As deadline approaches, Harvey not close to signing

Eight days before the new Aug. 15 deadline to sign players from the amateur draft, the Angels are no closer to reeling in third-round pick Matt Harvey than they were when they selected the highly touted high school pitcher two months ago.

Harvey, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound right-hander from Groton, Conn., was a projected first-round pick who fell to the third round, 118th overall, because most teams feared advisor Scott Boras’ asking price, believed to be in the $2.5-million range.

The Angels, having had some success with difficult-to-sign Boras clients -- see Jered Weaver, 2005 -- took a chance on Harvey, hoping they might get first-round talent at later-round prices. But scouting director Eddie Bane said the Angels have been thwarted in their attempts to negotiate with Harvey.

“We’ve made several attempts to contact the family through Scott’s office, and they’ve had absolutely no interest in talking to us,” Bane said. “Neither Scott nor the family has negotiated one dime with us. They’ve refused to answer our calls.”

Boras said his office “has not received any calls from the Angels regarding Harvey,” and even if it did, NCAA rules prohibit him from dealing with the Angels directly. He can only advise Harvey, who has signed a letter of intent with college power North Carolina.

“The Angels wrote a letter and called once; they haven’t made an offer,” Boras said. “A lot of teams will get serious on Aug. 13.”

Bane still thinks the Angels have a “50-50 chance” of signing Harvey and said he would make an offer this week. It appears the Angels are approaching Harvey as they did Weaver, who was given a take-it-or-leave-it, $4-million offer that Weaver took at the end of a contentious, year-long negotiation.

“They haven’t thrown out a price to us,” Bane said. “We’re going to do like we always do. We’ll set the price, and we’re not going to be swayed by what an agent tells us he’s worth.”

The Angels signed their top pick, high school pitcher Jon Bachanov, for $550,000. He was the 58th overall pick, between the first and second rounds.

Bane wouldn’t say what the Angels will offer Harvey, who went 6-1 with an 0.49 earned-run average and 112 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings as a high school senior. But he acknowledged Harvey’s value “is better than where we picked him.”

Neither Harvey, who has spent the summer in Ohio pitching for a traveling all-star team, nor his father, Ed, his high school coach, returned calls Monday.

But Ed Harvey told the Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin last week that the Angels “have sent notes, left messages, but there have been no negotiations. We’re getting a little anxious, but it’s not in our ballpark, it’s in theirs. How much will they offer him to keep him from going to North Carolina?”

Tim Mead, Angels vice president of communications, said the team “has not heard a thing” from Major League Baseball since last week’s Associated Press report that the Angels were among the front-runners to play the Red Sox in a season-opening series in Japan next year.

Boston, which has a natural draw in pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, reportedly has reservations about opening the season in Japan. Oakland has expressed interest in such a series.

Infielder Eric Aybar, who missed six weeks because of a right wrist injury, was activated off the disabled list Monday, and reliever Marcus Gwyn was sent to triple-A Salt Lake. . . . After going 1-1 with a 6.05 ERA in three triple-A starts, demoted right-hander Ervin Santana gave up two earned runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out 10 against Round Rock on Monday.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com