Moreno Says the Money Is There

Whether the Angels are buyers at the July 31 trading deadline will depend on a multitude of factors, owner Arte Moreno said before Thursday night’s series opener against the New York Yankees.

What won’t be that important, he said, are payroll concerns.

“If the right player is there, money is not an issue,” Moreno said, before adding with a laugh, “Don’t get me wrong; there’s a limit, within reason. But we’ll make moves if needed.

“Obviously we’re looking at players available.”

The Angels opened the season with a reported $95-million payroll, meeting their preseason goal of keeping it below $100 million.

Moreno also said that although he would leave baseball decisions to his baseball operations people, he did not want to tamper with the Angels’ chemistry. He also said he was happy with the balance of the team.

“You’re gambling on a hired gun if he’s a free agent” at the end of the season, Moreno said. “You’re messing with chemistry ... on one player to take you to the promised land.”

Asked if he could also see the Angels staying pat, Moreno shrugged.

“I’m really OK with what the baseball people say. We really want a long-term ... championship team. We don’t want to disrupt things.

“I love this club. Who wouldn’t? We’re 6 1/2 games up. Last year at this time we were scraping. Having to go at the end of the year to Texas and win three of four and then go to Oakland and win two of three, that wasn’t fun.”

Moreno pointed to the recent signings of Cuban defector Kendry Morales and college player of the year Jered Weaver as signs the Angels were serious about money not being a hindrance.

“We’re real happy with what’s going on,” Moreno said.

And about that hired gun for the stretch run?

“Maybe we’ll call Nolan [Ryan],” Moreno joked. “He can give us a hand for a couple of months.”

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Garret Anderson says he is not surprised at the maturation of Chone Figgins from part-time player to everyday regular, even if Figgins does not have an everyday position.

“He could always do it,” Anderson said. “He’s just getting the opportunity to do it now.”

Figgins has started at six positions this year -- second base, third base, center field, left field, right field and shortstop -- and has played two positions in the same game 15 times.

A jack-of-all-trades, master of none?

“No,” Anderson said. “He’s a fantastic second baseman. He’s just gotten his opportunity by being a utility player. But he’s an everyday ... jack-of-all-trades.”

Figgins, who is on pace to become the first Angel with 50 stolen bases since Luis Polonia in 1993, said he takes more pride in scoring runs. He and Darin Erstad are tied for the team lead in runs with 65.

“I’ve never stolen more than 40 bases at any level,” said Figgins, whose 31 steals rank second in the American League.

“It’s incentive, definitely, to get to that point, but the more runs I rack up, the more chances we have of winning.”