J.T. Snow Traded to Giants

The Angels traded J.T. Snow, a two-time Gold Glove first baseman, to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday for pitcher Allen Watson.

The Angels, who also acquired minor league pitcher Fausto Macey, will pay the Giants an undisclosed amount of cash in the deal.

Snow, 28, hit .257 with 17 homers and 67 RBIs for the Angels this year. A switch-hitter, he had batted .289 with 24 homers and 102 RBIs the previous year, his first full season in the majors.

The left-handed Watson, 26, was 8-12 with two complete games and a 4.61 earned-run average for the Giants last season. Despite spending time on the disabled list because of a strained left elbow, Watson led the San Francisco staff with 185 2/3 innings pitched.

He has a 27-33 lifetime record with a 4.90 ERA in 88 career appearances.

“The need for our club for pitching is obvious, and we’ve made a trade for a guy who we think has some development to do, but who can step right into our rotation,” Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi said in a conference call.

Bavasi said he believes Watson has great potential, adding, “We like his raw talent and we like what we think we’re going to get out of him.”

The Angels’ general manager said that Darin Erstad, who has been playing the outfield, probably will see a lot of duty at first base.

Asked if the Angels will go after an established first baseman now, Bavasi replied: “If you ask me who’s on first, I’ve got to tell you who’s on first today.”

Macey, a 21-year-old right-hander, was 10-7 with a 4.30 ERA with the Giants’ double-A farm team at Shreveport, La., last season.

“Clearly, the acquisition of J.T. Snow finally resolves the Giants’ first base dilemma,” San Francisco General Manager Brian Sabean said in a statement. “The elements of this deal, both the versatile talents of Snow and the cash we can reinvest, gives us the flexibility to further strengthen our roster.”

Snow won Gold Gloves each of the past two seasons, with four errors in 1,222 total chances in 1995, and 10 errors in 1,387 chances last season.

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Rod Carew will return as the Angels’ batting instructor next season, and former All-Star players Larry Bowa and Dave Parker have been added to new Manager Terry Collins’ staff.

Collins also decided to retain bench coach Joe Maddon, who will begin his fourth season on the major league staff and 16th with the organization, Joe Coleman, who will move from pitching coach to bullpen coach, and Mick Billmeyer, the team’s bullpen coordinator.

Marcel Lachemann, who resigned as Angel manager last Aug. 6, was hired as the team’s pitching coach Nov. 5, a position he held from 1984-92.

Bowa, 50, was the San Diego Padres’ manager in 1987 and ’88 and the Philadelphia Phillies third-base coach from 1989-96. A five-time All-Star shortstop during a 16-year career with the Phillies, Cubs and Mets, Bowa will serve as third-base coach.

Parker, 45, has no coaching experience, but he was a six-time All-Star outfielder who played 19 major league seasons, with the Pirates, Reds, A’s, Brewers, Angels and Blue Jays. He will serve as first-base coach.

Carew, 51, will return for his sixth season with the Angels after turning down an offer to work for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Bavasi said third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez, first-base coach Bill Lachemann and bullpen coach Mike Couchee, who served in those capacities for the final two months of the 1996 season, will be reassigned to positions within the organization.