Youngsters Take Angels Into Future

This could be a rebuilding year for the Angels. They’re two games under .500. They’re breaking in youngsters at catcher, at first base and in the starting rotation. More kids are on the way, for the pitching staff and the rest of the infield.

Tim Salmon is playing what he says is his last season. The Angels are not expected to bring back Darin Erstad, Adam Kennedy or Brendan Donnelly. Come April, the batting order figures to include one player from the 2002 World Series championship team, Garret Anderson.

The record, and the personnel shift, suggests the Angels should grow now, win when they can, contend again next season. But the standings say the Angels are contending now, two games out of first place in the American League West, and General Manager Bill Stoneman says he will act accordingly.

“It is very delicate to contend and to give talented young guys an opportunity,” Stoneman said. “We’re fortunate right now. We haven’t had the year we figured we would have, to this point. We’re under .500, but the division leader is not far over .500.

“We’re in it for this year. We’re also in it for the future.”

Within the last year, the kids in prominent roles have included pitchers Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver, first basemen Casey Kotchman and Kendry Morales, catchers Jeff Mathis and Mike Napoli and third baseman Dallas McPherson. The next wave includes second baseman Howie Kendrick, shortstop Erick Aybar and pitcher Joe Saunders, with shortstop Brandon Wood and pitcher Nick Adenhart perhaps two years away.

Can the Angels break in so many youngsters and expect to win at the same time? Stoneman says yes, noting the Atlanta Braves played 18 rookies on their division championship team last season.

“You can’t have the perfect club, where everybody is 27 years old and has five years of experience,” he said.

The Angels have made no secret of their interest in supplementing the offense with a powerful veteran hitter, with Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee, Miguel Tejada and Bobby Abreu among the candidates. To get one, though, Stoneman probably would have to surrender several of those top prospects.

“We just find ourselves at a point where we’ve got a lot of young guys who have the potential to be impact players on a winning ballclub,” he said. “It’s unique that a club has that.

“That’s not to say they wouldn’t be available in the right deal. But they’re certainly not available for an experienced player who is not an impact guy.”

Stoneman defined “impact guy” as “a difference maker on a team.”

Biggest first-half surprise: Napoli needed five years at the Class-A level, and he had played only 21 games at triple A when the Angels summoned him to replace Mathis, who hit .103. Napoli hasn’t hit over .282 in a minor league season, but he’s hitting .286 with 11 home runs, tied for second on the team. Vladimir Guerrero has a team-high 18 home runs, or one every 19 at-bats. Napoli averages one every 13 at-bats.

Biggest first-half disappointment: When Jeff Weaver couldn’t land a long-term contract, the Angels swooped in with a one-year, $8.35-million deal and figured they had signed the best fifth starter in the major leagues. Weaver won 14 games for the Dodgers last season, but he won three for the Angels and lost 10, tied for the most in the majors. They traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals last week, for a minor league outfielder.

Defining moment: Bartolo Colon won 21 games and the Cy Young Award last season, but a shoulder injury in the playoffs robbed him of his 95-mph fastball. He started six times this season without a victory, including three starts in the minor leagues. In his seventh start, last week in Seattle, he pitched his first shutout in four years, substituting 90-mph sinking fastballs for blow-you-away ones and offering hope he might thrive below top speed.

At this pace: Jered Weaver (6-0) would go undefeated. Chone Figgins and Orlando Cabrera would become the first Angels duo to score 100 runs apiece since Erstad, Salmon and Troy Glaus all did in 2000. Anderson would hit 13 home runs, his lowest total since 1996, and bat .261, his lowest average since Class A in 1991. Guerrero, at .299, would finish below .300 for the first time in his career.

Reason to be excited: The starting rotation posted a 0.95 earned-run average in its last turn, including shutouts from Colon and John Lackey. Closer Francisco Rodriguez has given up one earned run since June 4. Juan Rivera has five home runs in his last five games, he’s hitting .326 since June 1, and his career second-half average is .313. Guerrero batted .208 last July and .335 the rest of the season; he batted .243 in June and is batting .353 so far in July.

Reason to be concerned: The Angels rank 12th in the AL in home runs and batting average, the latter of particular concern because the offense needs a high batting average to offset its relatively few walks. Fatigue could hamper Weaver, who has pitched despite mild biceps tightness in each of his last two starts. He threw 76 innings last year and already has thrown 107 this year. Morales had a high of 352 at-bats in Cuba and already has 321 this year.

Moves to ponder: The Angels say they won’t bump Kennedy this season for Kendrick, who is batting .369 at triple A. They would like to add a big bat, but Stoneman probably would have to surrender top prospects to do so, and his trade-deadline moves have been modest ones: Ron Gant for Kent Bottenfield in 2000, Alex Ochoa for Jorge Fabregas in 2002 and Jason Christiansen for Dusty Bergman in 2005.

See you in September: The Angels could vault into the division lead within days, as their schedule resumes with 10 games against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals, teams a combined 61 1/2 games out of first place. But the following weeks include seven games against the New York Yankees and six each against the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers, the results of which could indicate whether September will feature a drive toward a third consecutive division title or a farewell party for Salmon, Erstad, Kennedy and Donnelly.

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How they stand

*--* AL WEST W-L PCT. GB Oakland 45-43 511 -- Texas 45-43 511 -- ANGELS 43-45 489 2

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* WHERE THEY RANK (14 AL TEAMS)

*--* Batting Avg. 12th 260 On-base pct. 13st 320 Runs 11th 407 Home runs 12th 88 ERA 2nd 4.07

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* NEXT SERIES VS. TAMPA BAY

At Angel Stadium

Friday: J. Lackey vs. J. Seo, 7 p.m.

Saturday: E. Santana vs. S. Kazmir, 7 p.m.

Sunday: B. Colon vs. J. Shields, 12:30 p.m.