Cone, Tartabull, Sierra, Bonilla Switch Teams : Baseball: With trade deadline approaching, Yankees make deals with A’s and Blue Jays. Orioles deal with Mets.

The New York Yankees and Mets attempted to upstage each other Friday in a series of major trades involving high-salaried, high-profile players.

--The Yankees bolstered their bid to catch the Boston Red Sox in the American League East by acquiring Cy Young Award winner David Cone from the Toronto Blue Jays for three pitching prospects and also traded Danny Tartabull to the Oakland Athletics for Ruben Sierra--a swap of power-hitting outfielders that released each from his former team’s doghouse.

--The Mets, unloading about $5.8 million in salary as part of a rebuilding process, traded Bobby Bonilla to the Baltimore Orioles, for outfield prospects Alex Ochoa and Damon Buford. The Orioles, who are trying to keep pace with the charging Yankees in the AL East, will play Bonilla in right field.

The hectic bartering followed the two significant deals of Thursday in which the Angels reacquired pitcher Jim Abbott from the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians traded for pitcher Ken Hill of the St. Louis Cardinals.

With Monday the deadline for non-waiver trades, the big-money swap meet is expected to continue over the weekend, with Friday’s rumors including the possible acquisition of Minnesota Twin pitcher Kevin Tapani by the National League West-leading Colorado Rockies.

Faced with the loss of Jimmy Key for the season because of a shoulder injury, the Yankees won the Cone auction relatively inexpensively. None of the three prospects they gave up has pitched above double A.

Tim Mead, assistant general manager of the Angels, who had pursued Cone before backing off and acquiring Abbott, expressed surprise at the package. The Blue Jays had wanted outfielder Garret Anderson, pitcher Troy Percival or pitcher Brian Anderson as part of any deal with the Angels.

“I won’t get into specifics, but they wanted a front-line player from us,” Mead said.

“I have to be surprised at what they agreed on from the Yankees, but nobody knows what their reports on those pitchers said or what their reports on our players said.”

Cone, eligible for free agency when the season ends, is switching teams for the fourth time in four years. He was 9-6 with a 3.38 earned-run average for the once-proud Blue Jays, whose competitive disintegration has led to the possibility of a widespread house cleaning.

Paul Molitor of the Blue Jays said it was no surprise that it started with Cone, but “that doesn’t make it any easier to accept. I mean, it’s tough when you trade one of the best pitchers in the major leagues to a team in your same division.

“By the move today, the club probably feels it’s an unlikely scenario that we can find our way to a wild-card spot or a division title this year, and they probably felt that they owed it to the fans to start rebuilding the team.”

This is the third time Cone has been traded to a contender. “It’s easier for a guy in my situation,” he said. “I don’t have roots. I’m just recently married, so I don’t have kids in school. I’m pretty much married to the game.”

Said Yankee third baseman Wade Boggs: “We lost Jimmy Key and Melido Perez, and you don’t win pennants without pitching. This is a major move. It’s a step in the right direction.”

First baseman Don Mattingly concurred. He said of Cone: “He’s played in New York, he’s played in the postseason, he’s been to the World Series, so you know he can deal with all the things that go along with playing here.”

Tartabull may have reached a point where he couldn’t. In the fourth year of a five-year, $25-million contract he signed with the Yankees in 1992, he had asked to be traded.

“I had always heard how hard it was to play here, and it all slammed down on me this year,” he said. “I expected to be traded, and I’m glad to have it all behind me.”

Tartabull was batting .224 with six home runs and 28 runs batted in. He has been sidelined intermittently by a rib-cage muscle that prompted owner George Steinbrenner to question his dedication and to even question the veracity of Manager Buck Showalter and General Manager Gene Michaels.

Steinbrenner recently said of the two club officials that they tell him one thing about Tartabull, then play Mr. Nice Guy in public comments about him. He said they should get their acts together or there would be “serious consequences.”

Sierra, batting .265 with 12 home runs, 42 RBIs and two full seasons at $5.5 million each left on a five-year contract, has had a similar season. He was recently sidelined by a knee injury and earlier called a “village idiot” by Manager Tony La Russa, fed up with what he perceived to be Sierra’s lack of intensity and responsibility.

The A’s and Yankees are hoping that the change of scenery revives the two players, but it is unclear how the Yankees will deal with an outfield logjam, particularly if they complete a contract with Darryl Strawberry.

Bonilla, 32, was batting .325 with 18 homers and 53 RBIs. The deal with the Orioles was completed shortly before the Mets played the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea Stadium and Bonilla was scratched from the lineup.

“They want me there tomorrow, and I want to make sure I’m there,” Bonilla said of the Orioles.

“They’re part of a serious pennant race and I’m grateful they want me. I think I can help.”

Said Oriole General Manager Roland Hemond: “He fit the bill for what we were looking for--an established professional hitter who hits from both sides with power.”

Cal Ripken Jr. who had been batting cleanup for the Orioles, had only eight homers and 41 RBIs through Thursday.