Schourek Goes to Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates, cautiously returning to the free-agent market after years on the sidelines, agreed Thursday to a $4-million, two-year contract with left-hander Pete Schourek.

Schourek, 29, adds a veteran’s presence to one of the majors’ youngest starting rotations as the replacement for right-hander Jon Lieber, traded to the Chicago Cubs on Monday for outfielder Brant Brown.

Schourek is 58-55 with the Mets, Reds, Astros and Red Sox in eight seasons, including a career-best 18-7 with a 3.22 earned-run average as the NL Cy Young Award runner-up with Cincinnati in 1995. He has since had two elbow operations.

Schourek will make $2 million in each of the next two seasons and has performance clauses that would raise the total value to $5.3 million if he makes 27 starts each season.

Continuing to make over their 93-loss team of last season, the Pirates have added outfielders Brian Giles and Brown in trades and signed Schourek, third baseman Ed Sprague and infielder Mike Benjamin as free agents.

Still, even though the Pirates are bumping their payroll from $14 million to $23 million, the $3.7 million they will pay their three free agents in 1999 represents new Dodger pitcher Kevin Brown’s salary for about nine starts.

“We’ve spent some money, but it doesn’t last very long,” General Manager Cam Bonifay said.

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The Baltimore Orioles shored up their bullpen, agreeing to a two-year contract with right-hander Xavier Hernandez that is worth about $2.5 million. Hernandez, 33, made 46 relief appearances with Texas last season, going 6-6 with one save and a 3.57 ERA. Shortstop Rich Aurilia and the San Francisco Giants avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a $2-million, two-year contract. . . . The Detroit Tigers agreed to a $4.7-million, three-year contract with right-hander Brian Moehler, who emerged as one of the American League’s most effective starters in his second full season with a 14-13 record and a 3.90 ERA. He also had three shutouts. . . . Right-hander Bill Risley and the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a $575,000, one-year contract. Risley, 31, was 3-4 with a 5.27 ERA in 44 games with the Blue Jays last season and made $405,000. . . . Backup catcher Todd Pratt and the New York Mets agreed to a $350,000, one-year contract. . . . Utility infielder Manny Alexander agreed to a one-year deal with the Cubs.