Team Increases Offer to Konerko

The Angels remain in the hunt for free-agent slugger Paul Konerko and are believed to have bumped their initial four-year offer to the Chicago White Sox first baseman to five years and about $60 million.

Konerko, who hit .283 with 40 home runs and 100 runs batted in, is expected to travel to Anaheim this week to meet with Angel officials, and he could make a decision before next week’s winter meetings in Dallas.

The only other teams alive in the bidding for Konerko are the White Sox, who are reluctant to go a fifth year but, according to a team source, would do so if Konerko receives five-year proposals from other teams, and the Baltimore Orioles, who are willing to add a fifth year to their initial four-year, $50-million offer but are still long-shots to sign Konerko.

If Konerko leaves Chicago, he prefers to play on the West Coast and spend spring training near his Scottsdale, Ariz., home.

Konerko is also said to be very fond of Angel Manager Mike Scioscia and coaches Mickey Hatcher, Ron Roenicke and Alfredo Griffin, all of whom have ties to the Dodgers, the team that selected Konerko in the first round of the 1994 draft.

The Angels have also discussed a possible trade for Boston slugger Manny Ramirez, but that appears to be on the backburner while the Angels focus on Konerko.

A successful pursuit of Konerko would probably push first baseman Darin Erstad back to center field and block the path of promising first baseman Casey Kotchman.

The White Sox say re-signing Konerko remains a top priority despite their recent trade for Philadelphia first baseman Jim Thome, who is already recruiting Konerko.

“I put a call into him this weekend, but we have not talked,� Thome said in a Chicago news conference Monday. “I’ve known Paulie for a long time.... For me, I wanted him to know from my end to come back, please.�

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Though the Angels don’t plan to match the three-year, roughly $18-million offer the New York Mets gave to Bengie Molina, there is still a chance they could retain the free-agent catcher.

According to a source, the Angels will offer Molina salary arbitration in December.

If free-agent catcher Ramon Hernandez, who also received a three-year offer from the Mets, commits to New York first and Molina doesn’t receive any other lucrative offers, Molina could accept arbitration and attempt to spin a lucrative one-year contract with the Angels into a two-year deal.

“The Angels are not out of it,� said Alan Nero, Molina’s agent. “They will remain in it as long as Bengie and I keep them in it.�

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Bo McKinnis, the agent for Paul Byrd, said the free-agent right-hander “definitely is still interested in the Angels, and [Angel General Manager] Bill Stoneman has let us know the Angels are still interested in Paul.�

Byrd, who went 12-11 with a 3.74 earned-run average last season, has received two-year offers from the Orioles and Rangers, and the Angels appear willing to come up from their initial one-year offer.... The Angels extended the contracts of Roenicke (bench coach), Hatcher (hitting coach), Griffin (first-base coach) and Orlando Mercado (bullpen coach) through the 2007 season. Pitching coach Bud Black is also signed through 2007.