Bootcheck Heading for Auburn

Chris Bootcheck spent part of Sunday shopping for school clothes. He has registered for the fall semester at Auburn, his housing is all lined up, and he’s leaving for college Friday with the intention of starting classes for his senior year next week.

This is not good news for the Angels, who used the 20th pick in the June draft to select Bootcheck but are running out of time to sign him.

“I’m not as optimistic as I was on draft day, because we’re not as close as I thought we’d be,” Bootcheck said Sunday by phone from his home in LaPorte, Ind. “I’m excited about playing baseball, but I don’t know if it’s going to be with the Angel organization or Auburn.”

The Angels have made only one offer, believed to be in the $1.4-million range, to Bootcheck, a 6-foot-5 right-hander who went 8-1 with a 3.60 earned-run average last season.

It appears the team is trying to slot him between 19th pick Sean Burnett, a high school pitcher who signed with Pittsburgh for $1.65 million, and 21st pick John Bonser, a high school pitcher who signed with San Francisco for $1.245 million.

Bootcheck wouldn’t say what it would take to sign him, but his advisor, Scott Boras, has touted him as the top college pitcher in the draft and believes he would have been picked much sooner had so many players not negotiated pre-draft deals with the teams that chose them.

The Angels already spent $2.08 million on Joe Torres, a high school pitcher they selected with the 10th pick, and it could take a bonus closer to that range to secure Bootcheck.

“How does a high school kid stack up against a college player?” Bootcheck said. “I can’t explain what happened in the draft. I know what my talent is worth, and I’m sure Anaheim does. Right now, the ball’s in their court. If they make a move, something will get done.

“I just want to be treated fairly based on my talents. If that would have happened sooner, this would have been done a long time ago.”

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Right fielder Tim Salmon, who left Saturday night’s game in the fifth inning because of a tight left groin, was held out of the starting lineup Sunday as a precaution, but pinch-hit for Kevin Stocker and singled in the seventh inning. Benji Gil then ran for him.

With an off-day today, the Angels hope two days of rest and treatment will give Salmon, who believes he injured the groin chasing Jorge Posada’s double Friday night, enough time to recover for Tuesday’s game in Toronto.

“My main concern is I don’t want to pull it,” said Salmon, who is hitting .392 with eight homers and 22 runs batted in since the All-Star break. “Once you do that it can affect a lot of things.”

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Kent Mercker, who pitched Saturday night for the first time since suffering a life-threatening cerebral hemorrhage May 11, wasn’t the only one to get caught up in the emotion of his return against the Yankees.

“You think back to what happened and seeing him in the hospital and you’re thinking, ‘Man, why take another chance? This is just a game, you’ve got your family, why risk your life over it?’ ” Salmon said.

“But it was really neat to see him out there. It’s one of those feel-good stories. You’re happy for him. It was a great first step.”

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Rookie right-hander Seth Etherton, sidelined since Aug. 5 because of a tired arm, feels he has strengthened the arm enough to begin throwing long toss by Wednesday, but it’s doubtful he will be ready to return to the rotation when he’s eligible to come off the disabled list next Sunday. . . . The Angels drew 129,974 for the Yankee series, an Edison Field record for three games.