Baughman Rolls With Latest Blow

As if Justin Baughman’s spring wasn’t bad enough, what with his shaky glove and nerves leading to a March 20 demotion to minor league camp, the Angels dealt the second baseman another huge blow when they traded for Adam Kennedy, one of the St. Louis Cardinals’ top prospects, and handed him the second-base job.

This was a job the speedy Baughman held for about one-third of 1998 and one he figured he’d have the next season before suffering a broken left leg in a Mexican Winter League game and sitting out all of 1999.

Baughman returned this spring and showed his leg had fully healed, but his skills and confidence were still on a rehabilitation assignment. Though his speed was back, Baughman made three errors early in camp and couldn’t shake the rust that accumulated with a year and a half of inactivity.

The Angels, unhappy with Baughman and the rest of their second-base candidates, jumped at the chance to trade center fielder Jim Edmonds to St. Louis for pitcher Kent Bottenfield when the Cardinals agreed to add Kennedy to the March 23 deal, a move that was great for Kennedy’s career but muddled Baughman’s.

“Maybe my future with the Angels has changed,” Baughman said this week at the Angels’ minor league training facility. “Maybe they found their future second baseman. Am I a utility player? Maybe. . . . I may not be with the Angels much longer. I may be in the minor leagues. The one thing I have in my mind is I’ve got to get things together.”

All of Baughman’s questions will be moot until he regains his 1998 form, because Baughman won’t have much of a future if he continues to play the way he did early in camp. Baughman knows this, and that’s why he really couldn’t blame the Angels for showing little confidence in him.

“It’s a business,” Baughman said. “Did they want to wait a month until I was better or make a move to improve the team? They’re not paying me any money. I’m nothing to them right now. If things work out where I’m playing real well and [Kennedy] isn’t, I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t make a change.

“The business worked against me now. Maybe it will work for me next time. I know I wasn’t ready, and they made their decision based on the way I was playing. I expect them to base future decisions on that too.”

Baughman is trying to find his hitting stroke and fielding touch, and playing every day in triple A will give him plenty of time to rebound. He’ll probably play some shortstop--where he has considerable experience--to increase his value as a potential utility player.

He hopes to play well enough for the Angels--or some other team--to make a move that would bring him back to the big leagues.

“Someone could break their leg in Tampa Bay tomorrow, and I could be the guy to replace him,” Baughman said. “So I have to be ready for anything.”

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Scott Schoeneweis, who won a rotation spot despite giving up 16 runs and 22 hits in his last two Cactus League starts, will oppose Woody Williams tonight at 7 when the Angels play the San Diego Padres in an exhibition game at Edison Field. The teams will meet again Saturday at 1 p.m. in San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, with Kent Mercker starting for the Angels and Matt Clement for the Padres. Angel right-hander Jason Dickson will pitch against Cal State Fullerton on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the final tuneup before Monday night’s season opener against the New York Yankees.