With Padres, Nevin Catches Up to Potential

Phil Nevin’s .304 average, 24 home runs and 76 runs batted in would look mighty good in that Angel designated hitter spot this season, but Nevin was considered such a spare part in Anaheim that the Angels traded him to San Diego for journeyman infielder Andy Sheets before the 1999 season.

Like so many Angel trades, this one was as lopsided as a see-saw with Shaquille O’Neal on one end and Laffit Pincay on the other.

Sheets hit .197 for the Angels and was gone by 2000, while Nevin became an all-star third baseman for the Padres, hitting .269 with 24 homers and 85 RBIs in 1999 and .303 with 31 homers and 107 RBIs in 2000.

Nevin is on pace for a career year in 2001, and he had the key hit in San Diego’s 5-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday night, jump-starting a five-run seventh inning with a solo home run.

“I knew he was a good player--he just needed a chance to play every day at his natural position,” Angel left fielder Garret Anderson said. “I think he struggled early because he played every position but third base.”

Nevin, a former Cal State Fullerton standout, harbors no ill feelings toward the Angels, who were grooming Troy Glaus at third. They gave him the chance to catch on a regular basis, and that opened a world of opportunity for the top pick of the 1992 draft, a player who had underachieved for years.

“Catching was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I looked at the game from a different aspect,” Nevin, 30, said. “I realized the mental side of the game was the most important. There’s a ton of guys with talent who never get it, and guys who don’t have as much talent but get it quickly.

“A lot [of my success] has to do with maturing a bit and being around some quality people. The timing is right. Four or five years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’m doing now.”

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Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman admits that signing a 16-year-old pitcher from the Dominican Republic for $1 million, as the Angels did Saturday when they secured right-hander Rafael Rodriguez, is an even bigger gamble than signing an 18-year-old high school player to a seven-figure bonus.

But that won’t deter the Angels from their aggressive development program in Latin America, a region where they have discovered more than 50 players and invested millions in the past two years.

“The younger you sign them, the bigger the risk, but if you don’t sign them at 16, someone else is going to sign them,” Stoneman said. “If you’re not willing to take that risk, you’re limiting your upside chances.”

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Angel right fielder Tim Salmon, sidelined since July 1 because of a left shoulder and cervical strain, will begin a rehabilitation assignment with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday. The tentative plan is for Salmon, who is struggling with a .206 average, nine homers and 26 RBIs, to play two games for Rancho Cucamonga and join the Angels on Friday in Baltimore.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ PAT RAPP

(3-9, 4.62 ERA)

vs.

PADRES’ BRIAN TOLLBERG

(3-2, 3.32 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update--Rapp, who beat the Rockies in Coors Field in his last start July 8, has had success against the Padres, going 3-1 with a 2.44 ERA against them in 11 appearances, 10 starts.

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.