ANGELS NOTEBOOK: MADDON COULD LEAVE ANGELS.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - When the Angels won the World Series two years ago, members of their coaching staff were rewarded with rare two-year contracts. Those contracts expire after this season, but every member of the staff will be asked back for 2005.

However, some of manager Mike Scioscia's aide-de-camps may not return because they could move on to bigger things. All have been considered solid managerial candidates, and this could be the year respected bench coach Joe Maddon finally lands his own gig.

Maddon has served three times as Angels interim manager and has been in the organization for 30 years. He made it to a second round of interviews for the Boston opening that went to Terry Francona last winter, and his name has picked up steam in baseball circles for one of several vacancies that will be filled this offseason.

There are already openings in Toronto and Arizona, and others could emerge in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Seattle.

Scioscia said Maddon is ``highly respected by other GMs'' and a ``great communicator,'' and his profile soared after the Boston bid. In other words, he should be in a prime position this winter, particularly if the Mariners let Bob Melvin go. Maddon is close to general manager Bill Bavasi, the former Angels GM.

``The Boston thing was very big,'' Maddon said. ``To stay in the process as long as I did boded well. Obviously, if there's more than one opportunity, that would be great.''

Maddon, 50, is versatile enough to thrive with Scioscia and the Angels, who stress an aggressive, old-school approach to the game, while also impressing Boston GM Theo Epstein, whose organization more heavily weighs statistical analysis and on-base percentage.

Maddon says there's ``more than one way to play the game,'' but his adaptability could keep him in the hunt for jobs with wildly differing organizations like Seattle and Toronto.

And that's one reason he's the heavy favorite to be the first limb on Scioscia's managerial tree. Both Ron Roenicke and Bud Black had nibbles after the Series win, and could emerge again in coming years, along with Alfredo Griffin and Mickey Hatcher.

Maddon, it seems, will already be gone.

``You hate to see him go because he does such a good job, but he deserves the chance,'' Roenicke said.

--Strange skies: While it appeared center fielder Garret Anderson might have given less than full effort on Carlos Delgado's RBI double in Toronto's 1-0 win Wednesday, Scioscia said Anderson, like right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, lost the ball in the twilight.

The early evening sky has been a problem at Angel Stadium for years, and when Darin Erstad was an outfielder, he donned amber-tinted glasses to deal with it. But that has drawbacks, too.

``You get tinted glasses, it might not let you see the ball off the bat,'' Scioscia said. ``(Wednesday) night was a very strange sky.''

--Scoreboard complaints: Emotional Jose Guillen and the usually stoic Scioscia find common ground more often than one would imagine. Guillen complained about the display of the Boston-Oakland score on the video board Wednesday, and Scioscia could relate.

``The reason it's chapping his hide is we need to keep our focus,'' Scioscia said. ``Sometimes, it's tough not to miss that scoreboard. We control our destiny. We need to win.''

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- Gabe Lacques