Closer Percival Gets Front Office in a Jam

When Troy Percival felt the Angels had done him wrong, he did them no favors in return.

By publicly blasting the organization Friday for what he said was a breach of confidentiality in contract negotiations, and by asking for a trade, Percival forced the club to either trade him at a time his comments have limited its leverage or risk losing the best closer in franchise history for two draft picks.

If the Angels cannot reconcile with Percival, the immediate future would be bleak indeed for a team with holes to fill in its lineup and starting rotation. If the Angels must add a closer to their winter shopping list, the huge gap separating them from the playoff teams in the American League West would be all but impossible to make up.

“It’s going to be very difficult unless you have that role filled,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“That’s part of a championship club. You need that piece. You can’t sit here and realistically expect to compete without that piece.”

Even with Percival, the Angels haven’t resembled anything close to a championship club lately.

After Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics, the Angels fell 41 games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners and 26 behind the A’s, the AL wild-card winners.

Since Sept. 8, the UCLA football team has won more games than the Angels. The Bruins are 3-0; the Angels are 2-18.

Percival said Friday he had “no desire to remain with an organization that doesn’t respect me.” He said he believed an unidentified team official had disclosed details about failed July negotiations for a contract extension because the Angels were “building a public case for trading me” and were “getting ready to get rid of some of their core players.”

Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said the team plans to exercise its $5.25-million option on Percival’s contract next season and said he does not plan to trade him this winter. Stoneman and team President Tony Tavares each said he hoped the team could reconcile with Percival and that the Angels did not intend to rebuild by trading key players, citing their refusal to trade him at the July trading deadline.

“He was easily our most sought-after player,” Stoneman said.

Stoneman acknowledged that Percival’s comments “don’t help his perceived value.” If opposing clubs believe the Angels have to trade him, they will offer less than what Stoneman rejected in the proposed trades of July.

That would force Stoneman to accept a lesser deal under duress--under similar circumstances in 1996, the Angels traded first baseman J.T. Snow to the San Francisco Giants and got stuck with pitcher Allen Watson, who won 18 games in two years--or risk losing Percival to free agency next year, with compensation limited to two draft picks.

While setup men Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Al Levine and Lou Pote all have filled in for Percival in recent years, rookie Bart Miadich led the Pacific Coast League with 27 saves, and minor leaguer Derrick Turnbow can throw 95 mph, Scioscia said the Angels are not equipped to replace Percival immediately.

“It takes much more than an arm to develop a closer,” Scioscia said. “It’s the experience, the mentality and the seasoning that goes into developing a closer like Troy.”