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: *** Jeter's deal could be finalized by Monday : NEW YORK (AP) - Derek Jeter's $189 million, 10-year contract with : the New York Yankees could be finalized by Monday. The sides had : only minor details left and were close to finalizing the deal, a : pair of baseball officials said Thursday on the condition they : not be identified. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner still had : not given his permission to finalize the deal, one of the : officials said, but it was possible that could come as soon as : Friday. The agent for the All-Star shortstop, Casey Close, spoke : again Thursday with the Yankees president Randy Levine and was : due to talk with him some more on Friday, one of the officials : said. The sides agreed last week to the total value of the deal : and the payment schedule for the first seven years of the : contract. Last year, Levine and Close agreed to a $118.5 million, : seven-year contract, but Steinbrenner wouldn't finalize it. Jeter : then signed a $10 million, one-year contract. : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406114920 : *** Commissioner discusses proposal to move A's : SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A proposal to bring the Oakland Athletics to : Santa Clara drew attention -- and ire from the San Francisco : Giants -- during baseball commissioner Bud Selig's visit to the : region Thursday. Giants owner Peter Magowan says Santa Clara : County is his team's territory. A 40-acre parcel there reportedly : has been proposed as a new home for the A's. Selling said teams' : territorial rights must be honored. "Baseball has territories : that have been respected and built up because of years of : discussion," he said. "We have to respect them." According to a : report in the San Jose Mercury News on Thursday, the city has not : yet formally approached the A's about the plan, proposed by a : group interested in inviting the team to move to Santa Clara. : Steve Schott, who owns the A's with partner Ken Hoffmann, said : the A's would not consider a move without the blessing of Selig. : : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406114465 : *** Arbitration hearing for Yanks' Rivera postponed : NEW YORK (AP) - The status of Mariano Rivera's agent is as : unclear as that of the relief pitcher's salary. The salary : arbitration hearing for the New York Yankees closer, originally : scheduled for Thursday, was postponed as infighting broke out : among his agents. Rivera is represented by SFX Entertainment, : which acquired the reliever's longtime representative, : Chicago-based Speakers of Sport, on Feb. 2, 2000, for $29.76 : million plus another $10 million in possible future payments. Jim : Bronner and Bob Gilhooley, who each owned 26 percent of Speakers : of Sport and were the firm's primary agents, sued SFX for $60 : million last Friday in federal court in Chicago, claiming fraud. : The players association and the commissioner's office agreed : Wednesday to delay Rivera's hearing until later in the : arbitration period, which runs through Feb. 21. An exact date has : not been scheduled. : : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406111046 : *** Dodgers invite Orosco to spring training : LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jesse Orosco, who has appeared in more games : than any pitcher in baseball history, signed a minor league : contract with Los Angeles on Wednesday and will join the Dodgers : in spring training. A 21-year major league veteran, Orosco has : appeared in a record 1,096 games, and has an 84-75 career record : and 3.03 ERA. Orosco, 43, missed most of last season with a sore : left (pitching) elbow. He had surgery on July 28 to repair the : flexor muscle in his left arm. He made six relief appearances for : St. Louis last year, with a 3.86 ERA and no decisions. Orosco : returns to L.A., where he pitched in 1988 when the Dodgers won : their last World Series title. He appeared in 55 games for the : Dodgers in 1988, going 3-2 with nine saves and a 2.72 ERA. He has : pitched in 50 or more games in 16 of his last 19 seasons and has : held left-handed hitters to a .200 batting average (61-for-305) : over the last five years. Orosco also has pitched for Minnesota, : the New York Mets, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Baltimore. : *** Casey beats Reds in arbitration; players, owners tied 2-2 : (AP) - Cincinnati first baseman Sean Casey won the first case in : baseball salary arbitration decided by a panel that included two : women. Casey was awarded a raise from $400,000 to $3 million : Thursday by arbitrators Elisabeth Neumeier, Carol Whittenberg and : Jerome Ross, who heard the case a deal earlier in Phoenix. Casey, : 26, hit .315 last season with 20 homers and 85 RBIs. Cincinnati : offered him $2.6 million. Players and owners have split