Washburn Feels Better, but Unlikely to Return This Year

Jarrod Washburn threw a 71-pitch simulated game Saturday, and while the Angel left-hander wasn’t satisfied with how hard some teammates hit him, he said he felt better physically than he has in the last three months.

Yet Washburn feels no closer to returning to the rotation today than he did in early August, when he was diagnosed with a small stress fracture in his left shoulder blade.

“I would like to pitch again this year, but they told me I’m not going to,” Washburn said. “So it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. They don’t want me to risk a career-threatening injury.”

Informed of Washburn’s statements, Manager Mike Scioscia said there was a misunderstanding between Angel coaches and the pitcher.

“We’ve told him the chances of him pitching again are remote,” Scioscia said. “He understands this, and he might get frustrated at times, but we haven’t ruled him out.”

Scioscia said if there was absolutely no chance of Washburn returning this season, “we probably would have shut him down,” he said. “But it’s also important for his peace of mind to go into the off-season healthy.”

Washburn and Seth Etherton, who also threw a simulated game Saturday, will pitch in an intrasquad game Thursday in Mesa, Ariz., where the Angels are holding instructional league workouts.

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The small-market Twins, whose $16.5-million payroll is by far the lowest in baseball, believe the only way they can survive and remain in Minnesota is if they get a new retractable-roof stadium.

But Gov. Jesse Ventura, who attended Saturday night’s game to see his wife, Terry, throw out the ceremonial first pitch, made it clear that he will body-slam any measure that would seek a significant amount of public funds for such a project.

“If it’s to come out of my budget, I want them to tell me where I’m going to take it from,” Ventura said. “K-12 education? The Department of Natural Resources? Public safety? Then, I want them to tell me what to do with the Metrodome. This stadium is still younger than my [21-year-old] son, and I still consider him a kid.”

The Metrodome, home of the Twins and the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, opened in 1982, but both the Twins and Vikings want new stadiums.

“It would be different if the dome was 25-30 years old and falling apart, but this building is still very, very new,” Ventura said. “I don’t mind it. Everyone gripes about it, but at least you know if you’re coming from out of town that there’s not going to be a rainout.”

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The Angels have reportedly had discussions with officials in Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City about moving their triple-A affiliate from Edmonton to those cities, and it appears they are leaning toward Salt Lake City.

The Angels, who recently moved their double-A team from Erie, Pa., to Little Rock, Ark., and their Class-A team from Lake Elsinore to Rancho Cucamonga, have had their triple-A team in Edmonton or Vancouver for 22 years.

TODAY

ANGELS’ TIM BELCHER (4-2, 6.58 ERA) vs. TWINS’ BRAD RADKE (11-15, 4.44 ERA)

Metrodome, Minneapolis, 11 a.m. PDT

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090)

* Update--Belcher will be looking for his third win in his third start since returning from a two-month stint on the disabled list because of elbow problems. The right-hander limited Detroit to three runs on seven hits in six innings on Sept. 7 and Tampa Bay to two runs on five hits in seven innings Tuesday. He will need to be sharp because the Angels usually have trouble with Radke, the right-hander who has a 9-4 career record and 1.82 earned-run average against the Angels. With a ninth-inning single Saturday, Angel outfielder Darin Erstad broke Don Baylor’s franchise record of 333 total bases, set in 1979.