BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Angels Won’t Punt No. 1 Pick

Maybe it’s the euphoria generated by their impressive start or the knowledge that the Walt Disney Co. will soon be picking up the tab.

Maybe it’s simply the recognition that today’s draft of eligible college and high school players represents a golden opportunity to enhance their future.

Whatever the stimulus, strange and giddy things are happening in Anaheim.

The Angels have the No. 1 choice in today’s draft by virtue of their American League-worst record last year. Scouting director Bob Fontaine Jr. and staff have been commissioned to select the best player. Signability is secondary.

An organization that has often put economics at the top of its draft agenda--and claims to have lost $11 million last year and says it might lose $12.5 million this year--has relaxed the budget to the extent that one club official said “money is simply not a factor” in the pursuit of its likely No. 1, Nebraska outfielder-punter Darin Erstad.

“We didn’t have to establish his signability,” the official said. “We haven’t really discussed that yet. We only had to be convinced that he wants to play, which he does.

“We’re prepared to match last year’s [figures] and hope they don’t escalate.”

Last year’s first pick, Florida State pitcher Paul Wilson, received a $1.55-million signing bonus from the New York Mets. The Florida Marlins, picking fifth, gave shortstop Josh Booty a record $1.6-million bonus to give up his football scholarship to Louisiana State.

First-round bonuses have been rising about 30% a year. Last year’s average was $791,000.

Fontaine and staff, despite tight economics, have helped revitalize the Angels’ system. Four regulars--Tim Salmon, Gary DiSarcina, Jim Edmonds and Damion Easley--are farm products. A fifth, Chad Curtis, was used to acquire Tony Phillips, and a sixth, Eduardo Perez, shared third base with Spike Owen before being sent down Wednesday.

Last year, when Fontaine drew criticism for using the No. 6 pick on high school outfielder McKay Christensen, who will not return from a Mormon mission in Japan until next summer, instead of Pepperdine pitcher Cade Gaspar, the Angels’ entire draft budget was estimated to be $1.5 million.

Prudence was in order. Christensen received $700,000. Gaspar received $825,000 from the Detroit Tigers, drafting 18th, and could have asked for $1 million if he had been picked sixth by the Angels.

The new draft budget is estimated to be $2.5 million.

“We’re not happy that we finished last in 1994, but that’s in the past,” club President Richard Brown said. “We’re excited about the opportunities we have in this draft. We intend to pick the best player. We believe he can help us within a couple years.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Erstad batted .410 with 19 home runs and 76 runs batted in as a junior, after finishing 14th among Division I punters with a 42.6-yard average.

“The bio in the Nebraska yearbook is a public relation man’s dream,” an Angel official said. “As an athlete, competitor and person, we haven’t heard a negative word about him.”

The Angels project Erstad as a center fielder and rate him higher than Rice’s Jose Cruz Jr., expected to be the next outfielder chosen today, in every category except arm strength.

The 1995 draft extends through Saturday and is deep in high school talent. The San Diego Padres, drafting second, are expected to select switch-hitting catcher Ben Davis of Malvern Prep in Pennsylvania. The Seattle Mariners, drafting third, are leaning to Cruz or pitcher Ariel Prieto, a former Cuban national team pitcher now with the Palm Springs Sun of the independent Western League.

Many teams, including the Angels, think Prieto, with a 90-m.p.h.-plus fastball and a wicked slider, could be pitching in the majors by the end of the season. He is something of a wild card, likely to go anywhere in the first round, from third down. He would be the oldest player ever selected in the first round, whether he is 25, the age on his passport, or closer to 30, as many scouts contend.

The Dodgers draft 20th, and Executive Vice President Fred Claire said: “I think the first 10 selections are reasonably predictable, but after that there’s likely to be a tremendous shuffling of scenarios.”

The Dodgers are known to think highly of USC shortstop Gabe Alvarez. And USC outfielder Geoff Jenkins is expected to go in the first round to the Oakland Athletics, drafting fifth, or the Milwaukee Brewers, drafting ninth.

Referring to the financial impact of the recent strike, Claire said he is hopeful there will be a depreciation in first-round bonuses.

Characteristic of the escalation is this: The only other time the Angels had a No. 1 was 1975, when they signed catcher Danny Goodwin for a modest $100,000.

Goodwin had less-than-modest success but he is not alone. There are many examples of the risk in an inexact science.

Consider the misery that has befallen Booty since receiving his record booty last June.

He got mononucleosis, which limited his Class A debut to four games, then a bad back cut short his instructional league work last fall. There was a miserable start in his return to Class A this spring--he struck out 45 times in his first 109 at-bats--and a three-game suspension for carving grooves in his bat. Then, Booty suffered a knee injury that required surgery on May 18 and will keep him sidelined until midsummer.

The Angels have experienced their own misfortunes over the years but hope to be luckier with Erstad. They are apparently prepared to pay big for the chance.