Lefferts, 36, Signs for One Year With Angels : Baseball: Left-hander will be used primarily as middle reliever or setup man but might be a spot starter.

It hardly is the elixir to all of their bullpen woes, but the Angels acquired what they believe will be invaluable experience Thursday when they signed left-hander Craig Lefferts to a one-year contract.

Lefferts is guaranteed $400,000 in 1994 and is eligible to earn a total of $900,000 in incentives if he appears in 68 games or pitches 90 innings.

Lefferts, 36, the Texas Rangers’ opening day starter last season, becomes the Angels’ first free-agent signee of the winter. He will be used primarily as a middle reliever and setup man, but also can be a spot starter.

“We’re realistic about everything,” Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi said, “but we think he can help us.”

Lefferts, who made eight starts and 44 relief appearances last season for Texas, was 3-9 with a 6.05 earned-run average. He became a free agent after last season when the Rangers did not exercise the option on his $1.1-million contract.

“My numbers were bad,” said Lefferts, who was 2-4 with a 3.86 ERA in relief, “but they don’t show what I could do. I’m looking forward to pitching a whole lot of innings, and providing leadership.”

Lefferts not only becomes the oldest member of the Angels, but his 666 career games are twice the combined total of the entire Angel bullpen. Lefferts fills the void left by Steve Frey, who signed with the San Francisco Giants.

“Steve’s departure opened up a slot,” said agent Steve Comte, who also represents Frey. “If you look across the board, Craig was the best left-hander available. I honestly believe that Craig wants to prove to people that last year was an aberration.”

Bavasi also had contract negotiations Thursday with free-agent left-hander Bob Patterson and Angel reliever Joe Grahe, who’s eligible for salary arbitration. Grahe is expected to file today for arbitration if no agreement is reached, and exchange salary figures Tuesday.

The Angels still are holding out hope of signing free-agent reliever Gregg Olson. They have offered an incentive-laden proposal that could turn into a four-year contract if Olson remains healthy. Jeff Moorad, Olson’s agent, said a decision is expected to be made within a week.