Phillies sign Lieber for 3 years

Jon Lieber agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, Al Leiter returned to the Florida Marlins and Woody Williams went back to the San Diego Padres as teams moved quickly to grab starting pitchers Wednesday after the first free-agent deadline of the off-season passed.

Lieber left the New York Yankees, agreeing to a $21 million, three-year contract with Philadelphia, and Leiter departed the New York Mets with some degree of acrimony, getting an $8 million, one-year contract from Florida.

Williams, part of the St. Louis Cardinals’ National League pennant-winning team, is guaranteed $3.5 million by San Diego as part of a deal that could be worth $14.5 million for two years.

The Yankees didn’t waste any time filling Lieber’s spot in the rotation, closing in on a $21 million, three-year contract with Jaret Wright. New York also has a preliminary agreement with second baseman Tony Womack on a $4 million, two-year deal.

Dustin Hermanson left the San Francisco Giants for a $5.5 million, two-year contract with the Chicago White Sox, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. departed the White Sox for a $550,000, one-year deal with Texas, and reliever Matt Mantei moved on from Arizona for a $750,000, one-year contract with Boston.

Forty-one free agents, the highest total since at least 1985, were offered salary arbitration by their former teams before Tuesday’s midnight deadline. They have until Dec. 19 to accept the offers and can re-sign through Jan. 8.

The remaining 168 free agents are barred from going back to their old teams until May 1, meaning they almost certainly will play elsewhere next year. That group includes third baseman Troy Glaus, the 2002 World Series Most Valuable Player (Anaheim); first baseman Carlos Delgado (Toronto); outfielder Steve Finley (Los Angeles); outfielder Magglio Ordonez (Chicago White Sox); and pitchers Eric Milton and Kevin Millwood (Philadelphia).

Several players agreed to re-sign just before the deadline, including pitcher Brad Radke, who got an $18 million, two-year contract from the Minnesota Twins. St. Louis agreed to one-year deals with pitchers Matt Morris ($2.5 million) and Cal Eldred ($600,000), along with outfielder John Mabry ($725,000).

Before heading to the winter meetings, which start Friday in Anaheim, Calif., several teams were busy locking up pitching.

Lieber, 34, spent last year with the Yankees, going 14-8 with a 4.33 ERA. He was 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA in three playoff starts, and got more effective later in the year as he regained arm strength following 2002 elbow-ligament replacement surgery.

Leiter, 10-8 with a 3.21 ERA last season, returned to the team he helped pitch to the 1997 World Series title.