Free Agents Sports

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.

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.

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.

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.

An explosive off-season of expensive signings triggered by baseball's richest clubs--a siege of "irrational exuberance," said San Diego Padre owner John Moores--has exacerbated what many consider dangerous payroll and competitive disparities. "We're either at a crisis or approaching a crisis," Moores said. "Far too many clubs will not be competitive on opening day, which strikes me as un-American and not in the best interest of either fans or players.

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.

Bobby Bonilla's scheduled meeting Thursday with Angel Senior Vice President Whitey Herzog was postponed because Bonilla's agent, Dennis Gilbert, was involved in an unexpectedly long trial in Montgomery, Ala. Gilbert represented Oakland A's outfielder Jose Canseco in a fraud lawsuit filed by the promoters of a baseball card show. Gilbert and his firm, the Beverly Hills Sports Council, were ordered to pay promoter Jim Pitts of Montgomery $207,000 in damages.

Did you see where the New York Jets signed Emanuel McNeil the other day? Yeah, Plan B guy. No, not Freeman McNeil, Emanuel . Right, no relation, 22, nose tackle, No. 10 pick of the New England Patriots a year ago out of Tennessee Martin, played in one NFL game. Ain't free agency great? Thus Plan B begins its second season. It's a system to gladden owners' hearts, as it should be, since they installed it unilaterally over the broken bodies of the defeated NFL Players Assn.

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.

Darryl Strawberry's mind is clear. He wants to beat the Dodgers, then join them. The New York Mets right fielder and most valuable player candidate said it is his long-range goal to join the Dodgers as a free agent after the 1990 season, when his close friend, Cincinnati Reds center fielder Eric Davis, also will become a free agent. The proposition, Strawberry feels, is one the Dodgers can't refuse. "Think about the excitement and magic," he said.

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.

Sometime, perhaps tonight, the last lawyer will initial the last clause on the NBA's new contract, setting the stage for the opening of camps--and the wildest bazaar the league has seen. Almost 200 free agents will be wooed, signed, picked over and/or rejected in the next few weeks, and most of the stars should move in the next few days, or hours.

The Washington Bullets lost all-star forward Juwan Howard Saturday when the free agent reached an agreement in principle to play for the Miami Heat, according to his agent, David Falk. Falk declined to disclose details, but sources said the agreement involves a seven-year contract worth at least $98 million. Reached Saturday night, Bullet owner Abe Pollin said, "I don't know anything about it, and the only one you can talk to is Wes," referring to Wes Unseld, the team's general manager.

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.