Rijo Gets $9-Million Contract From Reds : Baseball: Membership in $3-million-a-year club grows to 39. Brewers beat Gantner in arbitration.

Jose Rijo joined the $3 million-a-year club when he agreed to a $9 million, three-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, and Jim Gantner and Cory Snyder lost their salary arbitration cases.

Pitchers Tom Candiotti and Mark Knudson agreed to one-year contracts, leaving six players in arbitration with two days remaining. Owners lead, 8-5, in cases that have gone through to hearings.

Gantner, who made $700,000 last season, had asked for $2 million. But in Milwaukee’s first arbitration hearing, arbitrator Daniel Collins turned him down and picked the Brewers’ offer of $1 million.

Snyder, who also made $700,000 in 1990, had asked for $1.02 million. First-time arbitrator Nicholas Zumas instead chose the offer of $800,000 by the Chicago White Sox.

In the first salary hearing in New York this winter, Dan Petry and the Detroit Tigers appeared before arbitrator Raymond Goetz. Petry, who made $475,000 last year, is asking for $1.35 million and the team is offering $650,000.

Rijo, who made $700,000 last season, gets a $250,000 signing bonus, $2.25 million this year, $3 million in 1991 and $3.5 million in 1992. He can make up to $500,000 more each season in performance bonuses if he starts 33 games and pitches 220 innings. He is the 39th player and the 16th pitcher to agree to a contract averaging $3 million a season.

Candiotti settled with Cleveland at $2.5 million, a raise of $1,437,500. Outfielder Danny Tartabull, in a deal reached late Monday night, agreed with Kansas City at $2,225,000, a raise of $575,000. Knudson and Milwaukee agreed to $485,000, a raise of $315,000.

Detroit left-hander Paul Gibson, Texas outfielder Pete Incaviglia and Pittsburgh second baseman Jose Lind are scheduled for hearings today in New York. Angel third baseman Jack Howell, Toronto infielder Manny Lee and Toronto right-hander Frank Wills are scheduled for Thursday.

Rijo, a right-hander, is 53-52 for his career. He was 14-8 last season with a 2.70 ERA and seven complete games in 29 starts. Rijo won the first and fourth games of the Reds’ World Series sweep of the Oakland A’s, his former team. He had a 0.59 ERA in the World Series.

Though the Brewers won their case with Gantner, they invited free-agent second baseman Willie Randolph to spring training to offer him competition.

Among players not eligible for arbitration, New York Met reliever Wally Whitehurst settled at $155,000, and Baltimore outfielder Brady Anderson agreed to $165,000.