Angels Put Phillips On Suspension

Tony Phillips, facing a felony charge of cocaine possession, was suspended indefinitely by the Anaheim Angels on Monday.

Phillips has not played since being arrested at an Anaheim, Calif., motel on Aug. 10. The Angels suspended the star leadoff man after he turned down the team’s request to go on the disabled list and take part in a rehabilitation program.

According to a baseball management source, the suspension was ordered by Michael Eisner, chief executive officer of the Angels’ parent company, The Walt Disney Co.

“As a result of your most recent conduct resulting in your arrest by the Anaheim Police Department on Aug. 10, and being charged with possession of cocaine, our club has offered you placement on the 15-day disabled list in order to participate in a drug rehabilitation program,” Angels general manager Bill Bavasi told Phillips in a letter, a copy of which was read to The Associated Press.

“We have made it clear to you in our conversations that if you accept this offer, you will be reinstated in good standing and with a clean slate to our ballclub’s active roster, and that if you decline the offer, you will be suspended without pay.

“During our discussion this morning, you made it clear that you decline our offer, and therefore our ballclub is suspending you with pay, effective immediately,” Bavasi wrote.

Cordero opts for trial

Boston Red Sox outfielder Wilfredo Cordero, charged with assaulting his wife, rejected a deal in Cambridge, Mass., that would have guaranteed no time in jail.

Instead, Cordero, 25, will face trial Oct. 20 on the accusations he hit his wife Ana with a telephone, threatened her life and later violated an emergency restraining order.

The maximum penalty for conviction on the charges is eight years.

The player has been free on bail since pleading innocent to charges of assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and threatening to commit a crime.

Kent’s suspension cut

Jeff Kent of the San Francisco Giants had his three-game suspension for initiating a bench-clearing brawl reduced by one game by the National League.

Kent and Chicago Cubs catcher Tyler Houston had been suspended for their roles in a brawl during last Wednesday’s game at San Francisco.

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