BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : A Cuban Refugee to Be No. 1 Pick?

Several team sources say the Angels are “95% sure” they’ll use the No. 1 pick in next Thursday’s draft on Nebraska outfielder Darin Erstad, but an intriguing prospect has emerged in the last 10 days, and there’s a slight chance the Angels might shuffle their plans.

The Angels have been scrambling to gather background information on a pitcher named Ariel Prieto, a Cuban refugee who recently began playing for the Palm Springs Suns of the independent Western Baseball League.

The Angels are interested in Prieto’s 93-m.p.h. fastball and his nasty slider, which many scouts believe are good enough to place Prieto in a major league rotation by the end of this season.

The Angels sent four scouts to watch Prieto pitch Sunday, and they were among 60 to 80 scouts on hand. The Florida Marlins, who have the sixth selection, are very interested in Prieto, who is expected to be a first-round pick.

Prieto, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound right-hander, was a member of the powerful Cuban national team, which went 11-0 in international play and set a national team record for strikeouts in one game with 20 against Nicaragua in 1990.

There is some discrepancy between Prieto’s listed age (25) and the age some scouts believe Prieto actually is (27-30), but the potential to draft a pitcher who could start in the major leagues this season has vaulted him above Seton Hall’s Matt Morris on the Angels’ pitching charts.

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Reliever Mike James, on the disabled list since May 11 because of a strained muscle in his neck, is scheduled to make rehabilitative appearances at Class-A Lake Elsinore today and Saturday before being activated next week.

However, starter Brian Anderson, on the DL because of a strained left biceps, may make as many as three minor league starts, meaning he might not rejoin the Angel rotation until mid-June. “My arm feels great, but mentally I feel like crap,” Anderson said.

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The Angel pitching staff entered Wednesday night’s game with an American League-leading 3.57 earned-run average and also had the league’s best strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.04 to 1).