Vaughn Might Miss the Season

On the day after the power-packed Angels curiously signed aging slugger Jose Canseco, the team revealed the real reason: Mo Vaughn is seriously injured.

Vaughn could sit out the season after tests Wednesday confirmed a ruptured biceps tendon in his left arm.

“The tests confirmed our worst nightmare,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

As the Angels scramble for a first baseman on the eve of spring training, they cannot count on Vaughn to play this year. Vaughn is scheduled for surgery Feb. 6 at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, with rehabilitation estimated at six months and possibly longer depending upon the degree of trauma surgeons discover inside the arm.

Detroit Tiger third baseman Dean Palmer sat out the last four months of the 1995 season after surgery for a ruptured tendon. Similar injuries forced NBA forward Anthony Mason and NFL linebacker Ted Johnson each to sit out a full season.

General Manager Bill Stoneman said he had not yet decided whether to pursue another free agent, perhaps Henry Rodriguez. If the Angels report to spring training with their current cast, potential additions to the lineup include Scott Spiezio, Orlando Palmeiro and rookie Larry Barnes.

In a statement, Vaughn said he was “deeply disappointed” to learn he would require surgery to repair an injury that had caused him pain for “the past six months.”

Said Scioscia: “There was absolutely nothing last year that would give us an inclination there was an injury of this magnitude.”

Vaughn apparently suffered the injury last August, on a swing in a game against the Cleveland Indians, according to his business manager, Mark Gillam. The Angels treated Vaughn for tendinitis at the time, Stoneman said, and never heard another word from him about discomfort for the rest of the season.

Vaughn hit .198 in September, striking out 39 times in 111 at-bats. Gillam said the discomfort lingered in September and in Vaughn’s off-season workouts, so persistent that Vaughn finally mentioned it to Gillam last month. Gillam said he advised Vaughn to consult doctors. Angel team physician Lewis Yocum referred Vaughn to Mayo Clinic specialist Bernard Morrey, who conducted tests and will perform surgery.

Stoneman said he was stunned to learn of the potentially serious nature of the injury. Nonetheless, he completed the framework of a deal with Canseco within 48 hours, before tests on Vaughn were concluded, or publicly discussed.

“With the possibility Mo could miss a good chunk of the season, it made sense to move quickly on Jose,” Stoneman said.

Stoneman said the Angels have insurance on Vaughn’s contract, which pays him $11 million this year.

“Insurance doesn’t replace Mo Vaughn,” Stoneman said. “It might replace some of the dollars.”

Among available free agents, Rodriguez could best replace Vaughn’s left-handed power. Rodriguez hit 20 home runs last season, split between the Chicago Cubs and Florida Marlins, and hit at least 26 homers and drove in at least 83 runs in each of the previous four seasons. Scioscia said Rodriguez “obviously would be one of the candidates” should the Angels decide to acquire a hitter.

Rodriguez would likely play left field, with Darin Erstad moving to first base. If the Angels wish for Erstad to replace Vaughn at first base and as the No. 3 hitter, they could lead off with left fielder Palmeiro, whose .395 on-base percentage last season trailed only Erstad, Troy Glaus and Tim Salmon.

They also could leave Erstad in the outfield and audition first basemen in Spiezio, who hit 17 home runs as a part-time player last season, or Barnes, who led the Arizona Fall League by hitting .355.

“I’m not certain we’re going to commit to anything at this point,” Stoneman said. “We might look at our adjustments in spring training and make a decision there.”

Erstad, who won a Gold Glove for his outfield play, said he would consider moving to first base if asked.

“Whatever helps the team be successful is what I’m for,” he said.

Erstad called the news “a crusher.” He wished Vaughn well and expressed amazement that he could hide such pain for so long.

“You never knew if he was tired or sore,” Erstad said. “This was the first time I heard about this, and it turns out it was bothering him last year.

“He shows up to play every day. This is called leading by example.”

Vaughn played in a career-high 161 games last season, batting .272 with 36 home runs and 117 runs batted in. Angel closer Troy Percival believes that production will be more difficult to replace than Vaughn’s leadership.

“We’re missing big thunder in the middle of our lineup,” Percival said. “We’ve got plenty of people who can carry the load as far as running the team. Erstad is slowly taking over as the leader in the clubhouse anyway. Chemistry-wise, we’ll be OK.”

If adversity breeds winners, the Angels ought to be champions.

“We’ve had things like this happen 1,000 times since I’ve been here,” said Percival, whose rookie season was 1995, the year the Angels blew an 11-game lead.

“It’s unfortunate. Somebody’s always going down. It’s just how you react to it.”

Amid much fanfare, and amid visions of the team’s first World Series appearance, the Angels signed Vaughn to a six-year, $80-million contract after the 1998 season.

In the first inning of his first game with the Angels, Vaughn tumbled down the dugout steps at Edison Field while chasing a foul ball, suffering a severely sprained ankle that hampered him for more than a year. Later in that 1999 season, Vaughn remained in the clubhouse as a fight broke out on the field in Cleveland, prompting several teammates to threaten to sit out the next game if Vaughn played. Terry Collins, then the Angel manager, resigned in frustration days later, missing the final month of a last-place season.

Gillam said Vaughn remains committed to delivering a championship to Anaheim and said Vaughn would join the Angels in spring training, rehabilitating with the team and hoping to return in August. Vaughn was so eager to get started this season, Gillam said, that he had leased a residence in Arizona and planned to move to the Angels’ training site one month before spring camp opened.

“He’s extremely disappointed,” Gillam said. “He’s been bottling up so much energy this winter to let loose come spring. This is very deflating for him.”

*

BASEBALL

*

DODGERS: Beltre undergoes emergency appendectomy in Dominican Republic, but he is expected to report to spring training on time. D7

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Vaughn Sidelined

Angel slugger Mo Vaughn is expected to sit out at least half the upcoming season because of a ruptured biceps tendon in his left arm.

Sources: Anaheim Angels, Times reports