the first : four cases decided this year. Arizona catcher Damian Miller's : case was argued Thursday before a panel that included Neumeier, : Jack Clarke and Elliot Shriftman. Miller, 31, asked a raise from : $330,000 to $1.25 million after hitting .275 last season with 10 : homers and 44 RBIs. The Diamondbacks offered $850,000. : Thirty-seven players remain in arbitration, with hearings : scheduled through Feb. 21. : *** Gomez goes on waivers so Padres can sign Bobby Jones : SAN DIEGO (AP) - Shortstop Chris Gomez has been waived by the San : Diego Padres to clear a roster spot for right-hander Bobby J. : Jones. Because the roster was full with the maximum 40 players, : the Padres had to clear a spot before officially signing Jones, : who has agreed to a $625,000, one-year deal. Gomez, who has been : limited the last two seasons because of knee surgeries, was : placed on waivers Wednesday. He is expected to clear waivers on : Friday and accept assignment to Triple-A Portland. He'll be : invited to spring training as a non-roster player. Even if he's : healthy, Gomez could have a tough time winning back the job. Also : competing at shortstop will be Santiago Perez, who is out of : minor league options; Alex Arias, who signed a two-year deal; : Kevin Nicholson; and Donaldo Mendez, a Rule 5 draft pick who must : stay on the Padres' big league roster all season or be offered : back to the Houston Astros for $25,000. : *** Reds, Young agree to $3.5 million, one-year deal : CINCINNATI (AP) - Outfielder Dmitri Young avoided arbitration : with the Cincinnati Reds by agreeing to a $3.5 million, one-year : contract. Young had asked for $3.9 million in arbitration and the : team offered $3.1 million. They settled at the halfway point : Thursday. Young made $1.95 million last season, when he batted : .303 with 18 homers and 88 RBIs. The Reds have three players left : in arbitration: closer Danny Graves, starter Osvaldo Fernandez : and second baseman Pokey Reese. Earlier Thursday, a panel of : three arbitrators ruled in favor of first baseman Sean Casey, : awarding a raise from $400,000 to $3 million. The club had : offered $2.6 million. Casey batted .315 last season with 20 : homers and 85 RBIs. General manager Jim Bowden was willing to : settle with Casey for less than halfway between the two : arbitration figures, but higher ups in the Reds organization : opted to go ahead with the hearing. : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406113117 : *** Indians sign Willie Blair, Speier : CLEVELAND (AP) - Willie Blair, whose jaw was broken by a line : drive while he pitched at Jacobs Field in 1997, agreed Thursday : to a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. The : Indians want to add some pitching depth in case Charles Nagy or : Jaret Wright aren't ready following operations. Blair, 35, can : start or relieve. Blair, who previously played for the Indians in : 1991, has been invited to the Indians' spring training camp in : Winter Haven, Fla. He has played with eight teams during his 11 : years in the majors. Cleveland also agreed to a one-year contract : with right-hander Justin Speier. Speier was a pleasant surprise : for the Indians during his first season with them last year. The : 27-year-old went 5-2 with a 3.29 ERA and had 69 strikeouts in 68 : innings. Blair was 8-3 in 17 starts last season for the Tigers, : compiling a 4.88 ERA in 156 2/3 innings. : : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406111705 : *** Royals sign Suppan to $6.5 million, two year contract : KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Right-hander Jeff Suppan and the Kansas : City Royals agreed Thursday to a $6.5 million, two-year contract : that avoids a salary arbitration hearing. Suppan, who made : $1,625,000 last season, gets a $700,000 signing bonus, $2 million : this year and $3.8 million in 2002. He can earn an additional : $150,000 in performance bonuses during the contract. He had asked : for $3.55 million in arbitration and had been offered $2.7 : million. A hearing had been scheduled for Friday in Phoenix. : Suppan, 26, was 10-9 with a 4.94 ERA in 35 games last season, : reaching double digits in wins for the second straight season. He : went 8-3 after the All-Star break and finished the season with : consecutive complete games against Anaheim and Detroit. Suppan's : career record is 30-34 with a 5.15 ERA. Pitcher Brian Meadows is : the last Royals player in arbitration. He has asked for $2.55 : million. Kansas City has offered $1.55 million. : *** Brewers sign Tony Fernandez : MILWAUKEE (AP) - Infielder Tony Fernandez, who played in Japan : last year, agreed Thursday to a minor league contract with the : Milwaukee Brewers and was invited to spring training. Fernandez, : 38, was fourth in hitting in Japan's Pacific League last season : with a .327 average for the Seibu Lions. He had 11 home runs and : 74 