Team Caught in ‘Sandwich’ Picks

In theory, anyway, the baseball draft spreads college and high school talent evenly among teams. Try telling that to the Angels.

The Angels do not have a first-round pick in this year’s draft, which starts Wednesday. They do not pick at all, in fact, until the 68th overall selection. By then, the Baltimore Orioles will have drafted seven players.

The Angels have one of the first 100 picks. The Orioles, Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres have seven each.

How? Teams that lose premium free agents receive compensation in draft picks, including a so-called “sandwich pick� between the first and second round. The Angels forfeited their first-round pick to the Boston Red Sox when they signed Mo Vaughn, and they must sit tight through 21 sandwich picks before the second round finally begins.

“If it’s felt it’s good for baseball to have free-agent signings and compensation tied to the draft, so be it,� General Manager Bill Bavasi said. “But it’s tough on the process when there’s sandwich picks.

“If we sign Mo, I don’t want to lose two picks. But maybe that’s the way it should be.�

In the absence of a first-round pick, Angel scouts are spending more time than usual evaluating middle-round prospects. Under scouting director Bob Fontaine Jr., the Angels have traditionally done well in those rounds, drafting outfielder Tim Salmon and pitcher Scott Schoeneweis in the third round, outfielder Garret Anderson in the fourth round, shortstop Gary DiSarcina and pitchers Troy Percival and Jason Dickson in the sixth round, outfielder Jim Edmonds in the seventh round and catcher Todd Greene in the 12th round.

*

While the Angels will not make a first-round pick, their shortstop will be rooting for one.

Pitcher Ben Sheets, a distant cousin of Angel shortstop Andy Sheets, is projected as a high first-round pick. Ben Sheets went 13-0 with a 2.66 earned-run average at Northeast Louisiana and struck out 20 in one game.

If the draft form holds, Ben could command $2 million or more as a signing bonus. As a family member, does Andy get a percentage of the wealth?

“I wish,� Sheets said, laughing. “That’s a heck of a lot more than I signed for.�

As a fourth-round pick in 1992, Sheets said he signed for $70,000.

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In this era, most left-handed hitters do not play against the toughest left-handed pitchers. Larry Walker was ridiculed when he sat out against Randy Johnson, but that is the rule rather than the exception.

Vaughn is the exception. After his game-winning home run Sunday against Kansas City’s Jose Rosado, who had never lost to the Angels, Vaughn is hitting .425 against left-handers.

“I’ve got a theory about hitting left-handers that works for me,� Vaughn said. “I’m not going to tell you what it is.�

ON DECK

* Opponent--Minnesota Twins, three games.

* Site--Edison Field.

* Today--5 p.m.

* TV--Fox Sports Net West, Tuesday and Wednesday.

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

* Records--Angels 24-26, Twins 17-32.

* 1998 record vs. Twins: 6-5.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ TIM BELCHER (3-4, 7.67 ERA)

vs.

TWINS’ LATROY HAWKINS (1-7, 8.73 ERA)

* Update--The Twins are the American League’s answer to the Montreal Expos, throwing cheap young players into competition while lobbying for the new stadium supposedly necessary to keep the franchise from moving to Charlotte, N.C. In each case, the lobbyist (owner Carl Pohlad in Minnesota, team President Claude Brochu in Montreal) refuses to acknowledge he might be part of the problem, not the solution. The Twins, with 11 rookies on their active roster, have lost five consecutive games and are already 15 1/2 games out of first place.