Battle Looms Over Phillips’ Status

BALTIMORE — Doctors representing major league baseball and the players’ association cleared Tony Phillips to play Saturday, but the Angel leadoff batter did not rejoin the team, pending further review by the Angels and the Walt Disney Co. of his arrest on felony cocaine charges in Anaheim.

It appears Disney, which operates the Angels, is taking a stronger stance against drug use than baseball, and General Manager Bill Bavasi said releasing or suspending Phillips “is an option, but not one we are choosing right now. . . . We haven’t got that far.”

However, the team’s decision to withhold Phillips could be a violation of baseball’s drug policy and is expected to draw a strong legal response from the players’ union, which has successfully fought to have players reinstated under similar circumstances.

“They’re acting improperly--it’s inappropriate behavior on their part,” said Gene Orza, associate general counsel for the players’ association. “They are bound by baseball’s drug policy, and if they don’t like it, they can’t flaunt it. They need to find a way to change it.”

Orza would not outline specifics of any union plan to challenge Disney, “but we’re going to make them play by the rules,” Orza said. “We are well aware of the situation. We want to make sure that clubs follow rules that have been worked out over a long period of time.”

Angel President Tony Tavares said the team would not drag out the review process. “We’ll make a decision soon, probably some time [today],” he said. “The union has to do what it has to do, but we have to make a decision we believe to be in the best interests of the club as well as the player.”

Phillips, who left the team in Chicago on Thursday, met in New York with a baseball doctor later the same day and a union doctor Saturday. Phillips, who traveled from New York to Baltimore on Saturday but did not attend the game, agreed to submit to random drug testing and to enter some kind of outpatient counseling program.

Phillips’ commitment to treatment apparently appeased baseball officials, who deemed him fit to return to the team, but the Angels would like to take some time “to further digest baseball’s evaluation,” Bavasi said.

“This is something we’re concerned about, and we want to make sure we do the right thing, something that is palatable and responsible for all parties involved.”

Neither Tavares nor Bavasi gave a hint about what the team will do with Phillips, a utility player, but when center fielder Jim Edmonds was activated Saturday and pitcher Greg Cadaret was optioned to triple-A Vancouver, the Angels kept Cadaret in Baltimore as insurance, in case Phillips’ roster spot became available.

The Angels, in a Wednesday trade with the San Diego Padres, also acquired Rickey Henderson, a veteran who can play outfield and designated hitter and gives the team another dimension--speed--in the leadoff role.

Could Disney, the entertainment giant and promoter of wholesome family values, be trying to set an example by taking more of a zero-tolerance approach to the Phillips situation?

“I don’t think anyone is trying to set any specific example,” Tavares said. “When something like this happens, whether it’s your baseball team or anything else, you have to take the particular circumstances into consideration.”

Why not simply release Phillips, taking an even stronger stance against drug use?

“That’s a one-sided look at it,” Tavares said. “You have to look at what’s in the best interest of the player as well. I don’t think it’s just cut and dried like that.”