Everett slides into Seattle

The Seattle Mariners signed outfielder Carl Everett on Wednesday to a one-year contract with a club option for 2007.

“Today we achieved one of our off-season goals,” Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said in a statement.

“Carl Everett is a clutch-hitting run producer with power. As a switch-hitter, he provides our lineup with added versatility. Carl is a winner, most recently as a member of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox.

“His experience and intensity will be welcome additions to our clubhouse.”

Everett batted .251 with 23 home runs and 87 RBI for the White Sox last season.

Seattle becomes the eighth team in 14 major league seasons for the sometimes controversial 34-year-old. Chicago declined its 2006 contract option on him Oct. 31.

“Carl will primarily be the DH but will also play some in our outfield,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “Having him in my lineup gives us some of the left-handed sock and run production we were looking for.”

Everett is one of six switch-hitters in major-league history with 100 RBI during a season in each league. He had 108 with Houston in 1999 and 108 with Boston in 2000. Bobby Bonilla, Eddie Murray, Ted Simmons, Ken Singleton and J.T. Snow are the others.

Everett is a lifetime .274 hitter with 191 home runs and 759 RBI over 1,313 games for Florida, the New York Mets, Houston, Boston, Texas, the White Sox and Montreal.

Government blocks Cuba from Classic

Cuba won’t be allowed to send a team to next year’s inaugural World Baseball Classic, the U.S. government told event organizers.

The decision by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control was conveyed to Major League Baseball, according to Pat Courtney, a spokesman for the commissioner’s office.

A permit from OFAC is necessary because of U.S. laws governing certain commercial transactions with the communist island nation.

Paul Archey, the senior vice president of Major League Baseball International, and Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, issued a joint statement saying the organizers would try to have the decision reversed. The commissioner’s office and the union have jointly organized the 16-team tournament, which runs from March 3-20 in the United States, Puerto Rico and Japan.

Organizers had said the Cuban team likely would have included only players currently residing in Cuba and not defectors such as Jose Contreras, Orlando Hernandez and Livan Hernandez, who have become major league stars.

Job security on Benson’s wish list

Kris Benson was all dressed up as Santa Claus, welcoming 110 schoolchildren to Shea Stadium at the New York Mets’ annual holiday party, handing out presents and listening to all manner of wishes from the kids.

He had a request of his own for his bosses – don’t trade me.

Benson’s name surfaced in trade talks before and during last week’s winter meetings in Dallas as a bargaining chip that could clear some salary space for other moves. He hopes the talk wasn’t serious.

“I’ve always said I wanted to be here,” he said through his fake beard. “I signed here because I want to be here. We said all along we want to be here.”

White Sox acquire right-hander Vazquez

Hoping to bolster their starting rotation, the White Sox agreed to acquire right-hander Javier Vazquez from Arizona for right-hander Orlando Hernandez, reliever Luis Vizcaino and minor league outfielder Chris Young, a baseball official said.

The deal is contingent on the players’ passing physicals and must be approved by commissioner Bud Selig because Arizona is sending the White Sox cash to help pay part of Vazquez’s salary.

Mueller agrees to deal with Dodgers

Former A.L. batting champion Bill Mueller and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a two-year contract worth about $9.5 million.

The switch-hitting 34-year-old third baseman batted .295 with 10 homers and 62 RBIs in 150 games with Boston last season.

Cubs pin high hopes on Pierre

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry introduced Juan Pierre, saying the center fielder fills a void at the top of the Cubs’ lineup with “one of the finest leadoff hitters in baseball over the last five years.”

“He gets your offense going,” Hendry said after a news conference at Wrigley Field in which Pierre tried on his No. 9 jersey. “He’s a catalyst. He’s a disruptive guy to the other team.”

Hendry called the leadoff spot one of the biggest problems with last season’s Cubs, who finished fourth in the N.L. Central at 79-83. Chicago had hoped Corey Patterson would fill the slot successfully, but he hit just .215 with a .254 on-base percentage and 118 strikeouts – more than twice Pierre’s total last season.

Pierre, coming from the Florida Marlins, has struck out just 211 times in his six-year career.

Turner may pass on Braves ownership

Stan Kasten thinks Ted Turner isn’t interested in reacquiring the Atlanta Braves from Time Warner.

“The last time I talked to Ted about sports in general, he was just focused on other much more important things,” Kasten said. “I don’t think sports teams are on his radar. Having said that, he may be the world’s most unpredictable person.”

Time Warner, the team’s owner, said Tuesday it may put the franchise up for sale.

“I’m sure it will have a lot of interest, but that’s a far cry from saying they will be sold,” said Kasten, the former president of the Braves, the NBA’s Hawks and the NHL’s Thrashers.