An Old Trade Comes Back to Haunt Angels

So what happens to all those prospects traded away by contending teams every summer?

The Angels found an uncomfortable answer up close and personal Tuesday. John Snyder and Bill Simas, two of four prospects the Angels traded for Jim Abbott and a better chance at the 1995 playoffs, cost them a game in their bid for the 1998 playoffs.

Snyder, a Thousand Oaks kid making his first major league start in his home state, turned 24 Sunday. He celebrated in front of dozens of friends, holding the Angels to one run over six innings. Simas got the last four outs for his 16th save.

With Albert Belle driving in three runs in support, one on his 37th home run, Snyder and the Chicago White Sox beat the Angels, 4-3, before 26,160 at Edison Field.

“I’ll definitely remember this for a lifetime,” Snyder said.

Still, the Angels won for losing. With the Texas Rangers swept in a doubleheader in Boston, the Angels extended their lead over Texas in the American League West to 1 1/2 games.

“One thing we talked about on this home stand was gaining ground,” Manager Terry Collins said, “so at least we were able to do that.”

The Angels, never shy about promotions in these Disney days, tried a Hawaii night Tuesday. They gave out shell leis, featured hula dancers, played island music, even gave away two trips to Hawaii. Ushers and employees, including General Manager Bill Bavasi, dressed in those loud and lovely Hawaiian shirts.

In the spirit of the evening, the Angels trotted out a pitcher who grew up in Hawaii. This, however, was not the proudest of moments for Mike Fetters.

The Angels asked Fetters, who graduated from Iolani High in Honolulu, to retire Belle at the critical point in the game. With the White Sox leading, 2-1, and the bases loaded with two out in the seventh inning, Fetters relieved Chuck Finley.

Finley had a no-hitter through three innings and a shutout through five. But Belle homered off Finley in the sixth, and Collins saw no sense in allowing Finley to face Belle again in the seventh, with 126 pitches already thrown and the game on the line. So in came Fetters, whom the Angels acquired from Oakland last week--for a prospect to be named, another guy who could haunt Anaheim three or four years from now.

Moments later, Belle haunted the Angels again. He doubled into the left-field corner, driving in two runs and giving the White Sox a 4-1 lead. The Angels got one run back in the seventh inning, when Matt Walbeck homered. They got another in the eighth inning, when Simas relieved Bobby Howry and walked Walbeck with the bases loaded. But Gary DiSarcina lined to second for the final out of the inning, and Simas retired the side in order in the ninth.

When the Angels decided they needed another pitcher to support Finley and Mark Langston in the 1995 pennant race, they vowed they would not trade their top prospects, Todd Greene and George Arias. The White Sox plucked four others in exchange for Abbott.

Greene’s career has been stalled by injuries. Arias, a third baseman rendered expendable when the Angels drafted Troy Glaus last year, is in his third Pacific Coast League season, with the San Diego organization at triple-A Las Vegas.

And the Chicago four? Outfielder McKay Christensen, the Angels’ first-round draft choice in 1994, deferred the start of his career two years for a Mormon mission. Christensen, now 23, is playing at Class-A Winston-Salem.

In Andrew Lorraine, however, the White Sox acquired a pitcher they later traded for Danny Tartabull. In Simas, they acquired the heir to last year’s closer, Roberto Hernandez.

And in Snyder, the least heralded of the four, the Sox might have found a quality starter. After three consecutive seasons at the double-A level, Snyder blossomed this spring. He went 7-3 at triple-A Calgary, earning a promotion to Chicago. In eight major league starts, he is 4-1 with a 4.27 ERA.

While Snyder said he enjoyed defeating the team that drafted him, he did it with a smile. He too would trade prospects for a chance at a pennant.

“I’m glad I got to pitch against these guys,” Snyder said. “To beat them is extra special. But it’s a business, and I don’t hold any grudges against them.”