Phillips, Berroa, Hamelin Released
Tony Phillips, Geronimo Berroa and Bob Hamelin were among 32 players who became free agents when their teams failed to offer them 1998 contracts before the Dec. 20 deadline.
Phillips, 38, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession last month and was ordered into a drug diversion program that could clear his record.
Phillips hit .275 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 96 runs scored.
Berroa hit .283 with 26 homers and 90 RBIs for Oakland and Baltimore.
Hamelin, the 1994 A.L. Rookie of the Year, was released by Kansas City during spring raining and signed with Detroit, hitting .270 last season with 18 homers and 52 RBIs.
Oliva killed in car accident
Jose Oliva, the Dominican third baseman, who played briefly in the major leagues with Atlanta and St. Louis before accepting a Triple-A contract with the Seattle Mariners, died early Monday in a car accident outside Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. He was 26.
Oliva was driving with a female companion when he apparently hit something in the road and was flung from his convertible, according to news reports.
The woman, who wasn’t identified, was not injured. She told doctors at Centro Medico Hospital in San Cristobal that she waited by the side of the highway for an hour before she was able to get help. Oliva, who suffered severe wounds to the head, throat and lungs, died shortly after reaching the hospital.
Oliva was supposed to sign a Triple-A contract with the Mariners on Monday.
Clearing the bases
The New York Mets traded outfielder Carl Everett to the Houston Astros for reliever John Hudek…. The Kansas City Royals signed free-agent first baseman/designated hitter Hal Morris to a one-year contract. Terms of the contract were not released…. The New York Yankees and reliever Darren Holmes agreed to a $6.4 million, three-year contract…. Catcher Joe Oliver and the Detroit Tigers agreed to a minor-league contract…. Oakland agreed to deals with a pair of free agents, a $450,000, one-year contract with outfielder Shane Mack and a minor-league deal with catcher Damon Berryhill.