Yankees Take Another Step Toward Irabu Deal

Baseball’s ruling executive council voted Monday to approve the New York Yankees’ acquisition of negotiating rights to Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu.

The Yankees, however, cannot negotiate with Irabu until the trade is approved by the Japanese commissioner’s office.

The Yankees acquired the negotiating rights to Irabu and three minor leaguers from the San Diego Padres for $3 million, injured outfielder Ruben Rivera and minor league pitcher Rafael Medina.

The Padres sent minor league second baseman Homer Bush and outfielders Gordon Amerson and Vernon Maxwell to the Yankees.

The deal will be nullified and the players will be returned to their respective teams if the Yankees have not signed Irabu by May 31.

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Through Sunday’s games, the Cleveland Indians led the major leagues with 43 home runs and were tied with the Colorado Rockies for most runs batted in with 142.

Leading the Cleveland power surge is Matt Williams, who has a club-high 19 RBIs and is second with six home runs.

Williams, who was acquired by the Indians in a trade with the San Francisco Giants, had five home runs and eight RBIs during a weekend series with the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Albert Belle, who was Indians’ leading home run hitter before he signed a free-agent contract with the Chicago White Sox, has a .211 batting average with four home runs and 13 RBIs. Belle hit two of his homers over the weekend.

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Former Dodger Eric Davis put on a hitting exhibition with Baltimore in the last week, batting .560 since taking off a week with a sore shoulder. Davis, whose career has been plagued by injuries, had five home runs in six games, two in his first two at-bats Sunday.