Rogers Says No, So Reds Obtain Moehler

After several days of mulling it over, left-hander Kenny Rogers on Tuesday blocked a deal that would have sent him to the Cincinnati Reds for three minor leaguers.

Rogers invoked a no-trade clause in his contract, deciding to keep his word that he would play out his contract with the last-place Texas Rangers.

The Reds lobbied Rogers to approve the deal that was arranged over the weekend. General Manager Jim Bowden spoke with the pitcher several times by phone. Rogers decided it was more important to keep his wife and two kids in Texas.

The Reds then went with their backup plan, trading three minor leaguers to Detroit for right-hander Brian Moehler.

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The New York Yankees said accusations by an admitted mobster that their players fixed games in the 1970s were “beyond belief.”

Michael Franzese said this week on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” that players on a team he wouldn’t identify in the 1970s owed money to the Columbo crime family.

HBO reported the team in question was the Yankees, and Franzese said the Yankees back then “had some gambling issues.”

“The charges made by Franzese are absolutely beyond belief,” Yankee spokesman Howard Rubenstein said. “He’s a discredited former hoodlum, and it’s an outrage that any credence would be given to him with his bad reputation as he seeks personal publicity. The Yankees know nothing about any of these claims.”

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Right-hander Seth Etherton was returned to the Reds after baseball voided his waiver claim by the Yankees. Baseball voided the claim because Etherton wasn’t able to pitch. He was returned to the Reds, who put him back on the 60-day disabled list.... An arbitrator ruled against Graeme Lloyd, deciding the former Montreal Expo reliever must accept his trade to Florida.... Philadelphia put pitcher Robert Person on the 15-day disabled list because of elbow pain.... Ned Martin, the radio and television voice of the Boston Red Sox for 31 years until his retirement in 1992, died Tuesday.