Angel Notebook : DeCinces Calls Off Unheard of Holdout and Arrives in Camp

MESA, Ariz. — Camp Weird got just got a little bit more weird Sunday when Doug DeCinces arrived, two days after the start of full-squad workouts, and announced he had been holding out. With DeCinces already signed for 1987, this qualifies as something of a first.

DeCinces agreed to terms with the Angels on the Jan. 8 free-agent deadline, terms that will earn him $1.1 million if all incentives are met. His contract has been signed and sealed away for nearly two months.

Yet, DeCinces claimed that for the final two days of February, he staged a holdout.

Kind of.

“What did they tell you was the reason I was late?” DeCinces asked reporters after he took his first round of swings in the batting cage. “Attending to personal business” was the way the Angels worded it.

DeCinces nodded.

“Well, it was business,” he said. “There were a lot of things about my contract that didn’t get discussed and I wanted some answers. I wanted to clarify some of the loopholes.

“When I wasn’t getting any answers, I told them, ‘OK, let me know when you have some. You know where I am.’ ”

So DeCinces stayed at home and waited for the word.

“They eventually called me back,” he said. “I got an answer to it.”

DeCinces is signed to a two-year contract with only the first year guaranteed. His questions concerned the second year of the agreement.

“If I go out and play and have a good year, I wanted to know if the organization can say, ‘You had a good year, but you’re no longer in our plans,’ ” said DeCinces, who will turn 37 in August. “If I go out and play well, I deserve to be back. I don’t want to be in a situation where my career can be decided because the ballclub wants to change directions.”

Well, if DeCinces got an answer from the Angels, it wasn’t the best of possible answers. There is no clause in his new contract that will automatically trigger an extension for 1988. DeCinces could conceivably match his 1986 production of 26 home runs and 96 RBIs--or surpass it--and still not be assured of an invitation back. The option to renew belongs to the club.

“They would have to release me by the end of the year,” DeCinces said. “The only way the club can get out of the second year is to release me.”

Of course, that much was implied by the wording of the contract--1988 is not guaranteed.

So, if it was a holdout, it was a strange one. Apparently, DeCinces needed to hear it from the Angels himself.

DeCinces is not satisfied with this settlement and admits he made a major concession by not insisting for a guaranteed second year. But he also maintains that the offer was the best available in baseball’s current arid climate for free agents.

“I have some priorities in life and those deal with my family and what’s best for my overall way of life,” he said. “Knowing that, I dealt with the circumstances.

“I made a business decision. It was either that or not signing (with anyone). If I had made an emotional decision, I’d probably be working out at home right now.”

Back in early January, when DeCinces considered testing the free-agent waters, he “had a feeling that it was not going to be real good. Before the deadline, I’d read somewhere that a team was interested in a power-hitting third baseman. I’d call them up and I guess I’m not a power-hitting third baseman. They said, ‘You don’t fit into our plans.’

“I called Baltimore and they were interested at first, but they felt that what I made last year was totally too high. I said ‘Wait a minute.’ Their third basemen combined had 42 errors and 41 RBIs last year.

“The White Sox showed a little bit of interest, but that got slammed. Oakland showed a little interest, but that got slammed. The Dodgers don’t really have a third baseman and I talked with them and got absolutely nowhere. Nobody in the game of baseball was interested in me as a player.

“That showed me that times are changing, whether it’s fair or not.”

DeCinces said he felt trapped.

“If I was in this situation three years ago, every team in our division would’ve been interested in me,” he said. “My performance helped carry this team. I don’t want to sound conceited, but I helped carry this team to the (American League West) pennant.”

For that, DeCinces said he deserved better treatment, at least from the Angels.

“We didn’t start talking contract until four days before the deadline,” he said. “I signed with about 50 minutes to go. I played my heart out for this organization. Why does it have to come down to that? Why does it have to be an aggravated business decision?

“The same thing with Wally (Joyner). This is a guy we relied on and they don’t talk to him until two days before the start of workouts. . . . But Wally’s a good kid. He’s here--just what they wanted.”

And now DeCinces, after a holdout that really wasn’t, is here. Camp Weird is fully stocked.

Angel Notes Another day, another bizarre rumor. Get this one: The Angels want to re-sign Bob Boone and Boston wants to re-sign Rich Gedman but neither team can negotiate with its former catcher until May 1. So the Angels sign Gedman, the Red Sox sign Boone and the teams arrange a trade, reuniting them with their catchers before Opening Day. This idea recently made print in an East Coast newspaper. How about it, Mike Port? “With all respect to Bob Boone, why would I trade a 26-year-old Type A free agent for a 39-year-old Type B free agent?” Port said. If Boone is to return to the Angels, it figures to come after May 1. “Bob Boone’s a friend and he’s burned no bridges,” Port said. But until May 1, the Angels are prohibited from talking contract with Boone. Or, as Port put it: “I am precluded from discussing any employment relationship with Bob Boone.”