Bottenfield Traded for Gant’s Bat

Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman gave his offense a boost and his young starting pitchers another shot in the arm Sunday when he traded veteran right-hander Kent Bottenfield to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Ron Gant, a right-handed power hitter who should solidify the designated hitter spot.

Gant hit .254 with a team-leading 20 home runs and 38 runs batted in in 89 games for the Phillies, but after a slow start, in which he hit .220 in April and May, the 35-year-old is batting .289 with 12 homers since June 1. He’s also hitting .365 against left-handed pitchers.

A two-time all-star who is in the final year of a five-year, $25-million contract, Gant will be used at DH and as a reserve outfielder. He batted second in Philadelphia, and Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said Gant could hit second, fifth, sixth or seventh, depending on the pitcher.

“Whether he plays every day or five days a week, he will get enough at-bats to be productive,” Scioscia said of Gant, whose arrival for tonight’s game against Detroit makes reserve outfielder Edgard Clemente expendable. “There are a number of areas he can help us in.”

The trade of Bottenfield, who is 7-8 with a 5.71 earned-run average, is essentially an admission on the Angels’ part that they overestimated his ability when they acquired him from St. Louis with second baseman Adam Kennedy for center fielder Jim Edmonds in March.

Bottenfield went 18-7 with a 3.97 ERA for the Cardinals in 1999, but like many National League pitchers, he had trouble adjusting to the more offensive-minded American League.

It wasn’t just this season that raised concerns among the Angels about retaining Bottenfield beyond 2000. Bottenfield, on a one-year contract that pays $4 million, went 4-4 with a 4.25 ERA in the second half last season, giving him a record of 11-12 with a 5.16 ERA since the All-Star break of 1999.

With Bottenfield giving up four or five runs in five or six innings of most starts, the Angels figured they could at least get that kind of production from one of their young pitchers, so why not add more power to an offense that already ranks second in the league in home runs and doesn’t even flinch at four-run deficits early in games?

“It looked like we wouldn’t miss a beat in the rotation, and it’s an opportunity to give another young starter a chance to get stronger for the future,” Stoneman said. “Kent hasn’t had the type of year he had last season. That, combined with the emergence of our young pitchers, made this easier to do.”

The Angels are not in a rebuilding mode. Stoneman has an eye toward the future, but they enter August in the thick of the AL West race and the wild-card race, and their only veteran pitcher is Ken Hill, who has a history of physical problems.

With an off day Thursday, the Angels will use a four-man rotation of Hill, Seth Etherton, Scott Schoeneweis and Brian Cooper until left-hander Jarrod Washburn is eligible to come off the disabled list Aug. 6.

“This reiterates the faith and confidence we have in our young pitchers,” Scioscia said. “I know it’s odd for a contender to be give up starting pitching in a [trade] deadline deal, but some unique circumstances led up to this. With our young pitchers doing so well, we had a spare part and were able to trade for something we needed. We have other guys we feel will provide the production Bottenfield would have given us.”

As Scioscia said this before Sunday’s game, the Angels were coming off an eight-game stretch in which their starters combined to give up 44 runs and 75 hits in 39 1/3 innings for a 10.07 ERA.

“Just because they’ve struggled in a number of consecutive starts doesn’t mean the rest of them will be that way,” Stoneman said. “The young pitchers have the confidence of the manager and general manager.”

And the pitchers can feel it.

“After the last week, they could have easily said now we’re starting to crack,” Washburn said. “But I think they know we can pitch. This is a great vote of confidence for us. It tells us they think we can do the job.”

With one of the league’s best bullpens and a prolific offense that should improve with Gant, starting pitchers should be competitive if they limit opponents to four or five runs in six innings.

Gant has 286 homers and 894 RBIs in his 13-year big league career and has played in five league championship series and two World Series.

“He’s been to the dance, and if he can help us, great,” Angel left fielder Darin Erstad said. “It’s pretty obvious in this league that you have to pound your way to the pennant. They say pitching and defense wins championships, but the game has changed a bit. With the way our bullpen is pitching, if our starters can keep us in the game through six innings, we’ll be OK.”

Bottenfield, who said he sensed for a week he would be traded, thinks the Angels will be more than OK.

“This team is going to make the playoffs with or without me, because they don’t quit,” Bottenfield said. “It has the best personality of a team I’ve ever been around in 15 years of baseball.”

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KENT BOTTENFIELD

Traded to Philadelphia

* 2000: 7-8, 5.71 ERA

RON GANT

Traded to Angels

* 2000: 20 HR, .254 BA

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Closer Look

Statistics and facts about outfielder Ron Gant, obtained by the Angels from the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, and--with the trade of right-hander Kent Bottenfield--how the Angel rotation shapes up:

RON GANT

Bats: Right Throws: Right Age: 35 Height: 6-0 Weight: 196

Career: Has played 13 major league seasons with four teams--Atlanta (1987-93); Cincinnati (1995); St. Louis (1996-98); Philadelphia (1999-2000). He didn’t play in 1994 because of injuries. Has hit 30 or more homers four times and had 100 or more RBIs two times.

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G AB R H HR RBI SO SLG. BA 2000 89 343 54 87 20 38 73 .487 .254 Career 1,586 5,765 957 1,480 286 894 1,255 .468 .257 Highs 154 606 113 174 36 117 162 .554 .303 Avg.* 162 589 98 151 29 91 127 .468 .257

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* Season average for career per 162 games (Source: STATS, Inc.)

THE ANGELS’ FIVE-MAN ROTATION

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GS CG I P H HR BB SO W-L ERA Jarrod Washburn 13 0 79 61 16 35 49 6-2 3.87 Seth Etherton 9 0 51 49 14 18 26 5-1 4.76 Brian Cooper 12 1 73 82 10 26 33 4-5 5.05 Scott Schoeneweis 15 0 97 1/3 102 13 35 38 5-5 5.18 Ken Hill 15 0 72 2/3 95 15 50 48 5-6 6.56 Kent Bottenfield 21 0 127 2/3 144 25 56 75 7-8 5.71

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