Minor Deal for Canseco Has Major Implications

The Angels signed slugger Jose Canseco to a minor league contract Tuesday, piling on the power in a lineup that could be without Tim Salmon by July and adding another veteran bat to a team stacking its pennant hopes on three young arms and, possibly, a younger shortstop.

Canseco, 36, joins his fifth team in six seasons. The Angels agreed to pay the designated hitter the minimum salary of $200,000 if he makes the team and as much as $5.15 million if he makes 500 plate appearances. In the last six seasons, Canseco has been put on the disabled list seven times and reached 500 plate appearances twice.

“I’m probably the opposite of Cal Ripken Jr.,” Canseco said. “But, if I can get my 140 or 150 games, the numbers will definitely be there.”

Canseco last played that many games in 1998, when he hit a career-high 46 home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays. Canseco said he has dropped 22 pounds in winter workouts and projected he could hit as many as 60 home runs and drive in 140 runs, based on his 1999 season with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He hit 31 homers and drove in 69 runs by the All-Star break that year, then required back surgery.

“Right now, I’m entirely healthy,” Canseco said. “That’s been my demon, staying healthy.”

Canseco ranks 23rd on the all-time list with 446 home runs, trailing only Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds among active players.

While several teams expressed interest in Canseco, none offered a guaranteed contract. His agent, Jeff Borris, said the Angels promised Canseco would “be in the lineup every single day.” General Manager Bill Stoneman shied away from any such public promises, saying that Canseco will “take a shot at being our right-handed DH” and “if Jose is healthy and productive, he might force the manager’s hand.”

In 329 at-bats last season, Canseco hit 15 home runs, drove in 49 runs and scored 47. Scott Spiezio, the Angels’ primary designated hitter last season, hit 17 homers, drove in 49 runs and scored 47 in 297 at-bats.

With Canseco in the lineup, the Angels have four players who struck out at least 100 times last season. They also have a power balance of three left-handed sluggers (Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad, Mo Vaughn) and three right-handed sluggers (Canseco, Troy Glaus and Tim Salmon); all except Canseco hit at least 25 homers last season.

Salmon, the all-time franchise leader in home runs, could be gone by the July 31 trading deadline. His contract expires after the coming season, and Stoneman said he wants to sign Salmon to an extension but has so far been rebuffed. Salmon has said he wants to defer negotiations until he can assess how competitive the Angels might be.

“That puts a lot of pressure on me,” Stoneman said. “If it turns out that, when Tim decides he wants to talk, we can’t reach a deal because a lot of time has gone by, that could be a problem. We’d like to talk contract with him right now.”

Salmon’s agent, Ted Updike, did not return a call seeking comment.

Stoneman said that neither Salmon nor Mo Vaughn, who also has publicly wondered about the direction of the team, have asked for a trade. Vaughn, in a weekend interview with the Boston Globe, reiterated his oft-repeated sentiments about missing the “passion” of East Coast baseball and its fans.

“I think Mo will come around and see he’s pretty well off here,” Stoneman said.

Vaughn also told the Globe he had not lost any weight over the winter, which befuddled Angel Manager Mike Scioscia. According to Scioscia, Vaughn approached Angel coaches and trainers in September and expressed determination to lose weight in the off-season.

“Is it essential? No,” Scioscia said. “Would it help him? I think it would. That’s up to him.”

In a September interview with The Times, Stoneman and Angel President Tony Tavares acknowledged the team needed to acquire high-quality starting pitchers, and Tavares suggested Disney would be willing to pay top dollar for free agents Mike Hampton and Mike Mussina. Hampton signed with the Colorado Rockies for eight years at $121 million; Mussina signed with the New York Yankees for six years at $88.5 million.

The Angels did not bid for either pitcher, in part because Stoneman said he was told Hampton wished to play in the National League and Mussina preferred to play close to his Pennsylvania home. However, Stoneman also suggested a contract of that magnitude could force him to jettison stars such as Erstad and Glaus as they approach free agency.

“We’ve got some very talented players who are going to command some very good salaries,” Stoneman said.

The Angels eventually signed Ismael Valdes and Pat Rapp to one-year contracts, Valdes for $2.5 million and Rapp for $2 million. They also are believed to have offered contracts to Pat Hentgen, who signed with Baltimore for two years and $9.6 million, and Julian Tavarez, who signed with the Chicago Cubs for two years and $5 million.

“We were more active than people think,” Stoneman said.

The Angels traded pitcher Seth Etherton to the Cincinnati Reds for shortstop Wilmy Caceres, 22, who hit .268 with two home runs at double-A Chattanooga last season. Scioscia said Caceres will compete for the shortstop job in spring training and could start the season in Anaheim if Gary DiSarcina cannot return from shoulder surgery by opening day.

For all the home runs Canseco and Co. might hit, the Angels cannot win if Ramon Ortiz, 24, Scott Schoeneweis, 27, and Jarrod Washburn, 26, cannot win. All three showed promise last season, but all spent time on the disabled list.

“We have the opportunity to develop a championship-caliber staff,” Scioscia said. “We’ve got to get them effective and keep them healthy. These guys have to step up and become solid major league starters.

“I like our starting lineup over anybody’s in our division. The trick is to get the starting pitching to match the offensive production. That was a chore last year.”