Finley May Be Option in ’04

As the Angels search for a starting pitcher with a track record of throwing lots of innings and avoiding injury, few meet those criteria better than Chuck Finley, who never has had a significant arm injury and has pitched at least 190 innings in all but one non-strike season since he became a full-time starter in 1988.

Finley pitched 191 innings last year, split between the Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals, with 174 strikeouts and a 4.14 earned-run average.

He remains the Angels’ all-time leader in victories, with 165 from 1986 to ‘99, and still lives in Orange County.

Finley sat out this season, declining offers from out-of-state teams to join their rotations and declining the Angels’ invitation to return as a reliever, at a time General Manager Bill Stoneman said the team had no vacancies in its rotation.

The Angels have one now. If Finley were interested, Stoneman said, he would be happy to talk but would not offer anything beyond a minor league contract and an invitation to spring training, noting that by then Finley would be 41 and would not have pitched competitively in 16 months. But even that consideration is premature, Stoneman said, depending on whom the Angels might acquire this winter.

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Jarrod Washburn will miss his final start Sunday because of an irritated tendon in his right ankle. Scot Shields is expected to start in Washburn’s absence.... David Eckstein may not return for the final two games because his bothersome hamstring has flared up.