BASEBALL Cuban pitcher signs with N.Y. to bolster staff

His signing gives the Yankees six starting pitchers.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox in the race to sign Cuban defector Jose Contreras, reaching a preliminary agreement Tuesday with the right-hander.
While terms were not announced, Contreras agreed to a deal worth $32 million over four years, a baseball official said on the condition he not be identified.
The agreement, the largest for a Cuban defector, is subject to Contreras passing a physical and regulatory procedures dealing with Cuban defectors and the U.S. economic boycott of the communist nation.
Compliment
"Jose Contreras is most certainly the premier amateur pitcher in the world and may be the best pitcher ever in amateur play," said Gordon Blakeley, the Yankees' vice president of international and professional scouting. "He has an exceptional fastball and breaking ball, plus a championship makeup, and we expect him to have great success at the major league level."
Contreras, said to be 31, was the top pitcher on Cuba's national team until he defected in October, and beat the United States on one day's rest in the championship of the 1999 Pan American Games, striking out 13 in eight innings.
He became the second major international signing for the Yankees in six days, following Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui, who agreed to a $21 million, three-year deal last week.
After gaining residency in Nicaragua, Contreras was declared a free agent last week by the commissioner's office. Monday was the first day he could negotiate with major league teams.
New York had dispatched Blakeley to Nicaragua along with Carlos Rios, its coordinator of Latin American scouting.
Boston sent general manager Theo Epstein and Louie Eljaua, its director of international scouting. Los Angeles and Seattle also were believed to be interested in signing Contreras.
Coming to U.S.
Contreras left the Cuban team after an Oct. 1 game against the Dominican Republic at Saltillo, Mexico. He entered the United States at San Ysidro, Calif., and was detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Diego.
He was freed and went to Florida, then left the United States, where he would have been subject to baseball's amateur draft.
Contreras pitched for Cuba's national team for seven years, pitching in the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2001 World Cup. He was 117-50 with a 2.82 ERA in the Cuban League, according to the Yankees.
His deal calls for a $6 million signing bonus, with $2 million payable in each of the first two years and $1 million in each of the final two years, and annual salaries of $4 million, $7 million, $7 million and $8 million.
Adding to the list
His signing gives the Yankees six starting pitchers, a group that also includes Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, David Wells, Orlando Hernandez and Jeff Weaver.
New York is close to re-signing Roger Clemens to a one-year deal in the $8 million to $10 million range, with the sides negotiating performance bonuses and structural issues. Both sides have said they are confident an agreement will be reached by the Jan. 8 deadline for Clemens to re-sign.