Angels' caution to July deals pays dividends

BALTIMORE -- Think of this: Mark Teixeira, playing first base and hitting in front of designated hitter Manny Ramirez, followed by Vladimir Guerrero and shortstop Miguel Tejada.

Not a bad middle of the lineup, eh?

OK, if that's the Los Angeles Angels' lineup, then after John Lackey, Jon Garland and Jered Weaver, who would fill out the rotation? Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields are not likely to be handing the ball to Francisco Rodriguez. Howie Kendrick would be hitting doubles for Boston, Jeff Mathis would be steadying another pitching staff and Casey Kotchman would be alongside Joe Saunders with the Rangers.

This weekend, as the Angels open a three-game series in Baltimore, they would be facing All-Star Ervin Santana and watching hits get taken away by Erick Aybar.

Torii Hunter probably isn't playing center field because the team's payroll would be approximately $144 million without him. Tejada just got two years older, his name dragged through the Mitchell Report. Teixeira would be a free agent in another year, Ramirez would be if a free agent unless a $20 million option was exercised.

"Reflecting back over the last few years," said former Angels general manager Bill Stoneman, now an adviser to the team, "there are a lot of guys on the field that if we had done some things probably wouldn't be here, and they're some pretty good players."

The same questions face the Angels, again, as the trade deadline looms six days from now. Is the offense good enough? Which young players and prospects is the team willing to part with? Is any addition enough for them to play deep into October?

"There's a lot of different pieces you have to consider," current GM Tony Reagins said. "You have to build the depth of your minor league system. Looking five years down the line, you have to have the pieces in place. These players are capable of helping you long-term."

What about those willing to sacrifice a constant contender to win now? Would the latest Murderer's Row offset ragtag fourth and fifth starters? Look at how Detroit is doing.

"If you can guarantee to get me a World Series trophy, I'd do it. I'd give up young players for a two- or three-month run," owner Arte Moreno said. "But that's not what the team is built around. Our mindset is to get better. To give up a starting pitcher, a minor league pitcher and a second baseman, or a catcher or a shortstop, that would not make us better."

It's probable that next Thursday the Angels will sit on their hands again, refusing to part with lesser-tenured players and prospects because those players allow the Angels the wherewithal to sign free agents like Hunter, or be a player in upcoming free-agent markets. Kotchman and Santana won't be free agents until after 2011, Kendrick, Mathis, Saunders and Aybar until after 2012.

Trading for Ramirez, Tejada or Teixeira would have depleted the Angels' farm system and skyrocketed the payroll. And who knows if it would have guaranteed anything?

Would Teixeira's power play at night in Angel Stadium? Would Manny being Manny be accepted? Would Tejada's diminished range and decreasing offense even be a factor?

"A lot of the trade opportunities we had would not have left us better off," said Stoneman, who made just three July deadline deals in eight years. "It's really easy. What you do either helps you or it doesn't. If it doesn't help you, you better have the courage to say, 'No, we're not going to do that' and leave the club in a better position."

Stoneman is leaving this week to go fishing in British Columbia, out of cell range and without access to e-mail. Throughout his time as GM, many probably felt that was where he always was at the end of July.

Not so. At the past two trade deadlines, the Angels felt they had finally acquired a big bat. In 2006 they had a deal done for Tejada until Baltimore owner Peter Angelos nixed it at the 11th hour. Many in the organization felt the Angels' offer to Texas last year for Teixeira was superior to Atlanta's.

"We've tried numerous times," Moreno said. "We're looking for someone to come here and make the team better for a while. Not two or three months."

Talks haven't reached those previous crescendos this season. Holding the majors' best record and baseball's only double-digit lead, Reagins maintains that "success doesn't cloud our judgment."

He said he has touched base with every organization.

"Some things might manifest and materialize," he said. "I'm open-minded. Right now, there's nothing hot and heavy."

And as long as teams require the Angels to part with younger, talented, cheaper players, things will likely remain cool.

(Contact Matt Hurst at mhurst@PE.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)