Sports briefs 11/27/03

The Padres traded Mark Kotsay to the Athletics for two players on Wednesday.

JACK DEMPSEY * Associated Press

Baseball

The Kansas City Royals on Wednesday signed free agents Brian Anderson, Joe Randa and Curtis Leskanic -- three players who were a big part of the team's return to winning baseball last season. Anderson, 31, who the Royals obtained from Cleveland in an August trade, signed a two-year contract. Terms of all three contracts were not released by the Royals. The signings come a week after the Royals lost outfielder Raul Ibanez, who signed a three-year deal with the Seattle Mariners.

All-Star catcher Ramon Hernandez and disgruntled outfielder Terrence Long were traded from the Oakland Athletics to San Diego for outfielder Mark Kotsay on Wednesday, more than a week after the teams tentatively agreed to the deal. The teams thought they'd finish the trade Nov. 18, but the A's wanted to see medical information on Kotsay, who had a herniated disc in his lower back that hampered him last season.

-- From wire reports