BASEBALL Phillies continue busy offseason

Philadelphia traded for Atlanta pitcher Kevin Millwood on a busy Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The NL East race just got a little more competitive.
The Phillies and Mets kept up their offseason dealing Friday, with Philadelphia acquiring right-hander Kevin Millwood from Atlanta and New York agreeing in principle to a $26 million, four-year deal with outfielder Cliff Floyd.
It was a busy day in baseball with All-Star Robert Fick, World Series champion designated hitter Brad Fullmer, Jose Cruz Jr. and Shane Spencer all becoming free agents when their teams did not offer them contracts for 2003.
Also Friday, Sandy Alomar Jr. signed a $700,000 deal with the Chicago White Sox, shortstop Mike Bordick agreed to a $1 million deal with Toronto, lefty Shawn Estes finalized a $3 million deal with the Cubs, and Charles Nagy signed a minor league deal with San Diego.
But the biggest news came in the NL East.
Money moves
After watching the Braves run away with yet another division title this year, the Phillies and Mets have been two of the busiest teams this offseason.
The Phillies finished just two games behind Atlanta in the NL East in 2001, but faltered last year, finishing 21 1/2 games out.
Philadelphia already committed $102 million to free agent first baseman Jim Thome and third baseman David Bell, but missed out on pitchers Tom Glavine and Jamie Moyer.
"He had electric stuff last year," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said of Millwood. "He had the best stuff on that staff."
With the Braves looking to shed salary and unload an extra starter, the Phillies gave up catcher Johnny Estrada for Millwood.
Millwood was 18-8 with a 3.24 ERA last season, helping the Braves win an unprecedented 11th straight division title.
"It's a shock," Millwood said. "But I'm excited to be going to a team that wants to win."
He made $3.9 million last season. He is eligible for salary arbitration, and will get a hefty raise in 2003.
"We had no choice but to move payroll," Braves general manager John Schuerholz said. "We had to trade Kevin Millwood. It wasn't a pleasant thing to do, but we have a very high regard for Estrada as our catcher of the future."
Upgrade
The Mets committed $44 million to sign Glavine and reliever Mike Stanton but still needed to upgrade one of the NL's worst offenses if they want to reverse a last-place finish.
Floyd batted .288 with 28 homers, 43 doubles and 79 RBIs last season for Boston, Montreal and Florida.
He will be a major upgrade over Roger Cedeno or Jeromy Burnitz in one of the corner outfield spots. The Mets probably will try to trade Cedeno or Burnitz.
Floyd, who declined salary arbitration from Boston on Thursday, must pass a physical today to make the deal official.
The Mets also moved closer to signing Japanese third baseman Norihiro Nakamura to a contract.
Pittsburgh acquired right-handed reliever Matt Herges from Montreal for minor league right-handers Chris Young and Jon Searles.