Angels Aren’t Spent Just Yet

As Vladimir Guerrero slipped on his new Angel jersey and smiled for the cameras, three teammates stood in the audience, backs against a wall. The contracts of Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus and Troy Percival expire this year. The Angels could pay Guerrero as much as $82 million over the next six years, but they have guaranteed nothing beyond this year to the three World Series stars.

Yet Arte Moreno’s piggy bank is not empty. Although he has committed $146 million to four free agents this winter and has inflated the projected player payroll to $108 million, the Angels’ new owner said Monday that he could afford to sign Anderson, Glaus and Percival to contract extensions if General Manager Bill Stoneman recommends doing so.

For his part, Stoneman said Moreno has not directed him to trade a surplus starting pitcher or anyone else to cut payroll, so the Angels can open the season with six starters, trading out of opportunity rather than necessity. The next move in the works appears to involve signing a veteran for depth.

“There’s something else I’m working on, but it’s not about paring salary,” Stoneman said. “It will cost us a little money.”

Sorry, opposing owners, Moreno might not be done spending. He isn’t apologizing, not after Stoneman called him Wednesday and informed him of a window to strike quickly and sign Guerrero.

“At the 25th hour, we had an opportunity,” Moreno said. “I would have been doing a great disservice to the fans not to make a great effort to get it done.”

On what Stoneman called “a historic day for the Angels,” the team officially signed the superstar outfielder to a contract that guarantees him $70 million over five years.

Guerrero, who rejected offers from the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets, said he settled on the Angels because of the chance to win the World Series, the area’s Latino community and the ownership, grass field, strong lineup and harmonious clubhouse in Anaheim. He also cited his familiarity with Stoneman, a former executive with the Montreal Expos, and his brother Wilton’s endorsement of Scioscia, who coached for the Dodgers when Wilton played there.

After Guerrero passed a physical examination by a team of doctors, including a back specialist, the Angels finalized a deal that pays him $10 million this year, $11.5 million in 2005, $12.5 million in 2006, $13.5 million in 2007 and $14.5 million in 2008. The Angels added a $5 million signing bonus, and they can retain him for $15 million in 2009 or pay a $3-million buyout.

Stoneman acknowledged the risk inherent in signing such a lengthy and lucrative deal with a player who sat out 39 games for the Expos last season because of a herniated disk.

“But you look at the upside,” he said. “What is this guy going to mean? We’re going to find out, and I smile when I say that.”

The smiles were wide at Angel Stadium on Monday, in a news conference that featured Guerrero, his mother and three of his brothers. Guerrero answered some questions in Spanish and gamely trying to answer one in English before Moreno patted him on the back and excused him.

“Esta bien,” Moreno said to Guerrero. That’s fine. “He said he’s very happy to be here,” Moreno said, chuckling. “I’m very happy he’s here too.”

So were the veteran players, giddy at adding a franchise player to a free-agent class that already had included pitchers Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar and outfielder Jose Guillen.

“If we don’t get it done now, it’s our fault,” Percival said.

Guerrero, Guillen and Escobar are 27. Colon is 30.

“We’re not buying players in the twilight of their career,” Moreno said. “That’s why I say I’m looking at this as a capital investment.”

Moreno insists he plans on making money on the Angels, eventually. The Angels lost $6 million last season, he said, but could break even by 2005. He said the team made $80 million in total revenue in 2001 and could double that by 2005.

Even before signing Guerrero, ticket sales were up. So was revenue from sponsorships and advertisements. He reiterated plans to enhance radio and television deals, in English and Spanish.

The Angels attracted a record 3 million fans last season, a figure Moreno expects to repeat given his strategy to sell the Angels beyond Orange County and into all of Southern California.

Moreno insisted the Angels remain committed to their minor league system. The system is perilously thin in outfield prospects, so the signings of Guerrero and Guillen block no one.

Moreno also pledged that signing Anderson to an extension remains a priority.

“We love Garret,” Moreno said. “Garret’s our guy. I don’t want to take two steps forward and take a huge step backward.”

Said Anderson: “It’s not an issue. Business takes care of itself. I’m signed through this season, and I’m not looking past that at all.”

Stoneman said he hopes Glaus remains at third base for years to come. Percival, who floats the idea of retirement every now and then, said he would like to play another four years with the Angels.

As he watched the smiles on the faces of Moreno and Guerrero, Percival laughed at the notion that the four free-agent deals might leave the owner unable to afford extensions for him, Anderson and Glaus.

“I’m not that worried,” Percival said, “about the well running dry.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Lineup Changes

Comparing the Angel lineup last season with next season’s projected lineup:

*--* 2003 2004 David Eckstein, SS .252, 3 HR, 31 RBIs Darin Erstad, 1B .252, 4 HR, 17 RBIs Darin Erstad, CF .252, 4, 17 David Eckstein, SS .252, 3, 31 Troy Glaus, 3B .248, 16, 50 Vladimir Guerrero, RF .330, 25, 79 Garret Anderson, LF .315, 29, 116 Garret Anderson, CF .315, 29, 116 Tim Salmon, DH .275, 19, 72 Troy Glaus, 3B .248, 16, 50 Scott Spiezio, 1B .265, 16, 83 Tim Salmon, DH .275, 19, 72 Bengie Molina, C .281, 14, 71 Jose Guillen, LF .311, 31, 86 Jeff DaVanon, RF .282, 12, 43 Bengie Molina, C .281, 14, 71 Adam Kennedy, 2B .269, 13, 49 Adam Kennedy, 2B .269, 13, 49

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Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this report.