PHILLIPS COULD RETURN; PLAYERS UNION FILES GRIEVANCE.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

The Angels, satisfied that they've made an unmistakably strong statement in the drug case of Tony Phillips, appear braced for the worst in a grievance hearing today.

Phillips, who faces a felony charge of cocaine possession, was suspended by the Angels on Monday after he refused to go on the disabled list and enter a drug-rehabilitation program. Since doctors for both Major League Baseball and the Players Association had cleared him to return to the club, the union filed a grievance against the Angels, and precedent will heavily favor Phillips when the matter is heard today in New York.

``We knew there was a possibility (the suspension) would be overturned,'' Angels vice president Bill Bavasi said Tuesday night. ``But we have some arguments to make.''

Also, the Walt Disney Co., which gained part-ownership and managerial control of the Angels last year, will have taken a stand on principle.

Phillips' case will be heard by interim arbitrator Richard Bloch. (Baseball and the union fired their permanent arbitrator last month.)

Since Bloch has sided with players in a string of similar cases previously, Phillips is expected to be reinstated and could rejoin the Angels for today's double-header with the New York Yankees at Anaheim Stadium.

If the Angels wanted to block his return, their recourse would be to release him, but Bavasi repeatedly indicated that that is not the club's plan. ``Anything's possible,'' said Bavasi, who answers to Disney top executive Michael Eisner, who reportedly ordered Phillips' suspension. ``Do I anticipate that (release)? No.''

The Angels suspended Phillips with pay because he declined to enter an in-patient treatment program. He had instead expressed a preference for a program of drug testing and out-patient counseling.

``We're not trying to make an example of anybody,'' Bavasi said. ``We just felt it was best for the player and the club.''

While acting as an arbitrator in the early 1980s, Bloch lifted a baseball-imposed drug suspension for Pascual Perez and cut short similar suspensions of Willie Wilson and Jerry Martin. He did, however, uphold a drug suspension involving Vida Blue.

In another case, arbitrator Raymond Goetz reinstated Ferguson Jenkins after the pitcher's arrest for cocaine possession. Goetz's rationale was that a player could be suspended for a drug conviction but not merely for an arrest alone. That precedent is expected to apply in the Phillips case.

The Angels, who seemed to be preparing for a prolonged Phillips absence when they traded for veteran leadoff man Rickey Henderson last week, will be faced with a quandary if they are forced to take Phillips back today.

``The club's plugging along, playing at a good clip,'' Bavasi said of a team that is fighting Seattle for the American League West championship. ``The composition's altered (if Phillips returns). It will throw your gyro off a little bit as a ballclub. . . .

``Changing composition is harmful on a temporary basis, but I don't think it's going to have a longlasting effect.''

Manager Terry Collins, meanwhile, said he welcomed the prospect of trying to balance two players of similar abilities.

``I think we'd be pretty good,'' Collins said. ``We'd have a pretty good lineup. We've got a lot of options.

``Plus, with Jimmy Edmonds coming back (this past weekend from the disabled list), he's probably not 100 percent yet. With Rickey and Tony both here, we could give Jimmy a day off against an Andy Pettitte (of the Yankees) or another tough left-hander.''

And, through it all, perhaps Disney's family-oriented image has been untarnished. ``Though you hate to see a grievance,'' said Bavasi, ``some sort of closure on this is necessary.''