Drew set to join Dodgers; Phelps to be Ray

J.D. Drew is set to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are concentrating on offense after pulling out of the three-team, 10-player trade that would have sent Randy Johnson from Arizona to the New York Yankees.

Drew and the Dodgers have reached a preliminary agreement on a $55 million, five-year contract that could be finalized today.

The Tampa Bay Devils Rays settled on a one-year contract with former Indians first baseman/designated hitter Josh Phelps, a Lakeland High School graduate. The deal was contingent on a physical. Phelps, 26, appeared in 103 games last season with Toronto and Cleveland, batting .251 with 17 homers and 61 RBIs.

In Arizona, Diamondbacks managing partner Ken Kendrick said Wednesday he planned to put aside Johnson trade talks until after Christmas.

A day after meeting with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in Tampa, Fla., center fielder Carlos Beltran got together in Kissimmee with the Houston Astros, the team he helped get within one win of the World Series.

If Houston doesn’t reach an agreement with Beltran by Jan. 8, the Astros would be ineligible to re-sign him until May 1.

As teams and agents worked to get deals in place before the holidays, pitcher Orlando Hernandez agreed to an $8 million, two-year contract with the Chicago White Sox.

In two other preliminary agreements, outfielder Moises Alou got a two-year deal with San Francisco worth about $13.25 million and right-hander Wade Miller, cut by Houston on Monday, received a $1.5 million, one-year contract from the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees, who want to add the Big Unit to their All-Star filled clubhouse, meanwhile finalized their $39.95 million, four-year contract with right-hander Carl Pavano. The World Series champion Red Sox completed their $25.5 million, three-year deal with right-hander Matt Clement.

Florida, which had wanted to re-sign Pavano, reached a preliminary agreement on a $750,000, one-year contract with right-hander reliever John Reidling, who was let go by Cincinnati on Monday.

In other free-agent news, St. Louis added left-hander Mike Myers ($600,000) and kept outfielder So Taguchi ($550,000); San Diego got outfielder Mark Sweeney ($575,000); and Cleveland agreed to minor league deals with right-hander Jason Bere and left-hander Billy Traber

Two players eligible for salary arbitration agreed to one-year contracts: Expos catcher Brian Schneider ($2 million) and San Diego outfielder Dave Roberts ($1.35 million), who was acquired from Boston this week.

Drew’s contract, first reported Wednesday by The Record of Hackensack, N.J., is contingent on him passing a physical exam. He will receive a $2 million signing bonus and a $9 million salary next season, then earn $11 million annually in the final four years.

Arizona, whose deal with the Dodgers and Yankees came apart Tuesday, said it isn’t looking for a new partner to create a three-team trade that would send Johnson to the Yankees. Kendrick said the Diamondbacks may keep the Big Unit for 2005.

“We’re all in a holiday mode starting today, basically,” Kendrick said. “You never know what to expect in the baseball world, but I think right now our focus is to get to our families and let everybody have a little down time.”

The Yankees were livid over the Dodgers’ decision to scuttle the deal, insisting that Los Angeles had said late Monday and early Tuesday it was going ahead with the trade, which would have sent pitcher Javier Vazquez from New York to the Dodgers and outfielder Shawn Green from Los Angeles to the Diamondbacks.

“For some reason, the Dodgers over the weekend started to backpedal,” Yankees president Randy Levine said late Tuesday night. “Why they would break their word is only something they can answer. It sure is disappointing, and we’ll have to think long and hard before ever doing business with the Dodgers again.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman softened the rhetoric, and spelled out why he believes the deal collapsed. The Dodgers had signed off on the trade during conference calls Monday night and early Tuesday.

“After everything seemed to be agreed upon by midnight Monday, the only way it could work is if you have physicals taken by a certain time Wednesday,” Cashman said. “And that was not feasible — the time of year we’re at, Christmas week, people out of the country.”

Also, Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro received a two-year contract extension through the 2007 season.