Free Agents Sports

The Kings made their first venture into the free-agent market Thursday, but not for the winger they need so much. Instead, they agreed to a four-year, $13.6-million deal with defenseman Rob Scuderi, who won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins last month and hasn't yet had his day with the trophy. Scuderi parlayed a team-leading 164 blocked shots -- and a strong postseason performance, especially in the Cup final -- into a huge raise over the $725,000 he earned last season.

Now that the games are over, let the gamesmanship begin. That, of course, would be the ritual mating dance of baseball free agency, which officially began Sunday, less than 26 hours after the St. Louis Cardinals capped one of the most exciting postseasons in recent memory by outlasting the Texas Rangers in the World Series. More than 148 players have either willingly entered the marketplace or been cast there against their will, from likely Hall of Famers Albert Pujols, Jim Thome and David Ortiz and National League batting champion Jose Reyes to journeymen such as Greg Dobbs, Sergio Mitre and Miguel Batista.

Redefining sports contracts, the Texas Rangers on Monday made free-agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez the nation's highest-salaried athlete, agreeing to a record 10-year, $252-million deal that heightened concerns about the future of baseball.

Lakers backup guard Shannon Brown informed the team Thursday that he was terminating the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent. Brown and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said this was the best time for the 6-foot-4 guard to test the free-agent market, even though the NBA imposed a lockout and no one knows what the future collective bargaining agreement will be. Brown, 25, had to let the Lakers know of his decision by Thursday's deadline. "We made the best decision for me and everybody around me," Brown said.

For the past three years, Marcus Allen has had to play for the Raiders without the salary raise that he and many others believe he has earned as a productive ballcarrier, pass receiver and blocker for Bo Jackson and others. The club has declined either to trade him or improve him financially since Allen's last contract expired in 1988. Instead, taking advantage of football law, it has made him play for the Raiders under the terms of his expired contract.

After the Rams' 23-21 exhibition victory over the San Diego Chargers Sunday night, curiosity seekers crowded around Exhibit A--none other than free-agent running back Gerald Harris, so valued by the Rams that they list him as their fifth tailback and omit him entirely from the team's season guide. Harris isn't offended. He is a Ram because no other NFL team would have him, though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers provided three days of room and board earlier this spring.

The Angels plan to cut ties with third baseman Troy Glaus, handing the position to rookie Dallas McPherson and positioning the team for a possible run at center fielder Carlos Beltran, the crown jewel of free agency. "From a financial standpoint, McPherson fits better than Glaus and we've got other needs," Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said Friday. "We'll probably make use of our resources in other areas."

Laker guard Byron Scott, coming off a season in which he set career bests in five categories, signed a 5-year contract worth an estimated $1.2 million annually, it was announced Monday. Scott, 27, averaged 21.7 points and had 3 of the Lakers' top 5 scoring games of the 1987-88 season. He became a free agent after the Lakers won their second straight National Basketball Assn. title, but made it clear to his agent, Bob Woolf , that he didn't want to leave Los Angeles or the Lakers.

An unusual challenge to the NFL's free-agent system was shot down Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court when a judge ruled against Bobby Hebert, the New Orleans Saint quarterback who is seeking to play for the Raiders this season. Hebert, who moved to Los Angeles from Louisiana last month, sued the NFL and the Raiders in an attempt to negotiate a contract with the Los Angeles team. The ruling leaves Hebert with little chance of playing this season.

If the NBA gave out awards for bad timing, Loy Vaught would have a house full of trophies by now. He was drafted by the wrong team in the right city. He played his best basketball in the wrong seasons. He had back surgery at the wrong age, and now he's physically sound and an unrestricted free agent with nowhere to play. "I've put in so many years in the league and a lot of those were tough years," said Vaught, a 6-foot-9 power forward caught in limbo during the NBA lockout.

