Angels Face Another Deal Gone Awry : Baseball: After learning Gruber will undergo shoulder surgery, team might ask to rescind trade with Toronto.

In yet another trade that might have embarrassing repercussions for the Angels, third baseman Kelly Gruber is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic shoulder surgery today that will cause him to miss the start of the season.

The operation is expected to be performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood.

Gruber took a flight Monday to Los Angeles, and Centinela officials said he is scheduled to check in today.

Gruber apparently sustained a shoulder injury during the World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays, although he played in all six games. He underwent a magnetic resonance imaging test on his left shoulder last month. Surgery was recommended last week.

“I know Kelly feels bad about this, but at least it’s not his throwing shoulder,” his mother, Gloria Gruber, said. “I told him you’ve got to take care of your body. It’s your livelihood. Even if you miss the whole season, what’s the big deal?”

Gruber is expected to play this season. Gloria Gruber said that if further surgery is not required, her son will begin rehabilitation in six to eight weeks, making it possible to join the lineup before May.

It also is possible the Angels will take action to assure that Gruber will never play a game for them.

They are contemplating asking American League President Bobby Brown to rescind the trade, according to Whitey Herzog, vice president/player personnel. The Angels gave up infielder Luis Sojo in the December trade and are required to pay Gruber $2.5 million of his $4 million salary this season.

“I don’t know what the hell will happen if he can’t play at all,” Herzog said. “I talked to (Toronto General Manager) Pat Gillick, and he said they were as surprised as we were. So I’m not sure what the next step is.

“It’s possible we could restructure the deal or even call it off. If we pursue something, it’s probably going up to the league president. I don’t think we want Sojo back, but we don’t want to be paying a guy $2.5 million if he can’t play, either.”

The Angels didn’t become aware of Gruber’s ailments until he arrived in Anaheim last month for an introductory news conference. He said then he still is troubled by a bulging disk in his neck, and that his shoulder has not properly healed from the World Series.

“It was the first time any of us had ever heard that,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said at the news conference. “I was shocked. I think we all were.”

Gruber missed five games last season with a jammed right shoulder when he slipped in the shower, and he was on the disabled list June 28 for left knee and hamstring injuries. He also complained of a chronic stiff neck, but never informed the Blue Jays of an injury to his left shoulder.

“We really don’t know how serious this is,” Herzog said. “They say he’s better one minute, and the next thing you hear is that he’s not.

“Dr. Yocum seemed to think it wasn’t that serious, but who the hell knows?”

Herzog said he was unaware of Gruber’s scheduled surgery, but acknowledged that Gruber has undergone at least one MRI and been examined by specialists.

“I’m concerned, just like we all are,” Herzog said. “Thank God we’ve got (third baseman) Rene Gonzales, or we’d really have some problems.”

Still, it hardly eases the Angels’ embarrassment of trading for what Herzog calls “damaged goods.”

Last month they traded for pitcher Jeff Tuss of the Montreal Expos, only to learn that he was retiring from baseball to play football at Fresno State. They wound up receiving another player in place of Tuss.

This time, considering that Gruber is a two-time all-star and Gold Glove winner, there may be no simple solution. Gruber, who will turn 31 on Friday, was expected to bat sixth in the lineup and anchor the defense.

“I know it doesn’t sound good, but we had no idea he was injured,” said one Blue Jay executive, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. “He played the last six weeks for us and all through the playoffs. Sure, he was banged up, and any team that did their homework would know that.

“But I’d feel terrible if he couldn’t play much this season. You don’t trade an injured player. You just don’t do that.”