ANGELS NOTEBOOK: FIGHT AFTERMATH: OFFICIAL TO ARRIVE.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. - The 1996 trade that sent first baseman J.T. Snow to the Giants never worked out for the Angels, but for one of the players involved in the trade, it has become a nightmare.

Snow is the Giants' starting first baseman, and pitcher Allen Watson, acquired by the Angels in the deal, has become a journeyman major-leaguer. But the Angels also got another player in the trade - hard-throwing, right-handed pitcher Fausto Macey, a native of the Dominican Republic.

Macey's baseball career went up in smoke with the Angels, and he's still angry about it. Macey accuses the Angels of burying him. Jeff Parker, at the time the team's manager of baseball operations and in charge of scouting and player development, denies it.

``They were accusing me of things I wasn't doing,'' said Macey, now a bellman at a Phoenix hotel and a supervisor at a Kmart store. ``They said I was bringing young girls into my apartment (during spring training). It wasn't true. I'm still upset about it.''

Macey had a 95-mph fastball, but in 1997, his first season with the Angels, he developed shoulder problems. Tests did not reveal a problem, but Macey struggled through the season at Triple-A Vancouver and was demoted to Double-A Midland (Texas).

During the spring of '98, the Angels decided to send Macey to pitch in Mexico, and Macey reluctantly accepted the assignment.

``They called me into the office and said I was a bad influence on the other Latino players,'' Macey said. ``They said I had a bad attitude. I don't know why they didn't like me.''

Parker admitted that Macey was considered a bad influence, which is why the club sent him to Mexico.

``Nobody wants to go to Mexico to play,'' said Parker, now the general manager of the Altoona (Penn.) Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. ``But it was a way to try to salvage his career, give him another chance.''

Things got worse. Macey said when he landed in Puerto Vallarta, there was no one there to meet him and provide him with the necessary paperwork. He had no visa and was sent back on the next plane to Phoenix.

``They sent two other players to Mexico, but they went to District Federal (Mexico City) and there was someone waiting for them,'' Macey said. ``But they sent me to Puerta Vallarta and they told me I was illegal.''

Macey implied the mix-up might have been intentional, but Parker denied it.

``There's a certain attitude you have to have when you go to Mexico to play,'' Parker said. ``We (the organization) can only do so much. The rest falls on the player to make sure they take care of their paperwork and have their visa situation settled. He didn't want to be there and he didn't want to make the effort. If you don't want to be there, it's easy to turn tail and go home.''

Macey did return home and said the Angels still wanted to send him to Mexico. Fed up, he instead asked for - and was granted - his release. He tried to hook up with other teams, but he said he was unfairly tagged as someone with a bad attitude, hurting his chances.

``Jeff Parker said I was a bad influence on the other Latinos,'' Macey said. ``I said, 'Who told you that?' He said, 'Nobody, we can tell.' It's so unfair.''

Said Parker: ``Whenever a trade is made, there's pressure on the development side to make the trade look good. You never want to make the GM look bad, so you want to give the kid every chance. We want every kid in our organization to reach the big leagues, that's the goal. It's not our agenda to put up road blocks, because that would make us look like idiots.''

Macey, now 26, is trying to revive his baseball career. He'll go to Mexico later this week to pitch in a tournament with the hopes someone will notice him.

--Fight aftermath: Bob Watson, who replaced Frank Robinson as Major League Baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, is expected to talk to the Angels on Thursday as part of his regular tour of the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues. But he'll also meet with Angels general manager and discuss Saturday's fight with the Padres.

Fines and/or suspensions are possible, particularly regarding Troy Glaus, who charged the mound when Padres pitcher Bobby Jones threw a pitch up and in.

``I'm for pitching aggressively, which means a pitcher is entitled to pitch on either side of the plate,'' Stoneman said. ``But to throw at hitters, particularly to (injure), I don't think there's any place in the game for it.''

--Assignments: The Angels assigned 12 players to minor-league camp, optioned two to Double-A Arkansas and placed one more on the disabled list. Going to minor-league camp in Mesa are pitcher Chris Bootcheck, outfielders Darrell Dent, Jeff Guiel, Gary Johnson and Juan Tolentino, catchers Trent Durrington, Tom Gregorio and Jason Hill, and infielders Chone Figgins, Lou Lucca, Tommy Murphy and Brian Specht.

Pitcher Derrick Turnbow and outfielder Elpidio Guzman were optioned to Arkansas, and Steve Green (elbow surgery last June) was placed on the DL.

ANGELS vs. OAKLAND

Time: 12:05 a.m., Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Radio: 570-AM.

Matchup: Ramon Ortiz will start for Anaheim against Oakland's Mark Mulder.

Monday's result: Tim Salmon homered and drove in four runs in the Angels' 13-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Adam Kennedy added three hits and Shawn Wooten had two as the Angels improved to 7-5-1 this spring.

Angels starter Jarrod Washburn gave up six runs and seven hits in three innings, all six runs coming in the third inning.

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ANGELS vs. OAKLAND (see text)