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Atlanta Braves: The Braves, who have seen their
pitching staff undergo a transformation this offseason, signed free agent reliever Antonio Alfonseca to a one-year
contract on Friday.
Alfonseca, 31, was 3-1 with a 5.83 ERA in 60 games for the
Chicago Cubs in 2003. It was his second season in Chicago after
spending his first five years with Florida, where he was a
member of the 1997 World Series champions. The right-hander has a lifetime record of 23-30 with a 4.11 ERA
and 121 saves in 400 appearances. Atlanta is likely to lose ace Greg Maddux, who was not offered
arbitration, and traded away Jason Marquis and their top
prospect Adam Wainwright. The Braves, who also saw setup man
Roberto Hernandez sign with the rival Philadelphia Phillies,
have added veteran arms like C.J. Nitkowski, John Thomson and
Alfonseca in an attempt to compensate. The Marlins traded Alfonseca and Matt Clement to the Cubs on March 27,
2002, in for pitchers Julian Tavarez, Jose Cueto, Dontrelle Willis
and catcher Ryan Jorgensen. 
Baltimore Orioles: Free agent B.J. Surhoff declined the Baltimore Orioles' offer of salary arbitration Friday.
The Orioles have until Jan. 8 to re-sign the outfielder and
designated hitter. They made the arbitration offer Dec. 7. Surhoff, 39, is a 17-year veteran who has spent 5½ seasons over
two tours with the Orioles. He hit .295 with four homers and 41
RBIs in 93 games last season. Surhoff earned $1 million last season. 
Anaheim Angels: Free agent outfielder Jose Guillen, who
hit .311 with 31 homers and 86 RBI last season, agreed Friday to a
$6 million, two-year contract.
Guillen, 27, is expected to play right field for the Angels,
which would free Tim Salmon for duty as a designated hitter. He played last season for the Cincinnati Reds and Oakland Athletics. His agreement calls for $2.2 million the first year and $3.5
million the second, with a $4 million club option for 2006 with a
$300,000 buyout. 
San Francisco Giants: Left-hander Scott Eyre agreed Friday to a
$2.45 million, two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants,
avoiding salary arbitration.
Eyre, a seven-year major leaguer, has gone 2-1 with one save and
a 3.03 ERA in 95 relief appearances since being awarded to San
Francisco on waivers from Toronto on August 8, 2002. He gets a $50,000 signing bonus, $975,000 next season and
$1,425,000 in 2005. He can earn an additional $270,000 in
performance bonuses during the contract. In 2003, the 31-year-old Eyre had a 3.32 ERA and pitched in a
career-high 74 games for the NL West champions -- the second-highest
single-season total by a lefty in Giants franchise history. The Giants still have three players on their 40-man roster
eligible for arbitration: pitcher Jim Brower, catcher A.J. Pierzynski and infielder Pedro Feliz. The club has until 9 p.m.
Saturday to offer them 2004 contracts. San Francisco also agreed to a one-year contract with
left-handed reliever Chad Zerbe, who was not eligible for salary
arbitration. He gets paid at an annual rate of $325,000 when in the
major leagues, $100,000 when in the minors. Zerbe has spent parts of the last four seasons in the big
leagues with San Francisco, going 6-1 with a 3.87 ERA in 114 games,
including two starts. The 31-year-old Zerbe appeared in 33 games _
one start -- last season for the NL West champions. He was 1-1 with
a 4.71 ERA. Zerbe was the winning pitcher in Game 5 of the 2002 World Series
against Anaheim. Earlier Friday, the Giants signed 10 minor leaguers and invited
them to spring training. San Francisco also agreed to minor league contracts with 10
players and invited them to spring training: pitchers Brian Cooper,
Chris Gissell, Matt Montgomery, Adam Pettyjohn, Kevin Pickford and
Tyler Walker; infielders Brian Dallimore and Francisco Santos; and
outfielders Nathan Haynes and Robert Stratton. 
