BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Agreement Signed on Sale of Mariners

A Japanese-led group of investors signed an agreement Friday to buy the Seattle Mariners from Jeff Smulyan for slightly more than $100 million.

Baseball’s 10-man ownership committee is to meet Wednesday at an undisclosed site to consider the proposal. The deal must be ratified by 11 of the 14 American League owners and seven of the 12 National League owners. The next scheduled meeting of all owners is in June.

“This is an important step in our effort to purchase the Mariners and provide strong local ownership,” said John Ellis of Puget Sound Power & Light, who would run the team if the sale is approved.

The deal, announced Jan. 23, would be financed primarily by Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto. Yamauchi has offered to finance $75 million of the $125 million the group intends to raise.

Because baseball owners are opposed to non-North American control, the deal has been adjusted in recent weeks to decrease Japanese control of the team to slightly less than 50%.

The Texas Rangers’ hopes for a fast start were hurt somewhat when American League batting champion Julio Franco (.341) was put on the 15-day disabled list. Franco, bothered by tendinitis in his right knee, is eligible to return April 12.

The Rangers also signed free agent Al Newman and released outfielder Gary Pettis.

The Detroit Tigers signed pitcher Les Lancaster, who was cut by the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. He was 9-7 with a 3.52 earned-run average in 64 games last season, 11 as a starter. . . . The Toronto Blue Jays claimed Shawn Hillegas on waivers from the Cleveland Indians. Hillegas was 3-4 with a 4.34 ERA in 51 games for the Indians last season.

Outfielder Deion Sanders of the Atlanta Braves has a hairline fracture in his left foot, X-rays showed. Joe Chandler, orthopedic surgeon for the Braves, said Sanders should be able to play with the injury if he can stand the pain. Sanders was hurt Wednesday against the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He jumped off the top step of the dugout and slipped, coming down hard on his left foot. X-rays showed a hairline fracture in the fifth metatarsal, the bone that sits below the little toe. Chandler said Sanders told him he had played with worse pain. “I have seen other players do it and they don’t have any problems,” Chandler said.

The Baltimore Orioles played for the first time in their new Camden Yards ballpark, beating the New York Mets, 5-3, in an exhibition before 31,286. So as to not fully tax the facility before Monday’s season opener against the Cleveland Indians, stadium officials decided to sell only two-thirds of the 48,000 capacity.

The Boston Red Sox bid farewell to Chain O’ Lakes Park, their spring training home for 27 seasons. Ellis Burks joined fans in singing “Auld Lang Syne” after the Red Sox beat Detroit, 12-4, in their final game at Winter Haven, Fla. Next year, the team will train in Ft. Myers, Fla., about three hours away.

Todd Stottlemyre was scratched from Friday’s start for Toronto because of a muscle strain in his left shoulder. He was replaced by Pat Hentgen, who pitched five scoreless innings during a 4-2 victory over St. Louis. . . . John Smiley, traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Minnesota Twins last month, struggled for both teams this spring. The 20-game winner dropped to a combined 0-4 with a 6.41 ERA after he gave up four runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings to Cincinnati.

The Mets will break their collective silence today, player representative David Cone said. The Mets have declined all interviews since March 27. Cone said that policy would stop when they play an exhibition against the Yankees in New York. “Primarily, because of what we perceived were slanderous and stereotypical attacks on our team as a whole, it became apparent that our clubhouse needed an internal regrouping,” Cone said, reading from a statement while other Mets stood behind him. “Secondarily, we wanted to address the issue of the right to privacy. We understand we are public figures, and we understand the responsibility. But we felt things had gone too far.”