Mussina Sticks With Orioles For $21 Million

Mike Mussina didn’t want to leave Baltimore. The Orioles didn’t want to let him get away.

Both sides got what they wanted, as the Orioles announced Saturday that the right-hander has agreed to terms on a three-year extension that will keep him in Baltimore through the year 2000. The deal is worth $21 million.

“Basically, I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else. I enjoy the city of Baltimore and I enjoy the fans immensely,” Mussina said.

“Mike is the foundation of our pitching staff and we are very pleased to have him signed through the millennium,” general manager Pat Gillick said. “He is one of the premier pitchers in the game and someone that we believe will be the anchor of our staff for the next several years.”

Mussina, 28, owns the highest winning percentage among active major league pitchers with at least 50 decisions (93-42, .689). He has won 19 games in each of the last two seasons.

“This is the only organization I’ve ever been in,” Mussina said. “I think sometimes you don’t know what you have until you don’t have it anymore. You have to enjoy the game when you do what I do, or it’s going to drive you nuts.

“I think the reason we wanted to do it was the sense of security knowing where I was going to be next year and for the years after that.”

Surprise, surprise, surprise

The three best surprises in the first month of the season, according to Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

1) Rick Reed, Mets - Former replacement player thinks he’s Greg Maddux: 1.03 ERA, four earned runs in four April starts.

2) Mike Lieberthal, Phillies - Career high in homers at any level before this year: seven. Hit seven in April - more than Albert Belle and Frank Thomas put together.

3) Sandy Alomar Jr., Indians - .263, 11 homers all last year; then .387, eight homers just in April.

Good call on McDowell

With his team hovering around .500, Cleveland’s Mike Hargrove has been under fire. But Hargrove made a smart move dropping Jack McDowell from his rotation two weeks ago.

McDowell blew off some steam about the decision, then went to prove he still could pitch. He worked six scoreless innings in two relief appearances, then beat Oakland 7-1 Thursday in his return to the rotation.

“We knew how Jack would react - that he would be madder than hell,” Hargrove said. “But at the same time, his work ethic and attitude once he got out there was exactly what we hoped it would be. Jack didn’t like it but he did the best he could when he was out there. He deserves respect for that.”

With the McDowell crisis resolved for now, the focus in Cleveland has turned to how best to clear roster space for Marquis Grissom, who can be activated Monday. With David Justice a full-time left-fielder and Julio Franco, Kevin Seitzer and Brian Giles available for DH duties, the Indians might release Kevin Mitchell. He’s in a 4-for-38 slump.

At 252 pounds, Mitchell isn’t missing many meals, but he is missing out on money.

He has failed to reach weight goals on three occasions, costing him $10,000 each time. Also out the window is a $100,000 bonus at season’s end if he met all of his weight requirements during the season.

Yankees make offer to Irabu

The New York Yankees opened negotiations with Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu by offering the hard-throwing right-hander a three-year contract worth $10 million, Newsday reported.

Yankees’ vice president Mark Newman presented the offer to Irabu’s agent, Don Nomura on Thursday or Friday, the newspaper said. There was no evidence that Nomura has responded to the offer, but one source said Irabu has returned to Japan to start working on acquiring a visa.

Jays’ Guzman hurt again

Juan Guzman’s return to the Toronto Blue Jays’ starting rotation may have been short-lived.

Guzman, who missed his two previous starts with a sore right shoulder, complained of tenderness in the same shoulder Saturday and pulled himself from a game against the Minnesota Twins after four innings.

Last year’s American League ERA leader with a 2.93 mark, Guzman, who gave up nine runs in 4-1/3 innings in his previous start, had held the Twins to one run on two hits with five strikeouts when he departed.

Piece of cake for Dierker

Larry Dierker, the broadcaster-turned-manager of the Houston Astros, said the switch hasn’t been all that difficult.

“Nothing has happened that was as tough as I thought it would have been because I thought it would all be hard,” Dierker said. “But as we all know, even the worst teams win 40 percent of their games and the best teams only win 60 percent of their games. So even if you do nothing, you’re going to win some games. I wasn’t really worried about starting off like the Cubs did.”

So far, the Cubs have won less than 25 percent of their games.

Cutting ‘em down

In April, Florida Marlins opponents attempted only 11 stolen bases with Charles Johnson behind plate, and they were caught five times (45 percent). Last year, in his second season, he led the N.L. by throwing out 36 of 87 baserunners (41 percent).

Not much punch

The Astros lead the N.L. Central despite being the worst-hitting team in the majors at the cleanup spot. Houston’s No. 4 hitters began the weekend batting .154 (16 for 104) with no homers and seven RBIs.