Free-Agent Travis Lee Makes the Rounds

The free-agent shopping season began earlier than expected for the Angels when San Diego State first baseman Travis Lee, the No. 2 pick in the 1996 draft, met with front-office officials before Wednesday’s game.

Lee, a Minnesota Twin selection, was one of three picks declared free agents Tuesday because of contract technicalities--Lee and pitchers John Patterson (Montreal, fifth pick) and Matt White (San Francisco, seventh pick) did not receive written offers within 15 days of the draft, a violation of baseball rules.

“This is great,” said Lee, a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team. “I never got recruited out of high school, so this is my first recruiting trip.”

Lee, 6 feet 3 and 205 pounds, was not drafted out of Capital High in Olympia, Wash., but blossomed into a top prospect this season at San Diego State, where he hit .355 with 14 homers and 60 runs batted in.

*

The Angels have given up 213 home runs this season, breaking the team record of 212, set in 1987. . . . Final 1996 home attendance for the Angels was 1,820,333, an average of 22,473. . . . Saturday’s game at Texas, originally scheduled for 5:30 p.m. PDT, has been moved up to 10 a.m. to accommodate Fox, which will televise the game instead of Channel 9. . . . Numerous prizes, including round-trip air fare for two anywhere in the domestic U.S. on American Airlines, went unclaimed during the Angels’ fan appreciation weekend. For information, call the Angels at (714) 937-7200.