Team signs first-round pick Bonderman.

Byline: Gary Washburn

OAKLAND, Calif. _ Just days after negotiations appeared to turn ugly and hopeless, the A's signed first-round draft pick Jeremy Bonderman to a contract Tuesday.

Bonderman, a right-handed pitcher from Pacso, Wash., was the 26th selection in this year's free agent draft and is believed to have received a $1.35 million signing bonus.

But this hardly was easy. A Baseball America article last week reported A's co-owner Steve Schott lowered the signing bonus offer because Bonderman has a learning disorder. Bonderman, who repeated a grade in elementary school, is the first-ever high school junior to be drafted. Bonderman, 18, passed a …