Rio Mesa’s Young Will Sign With Cardinals : Baseball: Power-hitting infielder is expected to receive $385,000 bonus and report to rookie league team.

Rio Mesa High baseball standout Dmitri Young has agreed to terms with the St. Louis Cardinals and is expected to sign a professional contract Thursday that includes a reported $385,000 bonus.

According to a published report, Young is scheduled to report Sunday to the Cardinals’ rookie league team at Johnson City, Tenn., a member of the Appalachian League.

Young (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) was the fourth player selected in the June amateur draft. He set several Southern Section career batting records as a four-year starter at Rio Mesa.

Larry Young, Dmitri’s father, reportedly reached a verbal agreement on the terms of the contract via telephone with Dal Maxvill, the Cardinals’ general manager and vice president. The contract also calls for St. Louis to provide funds for Young’s college tuition.

The Youngs could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Marty Keough, the team’s West Coast scouting supervisor, and regional scout Chuck Menzhuber are expected to attend the signing, Menzhuber said Tuesday.

In each of his four seasons, Young was selected the state’s top player in his high school class by Cal-Hi Sports magazine.

Last spring, Young hit a career-high 11 home runs, tops among teams in the region. In his first season as a switch-hitter, he batted .425, drove in 31 runs and added eight doubles.

Young played shortstop this season but is projected as a professional third baseman or outfielder--positions he played earlier in his Rio Mesa career. He is expected to play rookie ball until September, when he will be sent to an instructional league. He will earn $850 per month at Johnson City, the standard rookie league wage.

Last spring, Young signed a national letter of intent to play at Miami, one of several NCAA teams to pursue him.

In his high school career, Young had 159 hits in 329 at-bats (.483), with 36 doubles, 29 home runs and 127 RBIs. He scored 137 runs.

Young was coveted by several teams. In a recent issue of The Sporting News, Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox said that Young “can run, he switch-hits, he has power. He looks like a young Bo Jackson.” In the magazine’s draft analysis, Young and outfielder Mike Kelly of Arizona State, the 1990 NCAA Division I college player of the year, were termed the most “exciting” position players selected in the draft.

In an accompanying story that surveyed several major league baseball managers, general managers, coaches and scouts, Young was tabbed as a likely member of the All-Star team for 1996.

Young, The Times Ventura County player of the year this season, was the third area high school player in as many seasons to be drafted fourth or higher.

In 1989, right-hander Roger Salkeld of Saugus High was drafted third overall by the Seattle Mariners. Last spring, catcher Mike Lieberthal of Westlake was selected third by the Philadelphia Phillies.