BASEBALL ROUNDUP | News and notes

Gold Glove awards: Atlanta pitcher Mike Hampton ended Greg Maddux's record run of NL Gold Gloves while Luis Castillo and Derrek Lee of the Marlins won for the first time. Scott Rolen, Edgar Renteria, Jim Edmonds and Mike Matheny of the St. Louis Cardinals were among those honored for fielding excellence. Outfielders Andruw Jones of Atlanta and Jose Cruz Jr. of San Francisco also were chosen. Maddux had won 13 straight times, the most by an NL pitcher and three short of the overall record for pitchers set by Jim Kaat.
Players choice awards: St. Louis outfielder Albert Pujols was voted player of the year by his peers in balloting conducted by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Pujols also won NL outstanding player in the Players Choice Awards. Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez was voted AL outstanding player for the third straight season. Atlanta closer John Smoltz was voted the Marvin Miller man of the year award, given for on-field performance and community service. Toronto's Roy Halladay was voted the AL's outstanding pitcher, and Los Angeles reliever Eric Gagne was selected the NL's outstanding pitcher. Kansas City's Angel Berroa and Milwaukee's Scott Podsednik were voted the outstanding rookies of their leagues. Esteban Loiaza of the Chicago White Sox and Rod Beck of San Diego won the comeback player awards in their leagues.
Free agents: Marlins reserve Lenny Harris filed for free agency, pushing the total above 200 for the first time. St. Louis reliever Mike DeJean filed conditionally. The Cardinals still have not decided whether to exercise his $2.5 million option or pay a $200,000 buyout. Before this year, the previous high for free agent filings was 158 after the 2002 season.
Pirates: Rene Gayo, previously the Cleveland Indians' director of international scouting, was hired as the Pirates' director of Latin America scouting. Gayo had been with the Indians since 1994, serving as an area scout from 1994-2000. Gayo played one season in the Cincinnati Reds' organization as a catcher. He was a part-time scout with the Pirates and Rangers before joining the Indians.
Marlins: Backup catcher Ramon Castro was ordered to stand trial on charges that he raped a woman in a Pittsburgh hotel this summer. The 28-year-old woman testified Wednesday that she and a friend spent several hours bar-hopping with Castro and that the two agreed to go to Castro's room with another man for some wine early on the morning of Aug. 28. Castro attacked her after the other man and her friend went to a different room, the woman said. He was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, sexual assault and unlawful restraint.
Padres: Trevor Hoffman agreed to a discounted new contract. The Padres had a $10 million option on the All-Star closer for next season but had no intention of picking it up after he missed the first five months of last season while recovering from two off-season shoulder operations. Instead, they bought him out for $2 million and agreed to a new deal with a low base salary and the chance to make more through incentives. The new deal has an option for 2005.
Giants: San Francisco re-signed catcher Alberto Castillo to a one-year contract. Castillo, an 11-year major league veteran, appeared in 11 games for the NL West champions last season, hitting .188 (3-for-16) with a home run, a double and four RBIs.
Red Sox: Terry Francona spoke with Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and his assistant, Josh Byrnes, for about six hours Wednesday, two days after former Boston shortstop Glenn Hoffman spent the day with team management at Fenway Park. The Red Sox also have received permission to talk to Anaheim Angels pitching coach Bud Black, but he told the Los Angeles Times he expected to turn down the chance for an interview. Epstein said through a team spokesman only that no other interviews have been set up. Francona, 44, managed Philadelphia to a 285-363 record from 1997 to 2000, never winning more than 77 games. Francona spent the 2001 season as special assistant to baseball operations for the Cleveland Indians and was bench coach for the Texas Rangers in 2002.
Devil Rays: Chuck Hernandez replaced Chris Bosio as pitching coach. Hernandez had been the team's minor league pitching coordinator for the past six seasons. Bosio resigned after one year with the team because of personal reasons.
Mets: Rick Peterson was hired as pitching coach, reuniting him with manager Art Howe in an attempt to turn around a staff that struggled last season. In their first news conference since making Jim Duquette general manager last week, the Mets also said they want to re-sign the team captain, 43-year-old left-hander John Franco. In other moves, Rick Waits shifted from bullpen coach to minor league pitching coordinator; Bobby Floyd moved from manager of Triple-A Norfolk to the Mets' third-base coach; and infield coach Matt Galante, who also had been third-base coach, shifted to the dugout. Don Baylor remains the bench coach.
Mariners: John Mabry's $1.5 million option was declined; instead, the Mariners will give the outfielder a $250,000 buyout.
-- Associated Press