Salt Lake Bees: Veteran outfielder bides his time with S.L. club

By Loren Jorgensen
Deseret News
Published: Friday, April 11, 2008 1:05 a.m. MDT
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Terry Evans would likely be in the major leagues with many franchises right now. After all, the 26-year-old Georgia native was a Triple-A All-Star who hit .316 for the Salt Lake Bees while playing nearly flawless defense at all three outfield positions in 2007.

Unfortunately for Evans — but fortunately for the 2008 Bees — he plays for a franchise that is loaded with star outfielders.

Like that old Disney movie says, there are Angels in the outfield. Too many of them, in fact, for Evans to get his opportunity, at least right now.

The parent Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim already had a deep, veteran outfield corps that included former MVP Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Rivera and former Bee Reggie Willits, who was one of the top rookies in the American League in 2007. Then they added seven-time All-Star Torii Hunter through free agency during the offseason.

That means the Angels have enough quality, experienced players to field two full outfields.

That, of course, makes it hard for a young outfield prospect like Evans to get his big-league chance. So he is back with the Bees and expected to once again be one of the best outfielders in the Pacific Coast League, both offensively and defensively.

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"It would be easy to get discouraged knowing you are behind probably the best outfield in the major leagues right now, but it's not going to do any good worrying about who is in front of me," Evans said. "All I can worry about is how I am playing where I am. I figure as long as you are playing well, the opportunity will be there sooner or later."

So the newly married Evans has taken his return to Salt Lake in stride. In fact, he's looking forward to once again being a Bee.

"I love it here (in Salt Lake)," said Evans, who can play any of the three outfield positions defensively. "This is a great place to play, great fans, great facility. I love the city so I'm excited to be back."

Of course, as much as he may like Utah, Evans' goal is to return to the Angels where he spent 26 days on two stints last summer and fall.

"Once you get a taste of it (in the majors), you want to stay up there," Evans said. "But all you can do is play where they put you and play to the best of your ability and wait your turn."

Bees manager Bobby Mitchell knows it's just a matter of time before Evans gets recalled by the Angels.

"It's a tough situation for Terry because the Angels do have a lot of great outfielders," Mitchell said. "But he has to stay ready because there is always that chance of someone getting traded or going down with an injury. For that reason, Terry's a good guy for our organization to have because he could step up and play well for the Angels if they need him to."

In the meantime, the Bees will be the benefactors of the Angels' depth in the outfield.

E-mail: lojo@desnews.com

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Bees outfielder Terry Evans catches a fly ball at the wall against the Colorado Sky Sox at Franklin Covey Field last year. (Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning News)
Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning News
Bees outfielder Terry Evans catches a fly ball at the wall against the Colorado Sky Sox at Franklin Covey Field last year.