Outfielder Hideki Matsui has decided not to play for Japan at next year’s World Baseball Classic so he can concentrate his efforts on winning a World Series with the New York Yankees.
Free agent OF Jeromy Burnitz and the Orioles agree on a two-year contract; IF Miguel Cairo and the Yankees reach an agreement on a $1 million, one-year contract, and relief pitcher Chad Bradford agrees to a one-year, $1.4 million contract with the Mets.
The Diamondbacks send Troy Glaus and highly touted infield prospect Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays in exchange for Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson and starter Miguel Batista. Toronto’s active off-season, in which the team has also signed starter A.J. Burnett, closer B.J. Ryan, and first baseman Lyle Overbay, convinced the third baseman to waive his limited no-trade clause.
2001 – Outgoing New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announces the Yankees and Mets have reached a tentative agreement with the city to build a pair of $800 million, retractable-roof stadiums. Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg, who is concerned that the Big Apple cannot afford what is believed to be the largest private-public venture in history, will have final word on the $1.6 billion cost of the proposed new ballparks agreements.
The Detroit Tigers sign free agent Gregg Jefferies to a two-year contract and trade outfielder Luis Gonzalez to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Karim Garcia.
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire is named by the Associated Press as the Male Athlete of the Year.
1995 – The Chicago White Sox trade OF Tim Raines to the New York Yankees in exchange for future considerations and the Pittsburgh Pirates sign free agent 3B Charlie Hayes.
1994 – In one of the biggest player swaps in baseball history, the Astros send infielders Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno and Roberto Petagine, outfielder Steve Finley and pitchers Brian Williams and Sean Fesh to San Diego for infielders Craig Shipley and Ricky Gutierrez, outfielders Derek Bell and Phil Plantier and pitchers Doug Brocail and Pedro Martinez. It’s a thinly-disguised salary dump and, were it not for Bell’s success, would have been regarded as one of the worst trades in club history. Caminiti and Finley blossom into All-Stars who lead the Padres to the N.L. title in 1998. Bell and Gutierrez are the only salvagable parts for the Astros and they are both gone after the 1999 season.
On December 28, 1992, former pitcher Sal Maglie died in Niagara Falls, NY, where he had been born 75 years earlier. Maglie was blackballed for four years after he jumped to the rival Mexican League in 1946, but when he returned to the majors he won 41 games in his first two seasons for the…
1983 – Free agent Warren Cromartie signs a reported three-year, $2.5 million contract to play for the Yomiuri Giants of the Pacific League. The 30-year-old Cromartie, who hit .278 as a mainstay in the Montreal Expos’ outfield last season, is arguably the best American player to jump to Nippon Pro Baseball while still in his prime. He will play in Japan for seven seasons before returning for one more season in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals in 1991.
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