Winfield To Announce Retirement

Dave Winfield, the major-league leader in hits and RBIs among active players, is expected to announce his retirement today. The 44-year-old outfielder, the oldest player now in the majors, has called a news conference in New York.

The 12-time All-Star, who played 23 seasons, finished with a .283 career average and was in the top 20 of many career categories: 3,110 hits (14th), 1,833 RBIs (11th), 465 homers (19th), 11,003 at-bats (sixth) and 2,973 games (seventh).

Relief pitcher Jeff Nelson, acquired by the Yankees in a trade with Seattle, avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.85 million, two-year contract.

Nelson, who had a $275,000 salary with the Mariners last season, will make $860,000 in 1996.

For the first time in nearly a year, owners and players have exchanged proposals in their halting effort to forge a new collective bargaining agreement. Negotiators for the players presented a counterproposal to the plan the owners’ representatives gave the players on Nov. 15.

Negotiators plan to meet today for a question-and-answer session about the proposal’s technical aspects.