The NFL emporium is open for business — the free-agency signing period began at the strike of midnight EST Friday — but there aren't likely to be lines in the checkout aisles. The shelves aren't stocked with in-demand free agents, teams will be reluctant to part with draft picks with an unusually strong class of prospects heading into the league, and the uncertainty of the labor situation has everyone clutching their wallets. The most intriguing aspect of this free-agency season could be the conspicuous lack of intrigue.

A dozen or so Japanese media members gathered around Tony Reagins as the Angels general manager checked into the winter meetings hotel Monday afternoon, ready to pounce with their questions about free-agent slugger Hideki Matsui. Reagins didn't disappoint. "He's a person we've talked about," Reagins said of Matsui, who earned World Series most-valuable-player honors by hitting .615 with three home runs and eight runs batted in to help the New York Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

The Angels, as expected, offered arbitration on Tuesday to pitcher John Lackey and third baseman Chone Figgins, assuring them of maximum draft-pick compensation should the free agents sign elsewhere. But in something of a surprise, the team did not offer arbitration to veteran reliever Darren Oliver, the 39-year-old left-hander who was 5-1 with a 2.71 earned-run average in 63 games last season, when he earned $3.665 million. The Angels also did not offer arbitration to outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, so they will not receive a draft pick should the 35-year-old slugger depart after six years in Anaheim.

The Angels have resumed their pursuit of pitcher Roy Halladay, the Toronto Blue Jays ace who would be an extremely attractive alternative to free-agent right-hander John Lackey, with whom the team continues to negotiate. The Dodgers also have inquired with the Blue Jays about Halladay, the 32-year-old right-hander who is entering the final year of a three-year, $40-million contract. But one source familiar with their talks, who was not authorized to speak publicly, called the possibility of the Dodgers landing Halladay "a long shot."

Matt Holliday is not coming. Jason Bay might be coming. John Lackey and Chone Figgins are not coming back -- not together, anyway. Those were the highlights of the state of the Angels address delivered by owner Arte Moreno on Thursday, after baseball's owners concluded their meetings here. The free-agent shopping season opens today, with owners citing an uncertain economic forecast in suggesting players might linger on the market well into the winter. Yet Moreno left one thing absolutely certain: The Angels have no interest in outfielder Matt Holliday, perhaps the best position player available in free agency.

This was supposed to be the appetizer for the highly awaited main course of NBA free agency next summer. But if it wasn't already obvious to interested parties, it became painfully clear on Thursday that the eventful last nine days around the league have expanded well beyond a mere first course. And if you want to keep the food analogy going -- and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with Shaquille O'Neal's draft-day trade to Cleveland -- just look at the latest bloated deal.

Free-agent guard Eric Piatkowski, the Clippers' leader in games played since their move to Los Angeles two decades ago, agreed to a three-year contract with the Houston Rockets for approximately $8.5 million early Friday evening. "Eric has always enjoyed playing for the Clippers," his agent, Jeff Austin, said from his Virginia office. "He feels he had a great relationship with the team. Other people said it was an unhappy experience, but he feels it was a happy one.

The Lakers had a near-perfect June, breezing through the NBA Finals in five games and capping it off with a victory parade and championship rally under sunny Southern California skies. The first day of July, however, wasn't as picturesque. The Lakers remained far apart on negotiations Wednesday with their two main free-agent pieces, forwards Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza. In particular, Ariza and his agent weren't thrilled by the Lakers' annual offer of $5.

The Lakers officially signed Ron Artest, in case his smiling visage and lengthy entourage among a throng of reporters at a news conference Wednesday in El Segundo didn't confirm it. But will Artest be the Lakers' only big-name announcement this summer? The Lakers remain far apart in negotiations with unrestricted free agent Lamar Odom, a chasm that probably widened with the NBA's announcement of a lower salary cap for next season.

Less than three weeks after the parade, the NBA champion Lakers have already met the biggest threat to their throne. Themselves. What are they thinking? What are they doing? They just won a title that would not have been possible without the strong defense and stunning shooting of a 24-year-old kid with a limitless ceiling. Yet they send the kid packing for an aging nut whose greatest hits have occurred on the heads of fans.