AMERICAN LEAGUE: AROUND THE HORN : WATSON, MORGAN TRY FOR HISTORY.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Staff Writer

Former Houston teammates Bob Watson and Joe Morgan now are on opposite sides in different groups trying to buy the Oakland A's. The winner has a good chance to be the first African American to co-own and actively take part in the management of a major-league baseball team.

``We've got old Colt 45s on different sides, and I find that interesting,'' Watson said this past week. ``What that means is that if you are in the game long enough, sometimes you find yourselves being on the other side of the fence.''

A decision on the sale is expected May 11.``Our group is in this together for the betterment of the East Bay and the Oakland community,'' Watson said. ``I know it's the same for Joe and his group. They are good people.''

Watson was the first African American to be the assistant general manager of a major-league team when he left the A's, where he had coached from 1986-88, to join the Houston front office. Later he was the first African-American general manager, also with the Astros.

He had another first when he left Houston for New York, where he was executive vice president of the Yankees, building the team that has won two of the last three World Series.

He says he doesn't like being the first, because it indicates the relative lack of progress African Americans have made in the front office in the half-century since Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers.

``It's been 52 years since minorities became involved in baseball, so we shouldn't be talking about this,'' Watson said. ``And when it gets to the point where it doesn't need to be mentioned, I'd be as happy at that as anybody.''

Happy in Texas: The Baltimore Orioles were 5-16 entering the weekend, the worst record in the major leagues. The Rangers, on the other hand, were in first place in the American League West.

But DH Rafael Palmeiro said the won-loss record doesn't confirm that he made the right choice in returning to the Rangers, rather than re-signing with the Orioles.

``That doesn't make a difference,'' Palmeiro said. ``I have nothing against those Orioles players and the players are the ones that are struggling. I played with those guys for five years. It's hard for me to see them go through that.

``The way I see it, I'm glad I'm here for all the reasons I said before the season. How they perform has no effect on whether I made the right decision. If they were 15-4, my answer would still be the same. I'm glad I'm here.''

Bad-armed and . . . dangerous? Although the Red Sox don't think it's serious, right-hander Bret Saberhagen was prematurely forced from the mound on April 23 with stiffness in the back of his right shoulder. Saberhagen, who has a history of shoulder trouble, had a similar problem in spring training, when he did not miss a start. Nonetheless, he was scratched from his scheduled Friday start at Oakland.

Saberhagen was hopeful that he would not have to be placed on the disabled list. In addition to winning 15 games last year - his highest total since 1989 - he went the entire season without missing a turn.

In the bus league: Cleveland is off to a fast start, but it has gotten nothing from two offseason bullpen moves. They traded Brian Giles to Pittsburgh for Ricardo Rincon and Chad Ogea to Philadelphia for Jerry Spradlin. Rincon has made two appearances and Spradlin made four before the Indians traded him to the Giants.

Cleveland traded him for two minor-leaguers (one to be announced) on April 22. The team was getting off the bus on the tarmac of Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport late at night to board a charter for Boston.

Before Spradlin could get on the plane, manager Mike Hargrove pulled him aside and told him about the trade.

All Spradlin could mutter was, ``How am I going to get home?''

The Indians' traveling secretary asked one of the bus drivers who had driven the team to the airport to drive Spradlin to his home in Westlake, a suburb of Cleveland, in his empty bus.

Shaking it up in Seattle: Former Dodgers utility infielder Rafael Bournigal - acquired Tuesday from Texas - flew into Seattle and found himself in the starting lineup.

Bournigal, 32, became the seventh man to play shortstop for the Mariners this season, joining injured starter Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Russ Davis, Charles Gipson, David Bell, Giomar Guevara and Domingo Cedeno.

Bournigal had two hits in the fifth inning Thursday when Seattle scored a franchise-record 22 runs against Detroit.

``He can catch the ball, which is the first priority,'' said manager Lou Piniella, who also got outfielder Brian Hunter from Detroit on Wednesday. ``He's a good hit-and-run candidate, a guy who can run a little bit and put the ball in play.''

Two deals in two nights might be just be the beginning of a busy stretch for general manager Woody Woodward. The Mariners have too many outfielders: Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner and Hunter will likely start the majority of the games, which leaves precious little time for Butch Huskey, Matt Mieske and Raul Ibanez - and probably delegates John Mabry to backup duties at first and third base.