Abbott Has to Decide Next Move

Jim Abbott, the struggling Angel left-hander who jumped from a complete game victory in the 1988 Olympic final to the major leagues, appears to be headed for his first stint in the minors.

Sunday, he was optioned to triple-A Vancouver, but because he has five years’ service in the majors, he has 72 hours to choose between three options: accept the assignment, refuse it, or elect free agency.

If he chooses to become a free agent, he would be giving up a guaranteed three-year, $7.8-million contract that will pay him $2.2 million this year, $2.6 in 1997 and $3 million in 1998 and accepting whatever the market for a 1-15 starter with a 7.79 earned-run average will bear.

If he refuses to go to Vancouver, he would remain with the team, forcing the Angels to either play him or waive him, in which case they would have to pay the remainder of his contract.

But Abbott, who has mentioned retirement in recent weeks, sounds as if he will go to Vancouver and try to regain the form that carried him to an 11-8 record and a 3.70 ERA--ninth best in the American League--last season with the Chicago White Sox.

“I haven’t made any decisions yet,” he said, “I’ll ask the advice of a lot of people who I respect and go from there. I just want to do what’s best for the team, foremost, and then what’s best for me. I don’t want to get in the way of this team’s progress.

“I don’t look at this as a renunciation, it’s just another avenue. It’s not necessarily an entirely bad thing. It’s a chance to go down and throw in a different pitching environment, under less of a spotlight, and do what I haven’t been able to accomplish here.”

Abbott’s confidence has seriously eroded and he has carried more than his share of emotional baggage out to the mound.

Asked if he missed the guidance of mentor Marcel Lachemann, who resigned as Angel manager last week, Abbott said, “Losing Lach is tough for the team and tough for me personally and it’s not easy to have contributed so heavily to Lach and [former pitching coach] Chuck Hernandez having to leave.”

The minor-league season ends Sept. 2 and General Manager Bill Bavasi said it is possible Abbott could get three starts before then.

“We’ve exhausted everything we can do here,” Bavasi said, referring to Abbott’s earlier demotion to the bullpen. “After talking to his agent, I think Jim’s leaning toward going to Vancouver and trying to work it out.”

Abbott, who pitched reasonably well in his last two starts before giving up nine earned runs in 3 1/3 innings Saturday night, felt as though he was making progress.

“The big question is if this is a good time for me to slip out of the picture entirely,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not throwing the ball the way I know I can and [going to the minors] could be a chance to improve and earn my way back.

“It’s not completely unpalatable. I just have to swallow hard and accept that. And right now, I guess I’m kind of in mid-swallow.”