An Angel Career Is Over

Many believe former Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina deserved a better send-off than a one-paragraph press release last month stating the team would not offer arbitration to the eight-year veteran who sat out most of the last two seasons because of shoulder injuries.

DiSarcina, a team leader and the glue to the Angel infield in the 1990s, is not necessarily of that belief, but he did admit the end of his Angel career was odd.

“It didn’t even seem as though I played for them,” DiSarcina said. “I just kind of went away.... It was like I was faded out.”

There is no bitterness in DiSarcina’s voice, though. The 34-year-old spent 13 years in the Angel organization and made more than $15 million. If he never plays another professional baseball game--he hopes to make a comeback this spring--his family is financially set for life.

“I owe [the Angels] everything; they don’t owe me a thing,” DiSarcina said by phone from his Cape Cod, Mass., home. “I talked to Bill [Stoneman, Angel general manager] and Mike [Scioscia, Angel manager]. To me, it just matters that they know I tried everything. Bill’s job is to find people who can play, and if I can’t play ... “

DiSarcina’s injury put the Angels in an awkward position. After undergoing rotator-cuff surgery in 2000, DiSarcina spent 18 months trying to rehabilitate the shoulder but was unable to return. David Eckstein took over at shortstop, and the Angels had no choice but to cut ties with DiSarcina, one of the most popular players in their clubhouse.

But DiSarcina, who is a free agent, never announced his retirement, “and what are you supposed to do when a guy is not offered arbitration other than issue a press release?” Stoneman said. “I think Gary knows we think highly of him, and we were all hoping for something better, but his physical ability didn’t allow him to compete. My own career ended the same way. It’s not the ideal way to go out.”

When DiSarcina last spoke to Stoneman in October, DiSarcina was “80% sure I was done for good. I wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t have any excitement about the rehab.”

But he took two months off and began throwing and working out again in December. DiSarcina felt so much better he instructed his agent to contact several East Coast teams about the possibility of going to spring training as a nonroster player to compete for a utility infield or second base job.

“Maybe the Angel chapter is closed, but hopefully in another month I can sign a minor league deal and start from scratch,” DiSarcina said. “Of course, you want to end your career like Ted Williams--hit a home run and walk off the field. The way things ended [with the Angels] was kind of strange. But I want to have fun again. If I’m sore or worried about my shoulder, I’ll move on.”

DiSarcina, who has two young children, told Stoneman he would be willing to work in the front office or on the field, but not in a full-time capacity. “I’m not going to be a hitting coach in Boise or an infield coach in Quad Cities,” he said. “My family is too important to me.”

The Angels still consider DiSarcina family too. He was a career .258 hitter and steady defender who was voted team most valuable player in 1998, when he hit .287 with 39 doubles and 56 runs batted in.

DiSarcina hit .307 in 1995, and the Angels had an 11-game division lead when he tore ligaments in his left thumb Aug. 3. By the time DiSarcina returned in late September, the Angels had suffered one of baseball’s worst collapses, eventually losing a one-game playoff with Seattle for the American League West title.

“If he does retire, it’s only proper that this organization works with him to announce it,” said Tim Mead, Angel vice president of communications. “And if that happens, we will honor him in some way. His injury was one of the reasons we didn’t finish the deal in 1995. He was the heart and soul of that team.”

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The owners of the Boston Red Sox declined to pursue a late $700-million offer to buy the team and they reconfirmed their Dec. 20 decision to accept a $660-million bid from a group led by Florida financier John Henry.

“Enough is enough,” the team’s chief executive, John Harrington, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a telephone conversation between Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly and baseball Commissioner Bud Selig did little to answer Reilly’s questions about Selig’s role in the sale of the team, a spokeswoman for Reilly said. Reilly is trying to determine if Selig’s office improperly guided the Red Sox into accepting the Henry group’s bid.

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Catcher Mitch Meluskey and the Detroit Tigers agreed to a one-year, $345,000 contract.... The Toronto Blue Jays signed free-agent infielder Dave Berg to a minor league contract.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.