Texas acquired outfielder Greg Golson from the Phillies for outfielder John Mayberry.

In another move, the Rangers designated right-hander Kameron Loe for assignment in anticipation of selling his rights to a team in Japan.

Golson, who is from Texas, was the 21st overall pick by the Phillies in the 2004 draft. He spent last season at Double-A Reading, where he hit .282 with 13 homers and 60 RBIs in 106 games. He went 0-for-6 as a September call-up for the Phillies, his only major league action.

Mayberry, drafted 19th overall by the Rangers in 2005, hit .263 with 16 homers and 58 RBIs in 114 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City this year.

The 6-foot-7 Loe, who wants to be a starter, made 14 relief appearances during five stints with Texas this season. Loe has been with the Rangers since they selected him in the 20th round of the 2002 draft, and he has appeared in 107 games (47 starts) over the past five seasons.

“We were prepared to have Kam come back and compete for a spot in the bullpen if this hadn’t presented itself,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “It’s a good opportunity for him, not only financially, but for him to start.”

Loe, a fan favorite known for his 7-foot pet boa constrictor named Angel, is 19-23 with one save and a 4.77 ERA.

Blockbuster trades, pricey signings, hirings, firings - they all needed his OK.
No more.

The omnipresent owner’s colorful 35-year reign of pronouncements, threats and bluster ended Thursday when he passed control of baseball’s most famous and successful franchise to his youngest son, Hal.

“I realize it’s a great responsibility,” said Hal Steinbrenner, who turns 40 on Dec. 3. “My dad is, needless to say, a tough act to follow.”

The elder Steinbrenner has gradually withdrawn from the Yankees’ day-to-day operations in recent years as his health faded, and brothers Hal and Hank were appointed co-chairmen in April.

George Steinbrenner, now 78, headed a group that bought the club in January 1973 for an $8.7 million net price and became one of the most high-profile owners in all of sports. He dominated the back pages of New York’s tabloids, earning the nickname “The Boss” as he spent lavishly on players and changed managers 20 times during his first 23 years as owner, feuding with Billy Martin, Yogi Berra and Dave Winfield.

The Yankees regained their former glory, winning six World Series titles and 10 American League pennants from 1976-2003. They also transformed themselves into a sports empire that owns a cable television network and food concession company and is preparing to move into a $1.3 billion new Yankee Stadium next year.

Steinbrenner was baseball’s longest-serving current owner, but has cut back his role with the team following fainting spells that required hospitalization in December 2003 and October 2006.

His speech in public has been halting and weak since the second fall, and he has needed assistance when walking. From a golf cart, he delivered the balls for the ceremonial first pitches at July’s All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, then stayed home in Florida to watch the 85-year-old park’s final game on television in September.

Baseball owners unanimously approved the change in control during a meeting Thursday, ending an era in which Steinbrenner became the team’s defining image as much as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio did in earlier eras.

“He’s been slowing down the last couple years,” Hal Steinbrenner said. “Really, for the last two years I have been intimately involved with all aspects and all departments of the company. It’s what I’ve been doing day-to-day. My duties aren’t really going to change and my workload isn’t going to change much. So, I mean, it’s as much a procedural thing within the family, I think, as anything at this point.”

Hal Steinbrenner shuns attention as much as his father craved it. But while 51-year-old Hank has become the public voice of the team’s ownership in the past year, Hal was at Yankee Stadium far more frequently than his brother. Hal is responsible for financial operations of the club, and Hank oversees general manager Brian Cashman and the baseball operations.

“I’m not going to ask the people in the family why they picked one against the other,” said baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who visited Steinbrenner in Tampa, Fla., before Game 2 of the World Series last month. “I get enough trouble as commissioner. I don’t need to get into family squabbles.”

Steinbrenner’s tenure was twice interrupted by lengthy bans from baseball (1974-76 and 1990-93), but it was widely believed he still made the final decisions during those periods.

Major League Baseball said Steinbrenner requested the change in control be made, and the Yankees said Hank Steinbrenner voted in favor of it. George Steinbrenner retains his title as the team’s chairman and his wife, Joan, is a vice chairperson along with their daughters, Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal and Jessica Steinbrenner.

Before Hal, each son-in-law of the owner emerged as heir apparents, only to divorce the owner’s daughters and depart the team.

Joe Molloy, married to Jessica Steinbrenner, was a general partner from 1992-97. Steve Swindal, married to Jennifer Steinbrenner, was a general partner from 1998-06, then became chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, the team’s holding company. He was publicly designated by George Steinbrenner as his successor in June 2005 but Swindal departed after his driving under the influence arrest early on Feb. 15, 2007.

Hal Steinbrenner became more active in the team’s operations following Swindal’s arrest.

“George is still going to be involved,” Yankees president Randy Levine said. “This is really just a codification, with the commissioner’s help and input, of what’s been going on the last several years.”

The 23-year-old OFlaherty made seven appearances with the Mariners last season, going 0-1 with a 20.25 ERA over 6 2/3 innings.

The Braves also purchased the contracts of infielder Diory Hernandez and pitchers Todd Redmond and Stephen Marek.

—-
David Price: Projected to Start for Rays.

The Rays will not seek to turn Price into a reliever, and hell enter the teams starting rotation at some point in 2009, the team web site reports.
Hes definitely going to be a starter, Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said of Price. However, theres a chance Price might not be in the rotation as quickly as Opening Day, depending on how the Rays re-tool their bullpen in the offseason, and also depending on whether or not the Rays trade one of their other starters for a right-handed outfield-DH bat.

—-
Aaron Heilman: Wants Rotation Spot.

