BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT

The Angels will retain shortstop Gary DiSarcina for the rest of this century--they signed him Wednesday to a four-year, $11.7-million contract extension that will make him one of the 10 highest-paid shortstops in baseball.

“I think this will give No. 9 hitters a lot of inspiration,” said DiSarcina, in his fifth season with the Angels. “I’m from Massachusetts, I didn’t have a lot of talent coming up, but I never got too down on myself and kept grinding it out. . . . I think I showed a lot of perseverance.”

DiSarcina’s steady and sometimes spectacular defensive play is the main reason the Angels will pay him $2.6 million in 1997, $2.7 million in ‘98, $3.125 million in ’99 and $3.25 million in 2000.

A team option for a fifth year, at $3.5 million, becomes guaranteed if DiSarcina, who would have been eligible for arbitration after this season, makes 1,200 plate appearances in the last three years of the deal. The package also includes $750,000 in award incentives.

“He’s a very solid, everyday shortstop, and those guys are difficult to find,” said General Manager Bill Bavasi, who since January has also signed Chuck Finley, Jim Abbott, Jim Edmonds, J.T. Snow and Troy Percival to multiyear deals. “We think we have a chance to be a pretty good club, and we want to keep these guys together.”

“It’s just a big burden off my shoulders,” said DiSarcina, who is batting .231. “It’s been hovering over me for two months, but I can breath now. It will be a lot easier going up to the plate now than before, when I was thinking every at-bat could be the difference between a one-year deal and a four-year deal.”

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Following the blueprint of the Cleveland Indians, who have signed numerous young stars to long-term deals, is not cheap. In 1998, the Angels will have about $17 million invested in six players--Finley, Abbott, Edmonds, Snow, DiSarcina and Percival. Add a new contract for Tim Salmon, and that figure will probably bump to $21 million for seven players. The Angels’ current payroll is about $26 million.

“But that’s the way winners are built,” DiSarcina said. “Plus, knowing we’re going to have a nucleus of six or seven guys who are going to be around for a while might help us attract a free-agent pitcher. Stability is a big thing now.”

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Angel pitchers had given up a home run in 14 consecutive games until Wednesday. . . . The 14 runs by the Angels were the most they have scored--and the most the White Sox have given up--in a game this season. . . . Reliever Chuck McElroy pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to improve to 4-0, the most wins he has had in a season since 1992. . . . The Angels have come from behind in 20 of their 37 victories.