Ramirez Had Interest

Disgruntled Boston slugger Manny Ramirez was so eager to be traded to the Angels this winter that he called former Red Sox teammate Orlando Cabrera, now the Angel shortstop, for a scouting report not on the coaching staff or clubhouse culture but on the Southern California media.

“He asked me in particular about you guys,” said Cabrera, who helped the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series. “A lot of [the problems] he has in Boston are about a lack of privacy. He’s bothered by the media all the time.

“I told him [Anaheim] is a normal city. When you try to compare the media in any city to the media in Boston, nothing is the same. It’s crazy over there. The only thing close to that is New York.”

The Angels and Red Sox talked numerous times over the winter but never appeared close to a deal. Boston owner John Henry called Angel owner Arte Moreno directly in an effort to spark the last round of negotiations in late January, but the Angels balked at the Red Sox’s asking price.

Boston is believed to have requested reliever Scot Shields, utility player Chone Figgins, top prospects Brandon Wood and Howie Kendrick, and for the Angels to assume virtually all of the $57 million left on Ramirez’s contract.

As much as the Angel offense could use Ramirez, who hit .292 with 45 home runs and 144 runs batted in last season, “We were not comfortable with all the players we would have had to have given up,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Ramirez, meanwhile, received permission from the Red Sox Tuesday to report to camp March 1, six days after the team’s first full-squad workout. Players begin reporting to World Baseball Classic team camps March 2, but there are now indications Ramirez might not play for the Dominican team.

“You never know what Manny is thinking, that’s for sure,” Cabrera said after the Angels’ first full-squad workout Tuesday. “No one knows, except maybe his wife.”

Cabrera, though, has a good idea what Ramirez thinks of the Angels.

“Oh my God, he wants to come here,” Cabrera said. “He’d be happy here.”

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General Manager Bill Stoneman was told by a Major League Baseball official that the Angels have until March 2 -- the day players report to WBC camps -- to file a petition to block a player from the tournament. Stoneman was under the impression he had to file such a petition by Tuesday.

That gives the Angels another week to evaluate whether pitchers Bartolo Colon, who is returning from a shoulder injury, and Kelvim Escobar, who had elbow surgery last season, are sound enough to compete in the WBC.

Stoneman also asked MLB if the Angels could keep some WBC pitchers in their camp after March 2. That would enable Colon and Escobar to pitch twice in Arizona -- in an intrasquad game and Cactus League game -- before leaving instead of once.

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Francisco Rodriguez was unable to secure the visa he needs to travel from Venezuela to the U.S. and was told to return to the U.S. consulate in Caracas today, further delaying the Angel closer’s arrival in camp.

The Angels can’t discipline Rodriguez as long as he arrives by the March 1 mandatory reporting date, but that doesn’t mean the team is happy with Rodriguez’s delay. Most foreign players complete the visa process in January.

“This is something he could have arranged for earlier,” Stoneman said. “He didn’t do it.”

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And you thought the Angels placed Wood’s spring training locker between those of Guerrero and Darin Erstad so the team’s top prospect -- Wood hit .321 with 43 homers and 115 RBIs for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga last season -- could learn how two of the game’s most respected veterans go about their business?

“Everyone’s got it backwards -- they want him to rub off on me,” Erstad said after meeting Wood on Tuesday. “They want me to hit some home runs.”