Angels Have to Bank On Resilience

Seattle could win the World Series this season, designated hitter Edgar Martinez could retire as a champion, and second baseman Bret Boone could parlay his MVP-caliber season into a huge free-agent contract elsewhere this winter.

The bright lights of New York and a mega-contract from the Yankees or Mets could lure first baseman Jason Giambi away from Oakland, and Texas could make no improvements this winter to a pitching staff that ranked last in the major leagues with a 5.71 earned-run average.

The Angels could sign free-agent pitcher Chan Ho Park, first baseman Mo Vaughn could return from elbow surgery and repeat his 1996 season (.326, 44 homers, 143 runs batted in) in 2002, center fielder Darin Erstad could repeat his 2000 season (.355, 25 homers, 100 RBIs), right fielder Tim Salmon could repeat his 1997 season (.296, 33 homers, 129 RBIs), and closer Troy Percival and the front office could make amends and live happily ever after.

Maybe then the Angels could compete for the American League West title in 2002.

In other words ... don’t count on it.

The Angels closed 2001 with a 6-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics before 18,682 at Edison Field Sunday, but the curtain dropped more than a month ago, when the Angels went into a five-week tailspin and lost 25 of their last 31 games to finish a franchise-worst 41 games out of first place and 27 games out of second.

This would be disturbing enough, but compounding Angel woes was the fact that 17 of those losses came against AL West foes Seattle, Oakland and Texas, teams the Angels combined to go 17-41 against this season.

The Angels lost their intensity, their fire, their emotion, when they fell out of the wild-card race in early September, and it showed. They played their worst baseball against the playoff-bound Mariners and A’s and the rejuvenated Rangers in the final month, appearing overmatched many nights.

But in a way, these past few weeks exposed the Angels for what they are: A mediocre team in one of baseball’s best divisions.

Not a good combination, for now or the future.

The Mariners and A’s combined to win 218 games this season, and they aren’t going away. Both are loaded with outstanding young pitching staffs, superb (Seattle) or solid (Oakland) bullpens and potent, balanced lineups featuring players who can manufacture runs, hit for power and hit in the clutch.

Two Angel pitchers, Jarrod Washburn and Ramon Ortiz, made progress this season, but Angel starters won only three games from Aug. 20 on. The bullpen was outstanding for five months but faded badly in September. Simply put, Angel pitching cannot hold a candle to the Mariners and A’s.

The offense? Even Manager Mike Scioscia, the eternal optimist who proclaimed all summer that his hitters would come around, succumbed to reality.

“We’ve been bad. I don’t know how else you can say it,” he said. “It’s not like we’ve been middle of the pack. We’re at the bottom. There will be years when people struggle, but it should never get as bad as this.”

The Angels finished 11th in the league in batting (.261), 12th in runs (691), 13th in doubles (275), 10th in home runs (158), 10th in walks (493), ninth in on-base percentage (.327) and 12th in slugging percentage (.405).

Salmon, slowed by an injury to his left shoulder, had his worst season, batting .227 with 17 homers and 49 RBIs. Erstad, bothered by an injured right knee all season, hit .258 with nine homers and 63 RBIs, far off from his .355, 25-homer, 100-RBI season in 2000.

Third baseman Troy Glaus hit for power, ranking fourth in the league with 41 home runs, but his average slipped to .250, and he hit .252 with runners in scoring position. The Angels hit .242 with runners in scoring position, and Salmon (.171) and second baseman Adam Kennedy (.190) had the league’s two worst averages in that department.

The Angels scored 864 runs, the second-highest total in club history, and connected for a franchise-record 236 home runs in 2000, with Glaus, Anderson, Vaughn and Salmon joining the 30-homer club to lead a prolific offense.

Scioscia is confident Salmon and Erstad will rebound in 2002, and that the return of Vaughn, the maturity of Glaus and the presence of 2001’s only consistent run-producer, Garret Anderson, will bolster the offense. This season, Scioscia and fellow optimist General Manager Bill Stoneman are convinced, was an aberration.

But did it occur to Scioscia and Stoneman that 2000 could be the aberration, and not 2001?

“You’d have to be a total pessimist to think these guys won’t bounce back,” Scioscia said. “I think it’s a definite probability that Tim and Darin, with good health, will improve.”

Washburn and Ortiz improved, but left-hander Scott Schoeneweis, who went 10-11 with a 5.08 earned-run average and was winless in his last eight starts, hit a plateau. Unless he improves, he’ll be a No. 5 starter at best.

Ismael Valdes (9-13, 4.45 ERA) was competitive but finished under .500, and Pat Rapp (5-12, 4.76 ERA) gave the Angels innings but not victories. Neither free agent is expected back; agent Scott Boras will probably seek a $5-million-a-year deal for Valdes, who may get it in a pitching-thin market, and spending another $2 million for Rapp makes no sense when a youngster such as Matt Wise could be equally or more effective at a fraction of the cost.

Despite a respectable 4.20 team ERA, the Angels are in great need of a top-of-the-rotation starter or two. Park comes with a huge price tag, but he’s clearly the best of an awful free-agent pitching class that drops to a second tier of Aaron Sele, Terry Adams, Jason Schmidt, Sterling Hitchcock, James Baldwin and Valdes.

There are some attractive free-agent position players: Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Boone, Tino Martinez, Mark McGwire, Moises Alou, Johnny Damon.

But with the Walt Disney Co. more interested in selling the team than making a huge financial investment in it, it’s highly unlikely the Angels will spend what it takes to make dramatic improvements.

And despite claims the Angels’ farm system has improved, the organization doesn’t have enough high-quality prospects to deal for front-line big leaguers as the A’s did when they acquired Damon and Jermaine Dye this year.

So, the Angels’ only hope in 2002 appears to be just that: Hope. They’ll hope Salmon and Erstad hit; they’ll hope Vaughn comes back strong; they’ll hope their pitching improves, and they’ll hope Seattle and Oakland come back to earth.

“If [Seattle and Oakland] keep playing like they have been, it means we have to get that much better,” Washburn said. “There are some good free agents out there, and Seattle and Oakland might lose some guys. You never hope anyone gets hurt, but we had some key injuries this year, and they could have some next year.

“If we get Mo back, if Erstad and Salmon get healthy and swing the bat the way they can, if Glaus gets his average up, if we pitch like we did the first five months of this season, we definitely have the potential

Washburn paused, and reality seemed to intrude.

“That’s easier said than done,” he said.

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Looking Down

Some final Angel numbers:

Record: 75-87

Games back in AL West: 41

Team batting average: .261

Team ERA: 4.20