Money Not an Issue for Angels

If the Angels can’t trade for an impact bat, it won’t be for a lack of financial resources.

Asked Thursday if he’d be willing to add $10 million or more to his $103-million payroll for a slugger such as Alfonso Soriano, even if the Washington Nationals asked for only prospects or inexpensive young players in return, Angels owner Arte Moreno said, “In a second.”

General Manager Bill Stoneman “has no handcuffs on him,” Moreno added, noting the franchise will make money this season despite having baseball’s third-highest payroll. “My job is to figure out how to get this team winning. I don’t want to be stupid and just throw money into a black hole. But I’m committed to winning. I want to win.”

Moreno spent about three hours on a 107-degree day with Stoneman, Manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Bud Black, exchanging ideas on how to improve an underachieving team that is in last place in the American League West and watching the Angels’ Arizona Summer League rookie team win its season opener.

After the game, the Angels’ brain trust went to lunch to continue their conversations, which focused on potential trades and internal moves that could boost the sagging offense, which hit .217 in the last 11 games, scoring four runs or fewer in 10 of those games, and ranks 13th in the league in slugging and on-base percentage and 12th in average and home runs.

The Angels have pursued Soriano, Florida’s Miguel Cabrera, Milwaukee’s Carlos Lee, Baltimore’s Miguel Tejada, Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford and Pittsburgh’s Craig Wilson, who is batting .271 with 10 home runs and 32 runs batted in and has asked to be traded.

Among the other hitters they could pursue are Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell of the Philadelphia Phillies and Aramis Ramirez and Jacque Jones of the Chicago Cubs.

“The real question is, who do you give up and what does it bring you?” Moreno said. “People say, ‘Go get Cabrera.’ He’s not even arbitration-eligible. Why would Florida want to give up a franchise player, a guy who’s hitting .340 with power, when they’re paying him so little?”

To acquire a player such as Cabrera probably would cost the Angels young pitchers Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver and top infield prospects Brandon Wood and Erick Aybar, Moreno said.

And durable setup man Scot Shields, the Angels’ most valuable reliever the last two seasons, “is in every package teams want,” Moreno said. “People want a miracle trade. There’s not a miracle trade out there right now.”

Soriano, who is batting .286 with 24 homers and 51 RBIs, is clearly the most attractive of the available sluggers, but the pursuit of the Nationals star could get complicated and competitive.

Several big-market teams, such as the Yankees and Mets, want Soriano, which could drive up his price, and Soriano, who reluctantly moved to left field this season, wants to return to second base.

Any team that trades for Soriano would want to sign him to an extension, but Soriano is looking forward to free agency and might not want to tether himself to one team this summer.

“Then, the question is, how many guys do you give up for a player you’re going to have for three months?” Moreno said. “Bill is trying to find the player who fits, who will give us the production we want and not bury our organization in the short term.”

Though a team expected to be a pennant contender is 32-40, seven games out of first place and has added shoddy defense to its offensive woes, Moreno said he has no plans for any front-office, managerial or coaching changes.

And the owner empathizes with fans who have grown impatient, both with the Angels’ play and their inability to make a deal.

“That’s good -- that’s what we want,” Moreno said. “We want people to demand a good product. I’m disappointed because the fans have really made a commitment to the organization, they come to the park, and we want to give them the best product.”