Angels, Harvey Reach Agreement

Relief pitcher Bryan Harvey, whose 25 saves last season matched the second-highest total ever achieved by an Angel pitcher, agreed to a one-year contract with the Angels for $332,500 Tuesday.

“It’s only been two seasons. I think I’m doing pretty well,� said Harvey, who was 3-3 with a 3.44 earned-run average and 78 strikeouts in 55 innings last season.

“I think they’ve been pretty fair, and I’m very happy,� Harvey said.

Harvey and Rob Dibble of the Cincinnati Reds each averaged 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings last season for a major league record. His 25 saves in 32 opportunities equaled Dave Laroche’s second-place mark, set in 1978; Donnie Moore set the Angels’ single-season record with 31 saves in 1985.

In his career, Harvey is 10-8 with a 2.58 ERA, 42 saves and 158 strikeouts in 136 innings.

With the threat of a spring-training lockout, Harvey may have to wait awhile before throwing the first pitch under his new contract.

“We’re just waiting around til Feb. 9 (when owners meet and could decide to postpone the opening of camps) to see what happens,� said Harvey, who left his off-season home in Chattanooga, Tenn., to work out with his fellow pitchers at Anaheim Stadium. “I’m just getting ready to play. All I can do is be ready.�

The 1990 salaries of four Angel pitchers and four other players are due to be determined in arbitration hearings that will begin Friday. Pitchers Chuck Finley, Scott Bailes, Kirk McCaskill and Bob McClure; first baseman Wally Joyner, third baseman Jack Howell, center fielder Devon White and catcher Bill Schroeder filed for arbitration and have not agreed to new contracts.

General Managers Fred Claire of the Dodgers and Mike Port of the Angels will be among the speakers today at an 11 a.m. press conference at the Gene Autry Museum to announce the expansion of the Reviving Baseball in Inner City (RBI) program.

The program, to be funded this year by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, began in 1987 with the aim of exposing disadvantaged inner-city youths to baseball and helping them refine their skills.