Sweeney expresses shock

Mark Sweeney insists he never had any amphetamines in his locker for San Francisco teammate Barry Bonds to take.

Sweeney said Friday he was shocked to learn that Bonds apparently mentioned his name in connection with the slugger’s failed amphetamines test last summer. The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Bonds failed the test and initially attributed it to a substance he took from Sweeney’s locker.

“There was nothing I had for him to take or for me to give to him,” Sweeney told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Sweeney said he was tested several times for amphetamines last season and has never failed any drug tests.

He plans to discuss everything with Bonds at some point, probably during spring training. Sweeney said they chatted briefly about a week ago at a golf tournament at Torrey Pines.

Bonds released a statement Thursday night to the AP that he never got amphetamines from Sweeney, though he didn’t deny using them. A first positive test is not made public.

106 file for arbitration

Batting champions Joe Mauer and Freddy Sanchez and American League MVP Justin Morneau were among 106 players who filed for salary arbitration, set to get big raises for next season.

Florida’s Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera also filed, as did Joe Crede of the Chicago White Sox.

Players and teams will swap proposed arbitration figures Tuesday unless they reach agreements by then. Hearings will be scheduled for the first three weeks of February.

Players in arbitration averaged a 109 percent increase last year, when management won four of six cases that went to hearings. Owners lead players 269-200 since arbitration began in 1974.

Six players who had been eligible for arbitration agreed to contracts, including St. Louis left-hander Randy Flores, who got a $1.8 million, two-year deal. Agreeing to one-year contracts were Arizona right-handers Jorge Julio ($3.6 million) and Juan Cruz ($1,437,500), New York Mets left-hander Oliver Perez ($2,325,000), San Diego shortstop Khalil Greene ($2.25 million) and Boston right-hander Kyle Snyder ($535,000). Snyder is a former member of the Spokane Indians.

Right-hander Rodrigo Lopez, who filed for arbitration, was traded by Baltimore to Colorado for minor league right-handers Jim Miller and Jason Burch. The Orioles also agreed to a $775,000, one-year contract with right-hander Todd Williams, who became a free agent last month when Baltimore failed to offer a 2007 contract.

The Giants were the only team that did not have a player file for arbitration.

“Five free agents agreed to minor league contracts: outfielder Richard Hidalgo with Houston, right-hander Felix Rodriguez with Florida, left-hander Brandon Claussen with Washington, infielder Alex S. Gonzalez with Kansas City and infielder Tomas Perez with the Chicago Cubs.

“Right-hander Jeff Nelson wanted to retire as a member of the New York Yankees, a team he helped to four World Series titles, so the 40-year-old right-hander agreed to a minor league contract and then said he won’t play any more.

Nutting takes control

Pittsburgh Pirates chairman of the board Robert Nutting will replace Kevin McClatchy as controlling owner of the team.

McClatchy, who headed the group that bought the team before the 1996 season, will remain chief executive officer and in control of the club’s day-to-day operations. He will report to Nutting, the pair said in an interview with the AP.

The change must be approved by major league owners, who are scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday in Phoenix.

Rangers apologize to fan

The Texas Rangers apologized and paid an undisclosed amount of money to a woman whose nose was broken during a fracas between players and fans at the Oakland Coliseum two years ago.

During the Sept. 13, 2004, brawl alongside the Rangers bullpen, reliever Frank Francisco threw a folding chair into the stands. The chair broke the nose of Jennifer Bueno, whose husband Craig was among the hecklers at Texas’ game against the Oakland Athletics.

Bush invites birds

The St. Louis Cardinals, coming off their first World Series title in 24 years, will travel Tuesday to the White House to meet with President Bush.