Hasegawa Wasn’t in a Hurry to Leave

As Shigetoshi Hasegawa stands in the Seattle Mariners’ clubhouse, he hasn’t quite gotten over his divorce from the Angels.

“I put the Seattle uniform on, and I feel like an enemy,” Hasegawa said before the Angels’ 15-2 Cactus League victory over the Mariners Friday.

Hasegawa didn’t want to leave the Angels, the team with which he signed after jumping from Japanese baseball to the major leagues. He served as a reliable reliever during his five years with the Angels, lived in Newport Beach year-round, and developed into one of the team’s more popular players.

The Angels released him in December, but not before making him a one-year contract offer that included a raise from his 2001 salary of $1.15 million. The Angels also warned Hasegawa and his agent, Ed Kleven, that if a contract agreement could not be reached, the team would release the pitcher rather than risk an arbitration hearing, in which his salary could have been doubled.

If Hasegawa wanted to stay and the Angels offered a raise, why didn’t he sign? Neither the pitcher nor his agent would reveal what the Angels offered, but Hasegawa said the bid was considerably below market value. Kleven denied that the players’ union deemed the offer too low and pressured Hasegawa to reject it. Hasegawa also said he had hoped that the Angels would offer a multiyear contract.

In signing with the Mariners, Hasegawa did well. Seattle signed him for this season, at a base salary of about $1.7 million, with incentives and a 2003 option that could increase the value of the deal to $4.5 million over two years.

The Mariners have reached the playoffs the past two seasons. “I’ve never been there,” Hasegawa said. “I want to play in October too.”

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This could have been Shawn Wooten’s big break. It was not, and for that he is very grateful.

A pitch from Seattle’s Freddy Garcia hit Wooten on his left hand, driving Wooten to his knees in pain. Minutes later, as he walked off the field with a trainer, Wooten took off his batting helmet and slammed it to the ground, convinced a bone was broken and his spot on the opening-day roster was in jeopardy.

Fortunately for Wooten, X-rays revealed nothing more than a bad bruise, and he is expected to miss only a few days, pending the results of follow-up exams. Wooten, who will split time with Scott Spiezio at first base this season, was still in pain, but relieved.

“I’m trying to fight for a job,” Wooten said. “[Missing] four to six weeks or longer would definitely hamper that.”

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When the Angels traded infielder Wilmy Caceres to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for pitcher Mickey Callaway in December, it appeared Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman had swapped a good-field, no-hit shortstop prospect for a pitcher who could start in triple A or relieve in the majors.

The trade suddenly got better for the Angels Thursday, when the Devil Rays learned Caceres is 28, not 23. At that age, he is no longer a prospect.

And, of all the Dominicans revealed this spring to be older than reported, Caceres is not the typical one or two years older, but five.

“He might get the cup for biggest lie,” Stoneman joked.

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The Angels had 19 hits in the victory, including three from Tim Salmon and a home run from Darin Erstad.... The Angels agreed to terms on one-year contracts with 11 players, including second baseman Adam Kennedy ($375,000), shortstop David Eckstein ($280,000), Wooten ($250,000), pitcher Ben Weber ($240,000) and pitcher Matt Wise ($215,000).... Single-game tickets for the 2002 season go on sale today. The Edison Field box office opens at 9 a.m.