BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : First-Round Choice Perez Is Signed

The Angels signed Eduardo Perez, their first-round pick and 17th overall in the recent amateur free agent draft. Perez, a first baseman-outfielder at Florida State, was assigned to Class-A Boise of the Northwest League.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed. The signing took place in Cincinnati, where Perez lives and where his father, Tony, played many years for the Reds.

“We’re looking at him as an outfielder. He’ll play one of the corner spots,” said Bob Fontaine Jr., the Angels’ scouting director.

“We’ll probably start him in left, then make a determination. With his running and throwing ability, we want to put him out there.”

Fontaine said he has no schedule for Perez’s progress. “When you have the type of player Eduardo is, anything is possible, but we don’t want to put pressure on the club or on the boy with any timetable,” Fontaine said.

Perez, who bats and throws right-handed, hit .377 as a junior last season. “I was pretty serious (about returning to school). I had every intention of getting my degree,” he said. “But you just have to move on.”

Perez, who has no preference between outfield or first base, had his father and mother, Pituka, handle his contract negotiations. “The Angels are a class organization. They’ve shown that through the dealing,” he said. “I’m happy everything’s come out the way it has.”

Luis Polonia’s sixth-inning steal of second was his 27th stolen base, giving him the league lead by one over the Oakland Athletics’ Rickey Henderson. It was the Angel’s 18th consecutive successful steal, a club record.

Reliever Bryan Harvey made a surprise discovery when a fan gave him his 1991 Topps baseball card to sign.

A breakdown of Harvey’s pitching repertoire is listed on the back of the card, with the percentage of time he throws each pitch. According to Topps, he throws a fastball, a curveball, a slider and a changeup--although he doesn’t throw a curve or slider and gets a large percentage of outs with his forkball. “Guess I’m going to be working on my curveball now,” he said.