Team, Saunders Come to Terms

A day after making pitcher Joe Saunders their No. 1 pick, the Angels signed him.

Saunders, who pitched at Virginia Tech, had agreed to a pre-draft deal that will pay him a $1.825-million signing bonus, according to baseball sources.

“The financial part of it was not a big deal for me or my agent,” Saunders said.

The financial part was probably a contributing factor in the Angels selecting him 12th overall.

Casey Kotchman, the Angels’ top pick in 2001, was the 13th player taken overall and signed for $2.075 million.

“It’s nice to have this done,” Saunders said. “I had heard all the bad stories about the difficulties between agents and teams. None of that happened here.”

Saunders, 20, was 9-2 with a 2.86 earned-run average as a junior at Virginia Tech.

The Angels have assigned Saunders to their Class-A team in Provo, Utah.

The Angels have drafted a pitcher first in five of the last six drafts.

They drafted 28 more players, including 17 pitchers, Wednesday. Of the 50 players they drafted, 27 were pitchers.

*

Police were needed to separate players brawling during Tuesday night’s game between Salt Lake City, the Angels’ triple-A affiliate, and Iowa.

The game was delayed 40 minutes after Salt Lake City’s Brendan Donnelly hit Iowa’s Julio Zuleta with a pitch.

Donnelly, who played for the Angels earlier this season, was one of 11 players and coaches ejected.

The brawl escalated and incidents included Angel pitching prospect Edwin Nina being chased across the infield before being tackled by a group of Iowa players.

Pacific Coast League officials are investigating the fight and suspensions probably will follow.

*

Outfielder Jeff DaVanon, who has been playing for Salt Lake City, returned to Anaheim on Wednesday to undergo an MRI exam on his back.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

KEVIN APPIER

(5-3, 3.22 ERA)

vs.

RANGERS’

KENNY ROGERS

(6-3, 2.87 ERA)

Edison Field, 7 p.m.

TV--Fox Sports Net.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update--Rogers dominated the Angels through much of his career but was 1-2 with a 7.27 ERA against them last season. Tim Salmon started Wednesday’s game hitting .265, his highest batting average since the end of the 2000 season, when he hit .290.

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.