Cardinals give pitcher Ponson second chance

While the New York Yankees celebrated their acquisition of Johnny Damon and the Boston Red Sox ruminated on their loss Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals gave troubled pitcher Sidney Ponson a second chance.

Other teams kept making moves ahead of the holiday break, including the Giants and Angels. San Francisco acquired outfielder Steve Finley from Los Angeles for third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo.

A day after leaving the Red Sox to accept a $52 million, four-year contract with the Yankees, Damon had a 15-minute conversation with New York owner George Steinbrenner. The agreement for the charismatic center fielder could be finalized today.

“Johnny and I spoke a few times over the last week and I strongly encouraged him to sign with the Yankees,” New York first baseman Jason Giambi said through agent Arn Tellem, “It is good to know that our lineup next year will include a natural leadoff hitter whose presence allows (Derek) Jeter and A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) to return to their preferred places in the batting order. Johnny is a good friend and a great guy to have in the clubhouse.”

Also, New York reached a preliminary agreement with longtime center fielder Bernie Williams on a $1.5 million, one-year contract that allows the 37-year-old to earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses. He will have a reduced role as a part-time outfielder and designated hitter.

Damon’s decision appeared to surprise the Red Sox.

“He was an offensive force. He was a clubhouse leader. He was a bit of a cult figure who was enormously popular with the women of Red Sox nation and generally a good guy,” Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said. “We urged Johnny that Boston is a great place for him, that he was a beloved figure here. But in the end he was free to make his decision.”

Ponson said he’s changed in the three months since the Baltimore Orioles voided his contract and released him. Ponson went to an alcohol rehabilitation facility in September and has been seeing a psychiatrist weekly.

Ponson’s agreement with the Cardinals calls for a $1 million base salary and allows him to earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses based on starts. Ponson was 7-11 with a 6.21 ERA last season.

“We signed him with that purpose in mind, based on his past career,” Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty said.

Ponson was arrested Aug. 25 and charged with driving under the influence and driving while impaired. He served a five-day jail sentence last week for driving while impaired, under a plea agreement.

In Finley, San Francisco gets a 40-year-old player who hit a career-worst .222 with 12 homers and 54 RBIs in 112 games for the American League West champion Angels last season. But he did have a productive year in 2004 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Alfonzo played in only 109 games last season, batting .277 with two home runs and 43 RBIs.

Finley could find himself in an outfield that also includes 41-year-old Barry Bonds and 39-year-old Moises Alou.

Orioles’ Hendricks passes

Elrod Hendricks, who spent nearly four decades as a player and coach with the Baltimore Orioles, died Wednesday. He was 64.

Hendricks died at Baltimore-Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, hospital spokeswoman Allison Eatough said. The cause of death was not immediately known, but he had suffered a stroke in April.

Hendricks got most of the playing time at catcher for the Orioles on teams that went to three consecutive World Series from 1969-71, sharing duties with Andy Etchebarren.

Hendricks also played briefly for the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees during a 12-year major league career that lasted from 1968-79. He went 4-for-11 (.364) with a home run and four RBIs to help Baltimore defeat the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970 World Series.

He also appeared in the 1976 World Series for the Yankees against Cincinnati.

Hendricks broke into professional baseball in 1959 and made his major league debut with the Orioles in 1968. He played in 711 games — including 658 with the Orioles — before retiring in 1979.

Hendricks would have turned 65 on today.

The 2005 season marked the 37th that Hendricks served in a Baltimore uniform as a player or coach, another club record. He also had the longest active coaching tenure with one club in the big leagues.

Yankees hit with luxury tax

The Yankees and Red Sox received extra bills.

The Yankees were hit with a $34 million luxury tax and the Red Sox were told they owe $4 million to the commissioner’s office.

Baseball’s biggest rivals, both eliminated in the first round of the postseason, were the only teams to exceed the payroll threshold established in baseball’s labor contract, according to figures sent to teams by the commissioner’s office.

The Yankees owe $34,053,787 following tax payments of $25,964,060 last year and $3,148,962 in 2003.

Boston must pay $4,156,476, up from $3,148,962 last year.

Because they exceeded the payroll threshold for the third time under the labor contract that began after the 2002 season, the Yankees were taxed at a 40 percent rate on the amount higher than $128 million. Boston, which topped the threshold a second time, was taxed at a 30 percent rate.