BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : Tettleton Takes Big Financial Hit

Designated hitter-catcher Mickey Tettleton, 34, and the Texas Rangers agreed to a one-year contract worth about $550,000, with a possibility of $500,000 in incentive bonuses.

Tettleton, who earned $1.5 million last year, probably will be a designated hitter for the Rangers.

A switch-hitter, he hit 30 or more homers in each of three seasons. Last year, Tettleton hit .248 with 17 homers and 51 RBIs in 107 games.

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The Major League umpires union will picket two spring-training games today in the Grapefruit League, according to sources. They are scheduled to picket the Atlanta Braves-Montreal Expos’ game in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the New York Yankees-Mets’ game in Fort Lauderdale.

The decision to picket the two games was made Wednesday in a vote by the umpires’ executive council union. The picketing is intended to be informational, and not to prevent fans from entering stadiums.

The umpires have been locked out by owners since Jan. 1 when their contract expired.

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Baseball’s executive council, meeting for the second day in Milwaukee, talked about labor and revenue sharing issues and decided to have at least one more meeting before it resumes negotiations with players.

Bud Selig, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and interim commissioner, did not say when owners wanted to resume bargaining. The last session was March 30, the night before a federal judge issued an injunction that caused players to end their strike after 232 days.

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Major league baseball is investigating Dwight Gooden’s latest brush with authorities, in which he was cited for driving 117 m.p.h. on Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg, Fla., and had an open beer bottle in the car and odor of alcohol on his breath.

He passed a sobriety test.

Gooden, a former Met and now a free agent, was suspended from the majors for all of 1995 after failing drug tests while already on a drug-related suspension.

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After turning down a $2-million offer to play in Japan, outfielder Kevin McReynolds, 35, says he’s ready to retire rather than sit on a major league bench after 12 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Mets and Kansas City Royals.

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Shortstop Jeff Blauser and the Braves agreed on a $10-million, three-year contract that gives him the chance to earn about $1.5 million more in performance bonuses. The Braves also agreed to a $1.5-million, one-year contract with pitcher Mike Stanton and signed free agent outfielder Dwight Smith to a one-year contract worth about $250,000. . . . Mike Gallego agreed to return to the Oakland Athletics for a $300,000 salary and a chance to earn $100,000 more in bonuses after earning $1.075 million last year with the Yankees. The signing will allow Brent Gates to move from second to third base. . . . Joe Hesketh, a 36-year-old left-hander, agreed to a minor league contract with the Yankees that would pay him $300,000 if he makes the team. . . . The Boston Red Sox signed relief pitcher Alejandro Pena, 35, to a minor league contract in which, if he makes the team, he’ll get a $400,000 contract with a chance for another $350,000 in incentives. . . . A threatened fan boycott of the Royals’ opening game has been called off, after the team announced that it would give away free tickets for the first four games.