RBIs. A 16-year major league veteran, Fernandez hit .328 for : the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999, eighth in the American League. He : was also was selected for his fifth All-Star. He led the AL in : 1999 with a .399 batting average with runners in scoring position : and had a .427 on-base percentage, fifth-best in the AL. : Fernandez has 2,240 career hits, including 92 home runs, and 829 : RBIs in 2,082 major league games for Toronto, San Diego, : Cincinnati, Cleveland and both New York clubs. He has more major : league hits than any other Dominican-born player. : : *** Devil Rays sign Ken Hill to minor league deal : ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Right-hander Ken Hill agreed to a : minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Devils Rays on Thursday : and was invited to spring training. Hill, 35, went 5-8 with a : 7.16 ERA in 18 appearances last season for Anaheim and the : Chicago White Sox. He is 117-108 in his 12-year career with a : 4.03 ERA. Tampa Bay also signed outfielder Jason Tyner to a : one-year contract. The Rays acquired Tyner and pitcher Paul : Wilson last July 28 in a trade that sent pitcher Rick White and : outfielder Bubba Trammell to the New York Mets. Tyner, the Mets : first-round pick in the 1998 June Draft, hit .241 with six stolen : bases in 37 games for the Devil Rays last season. Terms of the : deal were not disclosed. Meanwhile, the Lincoln Saltdogs minor : league team announced that they sold the contract of pitcher : Rickey Lewis to the Devil Rays. The right-hander played for : Madison of the Northern League last season. : *** Astros exercise 2002 option on Ausmus : HOUSTON (AP) - Catcher Brad Ausmus' $5 million option for 2002 : was exercised Wednesday by the Houston Astros, who agreed to a : new mutual option for the following season. Ausmus, who gets $4.5 : million this year, started his second tour with the Astros on : Dec. 11 as part of a six-player trade with the Detroit Tigers. : "This step reinforced the commitment we have to Brad and the : important role he will play in our future," GM Gerry Hunsicker : said. Houston gets a $7 million option for 2003. If the Astros : decline to exercise it, Ausmus can exercise a $5.5 million player : option. Ausmus came to the Astros the first time in a nine-player : deal with the Tigers in 1996. Last season at Detroit, Ausmus : batted .266 and set career highs with 150 games played, 75 runs : and 69 walks. Ausmus threw out 32-of-74 runners attempting to : steal. : *** Astros sign nine players : HOUSTON (AP) - Outfielder Glen Barker was among nine players who : agreed Thursday to one-year contracts with the Houston Astros. : Along with Barker, a defensive and basestealing specialist who : spent most of 2000 with Houston, the team also signed infielder : Aaron McNeal; catcher Carlos Maldonado; left-handers Carlos : Hernandez, Kyle Kessel, Greg Miller and Wilfredo Rodriguez; and : right-handers Brad Lidge and Tim Redding. Barker was the only : player in the group that spent time in the major leagues last : season. : Transactions : ------------ : *** Thursday's Moves : American League : CLEVELAND INDIANS-Agreed to terms with RHP Justin Speier on a : one-year contract and RHP Willie Blair on a minor league : contract. : KANSAS CITY ROYALS-Agreed to terms with RHP Jeff Suppan on a : two-year contract. : TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS-Agreed to terms with OF Jason Tyner on a : one-year contract and RHP Ken Hill on a minor league contract. : National League : CINCINNATI REDS-Agreed to terms with OF Dmitri Young on a : one-year contract. : HOUSTON ASTROS-Agreed to terms with OF Glen Barker, INF Aaron : McNeal, C Carlos Maldonado, LHP Carlos Hernandez, LHP Kyle : Kessel, LHP Greg Miller, LHP Wilfredo Rodriguez, RHP Brad Lidge : and RHP Tim Redding. : LOS ANGELES DODGERS-Signed LHP Jesse Orosco to a minor league : contract. : MILWAUKEE BREWERS-Agreed to terms with INF Tony Fernandez on a : minor league contract. : Frontier League : CANTON CROCODILES-Signed C Brett Higgins. : CHILLICOTHE PAINTS-Released RHP Ricky Paugh and C Josh Lamberg. : DUBOIS COUNTY DRAGONS-Traded OF Scott Marple, INF John Schmitz : and a 2001 second-round draft pick to Richmond for RHP Bobby : Chandler, LHP Alex Bracho, INF Brian Brown and a 2001 first-round : draft pick. : JOHNSTOWN JOHNNIES-Signed C Chuck Van Robays. : LONDON WEREWOLVES-Exercised options on OF Rick Nadeau, OF Dan : Wydner, OF Willie Edwards, INF Geoff McCallum, INF Alex Zardis : and INF Ryan Lindberg. : Northern League : LINCOLN SALTDOGS-Sold the contract of RHP Rickey Lewis to the : Tampa Bay Devil Rays. : SIOUX FALLS CANARIES-Signed OF Bernard Caston and LHP Antwoine : Anderson. Released INF Joel Ramos and INF Clark Parker. : Texas-Louisiana League : SAN ANGELO COLTS-Signed OF Derek Vaughn.

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