BASEBALL : Viola, Gladden, Randolph Move On

Frank Viola and the Boston Red Sox completed a deal Friday; Dan Gladden left the Minnesota Twins for the Detroit Tigers, and the New York Mets signed Willie Randolph.

Viola and the Red Sox completed the details of the $13.9-million, three-year contract, making him the fourth highest-paid pitcher in baseball. Gladden, who scored the winning run in Game 7 of the World Series, agreed to a $2.2-million, two-year contract with the Tigers.

Randolph, the former Yankee captain who finished third in the American League last season with a .327 batting average, returned to New York for a $850,000 contract with the possibility of another $450,000 in performance bonuses.

Second baseman Jim Gantner returned to Milwaukee with a one-year contract, Texas signed pitcher Todd Burns to a minor league contract and outfielder Gerald Young, who made $415,000 last season with Houston, agreed to a $310,000 contract with the Astros with another $160,000 in performance bonuses.

At least 13 players became free agents Friday when their clubs failed to offer contracts for the 1992 season: pitchers Doug Jones and Eric King and outfielder Chris James of Cleveland; pitcher Jeff Kaiser, catcher Andy Allanson and infielder Johnny Paredes of Detroit; pitcher Allan Anderson of Minnesota; pitchers Rob Murphy and Scott Bankhead of Seattle; shortstop Jeff Kunkel of Texas; pitcher Mark Grant of Atlanta; pitcher Joe Boever of Philadelphia, and infielder Phil Stephenson of San Diego.

Viola, 31, is expected to be Boston’s No. 2 starter behind Roger Clemens, Boston’s three-time Cy Young Award winner.

“I’ve always enjoyed pitching there,” Viola said. “Great mound. Great place to play. Real great fans. Something different that I’m not used to is great defense behind me. And there’s great hitting.”

Before last season, the Red Sox signed free-agent pitchers Matt Young ($6.4 million for three years) and Danny Darwin ($11.8 million for four years).

“As long as my finger’s 100%, I should be all right,” said Viola, who after the season had a cyst removed from the ring finger of his left hand. “I also had an infected nail, a ripped middle finger that became infected. All I could throw without discomfort was a four-seam fastball. I’m not a one-pitch pitcher. I got killed because of that.”

Gladden, 34, was angry that the Twins wanted him to take a pay cut. Gladden’s batting average dropped from .295 in 1989 to .275 in 1990 to .247 in 1991 and the Twins did not want to match his 1991 salary of $1.1 million.

“There’s more to playing this game than statistics,” Gladden said. “I hit .249 in 1987 and the Twins won the World Series that year, too. You bring more to a club than just numbers. . . .

“They offered me a 50% cut from last year’s salary. I played 126 ballgames. That was the first offer I got and the only figure I got. That’s probably what hurts most of all. They could find $5 million for Brian Harper, but only $550,000 for Glads.”

Randolph, 37, will be the Mets’ starting second baseman and bat second.

Randolph hit .327 for Milwaukee last season--more than 50 points above his career average of .274--with no home runs, 54 runs batted in and 75 walks in 124 games. He trailed Julio Franco of Texas (.341) and Wade Boggs of Boston (.332) among American League hitters.

“Everybody knows what I can bring to the table,” Randolph said. “It’s very exciting for a local kid being able to come back here.”