Spiezio’s Agent: Possible Sale Is Hindering Talks

As the Angels turn their attention to signing four players eligible for salary arbitration, the agent for first baseman Scott Spiezio said Tuesday that the looming sale of the franchise has hindered negotiations on a potential long-term contract.

In the absence of a long-term deal, Spiezio would be eligible for free agency after the season. Agent Barry Meister said he had submitted a multiyear contract proposal to the Angels, at the invitation of the team.

“They’ve been unable to respond so far,” he said, “in part because of the ownership transition issue.”

Disney has hired an investment bank to sell the team, with the hope of securing a buyer in the spring. General Manager Bill Stoneman declined to discuss specific negotiations but said he is “absolutely not” under an ownership mandate to limit those contracts to one year or to wait for corporate approval before discussing a long-term deal.

The Angels have begun preliminary talks on one-year contracts with the other players eligible for arbitration, second baseman Adam Kennedy and pitchers Scott Schoeneweis and Jarrod Washburn. None of those players is eligible for free agency until after the 2005 season.

The Angels discussed a long-term deal with Washburn last year and could do so again this year, but the price would be steep. Should the Angels wish to buy out a year of Washburn’s free agency, the cost would exceed the $22.5 million the Philadelphia Phillies committed last month to Randy Wolf.

Wolf, who would have been eligible for free agency after the 2005 season, signed a four-year deal. He went 11-9 with a 3.20 earned-run average last season and is 38-38 with a 4.07 ERA in his career. Washburn went 18-6 with a 3.15 ERA last season and is 46-26 with a 3.81 ERA in his career.

Stoneman also said Alan Hendricks, the agent for Chuck Finley, inquired about the possibility of the Angels’ all-time leader in victories returning as a free agent. The Angels could offer only a relief spot, and Hendricks replied that Finley would not be interested, Stoneman said.