BASEBALL Pettitte makes bid to have Clemens sign with Astros

Miguel Tejada may sign before the weekend is over.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Even before the winter meetings, big names were changing teams at rapid speed.
Just after Andy Pettitte put on the jersey of his hometown Houston Astros and prepared to make another pitch -- to Roger Clemens -- the New York Yankees got busy, too. After seeing their longtime lefty leave for $7.5 million less than they offered, the Yankees zeroed in on Kevin Brown -- agreeing to the outline of a tentative trade for Jeff Weaver.
There was plenty of action across baseball Thursday -- and many teams spent the day in the air, heading to New Orleans for the annual swap session. Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero and Greg Maddux seemed certain to be mentioned prominently at the meetings in the Big Easy.
Former AL MVP Miguel Tejada said he expects to sign a contract by the end of the weekend, but wouldn't say with which team. The Oakland Athletics say they can't afford to give him the long-term deal he wants, and Seattle is interested.
Free agent catcher Benito Santiago found a new home in Kansas City, the Chicago White Sox and pitcher Mark Buehrle agreed on an $18 million, three-year contract and the Mariners gave multi-year deals to outfielder Randy Winn and pitcher Ryan Franklin.
Also, 41-year-old pitcher Dan Plesac retired after an 18-year career.
Pressure points
Pettitte would like to get Clemens, his former Yankees teammate, on the Astros. Clemens has said he is retiring to spend time with his family in the Houston area.
"I left him this morning. He's still working out with me. We'll see what happens," Pettitte said. "I know the media's already hit him up on that, and if I feel there's a chance, I'll hit him up on it, too."
New York wasted little time finding a replacement, agreeing to the outline of a tentative trade with Los Angeles that would bring Brown for Weaver, two baseball officials said on the condition of anonymity.
The Yankees would send Los Angeles two minor leaguers and $3 million to cover part of the $15.5 million Weaver is owed in 2004 and 2005 -- $6.25 million next year and $9.25 million in 2005.
Brown, who has the right to block a trade, must approve any deal and has not yet been approached, agent Scott Boras said. Players must pass physicals, and the Yankees want to review Brown's contract before signing off on the trade, the officials said.
Brown's numbers
Brown, who turns 39 in March, signed baseball's first $100 million contract with the Dodgers, a deal that has two seasons remaining at $15 million annually.
He was 14-9 with a 2.39 ERA last year for Los Angeles, but has pushed for a trade to a team closer to his home in Macon, Ga.
Injuries limited him to 19 starts in 2001 and 10 in 2002, but he rebounded to make 32 starts last season, when he had the second-lowest ERA in the NL behind Jason Schmidt.
Weaver, 27, has struggled since the Yankees acquired him from Detroit in July 2002, failing to keep his spot in the rotation. He was 7-9 with a 5.99 ERA last season, and allowed the 12th-inning homer to Florida's Alex Gonzalez that won the pivotal fourth game of the World Series.