Gibson, Strawberry File for Free Agency : Baseball: Both outfielders may opt to play closer to home. Twenty-one players have filed so far.

Darryl Strawberry, Kirk Gibson and Dave Righetti didn’t wait long to escape their teams, filing for free agency Monday as the baseball offseason began with a flurry.

Vince Coleman of St. Louis also was among 18 players who filed Monday, raising the total to 21. Approximately 95 players who are eligible to file have until Nov. 4 to submit their names to the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Players may talk with other teams after filing but cannot discuss contract specifics with other clubs until Nov. 5.

Strawberry, who grew up in Los Angeles, has made no secret of his desire to play for the Dodgers. The New York Mets offered a three-year contract last July but Strawberry and his agent, Eric Goldschmidt, said they want a five-year deal that would approximate Jose Canseco’s $23.5 million contract with Oakland.

Strawberry batted .277 this season with 37 homers and a Mets-record 108 RBIs. He made $1.8 million.

Gibson, the star of the 1988 World Series with his dramatic home run off Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1, has been injured much of the last two years and said during the season he would prefer to leave Los Angeles and go home to Detroit.

“Don’t read anything into this,” his agent, Doug Baldwin, said. “We’re not trying to send any message. He’s just not going to be around the next few weeks and we wanted to get this out of the way.”

Gibson batted .260 in 1990 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs, completing the final season of a three-year deal worth $4.5 million.

Righetti sent in his telegram two minutes after midnight on Sunday, five minutes faster than he filed two years ago.

“We did that for emphasis,” said Bill Goodstein, the agent for the New York Yankees reliever.

No matter, the telegram got to the union office on Monday, a day after outfielder Rob Deer of Milwaukee and pitchers Joe Price of Baltimore and Jeff Robinson of the Yankees filed by telephone.

Righetti, who has spent his entire career with the Yankees, filed for free agency after the 1987 season. He spoke with several teams, accepted an offer from the Yankees to come back at a salary determined by an arbitrator, then agreed to a three-year contract worth $4.3 million.

Now Righetti wants a five-year deal. Mark Langston of California is the only pitcher to sign a contract of that length since 1985.

“I’ve had one face-to-face meeting with Gene Michael,” Goodstein said of the Yankees’ general manager. “We met a week ago Friday and have had a couple of telephone conversations.”

Righetti, 31, a left-hander, had 36 saves in 53 appearances this season with a 1-1 record and a 3.57 ERA.

Coleman, an outfielder, stole 77 bases to lead the National League and batted .292 with six home runs and 39 RBIs.

Also filing were Baltimore catcher Mickey Tettleton, Chicago White Sox outfielder Phil Bradley, Cincinnati second baseman Bill Doran, Cleveland outfielder Candy Maldonado, Houston first baseman-outfielder Franklin Stubbs and outfielder Glenn Wilson, Milwaukee pitcher Bill Krueger, Montreal pitcher Kevin Gross, New York Yankees pitcher Tim Leary, Oakland catcher Ron Hassey, Philadelphia catcher Darren Daulton, St. Louis pitcher Ken Dayley, San Diego pitcher Eric Show and Texas pitcher Charlie Hough.

Five players were offered salary arbitration by their clubs: Milwaukee infielder Jim Gantner, Minnesota third baseman Gary Gaetti, Yankees pitcher Mike Witt, Atlanta pitcher Charlie Leibrandt and Philadelphia shortstop Dickie Thon. They are in the group that can become free agents if their clubs do not make arbitration offers.