In Sports from United Press International
Baseball owners, union can't agree
BOSTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The winter meetings are coming to an end and so is the short-lived goodwill between Major League Baseball and the Players Association.
Major League Baseball president Paul Beeston issued a statement Thursday acknowledging that negotiations for the settlement of the contraction grievance that were taking place in New York have broken off.
Players Association executive director Donald Fehr responded by scolding baseball executives for going public with the tone and topic of the discussions. The issue is headed for arbitration.
Although the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos have emerged as the likely candidates for contraction, the prevailing belief is that litigation and logistics would prevent it from happening before baseball's target date of next season.
At the heart of the latest disagreement between baseball's labor and management is interpretation. The league feels it has the right to unilaterally contract, while the union believes the act has to be negotiated.
The sides appeared close to hammering out an agreement Monday, with the owners putting off the elimination of two teams until 2003 at the earliest and the union agreeing to the assumption that baseball could contract without consultation with labor.
But as the meetings in Boston ended Thursday, so did hopes that this would not be an offseason filled with contention between the sides.
"We regret that the negotiations for a settlement of the contraction grievance have broken down over the Players Association's refusal to acknowledge Major League Baseball's basic right to contract," Beeston said in a statement.
Fehr said talks broke down because baseball owners introduced two new demands--its desire to potentially switch the clubs to be disbanded if contraction could not take place by 2003 and that certain parts of the settlement remain secret.
He added that after Wednesday night's talks broke off, lawyers for baseball asked the union to refrain from telling the media.
"We honored this request, only to find that the clubs have today gone public in a way that is not only inappropriate but inaccurate," Fehr said.
Beeston's statement was made public at approximately 1:30 p.m. EST. According to Fehr, at about the same time, Rob Manfred, baseball's labor counsel and a member of the arbitration panel hearing the grievance, publicly characterized the negotiations.
"All of this is regrettable," Fehr said. "It is plainly inappropriate for a party to comment publicly on the substance of settlement negotiations in an ongoing dispute--and even more so by a member of the very arbitration panel charged to decide that dispute."
Bustle new UL-Lafayette coach
LAFAYETTE, La., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Rickey Bustle, who tutored star quarterbacks Jim Druckenmiller and Michael Vick at Virginia Tech, was named football coach at Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday.
Bustle has spent the last seven seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Virginia Tech. The Hokies have been to a bowl game in each of Bustle's seven seasons as coordinator and he will stay in his present job through the Gator Bowl against Florida State on January 1.
The 48-year-old Bustle takes over for Jerry Baldwin, who was fired after leading the Ragin' Cajuns to just six wins in three seasons.
UL-Lafayette, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, was just 3-8 this past season.
Bustle has spent all but one season as an assistant at Virginia Tech since 1987. He spent 1994 as offensive coordinator at South Carolina.
A wide receiver at Clemson from 1974-76, Bustle also served as an assistant with Northeast Louisiana, East Carolina and the Arizona Wranglers of the USFL.
New York Yankees sign Giambi
BOSTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The New York Yankees finally finished their long courtship of Jason Giambi Thursday by signing the slugging first baseman to a seven-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but various published reports claim that Giambi agreed to leave the Oakland Athletics for a deal worth anywhere between $118 million and $120 million.
Giambi was the jewel of this year's crop of free agents and chose the bright lights and big money of the American League's best team. He leaves the fiscally constrained A's and join a team that has participated in five of the last six world series.
Giambi also dons the uniform of the team that has eliminated Oakland from postseason contention in each of the last two seasons.
After weeks of speculation, Giambi was introduced at Yankee Stadium, a facility that seems perfectly suited for the slugger's lefthanded swing. He also factors into the middle of a revamped lineup that now rates among the best in the game.
Yankees acquire John Vander Mal
BOSTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The Yankees, busiest team in the current baseball meetings, also acquired veteran hitter John Vander Mal from the San Francisco Giants and reportedly have come to terms with left-handed starter Sterling Hitchcock.
In addition to Jason Giambi and Vander Wal, New York also has added third baseman Robin Ventura, setup man Steve Karsay and reportedly reached an agreement with free agent outfielder Rondell White.
To acquire Vander Wal, who can play the outfield or first base, the Yankees sent righthander Jay Witasick to the Giants.
