Bavasi Tells the Rest of the Leyritz Story

General Manager Bill Bavasi took exception to remarks by former Angel Jim Leyritz, who said he was disappointed Bavasi didn’t call him after the July 29 trade that sent Leyritz to Texas for pitcher Ken Hill.

Bavasi has never been the type of general manager who pats backs in the clubhouse or who gets too emotionally tied to players. It should also be noted that Tim Mead, assistant general manager, was on the road with the Angels when the trade was made and handled many of the front-office details with Leyritz.

“We don’t take a back seat to anyone in terms of how we treat our players,” Bavasi said. “Our communication with players is very good.”

Leyritz also questioned whether the deal was in the best interest of the Angels, but Hill has been their best pitcher this month, giving up nine earned runs in 45 innings of his last six starts, while Leyritz has hit .277 with no homers and 14 RBIs in 37 games for the Rangers.

“Leyritz played his butt off for us,” Manager Terry Collins said, “but we needed a pitcher, and you have to give up something to get something.”

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Had the Angels lost Saturday night, Jim Edmonds would not have been feeling too good about himself. The center fielder had two singles and scored a run but was picked off third in the fifth inning, and a potential big inning stalled at one run.

With Edmonds on third and Garret Anderson running from first, Tim Salmon walked on a full-count pitch. Ranger catcher Ivan Rodriguez pump-faked a throw to second and then caught Edmonds leaning off the bag at third, nailing him for his ninth pickoff of the season.

“That wasn’t Jimmy’s fault,” Collins said. “We called a play, where if Ivan threw to second, Garret would stop and Jim would come home. We were trying to steal a run.”

Angel payback came in the seventh when Texas’ Marc Sagmoen overran second on a double to right and was thrown out by Salmon.