Angels Still Waiting to Hear From Vaughn

Ten days after Mo Vaughn told a Boston radio station he wanted the Angels to trade him back to the Boston Red Sox, Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said he has been unable to reach the disenchanted slugger and said Vaughn’s agents have not yet arranged a meeting between the player and the team.

“I think there’s an urgency to meet,” Stoneman said Friday. “Let’s start discussing our concerns and listening to his concerns.”

Vaughn won a most valuable player award with the Red Sox and led the team into the playoffs twice. But even if the Red Sox were willing to trade for Vaughn, it is improbable they would do so without evaluating him in spring training, since he did not play this year because of arm surgery.

That would leave the Angels with two immediate issues--how a player once considered one of baseball’s best clubhouse leaders will be received by Angel teammates in spring training, and whether Vaughn will accept the designated-hitter role the Angels might want him to play.

“When you have a player stating he’d like to play for a different club, it’s something that will affect other players,” Stoneman said. “There’s definitely a concern about that.”

Mark Gillam, Vaughn’s business manager, did not return a call Friday.

The Angels moved outfielder Darin Erstad to first base during the final week of the season, a possible prelude to moving Vaughn to DH next season. When his Boston radio interview turned to the subject of his moving from first base to DH--a question not specifically with regard to the Angels--Vaughn said, “I’m going to fight it. I’m going to fight it as long as I can.”

The Angels believe Vaughn, who is listed at 275 pounds, must lose weight to be effective defensively. Vaughn, 33, committed the most errors and had the lowest fielding percentage among American League first basemen in 2000.