Red Sox, Rockies Make 7-Player Deal

The Boston Red Sox completed a seven-player trade with the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, receiving pitcher Rolando Arrojo and infielder Mike Lansing for second baseman Jeff Frye and pitchers Brian Rose and John Wasdin.

Boston also acquired pitcher Rick Croushore and an undisclosed amount of cash. The Rockies also got minor league pitcher Jeff Taglienti.

“We thought we could add to our ballclub for this season and not really affect our major league ballclub,” Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette said.

Said Rocky General Manager Dan O’Dowd, whose team has lost 18 of its last 22 games: “It is an opportunity for us to continue with our plan. . . . We aren’t done yet. We are not raising the white flag. A lot has to do with the players we get back.”

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Five months into his yearlong suspension from baseball, Darryl Strawberry has left a drug clinic and is trying to get back into the game.

Strawberry wrote a letter to Commissioner Bud Selig several weeks ago asking for reinstatement, a high-ranking baseball official said.

The New York Yankee outfielder, serving his third drug-related suspension, asked for an early end to his one-year ban, currently scheduled to run through February.

The baseball official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that the eight-time All-Star left a clinic where he was being treated for his cocaine problem, and returned to his home in a gated community outside Tampa, Fla.

Strawberry told the New York Daily News that he left the Sobrenity Inc. clinic in Fort Lauderdale after 3 1/2 months because he needs to support his wife and children and explore returning to work in baseball.

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The New York Yankees are talking to the Montreal Expos about getting Rondell White for two prospects, but first want to wait to see test results on the injured outfielder.

If convinced White is healthy, the Yankees are prepared to send infielder Alfonso Soriano, the jewel of their farm system, and triple-A pitcher Brandon Knight to the Expos, a high-ranking baseball official said, speaking on the condition he not be identified.

White has been out since July 8 because of a strained right hamstring. He is scheduled for an MRI exam today.

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Outfielder Raul Mondesi of the Toronto Blue Jays was put on the 15-day disabled list because of ligament damage in his right elbow. . . . Manny Ramirez’s agent, Jeff Moorad, said the Cleveland Indians’ offer of a five-year contract extension worth $75 million is unacceptable. The sticking point, according to Moorad, is deferred money. He said $25 million would be deferred over the next 25 years starting in 2001. . . . A day after he was acquired in a trade with Arizona, pitcher Omar Daal agreed to a $2.75-million, one-year contract extension with Philadelphia. . . . The Detroit Tigers put pitcher Dave Mlicki on the 15-day disabled list because of a chronic sinus infection and recalled pitcher Erik Hiljus from triple-A Toledo.