BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : Strawberry Becomes a Saint

Darryl Strawberry will sign with Mike Veeck’s double-A St. Paul Saints today as he tries to play his way back into the big leagues.

“It pains me that people will feel that it sends the wrong message,” Veeck, the son of baseball innovator Bill Veeck, said Thursday.

Strawberry, who owes nearly $500,000 in child and spousal support payments, will play for $2,000 a month. That’s a standard salary in the Northern League.

Strawberry, 34, will join pitcher Jack Morris, who signed with the Saints two weeks ago.

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The Philadelphia Phillies acquired first baseman J.R. Phillips from the San Francisco Giants for a player to be determined and cash. . . . Seattle’s Randy Johnson has an inflamed nerve on the right side of his lower back and will miss at least one start. The 1995 Cy Young Award winner lasted only two innings at Texas on Wednesday.

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Baseball investigators have interviewed Tony Tomsic, a Sports Illustrated photographer hit by a ball thrown by Cleveland’s Albert Belle on April 6. American League President Gene Budig is trying to determine whether Belle intentionally hit Tomsic.