Success Doesn’t Mean a Big Deal

With 20 shopping days left before the trading deadline, Tim Salmon’s mind drifts to 1995, the year the Angels coughed up an 11-game lead and lost a one-game playoff for the division championship.

The Toronto Blue Jays solicited bids that summer for David Cone, the defending Cy Young Award winner. The Yankees got him--for three pitching prospects, none of whom ever amounted to anything--and he went 9-2 for New York.

At the time, the Angels were weak in pitching prospects, reluctant to trade minor league catcher Todd Greene and minor league third baseman George Arias and financially handcuffed by the ownership transition from the Autry family to Disney. The Angels did trade for Jim Abbott, who stopped two nine-game losing streaks when Chuck Finley and Mark Langston could not, but to this day Salmon wonders what could have been.

“We lost by one game, and you think, ‘If we would have had Cone during the stretch when we were scuffling, we wouldn’t have lost five games in a row,’ ” Salmon said.

“That’s the ultimate, when you can pick up a guy like that. You can always improve your team. The Yankees do it every year. Look what Oakland did with [out-fielder Jermaine] Dye last year.”

As the Angels open the second half of the season tonight in Kansas City, they have given absolutely no indication--to their players, to the media, to scouts, or to the general managers of other teams--that they intend to make such a trade this summer.

The A’s already have made one. Oakland General Manager Billy Beane traded for a starting pitcher, Ted Lilly, without sacrificing anyone from the A’s major league roster. The Seattle Mariners want to trade for a starting pitcher and/or a power hitter.

The Angels trail the Mariners by three games in the American League West, even though Seattle played most of the first half without injured cleanup hitter Edgar Martinez. The Angels also trail the Boston Red Sox by 1 1/2 games in the wild-card race. The A’s, closing fast from behind in both races, trail the Angels by two games, the Red Sox by 3 1/2 and the Mariners by five.

The Angels appear largely satisfied with their roster, with Shawn Wooten expected to return from the disabled list tonight to provide power off the bench, with rookie John Lackey boosting the starting rotation, and with deposed starter Scott Schoeneweis providing another left-handed arm in the bullpen. General Manager Bill Stoneman would like to acquire a veteran reliever to reinforce the shaky bridge between the starters and closer Troy Percival.

No Angel has played so outrageously above his career norm that a second-half crash appears inevitable. Some Angels, among them third baseman Troy Glaus, catcher Bengie Molina, designated hitter Brad Fullmer and starters Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele, could reasonably be expected to post better numbers. And, thus far, the Angels have dodged significant injuries.

“There’s no particular position you could point to and say we have a hole there,” All-Star outfielder Garret Anderson said. “The way I see it, all our holes are filled. Just pray everybody stays healthy.”

So, if and when Stoneman completes a trade, he does not figure to welcome the likes of Jim Thome or Brian Giles to Anaheim. He appears much more likely to announce the acquisition of someone like Kelvim Escobar or Paul Shuey or Mark Guthrie or David Weathers or Tom Gordon or Jeff Fassero or (insert any name of a veteran reliever on a noncontending club here).

And, after last winter’s acquisitions of Appier, Sele and Fullmer, the Angels appear reluctant to make a significant addition to a club-record $60-million player payroll.

Said outfielder Darin Erstad, “You used to hear talk around here like, ‘If we had a couple more pitchers ... ‘ or, ‘If we had a full-time DH ... ‘

“That talk is gone. You can’t worry about what other teams are going to do or what our front office is going to do. I’d play with these guys straight up right now.”

In 1998, the last time the Angels were in first place at the All-Star break, the Texas Rangers added pitcher Todd Stottlemyre and infielders Royce Clayton and Todd Zeile on trading-deadline day. The Angels did nothing, then watched in horror as Stottlemyre, Clayton and Zeile helped the Rangers sweep five games from them in September, lifting Texas over the Angels and into the playoffs.

Bill Bavasi, then the general manager of the Angels, apologized for not making a major trade. Stoneman appears to be betting he won’t have to apologize.

BIGGEST FIRST-HALF SURPRISE: The Angels worried that they would struggle against left-handers, with Wooten injured and Fullmer and second baseman Adam Kennedy left on the bench by Manager Mike Scioscia. But, after going 22-27 against left-handed starters last year, the Angels are 17-6 this year, with significant contributions from infielders Benji Gil (.405), Scott Spiezio (.356) and Jose Nieves (.354). With 13 games left against the A’s, that’s particularly good news, since the Oakland rotation now includes lefties Lilly, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

BIGGEST FIRST-HALF DISAPPOINTMENT: The Angels assembled the team upon a foundation of starting pitching, but only Jarrod Washburn and Ramon Ortiz have met expectations, exposing a spotty bullpen in the process. Appier has not pitched as many as seven innings since May 14, Sele has failed to win seven starts in which the Angels scored at least five runs, and Schoeneweis has been sent to the bullpen.

DEFINING MOMENT: On April 24, with the Angels off to the worst start in franchise history and Scioscia answering questions about job security, he threw caution to the wind and batted reserve outfielder Orlando Palmeiro third. If the Angels had lost, critics would have wondered about a panic move by a panicked manager. But Palmeiro got three hits, the Angels beat Seattle for the first time in seven tries this season, and they started a 21-3 run that propelled them into the pennant race.

AT THIS PACE: Without a single player hitting 30 home runs, the Angels will set a club record for runs scored. Anderson and Salmon will shatter the club record for doubles. Washburn and Ortiz will become the Angels’ first 15-game winners since Finley in 1996, and Ortiz will become the first right-hander to win 15 since Bert Blyleven in 1989. Percival will save 30 games for the fifth consecutive season.

REASON TO BE EXCITED: The offense is not reliant on one or two dominant players. Leadoff hitter David Eckstein is on pace to score 107 runs, Anderson is his usual consistent self, Erstad and Salmon have rebounded nicely from last year, Glaus is due for a power surge, Spiezio just keeps getting on base, and Kennedy is a hit away from batting .300.

REASON TO BE CONCERNED: The Angels are 12-21 against teams with winning records. After this series in Kansas City, the Angels play 20 consecutive games against Minnesota, Oakland, Seattle, Boston and the Yankees, all with winning records.

MOVES TO PONDER: Although scoring 15 runs in six games against Baltimore and Tampa Bay last week might indicate the offense is fading, and although advance scouts might soon figure out Lackey, the Angels believe bullpen help could suffice. Francisco Rodriguez--0.55 earned-run average at triple-A Salt Lake, with 24 strikeouts in 16 innings--could be promoted even before rosters expand in September.

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER: The Angels have lost 21 of their last 26 games against Seattle, including the last 12 games in Anaheim. The Angels have lost 15 of their last 18 games against Oakland. If the Angels cannot reverse those trends, they will extend their streak of consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance to 16. If they can reverse the trend, they may become the first team in major league history to lose 14 of their first 20 games and still advance to postseason play.