Stoneman Has Standing Pat at Deadline Down Pat

Sunday’s non-waiver trade deadline came and went without any moves from the Angels, which should come as no surprise. Bill Stoneman has not made a significant deal at the July 31 deadline in six years as Angel general manager, and a major trade Sunday would have been considered an upset.

“I didn’t sense an attitude in here that we were going to do anything,” pitcher Jarrod Washburn said. “You watch TV and it’s cool to hear all the rumors and see what other teams are doing; it’s like Christmas when you open your presents and you don’t know what you’re getting.

“There’s always a couple of deals that make you go, ‘Wow, I didn’t see that one coming.’ But our attitude is if we play the way we’re capable of playing, we don’t need anything.”

Stoneman said he pursued pitching help, both for the bullpen and rotation, and tried to bolster the offense with a right-handed bat right up until an hour before Sunday’s 1 p.m. PDT deadline, when it “became evident we were not going to get anywhere.”

Too many teams, Stoneman said, asked for big-league players -- reliever Scot Shields and utility player Chone Figgins were likely targets, and first baseman Darin Erstad, pitcher Ervin Santana and third baseman Dallas McPherson drew interest.

“The deals we talked about today would have [subtracted] players from our major league club,” Stoneman said. “The real difficulty is none of us wanted to weaken the club. There were a lot of clubs that were not of a mind to make themselves weaker on the major league level. That made it tough.”

Was Stoneman disappointed?

“I wouldn’t say disappointed,” he said. “If your only [trade] opportunities put you in worse position, you can’t be disappointed when you didn’t weaken yourself. We made efforts. We just couldn’t find the right fit.”

Stoneman said he pursued the two top relievers who were traded Sunday, hard-throwing Detroit right-hander Kyle Farnsworth, who went to Atlanta, and Seattle left-hander Ron Villone, who went to Florida, “but we didn’t find a match.”

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Manager Mike Scioscia acknowledged that Thursday night’s 18-inning loss to Toronto, in which his relievers combined to pitch 9 1/3 innings, may have caught up with the Angels in Yankee Stadium, where the bullpen failed to hold four-run leads in losses Saturday and Sunday.

“There’s a cumulative effect, a residual effect of guys pitching a lot,” Scioscia said. “We got behind in a lot of counts and walked guys when the situations didn’t call for it. But they’ve been strong all year, and with an off day [today] we should be OK.”

The rotation could receive a boost later this week. Washburn, who missed Saturday’s start because of forearm tendinitis, played catch Sunday. He said he would throw in the bullpen Tuesday or Wednesday before being folded back into the rotation Friday or Saturday.

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They can be rude, obnoxious and vulgar at times, but Yankee fans appreciate a good effort like no others. When Angel center fielder Figgins made a spectacular diving catch of Bernie Williams’ shot to right-center field in the second inning, he received a standing ovation. ... Two solo home runs by Jason Giambi gave the Yankee designated hitter 14 home runs in July, making him the first Yankee to hit at least 14 home runs in a calendar month since Mickey Mantle hit 14 in July 1961. ... The Yankee victory obscured a possible breakthrough offensive game for struggling Angel shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who had two singles, an RBI double and a walk. ... Venerable Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard must have lost his scorecard in the 10th inning. When Angel reliever Kevin Gregg entered the game, Sheppard said, “Now pitching for the Angels, No. 63