Major League Baseball
Notebook: Millwood signs 1-year contract with Phillies

By Seattle Times news services

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PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Millwood agreed yesterday to an $11 million, one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, avoiding arbitration.

Millwood, who made $9.9 million in his first season with the Phillies, sought $12.5 million. The team offered $10 million.

In November, the Phillies offered the right-hander a three-year deal believed to be worth $30 million with an option for a fourth year.

Millwood went 14-12 with a 4.01 earned-run average for the Phillies last year.

Devil Rays sign McGriff

TAMPA, Fla. — Fred McGriff is returning home — again.

The 40-year-old slugger agreed to a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who want to give him a chance to show he's healthy and can still contribute after missing much of last season with injuries.

McGriff, a .285 hitter over 18 seasons with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Devil Rays, Cubs and Dodgers, ranks 21st on the all-time home run list with 491 and is 34th on the career RBIs list with 1,543.

Notes
 

• Aaron Boone, New York Yankees third baseman, was prepared to undergo exploratory surgery on his left knee, but doctors discovered a rash on the knee so they postponed the procedure, Newsday reported.

• Ruben Amaro Jr., assistant general manager for the Phillies, met with incoming Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in Boston to discuss the team's possible GM vacancy.

• Milwaukee pitcher Luis Martinez, 23, surrendered to police in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to face accusations he shot a man in a dispute over parking spots. Martinez has not been charged in Saturday's shooting.

• The Montreal Expos won their salary arbitration case against Nick Johnson and will pay the first baseman $1.25 million this year instead of the $1.68 million he requested.

• Major League Baseball's drug-test results were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury probing a nutritional supplements lab accused of supplying athletes with the steroid THG. Though last year's testing was anonymous under the terms of baseball's labor contract, each player was assigned a code number.

"The agreement was that it was going to be anonymous and confidential, and we intend to stand by that principal to the extent that we can," said Rob Manfred, executive vice president of labor relations in the commissioner's office.

• The New York Yankees are finalizing a one-year contract for more than $2 million with free-agent 1B Travis Lee, multiple sources told Newsday.

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