Moreno Owns Up to Responsibility

With many of the Angels’ off-season moves backfiring, fans might be pointing a finger at General Manager Bill Stoneman, but owner Arte Moreno won’t join them.

“Bill and I talked about all our moves. If anybody wants to be dissatisfied, they should be dissatisfied with me,” Moreno said. “It starts at the top.”

Stoneman signed center fielder Steve Finley, shortstop Orlando Cabrera and pitchers Paul Byrd and Esteban Yan as free agents, and only Byrd has met expectations. He acquired reserves Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis in dumping outfielder Jose Guillen, who was kicked off the team for insubordination.

Stoneman protected journeyman catchers Wil Nieves and Josh Paul from waivers rather than rookie relievers Derrick Turnbow, who has 36 saves for the Milwaukee Brewers, and Bobby Jenks, who has a 1.95 earned-run average for the Chicago White Sox.

Chone Figgins has almost duplicated David Eckstein’s numbers as a leadoff hitter, and Francisco Rodriguez has 36 saves as the replacement for closer Troy Percival, but the departed Troy Glaus has 36 home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His replacement, Dallas McPherson, hit eight and will miss 101 games because of injury.

Moreno cautioned that all the moves should not be judged in the context of one season. After Bartolo Colon had a 6.38 earned-run average last July, in the first year of a four-year, $51-million contract, Moreno said he heard that the Angels had made an expensive mistake. With his next victory, though, Colon will become the Angels’ first 20-game winner since Nolan Ryan in 1974.

“Are all the moves we make every year going to be perfect? No,” Moreno said. “I don’t think anybody bats 1.000. We’ve done some good things for the team.

“People in our minor leagues are coming through. We had a key injury to third base.”

The off-season scorecard is the one that counts for Stoneman, who has yet to make a significant acquisition during the season. He tried to add a bat this summer, Moreno said.

“We could have made a move that would have torn a hole in our minor league system and gambled away our economic flexibility for the next two years,” Moreno said.

The Angels had agreed to trade rookie first baseman Casey Kotchman to the Kansas City Royals for designated hitter Mike Sweeney, a source said, but the deal died when the Royals demanded another top prospect and would not agree to pay any of the $30 million left on Sweeney’s contract.

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The Angels stole four bases Friday, the first team to do so against 11-time Gold Glove catcher Ivan Rodriguez since the Toronto Blue Jays did it in 2001. Rodriguez has thrown out a league-best 46% of runners trying to steal.