Yankees and Jeter Reportedly Close to $118-Million Deal

Derek Jeter is on the verge of becoming baseball’s highest-paid player.

After helping lead the New York Yankees to three World Series titles in four years, the all-star shortstop was near agreement on a record contract worth $118.5 million for seven years, Newsday and the Associated Press reported.

The deal and the average salary would break the records set by pitcher Kevin Brown on Dec. 12, 1998, when he agreed to a $105-million, seven-year contract with the Dodgers, a deal that averages $15 million a year.

If Jeter signs for $118.5 million over seven years, the average will be $16,928,571.

Jeter has sought arbitration, but neither side expects the matter to go to a hearing.

The deal is expected to be completed within the next 10 days, after Yankee owner George Steinbrenner meets with Jeter and after the shortstop takes a physical for insurance purposes.

Jeter, 25, batted .349 and set career highs in home runs (24), runs batted in (102) and hits (219) last season. He reached base in each of the Yankees’ first 53 games, the team’s longest such streak since 1961.

Newsday also reported that the Yankees signed starting pitcher Andy Pettitte to a three-year, $25.5-million contract that includes a club option for a fourth year, according to sources, and reached a one-year, $1.2-million agreement with catcher Jorge Posada.

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About 75 people marched and chanted in front of CNN headquarters in Atlanta to protest a lack of action by the Atlanta Braves against pitcher John Rocker.

The Braves--owned by CNN’s parent company, Time Warner--have done nothing to punish Rocker for his derogatory comments about immigrants, minorities and gays in last month’s Sports Illustrated, said Michael Langford, president of the United Youth-Adult Conference, who led the protest in a misty rain.

“They’re treating a cancer with an aspirin,” he said.

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The Montreal Expos signed pitcher Dustin Hermanson to a three-year, $15-million contract that includes a team option for 2003. Hermanson became the fourth player--along with fellow pitchers Graeme Lloyd, Hideki Irabu and Anthony Telford--to sign a multiyear deal with the team since the new ownership group, headed by New York-based art dealer Jeffery Loria, assumed control Dec. 9. Hermanson was 9-14 last season but had a 2.95 earned-run average after the All-Star break.

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The Angels agreed to a one-year, $550,000 deal with outfielder Orlando Palmeiro, avoiding arbitration. . . . Outfielder Bobby Abreu and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided arbitration when they agreed to a $14.25-million, three-year contract. . . . The Chicago White Sox agreed to a one-year, $3.3-million contract with pitcher James Baldwin. . . . The Cleveland Indians avoided arbitration with right-hander Steve Karsay, agreeing to a $1.2-million, one-year contract. . . . Quilvio Veras and the Braves avoided arbitration when the newly acquired second baseman agreed to a $3-million, one-year contract. . . . Reliever Matt Karchner and the Chicago Cubs avoided arbitration when they agreed to a $776,000, one-year contract, the same as his 1999 salary. . . . Right-hander Danny Patterson, acquired in a nine-player deal with the Texas Rangers in November, agreed to a $550,000, one-year contract with the Detroit Tigers, nearly double his $290,000 salary last year.

Olympics

Beijing, Toronto and Paris are the leading candidates to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, said Richard Pound, a vice president with the International Olympic Committee.

The Games will be awarded in July 2001 at the IOC’s annual session scheduled for Moscow, Pound said.

Miscellany

The WNBA announced its 2000 schedule, and the Sparks, who will play home games at the Great Western Forum for one more season before moving to Staples Center, will open at home May 31 against the Utah Starzz. The WNBA expands from 12 to 16 teams with the addition of the Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire and Seattle Storm.

Gary Gaines, featured in the best-selling book on Texas high school football, “Friday Night Lights,” was hired as coach at Abilene Christian University. . . . Linebacker Joey Ferrer is leaving Notre Dame, saying the university’s pristine image and restrictive rules have taken the fun out of football. Ferrer, who has already earned degrees in sociology and computer applications, will transfer to a Division I-AA school.

Names in the News

Lance Armstrong, in balloting by an international panel, won the 2000 Jesse Owens International Trophy.