Guerrero, Anderson don't want to DH

TEMPE, ARIZ. – So, that great plan, the one the Angels had about rotating Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson through the designated hitter spot doesn’t look so rosy now.
Neither seemed thrilled Tuesday that they might have to become part-time outfielders, Guerrero shaking his head and saying “No, no DH,” interrupting a question when he heard the term.
“I’m a right fielder,” said Guerrero, who hit .270 with 10 homers and 36 RBI in 159 at-bats as a DH last season, through a translator. “I’ve got to wait until the season starts, see how my body responds during the season. Then we can decide what is best for me.”
Anderson didn’t quite show the disdain for the idea that Guerrero did, but he has scorned the thought in the past and said “My mindset is to come in and play left field.”
“There will be a time in my career when I have to do it, I understand that,” said Anderson, who batted .208 with one homer and four RBI over 72 at-bats as a DH last season. “But I don’t think that time is now. That’s just my opinion.”
Well, someone has to DH and frankly, Gary Matthews Jr. is a superior defender than either Anderson or Guerrero.
“Those four bats have to be in the lineup,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s going to be a tool to rest some guys. In talking with Vlad, the six or seven days a week DH thing, he’s not ready for and doesn’t feel he’s going to be at his peak doing that. But there are definitely times, and there were times last year, when he played when a DH day would have done him good. We’re going to have that option now.”
The blueprint was meant to keep Guerrero, who DH’d 42 games last year, and Anderson, who served the spot for 20 games, injury-free and healthy in September and October as both have battled several maladies in recent years. In fact, Guerrero said his right elbow, the one that caused him to DH in 17 of 20 September games, has some lingering pain.
Oftentimes players don’t like submitting to DH duties – it can signal the declining arc of their career and several have said they feel more comfortable being a whole part of the game. So it might take some selling by the club to change some minds.
“I don’t think it’s selling. I think it’s what we have,” Scioscia said. “All those guys are
going to put winning ahead of anything and I think they know the situation. They know where we are now. On any given day somebody’s obviously going to be DH-ing. We’re going to use it as a tool to keep those guys fresh and keep those bats in the lineup.”
Anderson said he wouldn’t fit Scioscia about the ultimate decision but recalled when he, Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Darin Erstad were all with the team and in a similar situation. That year, 1999, Edmonds injured his shoulder and the other three played regularly.
“I wouldn’t use the word fight, I don’t think it’s smart to fight anyone you’re on the same side with, but obviously, there will be a resolution to it, one way or another,” Anderson said.