NO MIDDLE GROUND

Only in baseball’s often-strange lexicon would the Angels be defined as a midmarket team.

After all, Orange County is the nation’s sixth largest in population and the per-capita income ranks 90th, far above Los Angeles County’s at 252 and San Diego County’s at 278.

In addition, there are no barriers at the county lines. The Angels have the potential to draw from the booming Inland Empire and the sprawling megalopolis that is Los Angeles.

Yet, in explaining the Angels’ refusal to participate in the expensive bidding for Alex Rodriguez, despite their need at shortstop, General Manager Bill Stoneman said the other day, “We are what we are, a midmarket team, and we have to live and act like one. Alex Rodriguez is going to be looked at by [teams] with a lot more resources than we have.”

Asked subsequently about the midmarket reference, Stoneman said:

“I was speaking from the standpoint of the revenue we generate. Any mature business has to look at the revenue it garners and budget expenditures accordingly. Our revenues, from tickets, broadcasting and other areas, are right about in the middle. We’re not up there with the [New York] Yankees and [Atlanta] Braves, and we’re not down there with Montreal, Minnesota and Kansas City.

“We’re not looking to make a profit here, but you have to operate responsibly. I mean, we’re going to continue to put a very good product on the field, but in running a business, if you start to pretend or act in a manner where you’re not mindful of the money you have coming in, there’s a very good chance that your business will be in trouble.”

The Angels, according to management figures, had revenue of $86.12 million in 1999, putting them 13th among the 30 teams, an ace pitcher or more behind the Yankees’ $177.94 million and the Dodgers’ $114.15 million. This year, the Yankees had revenue of $210 million before paying revenue sharing, about $30 million more than the second-place New York Mets, $170 million more than the last-place Expos and about $120 million more than the Angels.

Much of the industry-numbing difference is in the area of local broadcasting rights. As San Diego Padre president Larry Lucchino noted recently, “In many ways, the definition of big-market clubs is big-media clubs.”

The Yankees are the biggest of the big, of course. They will receive about $58 million for their local TV rights in 2001 and may triple that in 2002 and beyond, particularly if they start their own regional cable channel in connection with the New Jersey Nets and Devils. The Angels’ local radio-TV package is estimated at less than a third of the Yankees’ current rights.

All of that aside, Disney is a major media conglomerate and has the resources, of course, to go full bore, to look at Rodriguez, in particular, as 1) a marketing and competitive response to the dreaded Fox up the freeway, 2) a statement to fans left weary and wary by a frustrating history and 3) a welcome message to their veteran nucleus.

The Angel payroll in 2000 was a comparatively modest $57 million. Disney could easily sustain Rodriguez or a front-line pitcher, but the industry perception remains that of a company that would welcome a buyer for the Angels and Ducks and has been a marketing disappointment. Stoneman’s mandate is to build from within and remain within budget. It is no surprise that he supports the company line.

“If you’re going to run a business, run it like a business,” he said. “To take profits from one entity to prop up another doesn’t make sense. I own Disney stock. I expect a responsible operation. I’m sure every other stockholder does as well.”

Of course, a playoff team might produce even bigger dividends. Then again, Disney stock took another recent hit, possibly putting another crimp in the Angel wallet at a bad time.

As the revenue-rich Yankees wrap up a 2001 pennant by signing Mike Mussina for $88.5 million and Mike Hampton whittles his list of interested teams to five or six and the Rodriguez rock tour rolls on, Stoneman is left to study the secondary market for trades and free-agent signings, a situation compounded by what one agent described this week as the general manager’s own “prudent, slow moving and methodical approach.”

Will he bite on Alex Gonzalez, not a bad alternative to the other Alex? Will he pull the trigger on Andy Ashby or Kevin Appier or Denny Neagle or Rick Reed in a limited market of veteran arms for his young rotation?

In the aftermath of a promising season, the clock is ticking. Will the general manager of the mid-market Angels be caught in mid-stream?

NOTEBOOK

* Stoneman has Gary DiSarcina on the back burner at shortstop, but agent Tommy Tanzer said he has heard from half a dozen other clubs and that Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Angel orthopedist, has provided those clubs with a positive medical report on DiSarcina’s recovery from rotator-cuff surgery and the likelihood that he will be throwing at full strength by mid-January.

The Dodgers and Padres have been among the inquiring clubs, but the Angels still may represent DiSarcina’s best opportunity to return in a regular role, Tanzer said, although Stoneman “seems to be in no hurry” to work out an incentive-laden contract that would carry only a modest guarantee because of DiSarcina’s physical uncertainty.

For now, Tanzer said, DiSarcina is willing to wait until the top-tier shortstops--Rodriguez, Gonzalez and Mike Bordick--sign before making any decisions.

* The financially strapped Padres, with construction on their new stadium still in legal limbo and determined to cut their payroll to

$37 million or lower, will meet with Tony Gwynn and his agent Monday in a final attempt to resolve their contract differences before the club’s self-imposed deadline of Tuesday.

The Padres have offered an incentive-laden contract with a base of $1 million. Gwynn, recovering from knee surgery at 40, wants a base of at least $2 million and contends he has been offered more by an American League team, believed to be Cleveland.

A sticking point has been the $2 million the Padres paid Gwynn to buy him out of his $6-million 2001 contract. The Padres say that $2 million turns their $1-million offer into $3 million, but Gwynn insists the one thing has nothing to do with the other.

* Looking to cut where they can, the Padres are likely to open the season with a middle infield combination of Alex Arias at shortstop and Damian Jackson at second. Jackson is moving from short after a season of 25 errors, the NL’s third most. Arias, 33, was picked off the free-agent clearance racks after batting .175 with Philadelphia. The Padres hope Santiago Perez, 24, obtained from Milwaukee on Friday, ultimately unseats Arias, although Perez has averaged a frightening 39 errors a season in the minors.

* The Dodgers canceled a midweek recruiting trip to Hampton’s Houston home and dropped out of that pursuit because they were convinced he would not move to the West Coast and they did not want to be used. The dollars also were an issue. Hampton is certain to get Mussina money. He’s four years younger, left-handed and 63-31 in the last four seasons, compared to Mussina’s 57-40.

* Although rejected by John Franco, who chose to remain the Mets’ set-up man, rather than moving to Philadelphia as the closer, the Phillies have been quick to address their NL-worst 5.66 bullpen earned-run average of last year, investing

$15.55 million in veteran relievers Jose Mesa and Rheal Cormier. Said General Manager Ed Wade, “When you lose 97 games, there has to be some sense of urgency.”

* The Phillies’ interest prompted the Mets to go to three years and $10.5 million to retain the 40-year-old Franco, and competition from the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles prompted them to spend an additional $9.4 million to retain fellow set-up man Turk Wendell--another example of the importance and high price of relief in an era when a quality start translates to six innings.

In the Mets’ case, of course, having finished as the runner-up in the Mussina derby and faced with the possibility of losing starters Hampton, Reed and Bobby J. Jones to free agency, it was imperative for them to keep their bullpen together. Inspecting his potentially devastated rotation, General Manager Steve Phillips said, “At this point, Al Leiter and Glendon Rusch are on pace for 400 innings each.”