Angels Hope to Close Deal for Oriole Reliever Smith

The Angels have prepared a two-year contract offer for free-agent closer Lee Smith and hope to sign him within 10 days.

“It’s very possible we could come to an agreement soon,” said Brian David, Smith’s agent. “We’ve been moving in a hurry.”

The Angels, originally considered long shots in the bidding for Smith, are said to be willing to offer Smith a two-year guaranteed contract that would pay a base salary of about $2 million a year, plus incentives and award bonuses.

Tim Mead, the Angel assistant general manager who’s negotiating the deal with David, declined to confirm or deny the offer.

Smith saved a major league-leading 33 games for Baltimore last season, and was on pace for his fourth consecutive 40-plus save season until the Aug. 12 strike. Smith, 37, baseball’s all-time saves leader, has produced at least 29 saves in 11 of the last 12 seasons.

The Angels, saddled with the league’s worst-ranked bullpen last season, have had a reliever save 25 games only twice in their 34-year franchise history.

Last year, the Houston Astros offered a free-agent contract to Smith to become a setup man for Mitch Williams. This time, the Angels want Williams to be the setup man for Smith.

“Lee enjoyed Baltimore, but I wouldn’t say that’s a clear preference for him,” David said. “Lee wants to get the right deal and the right situation. That could be Baltimore, or that could be somewhere else.”

In other news, Angel pitcher Mark Leiter was honored Thursday as the fifth recipient of the Tony Conigliaro award. The award is presented to a major league player “who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage that were trademarks of Tony C.”

Leiter’s 9-month-old son died April 4, 1994, of spinal muscular atrophy. Yet, Leiter started five days later, and yielded two runs in six innings in the Angels’ 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Also, Angel first baseman J.T. Snow was diagnosed Thursday with a sprained biceps tendon of the left shoulder. Snow, who injured the shoulder a month ago playing in Venezuela, will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging test Wednesday to ensure surgery is not necessary.

Snow, who batted only left-handed in Venezuela, said he will return to switch-hitting for the 1995 season. “I’ll go with what got me where I am,” he said.