BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Davis Agrees to 3-Year Deal

Designated hitter Chili Davis has been brooding over the team’s April decision to renege on a three-year deal he agreed to over the winter. “The two words I’d used to describe how I felt were disappointment and frustration,” Davis said.

Thursday those emotions were replaced by “happiness and appreciation.” Davis, 35, agreed to a three-year, $11.4-million deal that virtually ensures he’ll finish his career in an Angel uniform and renewed his faith in a club he has criticized.

The deal, which Davis said was virtually the same as the one pulled off the table last month, also means the Angels will avoid a June arbitration hearing, for which Davis had a submitted a one-year salary figure of $5.1 million. The Angels countered with $4.3 million.

“There’s no better feeling than being wanted by someone, and I’ve experienced that today,” said Davis, who has been the team’s top hitter the last two seasons with 53 home runs and 196 runs batted in. “I hope it will show in my performance.”

Davis had been feeling overlooked in recent weeks. The switch-hitter last winter reached a tentative agreement on a multiyear deal that the Angels and Davis’ agents began working on last July.

But signing freezes imposed by the owners and players during the strike, financial losses suffered by the team and uncertainty surrounding future Angel ownership threw the deal into limbo as players returned to work in April.

Angel owner Jackie Autry, apparently concerned with the prospect of making a long-term financial commitment to a 35-year-old player, pulled the deal off the table.

Davis wondered why teammates Mark Langston, Tim Salmon and Gary DiSarcina were rewarded with long-term contracts last season, and his frustration came to a head Wednesday when he said he believed he has been a victim of racism by the Angels.

“I think it’s been used against me at some point,” Davis told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. “They’ve taken care of all the white players in this organization, they always have. Unless you’re Reggie Jackson or some superstar. . . .”

Davis said he was unaware his agents and the Angels were closing in on a deal when made those comments, which he claimed were “more wondering aloud than accusing anyone.” He apologized Thursday.

“There was a lot of frustration coming out, but it wasn’t directed as a fact,” Davis said. “If I felt that way at all, I would not have signed this contract.”