AMERICAN LEAGUE.(baseball teams)

Anaheim

LOCKED UP: The Angels last week signed 3B Troy Glaus, 24, to a four-year, $22 million deal, continuing a strategy of securing young talent. The team was under no obligation to sign Glaus to a long deal because it holds his rights through 2004. But making a big commitment to Glaus at a young age--as former GM. Bill Bavasi did with OFs Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson and Darin Erstad--should generate goodwill between Claus and the Angels and create a better atmosphere for future negotiations.

HEAD TO HEAD: The best competition of the spring is at first base, where Wally Joyner, Scott Spiezio and Larry Barnes hope to replace the injured MO Vaughn. All are capable defensively, so offense will determine the winner of the job. Spiezio brings a power dimension that neither Joyner nor Barnes have. In 297 at-bats last season, Spiezio batted .242 with 17 homers and 49 RBIs. Joyner is the best contact hitter of the three, but there is some question whether, at 38, he can handle the rigors of playing every day. Barnes, a rookie, led the Arizona Fall League with a .355 average and 24 RBIs in 34 games. Though the team needs a No. 2 hitter, manager Mike Scioscia said he won't evaluate the three based on that need. --Mike DiGiovanna

Baltimore

ADIOS, ALBERT:. OF Albert Belle's departure leaves the Orioles with little power. Only one player in the projected lineup, SS Mike Bordick, hit 20 or more homers in 2000, and only 1B/DH David Segui has had a 100-RBI season since 1996. Belle's career came to an end last week--effectively, if not officially--when the team declared him "totally disabled and unable to perform." Belle, forced out of the game by a degenerative hip condition, finished a 12-year career with 381 home runs and 1,239 RBIs, making him a borderline Hall of Fame candidate. While he isn't technically precluded from attempting a comeback (like Bo Jackson's attempt in 1994 after hip-replacement surgery), owner Peter Angelus called such a scenario "impossible."

HEAD TO HEAD: Rookie Mike Kinkade has emerged from the pack of catchers competing for either one or two backup jobs behind starter Brook Fordyce. Kinkade is not as good defensively as fellow rookie Fernando Lunar or as experienced at handling pitchers as veteran Greg Myers, but his offense and versatility on defense (he also plays first base and outfield) give him an excellent chance of making the club. --Dave Sheinin

Boston