Phillips Should Get an Assist

Former replacement player Brendan Donnelly’s name might not be the only one conspicuously missing from the Angels’ World Series championship T-shirts.

How about former New York Met General Manager Steve Phillips’? Phillips, after all, bolstered the Angels’ roster before last season by agreeing to trade Kevin Appier for injury-riddled Mo Vaughn. The Angels then acquired designated hitter Brad Fullmer, another key component of their first World Series title.

“We don’t have a need for Brad Fullmer if we have Mo Vaughn,” Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “That was the last piece of the puzzle.”

Whereas Appier has strengthened the rotation and Fullmer continues to be a dangerous hitter, Vaughn faces potentially career-ending knee surgery after hitting only .249 with 29 homers in 166 games with the Mets over the last two seasons.

Phillips won’t be accompanying the Mets to Edison Field today for the opener of their three-game series against the Angels; he was fired Thursday. New York is in last place, despite one of the highest payrolls in baseball and partly because of questionable moves such as the one Phillips made in December 2001 when he traded for Vaughn.

Phillips, after watching Vaughn work out at his Massachusetts home in the off-season, was convinced the slugger, who had missed the 2001 season because of a torn biceps tendon, was capable of regaining the form that earned him American League most-valuable-player honors with the Red Sox in 1995.

Things didn’t work out that way. Vaughn hit .259 last season with 26 homers and 72 runs batted in -- his lowest production since 1992 -- and the Mets finished last in the National League East.

Meanwhile, Appier went 14-12 with a 3.92 earned-run average and mentored the younger starters on the Angels’ staff. Fullmer hit .289 with 19 homers and 59 RBIs.

Looking back, Stoneman said he was pleased with the trade but wasn’t “one to tout getting the better end of a deal. The best deals are the ones that benefit both sides.”

Jarrod Washburn said it was unfair to castigate Phillips for the deal.

“I don’t think you can say, ‘What were they thinking?’ ” Washburn said. “At the time they thought they were getting a great, great hitter. If healthy, Mo is that.”

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The Angels will conclude their stretch of 12 games against National League East opponents this weekend without having played the division-leading Atlanta Braves, leaving at least two Angels feeling a bit unfulfilled.

David Eckstein is a lifelong Atlanta fan and Troy Percival is an admirer of the way Brave counterpart John Smoltz pitches.

“I enjoy watching anybody like that pitch,” Percival said of Smoltz, the converted starter who leads the major leagues with 25 saves. “To have him in a closer’s role, throwing basically three to four pitches ... that are above average and he can command them all, is amazing.”

Eckstein grew up rooting for the Braves in part because of their proximity to his Sanford, Fla., home and in part because they were the only team he could watch every day on cable television. Former Atlanta slugger Dale Murphy, whom Eckstein described as “a class act on and off the field,” was his favorite player as a child.

Although the schedule makers may not have cooperated, there is always October.

“It would be really cool to play them,” Eckstein said of the Braves. “Especially this year.”

ON DECK

Opponent -- New York Mets, three games.

Site -- Edison Field.

TV -- Fox Sports Net, all three games.

Radio -- KSPN (710), XKAM (950).

Records -- Angels 33-30, Mets 29-35.

Record vs. Mets -- First meeting.

Tonight, 7 -- Aaron Sele (3-3, 6.05) vs. Mike Bacsik (0-1, 14.63).

Saturday, 7 p.m. -- Ramon Ortiz (6-5, 5.45) vs. undecided.

Sunday, 1 p.m. -- Jarrod Washburn (6-6, 3.13) vs. Steve Trachsel (4-4, 5.38).

Tickets -- (714) 663-9000.