Sardinha says no
to the Royals

He turned down lucrative offer
to attend college

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

Former Kamehameha Schools catcher Dane Sardinha made it official yesterday, walking away from a high six-figure signing bonus with the Kansas City Royals in favor of a baseball scholarship at Pepperdine.

But Sardinha, rated one of the best catch-and-throw prospects since Charles Johnson, might be wondering how Rick Ankiel, a 95 mph left-hander, managed to make signing bonus history while he was attending his first class.

The fact is that Sardinha and Ankiel had a lot in common.

Both were selected in the second round of the June baseball draft.

On the advice of their agent, Scott Boras, they both held out, threatening to accept college scholarships unless they received seven-figure signing bonuses -- unheard of for players taken after the first round.

What Sardinha and Ankiel didn't have in common was that the 6-foot, 200-pound Kahuku resident was taken 59th overall while Ankiel went 72nd.

Yet Sardinha wanted $1.5 million while Ankiel demanded $5 million.

The Kansas City Royals offered $750,000 to Sardinha on Sunday. He turned it down and fulfilled his letter of intent.

Ankiel was offered $2.5 million by the St. Louis Cardinals -- the most ever given a drafted player. He took it instead of enrolling at the University of Miami.

Dexter Sardinha, the catcher's father, said that the final Royals' last offer was conveyed Sunday through Art Stewart, the team's director of scouting.

"I called Dane to tell him but he said no," said Dexter. "After talking with him I can understand his feelings now. And he's settled in at Pepperdine."

"He's happy to be here," said Pepperdine head baseball coach Frank Sanchez."I can't tell you how happy we are to have him. It's been a very anxious wait for us."