ANGELS NEAR ANOTHER PRIZE SLUGGER GUERRERO CLOSE TO DEAL FOR 5 YEARS, $70 MIL.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

The Angels are on the verge of signing free-agent outfielder Vladimir Guerrero to a five-year, $70 million deal, a stunning turn to the most aggressive offseason in baseball this year.

A team source confirmed Saturday the Angels are close to landing Guerrero, a career .323 hitter who has averaged 37 home runs the past six seasons. He was the top free-agent hitter on the market this season, making a nice bookend for Bartolo Colon, the top free-agent starting pitcher available. On Dec. 9, the Angels signed Colon to a four-year, $51 million deal to anchor their rotation.

Combine the reported worth of Guerrero and Colon's contracts with the signings of starting pitcher Kelvim Escobar (three years, $18.75 million) and outfielder Jose Guillen (two years, $6 million plus an option year), and the Angels have laid out nearly $146 million in an overwhelming effort by owner Arte Moreno to turn around a squad that stumbled to a 77-85 mark after the World Series title of 2002.

Assuming Guerrero's 2004 base salary is around $14 million, the Angels will have committed exactly $100 million to just 14 players in '04, including the money they owe released pitcher Kevin Appier. Barring a still-possible trade of a starting pitcher and factoring money due arbitration-eligible and club-control players, Moreno could pay about $112 million for on-field personnel this season.

Still, the signings of Escobar and Guillen surprised few. Colon's signing was only a mild surprise, simply because it gave the Angels a stable of six starting pitchers with no offensive additions.

Guerrero, however, was long considered out of the Angels' reach, and after Colon signed, Moreno said that ``conservatively, we're not done yet.''

But Moreno and general manager Bill Stoneman, who did not return calls seeking comment, still had the biggest ace of the winter up their sleeves.

Guerrero's signing would create a potentially monstrous lineup in which the projected No. 7 hitter might be Guillen, who hit 31 home runs for Oakland and Cincinnati last season.

The surprisingly soft market for Guerrero apparently made him too attractive to pass up. The Baltimore Orioles were long the front-runners for Guerrero, but Guerrero's agents left a five-year, $65 million deal on the table.

His presence will reconfigure the Angels' defensive alignment while giving them perhaps the most punishing lineup in the game. Center fielder Darin Erstad likely will move to first base, with left fielder Garret Anderson moving back to center (where he played full time in 2000 and parts of other seasons) and Guerrero and Guillen manning the corner outfield positions.

Offensively, the Angels can drop a devastating left-right combination of Erstad, Guerrero, Anderson and third baseman Troy Glaus in the Nos. 2-5 spots in the lineup.

Likely manning the sixth and seventh spots will be designated hitter Tim Salmon, the franchise leader in home runs and RBI, and Guillen.

SPENDING SPREE

Major free agents the Angels have signed this offseason:

Vladimir Guerrero

5 years, $70 million

Bartolo Colon

4 years, $51 million

Kelvim Escobar

3 years, $18.75 million

Jose Guillen

2 years, $6 million

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) GUERRERO

Box:

(ran in Valley edition only) SPENDING SPREE (see text)