Chicago White Sox: Outfielder Carlos Lee agreed Friday to a $15
million, two-year contract with the Chicago White Sox, who also
agreed to an $800,000, one-year deal with pitcher Kelly Wunsch.
Chicago planned to announce the agreements Saturday. The terms
were confirmed to The Associated Press by baseball sources who
spoke on the condition of anonymity. Lee gets $6.5 million next season and $8 million in 2005.
Chicago has an $8.5 million option for 2006 with a $500,000 buyout. Lee, 27, hit .291 last season with 31 homers, 113 RBIs and 18
steals, all career highs. Wunsch, 31, was 0-0 with a 2.75 ERA in 43 relief appearances. Right-hander Jose Santiago and the White Sox agreed to a minor
league contract, but the pitcher then notified the team he was
changing agents, leaving the status of the deal unclear. Under the agreement between the team and the agent, Santiago
would get a $550,000, one-year contract if he is added to the major
league roster and the chance to earn $125,000 in bonuses: $25,000
each for 35, 45, 50, 55 and 60 games played. Santiago, 29, spent last season with the Cleveland Indians,
where he was 1-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 25 games. He was with Kansas City from 1997-2001 and Philadelphia from
2001-2002. Santiago has a 17-22 record with four saves and a 4.39
ERA. 
New York Mets: The Mets agreed to deals Friday with a
pair of players eligible for salary arbitration, giving utilityman Joe McEwing a $1 million, two-year contract and outfielder Timo Perez an $850,000, one-year deal.
McEwing played seven positions for New York manager Art Howe
last season -- all but pitcher and catcher. "Joe can help you in so many different ways," Mets general
manager Jim Duquette said. "His versatility allows Art to have
many different options throughout a game." McEwing, 31, hit. 241 last season with 11 doubles, one homer and
16 RBIs. He has spent four seasons with the Mets. He gets a $100,000 signing bonus and $400,000 next season. The
Mets have a $700,000 option for 2005. If that's declined, McEwing
gets a $500,000 player option. Perez, 28, hit .269 with four homers and 42 RBIs in 346 at-bats.
In addition to his base salary, he can make an additional $150,000:
$25,000 each for 400, 450, 550, 600, 625 and 650 plate appearances. Right-hander Scott Strickland in the only Mets player still
facing the Saturday night deadline, when New York must decide
whether to offer a 2004 contract. 
Milwaukee Brewers: Infielder Wes Helms agreed Friday to a $4.5 million, two-year contract.
Helms, 27, who had been eligible for salary arbitration, hit
.261 with 23 homers and 67 RBIs last season. Helms was acquired by the Brewers last December with pitcher
John Foster in a trade that sent pitcher Ray King to Atlanta. He
was selected by the Braves in the 10th round of the 1994 amateur
draft. Helms gets $1.8 million next season and $2.7 million in 2005. 
Chicago Cubs: The Cubs bolstered their bench Friday,
agreeing to one-year deals with infielder Ramon Martinez and
catcher Paul Bako.
Martinez will be paid $900,000, while Bako will earn $865,000.
The Cubs also agreed to a $750,000, one-year deal with Jose Macias,
acquired from the Montreal Expos earlier in the day. The Cubs value Martinez for both his bat and his versatility. He
hit .283 with three homers and 34 RBIs in 108 games for the Cubs
last year, and made 73 starts at second, third and shortstop. He hit .303 from Aug. 2 to the end of the season, and hit .317
at Wrigley Field. Martinez, who played his first five seasons in
San Francisco, is a career .273 hitter with 23 homers and 140 RBI. Bako saw action behind the plate in 69 games last season.
Pitchers had a 3.81 ERA when he was catching, and he threw out 11
of 38 baserunners. He hit .229 for the season, and had the best
offensive game of his career April 5 at Cincinnati when he went
4-for-5 with six RBIs. Bako has thrown out nearly 30 percent of baserunners in his
six-year career, and has a .990 fielding percentage. Macias, a switch-hitter, hit .239 with four home runs and 22
RBIs in 111 games in Montreal last year. He played six different
positions, including designated hitter. Macias is a career .255 hitter -- .254 as a left-hander and .256
as a right-hander. 
