He’s Not in This for the Short Haul

It is only about a mile walk for Arte Moreno from his home on the grounds of the Biltmore estates to the resort hotel where baseball’s general managers are meeting.

On Wednesday, however, the Angel owner chose to drive.

Rain was inundating the Valley of the Sun, and Moreno had a lunch date with General Manager Bill Stoneman.

If Alex Rodriguez and/or Nomar Garciaparra were on the menu, Moreno insisted later that neither is now being served up in a two- or three-way trade with the Boston Red Sox and/or Texas Rangers.

After all, he suggested, it is one thing to provide Stoneman with the latitude to take the 2004 payroll “somewhere north of $90 million” but another to have it go far north.

After all, he would say, the off-season game plan remains what it was supposed to be -- focused on the acquisition of a front-line starting pitcher and an impact hitter, the preference being an outfielder so that Tim Salmon can become the designated hitter.

After all, he would continue, this is still basically the same team that won a World Series in 2002 “and if we can acquire a starting pitcher to enhance the staff and fit in a couple of other pieces in the puzzle I think we can be playing for the gold again.”

So, neither Rodriguez nor Garciaparra are currently among the possible pieces to the puzzle?

Well, Moreno said in reference to all of the headline speculation, there’s nothing to it, which is exactly what Stoneman had said the day before.

“Look,” the owner said, speaking privately, “if Bill comes to me and says he has the chance to make a hell of a deal and we have to have this certain shortstop, then we’ll do what we have to do to get him the shortstop. But that’s not what he’s saying and that’s not what’s on our radar today, tomorrow or in the immediate future.

“Nomar is a terrific player who has one year left on his contract and you would have to be able to re-sign him, and without that guarantee it just doesn’t make sense.

“I mean, it would have to be Roger Clemens or Nolan Ryan before I’d trade for a player with a one-year contract.”

That would also seem to rule out two outfielders who have been mentioned in possible trades with the Angels -- Carlos Beltran of the Kansas City Royals and Magglio Ordonez of the Chicago White Sox.

Of Rodriguez, Moreno said:

“He’s the best player in baseball as far as I’m concerned, but he’s also the highest salaried. He’s owed more over the remainder of his contract than I paid for the Angels.”

Moreno paid $183.5 million for the Angels. Rodriguez is owed $189 million over the next seven years.

The Angels already have $54 million committed to eight players next year and face the big-ticket signing of Garret Anderson -- “I’ve told Bill that’s a priority,” Moreno said -- and possible arbitration engagements with Jarrod Washburn, Adam Kennedy, David Eckstein, Ben Weber, Shawn Wooten and, perhaps, Jeff DaVanon, depending on his service classification.

All of that before the coveted addition of a front-line pitcher, which will cost the Angels a significant price in a pitcher-hungry market.

According to their fact-finding at the GM meetings, an Angel executive said, the initial asking price for a free-agent pitcher of the Bartolo Colon or Andy Pettitte class will range from $12 million to $14 million a year.

The Angels, of course, will be paying Kevin Appier another $12 million next year not to pitch for them, one of the reasons Moreno expects to lose at least that much in his first full year as owner -- a capital investment on the future, he said.

At a time when most teams are retrenching financially, the Angels are one of the few taking on payroll.

“This is not about making a splash,” he said. “I simply don’t believe in a bargain basement approach. I have never operated any of my businesses that way. I want to win and I want to compete, but I don’t want to be stupid.”

The Angels aside, the Rodriguez and Garciaparra trade conjecture will remain one of the winter’s primary themes.

Perhaps, Moreno said, if the Angels don’t land a starting pitcher their game plan will change, but they aren’t going to shift direction at this early juncture and won’t be swayed by speculation.

Meantime, the new owner continues to reshape the organization in other ways.

Having already lowered some ticket, souvenir and concession prices, having already made himself accessible to fans during his almost nightly tours of Edison Field, having already broadened the club’s Hispanic reach, having already committed financially to the inner-city ballpark dedicated by Commissioner Bud Selig last summer and having already extended the contracts of Stoneman and Manager Mike Scioscia, there is indication that’s only the start.

Moreno confirmed that he hopes to build a training complex for the Angels in the new Phoenix area development of Goodyear, and he stressed that his advertising and marketing reach will continue to expand beyond the Orange curtain.

“To be competitive long term,” he said, “we need to stretch our wings out. We have to reach out, invite people to come rather than waiting for them to come. My goal is to draw three million fans again. Our capacity potential is about 3.8 million. I’d like to do 90% of that.”

The expanded reach will be under the direction of new club President Dennis Kuhl, a former classmate and fraternity brother of Moreno’s at Arizona.

Kuhl has also been a high-level advertising executive, working for many years with Moreno and then other firms.

He is replacing the popular and now departed Kevin Uhlich, a development Moreno addressed for the first time Wednesday, insisting Uhlich wasn’t fired.

“It was my mutual agreement,” Moreno said. “Kevin is a great guy and was a great part of the Angels for many years [rising from bat boy].

“It’s tough any time there’s a new owner with a certain philosophy because it’s just about inevitable there’s going to be changes.”

There will be changes on the field as well next year.

Is it possible that A-Rod or Nomar could still be part of it?

On a wet afternoon near his front door, Moreno withheld the welcome mat.

For now?