Percival Could Set Record Next Year

In this era of disposable players and contracts, Angel closer Troy Percival should set a significant major league record sometime next summer. With 29 more saves, Percival will pass Jeff Montgomery of the Kansas City Royals as the leader among closers who recorded all their saves for one team.

Percival’s contract expires after next season, when he will be 35. He has 276 saves, so he should pass 300 and then pass Montgomery next year, and he is comfortable with the possibility of retirement when his contract is up.

“It wouldn’t blow me away if I didn’t play again after this one is over,” he said.

The contracts of left fielder Garret Anderson and third baseman Troy Glaus also expire after next season, and an extension for Anderson is the Angels’ top priority this winter. Glaus will make $9.55 million next season, Percival $7.5 million.

Glaus’ injury-riddled season complicates any effort to assess his value this winter. The Angels could use another season to determine whether minor leaguer Dallas McPherson might be ready to replace Glaus and whether Francisco Rodriguez should replace Percival, so Anderson might be the only priority in contract extensions this winter.

“I don’t want to play anywhere else,” Percival said. “We’ve just come off a world championship season. I think we can do it again, and I’d like to be part of it.

“But they’ve got way more pressing issues to worry about than me. Garret’s got to be No. 1.”

Said General Manager Bill Stoneman: “We’ll look at all of it, certainly. Garret is going to be a priority.”

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While Angel management remains stubbornly resistant to admit the team will not return to the playoffs, the players readily acknowledge reality. Pitcher Jarrod Washburn had no trouble explaining why he saw no need to rest his sore hip for the rest of the season.

“It looks like I’ll have an extra month this off-season,” he said, “so I’ll have plenty of rest.”

Washburn said the hip injury that flared during Monday’s game was no cause for alarm. In 2000, doctors traced the cause of a rib cage pull to “crooked hips,” he said, and he has received treatment as necessary since then without further tests. He credited the coaching and training staffs with monitoring his delivery to ensure that he does not risk further injury by overcompensating for discomfort.