New York Yankees: Free agent infielder Miguel Cairo
signed a one-year contract with the New York Yankees on Friday.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The 29-year-old Cairo batted .245 with five homers and 32 RBI in
92 games with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003. Cairo also has played for Toronto, the Chicago Cubs and Tampa
Bay and is a career .269 hitter with 19 homers and 189 RBI. He
played in the postseason in 2001 and 2002 with the Cardinals
and had 10 hits in 22 at-bats (.454). 
Montreal Expos: The Expos will not offer 2004 contracts
to right-handed pitchers Orlando Hernandez, Hector Almonte and
Britt Reames, making them free agents on Sunday.
Hernandez did not pitch last season because of an injured right
shoulder. The Expos got him on Jan. 15, 2003, in a five-player deal
with the New York Yankees. Hernandez had season-ending surgery on May 12. El Duque is 53-38
with a 4.04 ERA lifetime, all with the Yankees, and 9-3 in
postseason play. Almonte was 1-1 with a 6.83 ERA in 28 relief appearances for the
Expos after they signed him as a free agent on July 10. Before
going to Montreal, he was 0-1 with an 8.22 ERA in seven games for
Boston. Reames spent most of the season in the minors. 
Pittsburgh Pirates: Left-hander Joe Beimel agreed to a $535,000,
one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, avoiding
salary arbitration.
Beimel struggled in a setup role after the Pirates traded Scott
Sauerbeck to Boston last season, but still got a $213,000 raise. He
allowed 25 of 53 inherited runners to score, the second worst rate
among NL relievers. The 26-year-old Beimel, who would have become a free agent if
not offered a contract by Saturday, was 1-3 with a 5.05 ERA last
season. Beimel also gets $10,000 if he appears in 60 games, $15,000 each
for 65 and 70 games, and $25,000 for 75 games. 
Tampa Devil Rays: Infielder Geoff Blum and pitcher Rob Bell agreed to one-year contracts with the Devil Rays on
Friday, avoiding salary arbitration.
Blum gets $1.5 million and the chance to earn $300,000 in
bonuses, and Bell receives $500,000 and the chance to make an
additional $155,000. Blum was acquired from Houston for right-hander Brandon Backe
during the winter meetings last Sunday. He batted .262 with 10
homers and a career-high 52 RBIs last season. A switch-hitter, Blum hit all of his homers from the left side.
He played all four infield positions for the Astros last season as
well as left and right field. Bell was 5-4 with a 5.52 ERA in 18 starts and one relief
appearance for Tampa Bay. The right-hander signed with the Devil
Rays after being released by Texas last March, then began the
season at Triple-A Durham. After losing his first two decisions for the Devil Rays, he went
5-2 over his last 15 starts. Bell has a 21-25 career record in 89
games with Tampa Bay, Texas and Cincinnati. 
Cincinnati Reds: Catcher Jason LaRue and infielder D'Angelo Jimenez agreed Friday to one-year contracts, avoiding salary
arbitration.
LaRue gets $2.6 million and Jimenez for $1,615,000. LaRue hit .230 in 118 games last season with 16 homers and 50
RBIs. Cincinnati acquired Jimenez from the Chicago White Sox on July 6
for minor league pitcher Scott Dunn. Jimenez hit .290 in 73 games
for the Reds with seven homer and 31 RBIs. Infielder Russell Branyan, outfielder Ruben Mateo and pitchers
Chris Reitsma and John Riedling remain eligible for arbitration. 
Minnesota Twins: The Twins agreed to Friday to a
$1.5 million, one-year contract with second baseman Luis Rivas.
Rivas, 24, hit .259 with 43 RBIs last season for the AL Central
champions. He had a career-high nine triples and eight homers, but
went 0-for-13 against the New York Yankees in the Twins' four-game
playoff loss. Rivas had been eligible for salary arbitration.
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