BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Archives Plundered in Quest for Cheap Right-handers

Filling a need for right-handed pitching but mindful of financial constraints, the Angels signed veterans Mike Bielecki, 35, and Scott Sanderson, 38, to minor-league contracts.

Both were participating in a series of free-agent workouts at Homestead, Fla.

The Angel rotation has been dominated by left-handers, notably Chuck Finley and Mark Langston. Add Brian Anderson, Andrew Lorraine and Joe Magrane, and the Angels could field an all-left-handed rotation.

“You might not like their age, but right now, in our spot, they’re just what the doctor ordered, just what we need,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said.

Bielecki pitched mostly in relief for the Atlanta Braves last season, recording a 2-0 record and a 4.00 earned-run average in 27 innings.

Sanderson was 8-4 with one complete game and a 5.09 ERA in 18 games, including 14 starts, for the Chicago White Sox. With the Angels in 1993, he was 7-11 with a 4.46 ERA when they released him July 28.

With Julio Valera returning from surgery on his right elbow and Phil Leftwich on the mend from surgery on his right shoulder, the Angels needed help.

*

Chili Davis expressed frustration over the Angels’ failure to sign him to the three-year, $11.25-million deal he had agreed to over the winter, saying it was an extension of a pattern in his dealings with the club.

When he asked for a contract extension in 1990, the Angels instead gave Gary Gaetti a four-year, $11.4-million deal. Davis then went to the Minnesota Twins as a free agent. When he returned in ‘93, he asked again for a multiyear deal, but the team made a one-year commitment to Davis and signed Gary DiSarcina, Langston and Tim Salmon to long-term deals.

“It has happened one too many times,” Davis said.

*

The Angels signed pitchers Valera, Erik Bennett, Ken Edenfield and Mark Holzemer, leaving 20 unsigned players in camp. Valera will earn $175,000, the same as in 1994. Bennett and Edenfield will receive $109,000 and Holzemer $112,000. . . . KMPC (710) will broadcast all 12 spring training games, beginning with Thursday’s game against Milwaukee at 1 p.m.