Angels Unable to Make Same Pitch to A’s

Angel fans probably looked at the St. Louis Cardinal deal for Oakland slugger Mark McGwire and thought, “Couldn’t the Angels have acquired McGwire for a big league reliever and two minor league pitchers?”

It’s not that simple.

The A’s got T.J. Mathews, who was in line to replace closer Dennis Eckersley, and hard-throwing triple-A starter Blake Stein and double-A reliever Eric Ludwick, all of whom graded very high in Angel scouting reports.

But St. Louis’ farm system is so deep that the Cardinals could afford to part with three highly rated pitchers for McGwire and still retain three of their top prospects, catcher Eli Marrero, pitcher Manuel Aybar and pitcher Braden Looper, the third pick in the 1996 draft.

An Angel trade involving three of their top pitching prospects would lay waste to their farm system, because the Angels have only three or four pitchers projected as above-average major leaguers. And they did not want to part with one of their prized big league outfielders.

There’s also the realignment factor. Baseball is considering sweeping changes that could result in the Angels moving to the National League West, along with the Dodgers, Colorado, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and expansion Arizona.

What if the Angels traded for McGwire and moved to a league without a designated hitter next season? They could face the same problem they had last winter--four great outfielders, three positions.

“It’s really complicated,” Angel President Tony Tavares said, when asked if the Angels would pursue McGwire as a free agent this winter. “There are a lot of issues that have to be resolved before we do that.”

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The Cleveland Indians have five pitchers on the disabled list--Jack McDowell, Chad Ogea, Brian Anderson, Albie Lopez and Paul Shuey--but still managed to open a slight gap in the Central Division, a testament to baseball’s least impressive division and to a youngster named Jaret Wright.

The 21-year-old right-hander, the son of former Angel pitcher Clyde Wright, is 3-1 with a 4.21 earned-run average in six starts.

Wright was the 10th pick of the draft in 1994 and was sought by teams wishing to trade with the Indians, but Cleveland would not part with the 6-foot-2, 230-pounder.

“He’s not a finished product but I think we’ll keep him,” Manager Mike Hargrove said.

Wright was within an out of a shutout in a 6-3 victory over the A’s last weekend and said he has been bolstered by sellout crowds in Jacobs Field.

“You can’t describe it,” he said. “The fans here are unbelievable. They’re nothing like I’ve ever seen before, growing up in Anaheim.”

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Infielder Mariano Duncan, his wish granted when he was traded by the Yankees to the Blue Jays last week, was all smiles on his way out of New York.

“Who’d we get for you?” teammate Derek Jeter asked.

“Toronto’s left-handed batting practice pitcher,” Duncan joked.