Scioscia: Injury Situation Is Not Unusual

It’s only natural, considering Joe Saunders’ recent struggles -- the rookie left-hander has given up 15 earned runs and 18 hits in 10 2/3 innings of his last three starts -- to wonder: Where would the Angels be if Bartolo Colon was sound all season?

Before formulating an answer, Manager Mike Scioscia warns, remember that Oakland has played most of the season without injured No. 2 starter Rich Harden, and the Athletics entered Tuesday with a 75-56 record and 6 1/2 -game lead in the American League West.

And New York has played much of this season without sluggers Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, and the Yankees are 77-52 and entered Tuesday with a seven-game lead in the AL East.

“You can say the same thing about a lot of clubs that have lost guys, but if you’re going to be a championship-caliber organization, you have to have the depth to absorb a guy going down,” Scioscia said.

“One guy shouldn’t affect whether you can contend or not. That being said, I would love to have a healthy Bart in the rotation, because the way he’s pitched the last two years, it would give us a big lift.”

Colon, the 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner, is in Arizona, having begun an extensive 10-week rehabilitation program for a rotator-cuff tear. The right-hander, who went 9-2 with a 3.04 earned-run average in the last two months of 2005, was limited by shoulder and elbow problems to 10 starts this season, going 1-5 with a 5.11 ERA.

“If he pitched this year like he did last year, yeah, it might be a different story,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said. Colon’s injury, though, provided an opportunity for rookie Jered Weaver, “and he’s done pretty well,” Stoneman added.

Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt and Andy Pettitte are among the starters available on the free-agent market this winter, and Japanese star Daisuke Matsuzaka, the most valuable player of the World Baseball Classic, is expected to be available after going through the posting process.

But Stoneman said he won’t necessarily approach this winter as if Colon is a question mark. “We’re going to look for anything that can help us, but I wouldn’t write” off Colon just yet, he said.

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In addition to their traditional home-and-away series against the Dodgers, the interleague portion of the Angels’ 2007 schedule will feature series against four National League Central teams.

The Angels, according to a preliminary schedule, which is subject to change, will travel to Cincinnati and St. Louis and play host to Houston and Pittsburgh. They are tentatively scheduled to open the season at home against Texas on April 2.

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Friday is the waiver trade deadline for teams to acquire players who would be eligible for postseason play, but the Angels do not appear to have any deals simmering.

“We’re still talking to teams -- I had a conversation after” Monday night’s game, Stoneman said. “It’s not impossible, but it’s not likely.”