NEWSWIRE

The Angels signed three players to compete at second base. Scott Spiezio, cut by the Oakland Athletics, became the first major league free agent signed by Bill Stoneman since the Angels hired him as general manager nine weeks ago. The Angels also signed Pat Kelly and Jason Bates to minor league contracts.

Spiezio, 27, hit .243 with eight home runs last season. Kelly, 31, hit .267 in 37 games with the Toronto Blue Jays. Bates, 28, a career .239 hitter, did not play last season because of a foot injury. Rookie Trent Durrington also is expected to compete for the second-base job in spring training.

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Baltimore made official a $29-million, four-year contract agreement with right-handed pitcher Aaron Sele, subject to Sele passing medical tests. . . . Reliever Pedro Borbon and the Blue Jays avoided salary arbitration when they agreed to an $800,000, one-year contract. Borbon, 32, was acquired from the Dodgers with outfielder Raul Mondesi in November in exchange for Shawn Green. . . . The Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed free-agent pitcher Juan Guzman, 33, to a two-year contract, signed reliever Norm Charlton to a minor league contract and hired Jose Cardenal as first-base coach. . . . Right-handed reliever Brian Williams, who was with Houston last season, agreed to a $600,000, one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs. . . . The San Francisco Giants acquired right-handed pitcher Ken Ray from the Kansas City Royals, completing a Dec. 13 trade in which San Francisco sent right-handed pitcher Jerry Spradlin to the Royals. . . . St. Louis agreed to an $18-million, three-year contract with pitcher Andy Benes, cut $2 million from pitcher Darryl Kile’s $8-million salary this season while adding a $6-million option for 2001, and agreed to one-year contracts with third baseman Craig Paquette ($595,000), pitcher Paul Spoljaric ($550,000) and right-hander Mark Thompson ($400,000).

Tennis

Defending champion and top-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden defeated seventh-seeded Sebastien Grosjean of France, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5, in the quarterfinals of the $350,000 Australian Hardcourt Championships at Adelaide. . . . Fourth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain and seventh-seeded Silvija Talaja of Croatia advanced to the final of the $170,000 Australian Women’s Hardcourt Championships at Gold Coast. . . . Top-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, third-seeded Fabrice Santoro of France, fourth-seeded Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco and unseeded Rainer Schuttler of Germany posted straight-sets victories to advance to the semifinals of the $1-million Qatar Open at Doha. . . . Second-seeded Cedric Pioline of France defeated Davide Sanguinetti of Italy, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), in the quarterfinals of the $430,000 Gold Flake Open at Chennai, India. . . . Second-seeded Anne Kremer of Luxembourg and sixth-seeded Cara Black of Zimbabwe advanced to the finals of the $110,000 ASB Bank Classic at Auckland, New Zealand, by identical 6-3, 6-3 scores.

Miscellany

Lennox Lewis is a signature away from defending the undisputed heavyweight championship against unbeaten Michael Grant on April 29 in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Lewis reportedly will get $10 million and Grant will get $3.5 million. . . . World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Jorge Eliecer Julio and former world champion Johnny Tapia will meet tonight for the title at Albuquerque. . . . Seattle’s WNBA expansion team will be called the Storm. . . . Former Olympic skiing champion Alberto Tomba agreed to pay $3.99 million in overdue taxes in a Bologna, Italy, courtroom. . . . Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway won a 12.5-kilometer pursuit biathlon World Cup event at Oberhof, Germany, by 29.7 seconds over Peter Sendel of Germany.

The U.S. women soccer team, playing without its stars who are boycotting over wages, routed the Czech Republic, 8-1, in the opener of the four-nation Australia Cup at Melbourne. . . . David Beckham of Manchester United received a one-game suspension and $1,250 fine for a violent kick during Thursday’s 1-1 tie against Mexico’s Necaxa. . . . Argentine soccer hero Diego Maradona, who failed a cocaine test this week, is suffering from a serious heart condition and problems with his motor skills, his doctors at Punta del Este, Uruguay, said. . . . Indy Racing League driver Sam Schmidt was in serious condition at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., after surgery late Thursday night on a spinal injury suffered in an accident during testing for the season-opening race.