Signing of Clement Might Come Today

The Angels have identified Matt Clement as their top target in the free-agent pitching market and are confident they will be able to sign the former Chicago Cub right-hander to a three-year deal in the $21-million range, perhaps as early as today or Monday.

“It appears that we’re going to have an opportunity to get something done in an area we expected to get something done,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said Saturday, alluding to the team’s pursuit of a starting pitcher but declining to identify the player. “We’ve had conversations that suggest to us that there’s a pretty good chance of getting something done. I have a good feeling about it.”

The Angels were also monitoring the Jaret Wright situation Saturday and were poised to offer the former Atlanta Brave right-hander a one-year contract if his three-year, $21-million agreement with the New York Yankees fell through.

But ESPN reported late Saturday that after failing his physical, Wright took another one Saturday night and passed, paving the way for the eight-year veteran and son of former Angel pitcher Clyde Wright to finalize his deal with the Yankees.

With Carl Pavano closing in on a four-year, $39-million deal with the Yankees on Saturday, Russ Ortiz signing a four-year, $33-million deal with Arizona on Friday and Eric Milton on the verge of signing with the Yankees, the Angels decided to move quickly on Clement, one of the few remaining starters on their free-agent priority list.

Barry Axelrod, Clement’s agent, met with Stoneman during the winter meetings at the Anaheim Marriott on Friday night, spoke by phone again with Stoneman on Saturday night and said Clement would “love to play in Southern California.”

But the Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals remain in the hunt for Clement, and general managers from two of those teams, Paul DePodesta of the Dodgers and Mark Shapiro of the Indians, said they received no indication as of Saturday night that they had fallen out of the running.

“I wouldn’t want to create an overly optimistic scenario,” Axelrod said of the Angels. “There are a lot of positive things to say about the situation, and I had a great meeting with Bill, but there are still other viable candidates that we have to sort through.”

Clement, 30, went 9-13 with the Chicago Cubs last season but had a 3.68 earned-run average, striking out 190 in 181 innings -- an average of 9.45 per nine innings -- and walking 77. He gave up 155 hits, 23 of them home runs, and held opponents to a .229 batting average.

Clement, who made $6 million in 2004, has a 69-75 career record and 4.34 ERA, but in this winter’s market for starting pitchers -- Kris Benson also signed a three-year, $22.5-million deal with the New York Mets and Jon Lieber signed a three-year, $21-million deal with Philadelphia -- Clement’s value jumped.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has a lively number of pitches, including a sinking fastball in the 93-mph range, a hard slider and a changeup. He had trouble controlling his pitches early in his career but has showed better command in recent years.

Many scouts believe Clement still hasn’t fulfilled his potential, and he has been inconsistent for much of his seven-year career, failing to maintain his stuff through entire games and from start to start.

Clement is not considered a top-of-the-rotation starter but would provide quality depth for an Angel rotation that would consist of Bartolo Colon, Kelvim Escobar, Clement, Jarrod Washburn and John Lackey.

“The Angels are among Matt’s top contenders,” Axelrod said. “Their stock went up when they signed [center fielder] Steve Finley [on Friday]. That had a ripple effect. It improved their defense and their offense.”

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Stoneman is also trying to add a proven reliever to a bullpen that lost closer Troy Percival. But the GM said he is not pursuing a shortstop, a position incumbent David Eckstein and newly acquired Maicer Izturis will compete for in the spring.

“That’s not really where our focus is now,” Stoneman said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t stumble into something, though.”

Stoneman added that the designated hitter spot “is not where our focus is.”

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Before signing Finley, Stoneman phoned Garret Anderson to apprise him of the deal and reiterate the team’s decision to move Anderson from center field to left.

“I told him about Finley and he said, ‘Great,’ ” Stoneman said. “I told him he’s in left field, and he said, ‘Great.’ It was a good conversation.”

Anderson, limited to 112 games last season because of a back problem, told Stoneman he was feeling so good he believed he could go off his medication when spring training starts.

“That’s good news,” Stoneman said. “He was as upbeat as he’s ever been.”