“I doubt many people know Adam Kennedy except for his neighbors in Riverside, but our scouts think he’s ready,” Stoneman said. “He’s basically an offensive player at this point who rarely strikes out, but he also knows how to play and plays hard.”

Few people aside from his neighbors may know Kent Bottenfield.

The one certainty is that the Angels knew they had to make a move. It can now be said that even Stoneman knew it.

At this tenuous point in his club’s preparation, give him some credit for that.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Bottenfield, Kennedy to Angels

Kent Bottenfield’s career statistics:

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Col 1: Year Col 2: Team Col 3: G Col 4: IP Col 5: W-L Col 6: SV Col 7: H Col 8: R Col 9: ER Col 10: BB Col 11: SO Col 12: ERA *

Col 1: 1992 Col 2: Montreal Col 3: 10 Col 4: 32.1 Col 5: 1-2 Col 6: 1 Col 7: 26 Col 8: 9 Col 9: 8 Col 10: 11 Col 11: 14 Col 12: 2.23 *

Col 1: 1993 Col 2: Mtl/Col Col 3: 37 Col 4: 159.2 Col 5: 5-10 Col 6: 0 Col 7: 179 Col 8: 102 Col 9: 90 Col 10: 71 Col 11: 63 Col 12: 5.07 *

Col 1: 1994 Col 2: Col/SF Col 3: 16 Col 4: 26.1 Col 5: 3-1 Col 6: 1 Col 7: 33 Col 8: 18 Col 9: 18 Col 10: 10 Col 11: 15 Col 12: 6.15 *

Col 1: 1996 Col 2: Chicago (N) Col 3: 48 Col 4: 61.2 Col 5: 3-5 Col 6: 1 Col 7: 59 Col 8: 25 Col 9: 18 Col 10: 19 Col 11: 33 Col 12: 2.63 *

Col 1: 1997 Col 2: Chicago (N) Col 3: 64 Col 4: 84.0 Col 5: 2-3 Col 6: 2 Col 7: 82 Col 8: 39 Col 9: 36 Col 10: 35 Col 11: 74 Col 12: 3.86 *

Col 1: 1998 Col 2: St. Louis Col 3: 44 Col 4: 133.2 Col 5: 4-6 Col 6: 4 Col 7: 128 Col 8: 72 Col 9: 66 Col 10: 57 Col 11: 98 Col 12: 4.44 *

Col 1: 1999 Col 2: St. Louis Col 3: 31 Col 4: 190.1 Col 5: 18-7 Col 6: 0 Col 7: 197 Col 8: 91 Col 9: 84 Col 10: 89 Col 11: 124 Col 12: 3.97 *

Col 1: Totals Col 2: Col 3: 250 Col 4: 688.0 Col 5: 36-34 Col 6: 9 Col 7: 704 Col 8: 356 Col 9: 320 Col 10: 292 Col 11: 421 Col 12: 4.19

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Adam Kennedy’s statistics with the Cardinals:

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Year Team G AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB BA 1999 St. Louis 33 102 12 26 1 16 3 8 0 .255

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