Rangers Can’t Stop Salmon, So They Want Him

The Rangers, who have gone from first to worst in the American League West this season, have already identified a power-hitting outfielder or designated hitter as their top priority this winter, and they are known to covet Angel right fielder Tim Salmon.

As Angel Manager Mike Scioscia likes to say, you don’t have to be hit over the head with a brick to understand why.

Salmon has been demolishing the Rangers for years, and he was at it again Saturday night, doubling to start the Angels’ six-run second inning and capping the rally with a two-run double. He also singled in the Angels’ three-run sixth.

In 39 games at the Ballpark in Arlington, Salmon is batting .441 (67 for 152) with 13 homers and 45 RBIs. He has a career .404 average (129 for 319) with 25 homers and 81 RBIs against Texas.

Salmon is due to make $6 million in 2001, the final year of a four-year, $22.5-million contract. With Salmon entering his “walk” year and the Angels probably in the market for a starting pitcher, Salmon’s name could pop up in trade rumors, perhaps not as often as Jim Edmonds last winter but a lot more than Salmon is accustomed to.

It would take nothing less than Ranger ace Rick Helling for Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman to even enter trade discussions with the Rangers. But a Texas team that found replacing Juan Gonzalez and Todd Zeile very difficult this season might be desperate enough to part with its top pitcher for a player like Salmon, who is batting .291 with 34 homers and 95 RBIs.

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Scioscia said his decision to start rookie Derrick Turnbow over veteran left-hander Scott Karl Saturday night was not a reflection of how the Angels feel about Karl or an indication that his chances of returning to Anaheim next season are slim.

“I think he’s a better pitcher than he’s showed,” Scioscia said of Karl, who gave up 12 earned runs on 23 hits in 11 1/3 innings of three starts before being demoted to the bullpen. “But at this point of the season it’s about matchups and winning, and this is a better direction to go right now.”

Karl relieved Turnbow and threw 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on two hits, including Rafael Palmeiro’s 400th career home run in the fifth. That was the first homer the Angels have allowed in eight games on this road trip.

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With his second-inning triple Saturday, second baseman Adam Kennedy became the third Angel rookie to amass 150 hits, following Wally Joyner (172) in 1986 and Devon White (168) in 1987. . . . Next Saturday’s game between the Angels and Seattle Mariners in Edison Field has been moved from 7 p.m. to 1 p.m. to accommodate Fox, which will televise the game. . . . Shortstop Benji Gil has been sidelined for a few days because of stiffness in his rib cage but is hoping to return to the lineup today.

TODAY

ANGELS’

RAMON ORTIZ

(6-6, 5.61 ERA)

vs.

RANGERS’

KENNY ROGERS

(13-13, 4.54 ERA)

The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, noon.

TV-Channel 9. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Ortiz has fallen into a pattern of suffering through one bad early inning and settling down to pitch well. In his last start Tuesday against the Royals the right-hander gave up three runs in the third but only four runs through seven innings. In his previous start, against the Devil Rays on Sept. 13, he gave up three runs in the first and four earned runs through six innings. Rogers, the veteran left-hander, is 12-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 43 lifetime games against the Angels.