Witasick, who struggled with New York after being acquired June
23, had no role with the team following the signing of Karsay.
Mets add leadoff hitter
Boston, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The New York Mets continue to address their sagging offense.
Roughly 48 hours after acquiring a No. 3 hitter in Roberto Alomar, the Mets on Thursday signed free agent outfielder and leadoff hitter Roger Cedeno to a four-year contract.
The speedy Cedeno rejoins the team with which he had his greatest success. The 27-year-old Cedeno was the leadoff hitter for New York in 1999 and sparked the offense with a .313 batting average, 90 runs and 66 stolen bases.
After one year in Houston, Cedeno was sent to the Detroit Tigers nearly a year ago. He hit .293 with 55 stolen bases for the Tigers but was benched down the stretch and opted not to return to Detroit.
Controversial slugger traded to Texas
BOSTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Carl Everett's tumultuous times with the Boston Red Sox are over. He's headed for Texas.
The Red Sox gave up on the talented but volatile outfielder late Wednesday night, trading him to the Texas Rangers for lefthanded starter Darren Oliver.
Everett, 30, has been one of the focal points of the annual winter meetings, which are being held at the Boston Sheraton.
The Red Sox planned to rid themselves of the controversial slugger but knew their options would be limited because of Everett's attitude and salary. He is owed $17 million over the next two yearsf.
Ex-Cowboy arrested again on drug charges
DALLAS, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Former Dallas Cowboys lineman Nate Newton was in jail Thursday after being arrested a second time in less than two months on drug charges.
He was accused of hauling a large amount of marijuana in Texas and Louisiana.
Newton, 39, was out on bail on Louisiana charges when he was arrested for possession of marijuana Wednesday in Ellis County south of Dallas. Two other men were also taken into custody with Newton when at least 175 pounds of the drug was found in a pickup truck.
Newton, who played on the Cowboy championship teams of the 90's, was held without bail at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas. Louisiana authorities were checking into the latest arrest in Texas because he was free on $100,000 bail from an arrest there last month.
Newton was arrested Nov. 4 near Lafayette, La., after state police said they found 213 pounds of marijuana in the back of a van he was driving.
Four drafted from AAA Tacoma
BOSTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Other teams were hoping for a trickle-down effect as four players were selected from the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers in the Rule 5 draft at baseball's winter meetings on Thursday.
Tacoma tied for the for the best record in the Pacific Coast League and its parent club, the Seattle Mariners, matched a major league record with 116 victories last season.
Pitchers Jeffrey Farnsworth, Jorge Sosa and Steven Kent were selected with the No. 5-7 picks before third baseman Jason Grabowski was taken with the No. 10 pick.
Kevin McGlinchy, a one-time top prospect of the Atlanta Braves, was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with the first pick.
Farnsworth, 26, was 11-10 with a 4.35 ERA in 27 starts with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League in 2001. The righthander was selected by the Mariners in the second round of the 1996 draft and was taken by the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
Sosa, 23, spent six seasons in the Colorado Rockies' organization before the Mariners selected him in the Rule 5 Draft last year. The 6-3 righthander was picked by the Milwaukee Brewers after he went 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA in 21 appearances for Class A Everett of the Northwest League.
Kent, 23, is now in the Anaheim Angels' organization after going 0-3 with a 2.20 ERA for Class A San Bernardino of the California League. The 5-11 lefthander allowed 50 hits, walked 34 and struck out 73 in 65 1/3 innings.
The 6-3, 200-pound Grabowski, 25, batted .297 with nine home runs and 58 RBI in 114 games with Tacoma beforwe being taken on Thursday by the Oakland Athletics. The Mariners had claimed him off waivers from the Texas Rangers in December, 2000.
The Mariners acquired a player on Thursday as they sent cash considerations to the Pittsburgh Pirates for shortstop Luis Ugueto. Pittsburgh selected Ugueto, 22, with the second pick in the Rule 5 Draft after he batted .263 with three home runs and 43 RBI in 121 games for Class A Brevard County of the Florida State League.
McGlinchy, 24, went 7-3 with a 2.82 ERA in 64 appearances with Atlanta in 1999. But the 6-5 righthander has battled shoulder problems over the last two seasons and pitched just two innings in Rookie League ball in August.
