FanFare 12/8/02

Baseball

Pitcher Frank Castillo and the Boston Red Sox agreed Saturday to an $800,000, one-year contract. The Red Sox faced a midnight deadline for eight other of their former players who became free agents. If those players didn't sign or get offered arbitration, they would be unable to re-sign until May 1.

Outfielder Marquis Grissom agreed to a $4.25 million, two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants, leaving the Los Angeles Dodgers. Grissom, a two-time All-Star with a .270 career average, has a deal with a club option for a third season. Also, Ray Durham, who had been Oakland's second baseman, agreed to a $20.1 million, three-year contract with the Giants, who also gave him a $7 million player option for 2006.

Left-hander Jamie Moyer signed a three-year deal with the Seattle Mariners, completing the team's goal of keeping its four top free agents. The 40-year-old Moyer went 13-8 with a 3.32 ERA in 34 starts last season. He ranked fourth in the American League with 230 innings pitched and has thrown at least 200 innings in four of the past five seasons.

The Texas Rangers officially cut ties with Ivan Rodriguez, refusing to offer salary arbitration to the 10-time All-Star catcher. With no fanfare came the official and expected end of Rodriguez's tenure with the team for which he made his major league debut as a 19-year-old kid midway through the 1991 season.

Left-hander Jeff Fassero agreed to a $1.5 million, one-year contract with the Cardinals late Friday. Last month, the Cardinals declined a $2.5 million option on Fassero and he filed for free agency. Fassero went 8-6 with a 5.35 ERA in 69 innings last season. The Cardinals acquired Fassero, 39, in August from the Chicago Cubs for a pair of minor leaguers.

Colleges

East Carolina coach Steve Logan won't be back for a 12th season after he resigned, a move school officials said was "a mutual agreement." Logan had more wins than any other coach in school history, but went 4-8 this season. His teams were 69-58 and went to five bowl games, winning two. East Carolina will continue to pay Logan's $200,000 annual salary for the next three years.

Football

Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell probably will start against the Cleveland Browns today after spraining a finger on his throwing hand last week. Brunell took all the snaps in practice and said his left middle finger felt fine.

San Diego Chargers wide receiver Curtis Conway could miss his second straight game with a shoulder injury. Coach Marty Schottenheimer said he'll decide at game time today whether Conway will play against the Oakland Raiders.

Golf

Padraig Harrington stole the script and the show from Tiger Woods in the Target World Challenge. The Irishman overpowered the par 5s by making three eagles and lipping out another eagle putt. He wound up breaking the course record with a 9-under 63 to blow by Woods and seize a six-stroke lead. Harrington was at 19-under 197, breaking by one stroke the 54-hole tournament record set in 2000 by Sergio Garcia. His six-stroke lead was the largest in the four-year history of the event.

The New York Times will publish revised versions of two previously rejected sports columns about the Augusta National Golf Club's men-only membership policy. Executive editor Howell Raines said the paper's editors asked the writers, Dave Anderson and Harvey Araton, to resubmit their work and reassured them their opinions were not at issue. Earlier this week, the Daily News reported the Times killed the columns because the pieces disagreed with the stance taken by the newspaper's editorial page.

Verbatim

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, on college football: "I remain unsure which teams are bowl-eligible, BCS-qualified, sponge-worthy, Nielsen-friendly or FDIC-insured."

Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel, on Kansas State's claim that 25,000 fans would follow the Wildcats to the Orange Bowl: "Have you ever been to Manhattan, Kan., in the winter? They'll bring 25,000 to Miami to watch their debate team compete."

Laura Vecsey of the Baltimore Sun, after a four-game losing streak spurred Michael Jordan to make his first start of the season and play 37 minutes: "When Jordan said he was willing to be a role player this season, we could have guessed what kind of role: Emperor."

Bill Lankhof of the Toronto Sun, on why Michael Jordan, 40, really means it when he says he's retiring this time: "It gets embarrassing when your best groupies show up in aluminum walkers."

-- From wire reports