BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Brown: Time for Team to Make a Stand

Angel President Richard Brown called the home stand that begins tonight “the season” and vowed to reassess the club’s situation if the Angels don’t justify his faith that they will win the American League West.

His postseason evaluation will include the performance of Manager Doug Rader, but Brown said Rader is not the team’s problem. “The manager isn’t even an issue,” Brown said of Rader, whose contract runs through next season. “The manager can’t hit, run or field.”

The Angels’ offense remains their weakness, according to Brown. However, he said that weakness wasn’t glaring enough to relinquish top minor leaguers in deals discussed before Wednesday’s deadline for trading players without clearing waivers.

Brown acknowledged that the Oakland Athletics strengthened themselves by acquiring infielder Brook Jacoby and pitcher Ron Darling for minor leaguers in two separate deals. “I always thought this team is good enough to win. The reason trades weren’t made is one word in the vocabulary: future ,” Brown said. “You’re not about to trade your future, especially if you’re seven (games) out. If you’re one or two out, maybe you think about maybe giving up a prospect.

“I think everyone associated with the organization is disappointed with where we are. We’re not disappointed with the team or the effort. I said at the beginning of the year that we were good enough to win it, and I said at the All-Star break, when we were one or two out, we should have been on top. We’re eight games out this morning. Anybody who says they’re not (disappointed) isn’t the type of person I want in this organization.”

The Angels’ shortcoming, he said, “has been in hitting and run production. The pitching has been a strength, but one disappointment is that I thought we would produce more runs, specifically home runs.”

Although Brown said the Angels must “put it into high gear right now,” he declined to say what he would do if they don’t win the division title.

“I want to deal with positives, not negatives,” he said. “I’ll have the whole fall and winter to think about it. I’ll only go so far as to say this: If we don’t win it this year, we’ll reassess and try to strengthen where our weaknesses are. It’s as simple as that.”

Mike Marshall said he hasn’t heard anything about being added to the Angels’ major league roster today, although that move is expected. . . . Dave Parker has hit in nine of 10 games. . . . In Detroit, the Angels were swept for the first time since July 5-7 in Texas. . . . Since mid-April, the Tigers have held only one team to three or fewer runs in two consecutive games. That team? The Angels--twice.