BASEBALL WINTER MEETINGS : Crisis? What Crisis? : Money: Braves sign Maddux to bring weeklong spending spree to almost $258 million. Red Sox sign Dawson.

Economic crisis?

The five days of baseball’s winter meetings seemed to belie that industry plea.

Wednesday’s wrap-up provided another bell-ringer--as in the ring of a cash register.

--The Atlanta Braves, already blessed with baseball’s best rotation, signed former Chicago Cub right-hander Greg Maddux for five years at $28 million.

--The Boston Red Sox, continuing an ongoing bid to strengthen their offense after acquiring Ivan Calderon Tuesday, signed former Cub right fielder Andre Dawson to a two-year, $9.3-million contract.

--The Cubs, with four left-handers already in their bullpen, signed former San Diego Padre left-hander Randy Myers as the closer for $11 million over three years.

--The Detroit Tigers, who seldom play the free-agency game, signed former Oakland Athletic pitcher Mike Moore for three years at $10 million.

In addition, the Dodgers signed relief pitcher Todd Worrell for three years at $9.5 million; the San Francisco Giants signed outfielder Dave Martinez for two years at $2.2 million, and the Philadelphia Phillies signed outfielder Milt Thompson to a two-year contract at $2.75 million.

In joining the Braves, Maddux became the latest in a long list to jilt the New York Yankees, who had taken him on a tour of New Jersey residential areas Monday, which probably left Maddux wondering why they weren’t showing him the Bronx.

The Yankees offered $30 million for five years and were apparently ready to go higher, but no one seems to want to wear pinstripes anymore. Maddux, David Cone, Doug Drabek and Jose Guzman all accepted less to pitch elsewhere.

Maddux, who rejected a $27.5-million offer from the Cubs in July and again in November, joins a rotation of John Smoltz, Steve Avery, Tom Glavine and Pete Smith. The Braves, after acquiring Maddux, traded Charlie Leibrandt and pitcher Pat Gomez to the Texas Rangers for third baseman Jose Oliva.

“We are an organization that places a premium on pitching,” Atlanta General Manager John Schuerholz said. “I think we already had a phenomenal rotation, and now I think it’s the most formidable in baseball and the strongest in a long time.”

Maddux, 20-11 in 1992 and 95-75 for his career, will receive a signing bonus of $2.5 million and yearly salaries of $5 million, $3.5 million, $5 million, $6 million and $6 million--a record total for a pitcher.

While the Braves didn’t definitively join the Maddux pursuit until Tuesday, agent Scott Boras said, his signing with Atlanta culminated a goal.

“Greg felt the Cubs were improving, but he wanted to use free agency to get to the World Series, and he felt that the Braves were the best vehicle,” Boras said. “His objective was to pitch for a proven winner.”

In the process, Maddux and Boras left the impression that they also might have used the Yankees, but Boras said he had no choice but to pursue negotiations with New York because of the uncertainty of Atlanta’s interest.

“I didn’t use the Yankees and they didn’t finish second (in the bidding),” Boras said.

“There was only one club in baseball that had everything Greg wanted--a world championship and the chance to remain in the National League.”

Schuerholz said the Braves were interested in Maddux all along, but he didn’t join the hunt until trade negotiations made it likely he could free up extra cash. He referred to the trading of Leibrandt, who is guaranteed $2.5 million next year and could receive almost $3 million if he repeats his 15 victories and 193 innings of this year.

Asked if he was concerned how the Maddux contract would affect the signing of Glavine and his other young and successful pitchers, Schuerholz said he has already offered Glavine a similar package and that they all should welcome a Cy Young Award winner who can “help return them to the World Series and the financial rewards that represents.”

Dawson severed relations with the Cubs, agent Dick Moss said, “because they didn’t treat his re-signing as more of a priority item. They told him they had to deal with other things first. Andre saw the handwriting even before I did.”

The Red Sox finished near the bottom of the American League in many of the power categories they normally dominate and must hope Calderon, who will be the designated hitter, rebounds from an injury riddled season and Dawson, who joins Mike Greenwell and Ellis Burks in the outfield, has power remaining at 38. The Cubs are talking to Candy Maldonado as a possible Dawson replacement.

The departure of Myers continued a dismantling of the San Diego payroll and team. He saved 38 games, a career high and the second highest total in Padre history. He joins fellow left-handers Dan Plesac (signed Tuesday), Chuck McElroy and Paul Assenmacher in the Cub bullpen, with Assenmacher believed to be on the trading block.

The departure of pitchers Moore and Dave Stewart underscores Oakland’s desire to a) lower its payroll and b) put an emphasis on the re-signing of free agents Mark McGwire, Ruben Sierra and Terry Steinbach.

“We have limited resources and we’ve decided to do all we can do to preserve the identity of the franchise,” said General Manager Sandy Alderson, who had 14 players eligible for free agency and could still lose a third starter, Ron Darling, via that route.

The commodities market that has been the winter meetings ended with 34 players--all free agents except for Ken Griffey Jr.--signed or re-signed to contracts guaranteeing $257,925,000.

That equates to a contract average of $7,369,286, and none of that includes the pre-convention signings of Kirby Puckett for $30 million or Doug Drabek for $19.5 million or John Smiley for $18.4 million or Chris Bosio for $15.25 million or Jose Guzman for a pittance of $14.35 million.

Nor does it end here. More than 120 free agents remain on the market.

The Angels’ talks with free agent Chili Davis were put on hold while club executives traveled back to California from the winter meetings.

Discussions with Davis’ agent, Tom Reich, lasted until 2:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, as the two sides neared agreement on a deal that would pay Davis about $2.5 million per year for two years as a designated hitter. The last offer from Minnesota, where Davis spent two seasons after leaving the Angels as a new-look free agent, was a one-year deal worth $800,000 plus $700,000 in incentives.

White Herzog, Angel senior vice president, said Dave Winfield would be his next choice if he can’t sign Davis, but Winfield’s agent, Jeff Klein, said he had not been contacted by the Angels.

Baseball Notes

In other deals Wednesday, the Kansas City Royals traded two minor leaguers to the Montreal Expos for right-hander Mark Gardner and a minor leaguer, and the San Diego Padres traded relief pitcher Jose Melendez to the Red Sox for outfielder Phil Plantier. . . . Bud Selig, chairman of the Executive Council, said the committee studying restructuring of the commissioner’s office is expected to present a report by the end of December and that he will name a search committee by the end of next week. . . . Richard Ravitch, president of the owners Player Relations Council, and Don Fehr, executive director of the players union, will meet in New York on Friday to discuss the reopened bargaining talks.

Last Call

The winter meetings concluded with another flurry of activity. Among the biggest deals of the final day:

* The pitching-rich Atlanta Braves got richer by adding National League Cy Young winner Greg Maddux for five years at $28 million. With a starting rotation that includes Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery, the Braves traded left-hander Charlie Leibrandt to the Texas Rangers. * The Boston Red Sox, who traded for Ivan Calderon on Tuesday, went to the free-agent market for Andre Dawson and signed him for two years for $9.3 million. * The Detroit Tigers signed former Oakland Athletic right-hander Mike Moore for three years at $10 million. * The Cubs lost their ace but signed a closer in Randy Myers. The free-agent left-hander from San Diego signed a three-year deal worth $11 million. * The Dodgers also addressed their need for a closer by signing former St. Louis Cardinal reliever Todd Worrell.