Clemente Nephew Gets Job; Greene Shouldered Aside

TEMPE, Ariz. —  The Angels broke camp with a flurry of activity Wednesday, leaving one player without a job, two players with new employers and one wondering whether the boss has him at the right work station.

Coming to Anaheim is outfielder Edgard Clemente, nephew of hall of famer Roberto Clemente, who was acquired from Colorado Wednesday for minor league outfielder Norm Hutchins and catcher Jason Dewey. Clemente will share the designated hitter spot with Scott Spiezio and play outfield.

Leaving Anaheim are catcher/designated hitter Todd Greene, who was released, left-handed reliever Mike Holtz, who was optioned to triple-A Edmonton, and pitcher Jarrod Washburn, who was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained rib-cage muscle.

Coming to the starting rotation are Ken Hill, Kent Bottenfield, Scott Schoeneweis, Jason Dickson and Ramon Ortiz. Going to the bullpen is Kent Mercker, a development the veteran left-hander was not too happy about.

In trading for Clemente and releasing Greene, the Angels essentially replaced a right-handed designated hitter who was extremely limited defensively with a right-handed designated hitter who can play all three outfield positions.

Because the Angels will carry 12 pitchers and 13 position players, they didn’t think they could afford to have a bench player who could only hit. Shoulder problems prevented Greene from catching more than twice a week.

Manager Mike Scioscia and General Manager Bill Stoneman thought Clemente was a better fit because he hit .327 against left-handers in the big leagues last season, while Greene has a career .218 average against left-handers.

Scioscia would also like to rest his outfielders--Darin Erstad, Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon--and first baseman Mo Vaughn by giving them occasional starts at DH, and with Clemente the Angels will have more of a front-line replacement than reserve outfielder Orlando Palmeiro.

“Don’t forget, this is a marathon,” Stoneman said. “We also wanted to improve our outfield depth. Clemente hits left-handers well, and Spiezio hits right-handers well. This seemed like a neater piece to the puzzle.”

Like his uncle, Clemente, 24, is an above-average defensive player with a strong throwing arm and good power--he combined for 25 homers and 85 runs batted in for triple-A Colorado Springs and the Rockies last season. But unlike his uncle, Clemente has only average speed and has trouble hitting right-handers (.218 last season).

Both Clemente and Greene were out of options, meaning the teams had to expose them to waivers before sending them to the minor leagues. By releasing Greene, the Angels will only have to pay him $162,500, one-quarter of his $650,000 salary.

Greene, once considered one of the Angels’ top prospects, was named Baseball Weekly’s minor league player of the year in 1995, when he combined for 40 homers and 92 RBIs at double-A Midland and triple-A Vancouver.

He shined during a brief stint as the Angels’ starting catcher in 1997, hitting .290 with nine homers and 24 RBIs in 34 games before suffering a season-ending thumb injury that August.

But two shoulder surgeries limited him to 10 games behind the plate in 1998 and ‘99, and his at-bats became sporadic. The free-swinging Greene felt he would be productive given steady playing time, and he appeared to have that chance when the Angels traded Jim Edmonds to St. Louis last week, opening up the designated hitter spot. But his at-bats didn’t increase much.

“I’m pretty good at reading between the lines, so I’m not shocked by this,” Greene said. “They didn’t think they could give me enough at-bats to keep me sharp enough for what they need.”

Mercker will be on the team, but not in the role he envisioned. He figured his 3-0 record and 3.78 earned-run average this spring--which was far better than Schoeneweis’ 2-2 record and 7.54 ERA--was good enough to win a rotation spot.

But with Holtz demoted, Mercker having considerable relief experience and Scioscia wanting a left-hander in the bullpen, Mercker’s rotation chances dissolved.

“I think I can do this team better pitching every five days,” Mercker said. “If I was scuffling every time out it would be easier to swallow. . . . It’s very upsetting.”

Notes

Kent Bottenfield, acquired in the Jim Edmonds deal last Thursday, made his Angel debut Wednesday, giving up four earned runs on eight hits--one of them Travis Lee’s three-run homer--in five innings of the Angels’ 12-9 split-squad victory over the Diamondbacks in Tempe. Tim Salmon had a homer and two doubles, and Mo Vaughn homered to lead the Angels. Reliever Mark Petkovsek was roughed up for three runs on five hits in the ninth inning. Ken Hill, who will start opening night against the Yankees Monday, rebounded from an awful spring by giving up one run and three hits in six innings of an 8-1 split-squad victory over the Padres in Peoria, Ariz. . . . In their ongoing effort to market the team to the Latino community, the Angels announced Wednesday that Channel 9 telecasts will include a Spanish audio option. By tuning to the SAP (secondary audio program) channel, fans can hear the live Spanish radio broadcast. The Angels, who air every game on XPRS (1090), are scheduled to air 50 games on Channel 9.