BASEBALL Astros eye getting Yanks' Andy Pettitte

Teams are preparing for the start of the winter meetings in New Orleans.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Andy Pettitte is likely to make his choice by Friday: stay with the Yankees or sign with his hometown Astros.
Even though New York is offering more, the Yankees thought Wednesday night there was a good chance he'd decide on Houston.
The Yankees were offering a deal averaging about $13 million a year, while the Astros' proposal averaged about $10 million, a baseball official said on the condition of anonymity. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner discussed the situation with his top aides Wednesday night.
Where it stands
"There is no deal," Pettitte's agent Randy Hendricks said in an e-mail message. "I believe it will be resolved by the end of Friday."
Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker sounded confident about landing Pettitte.
"We have been working for the last three or four weeks toward an agreement, and we are still on that path," he said in Houston. "We're optimistic that things are headed in the right direction."
Hunsicker said owner Drayton McLane had joined the talks after returning from a business trip.
The Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site Wednesday that Pettitte already has passed a physical for the Astros.
Detroit agreed to a $6 million, two-year contract with second baseman Fernando Vina, Colorado agreed to a $2.1 million, one-year deal with third baseman Vinny Castilla and Texas replaced Rafael Palmeiro at first by agreeing to $1 million, one-year contract with Brad Fullmer.
Pittsburgh settled on minor league contracts with outfielder Daryle Ward and right-hander Juan Acevedo.
The New York Mets finalized their $20.1 million, three-year contract with shortstop Kazuo Matsui, and San Diego completed a two-year contract with reliever Akinori Otsuka, a deal worth just under $2 million.
Going nowhere
In Texas, general manager John Hart sounded doubtful the Rangers would pull off the big-money trade that would send AL MVP Alex Rodriguez to Boston for Nomar Garciaparra. Hart said he and Texas manager Buck Showalter had said "many, many times" that they envision Rodriguez staying with the Rangers.
"We've been saying all along this thing has taken on a life of its own and has been a runaway fire," Hart said.
Around the major leagues, teams prepared for the start of the winter meetings Friday in New Orleans.
"I think the first thing we're going to do is we're going to find out where the Yankees and Red Sox are staying and go hang around their rooms and see if somebody drops their wallet," said Doug Melvin, general manager of the low-budget Milwaukee Brewers. "I think they're going to dominate the meetings, the Yankees and Red Sox, the A-Rod thing."
Giants general manager Brian Sabean believes the winter meetings could be quiet for most teams.
"You know how business is done, you can't predict it," he said. "I'm not going to speculate. We always have irons in the fire. Just because the winter meetings are about to commence doesn't mean you'll do business or be forced to do business."
Pettitte, 31, is 149-78 with the Yankees, who signed him in 1991. If he stays in New York he would have the chance to surpass Whitey Ford's 236 victories and become the winningest left-hander in Yankees history.