Heilman said Thursday that he wants to be in the Mets rotation next season or be traded to a team where he could start.
Heilman hasnt started in the majors in three years after being primarily used in that role in the minors. He posted a 3.68 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in the minors and has a 4.22 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in the majors, where he has been used almost exclusively out of the bullpen. The Mets have some question marks in their rotation, so Heilman could get a shot in spring training.

Utley will have surgery next week to repair any bone or cartilage damage he may have in his right hip. He will be able to begin baseball activity in three to four months. But depending on the extent of the damage, full recovery could take until May, team officials said Thursday.

“Our feeling is that he’s going to be fairly close to ready if not ready by opening day,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “We fully expect to have Chase Utley with us for the bulk of the season.”

Utley was bothered by symptoms during the season but still hit .292 and led all second basemen with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs. While his season numbers were impressive, Utley started the season very well and tailed off in the last four months.

Utley had 18 home runs and 47 RBIs through the end of May but hit just 15 home runs the rest of the season.

Trainer Scott Sheridan said Utley thought the injury may have occurred while he trained during the last offseason but could not pinpoint an exact time.

“He had some symptoms in spring training, he had some symptoms in July,” Sheridan said. “It was really on and off throughout the season.”

Although Sheridan said the injury might have been bothering Utley most in July, Amaro said his decrease in production as the season went on was not necessarily a result of the injury.

“He’s a team player and he’s a very tough guy, there’s no question about it, but the reality of it is he’s not a dummy,” Amaro said. “If he was not able to perform, he would not have gone on to the field.”

Team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti and specialist Dr. Bryan Kelly examined Utley following the World Series and recommended surgery. Kelly will perform the surgery next week in New York but a date has not been set.

Amaro said he does not expect to go outside of the organization for help at second base. Utility infielder Eric Bruntlett and prospect Jason Donald will likely hold down the position in Utley’s absence, he said.

Third baseman Pedro Feliz also was having surgery Thursday on his back. He spent 26 days on the disabled list last season with a lower back injury. The operation will be followed by an eight-to-12 week rehabilitation program.

Feliz hit .249 with 14 homers and 58 RBIs after joining the Phillies as a free agent before the season.

Spring training begins Feb. 14. Philadelphia’s first regular-season game is April 5.

Murphy hit .313 with two home runs and 17 RBIs in 131 at-bats for New York this season. He felt discomfort during batting practice Nov. 11 and a test Thursday revealed the injury.

Murphy will skip winter ball in Puerto Rico. An outfielder for the Mets this year, he had been playing second base in Arizona.

—-
Cardinals close to deal with lefty Trever Miller.

Looking to fill one of their most pressing offseason needs, the St. Louis Cardinals were close to a contract agreement with left-handed reliever Trever Miller.

The deal was likely to be finalized Friday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday that Miller came to the city for a physical and met with team doctors, but a deal had not been completed.

The 35-year-old Miller was 2-0 with a 4.15 ERA and two saves in 68 games last season for the AL champion Tampa Bay Rays, holding left-handed hitters to a .209 average in 91 at-bats.

The Rays declined a $2 million contract option earlier this month, electing to pay a $400,000 buyout.

Phone messages left with Cardinals officials were not returned.

Miller has made at least 60 appearances in each of the past six seasons. He broke into the majors with Detroit in 1996.

During World War II, the United States government moved his Japanese ancestors across the country from one internment camp to another. Wakamatsu’s father, an iron worker, was born in one.

“I’m proud to represent some of what they went through in their lifetime,” Wakamatsu said. “If I can set a future stepping stone for Japanese-Americans and just the equality in baseball, I’m glad to bear that torch.”

A fourth-generation Japanese-American, the former Oakland bench coach was introduced Wednesday as the new manager of the Mariners.

The team has close ties to Japan, from Hiroshi Yamauchi, its titular head and Japanese billionaire, through All-Star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, the franchise cornerstone.

James Wakamatsu, 93, and 91-year-old wife Ruth were hardworking, modest-living fruit growers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley before the U.S. rounded up Japanese living in this country during the war.

The elder Wakamatsus were first sent to live in an internment camp set up in the infield of a horse racing track in Portland. Then they were moved to Tule Lake, Calif., to Jerome, Ark., and to the Chicago area.

When the war ended, they resettled in Hood River, Ore. Wakamatsu’s parents were there, too - his mother is Irish-American - and he was born there.

“When they got out, they were offered the barracks to buy. They ended up shipping it to Hood River, Ore.,” he said of his grandparents. “As a child, I had no idea I was living in the barracks they were interned in. It blew me away.”

James and Ruth still live in that former part of an internment barracks in Hood River. They were thrilled when their grandson beat out six other candidates to become a major league manager for the first time.

“They are proud of me,” Wakamatsu said, smiling.

Wakamatsu’s wife, Laura, sat a few feet to his left during a news conference. She and their three children are proud of him, too. Just after being introduced, Wakamatsu held up a sign 10-year-old daughter Jadyn made to celebrate Dad’s big day.

“KNOCK ‘EM DEAD! From: Sis,” the sign read in blue and red crayon.

“This might be our theme for the year,” Wakamatsu said.

“I told him, ‘It better be,”‘ Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said, chuckling.

This 45-year-old relative unknown spent five years as a bench coach and third-base coach in Texas, then one year as bench coach for the A’s before Seattle called. He has never managed above Double-A.

His task: Reverse the culture and performance of a team that last season became the first to lose 100 games with a $100 million payroll.

“This is the crown jewel of what we’ve tried to do,” Zduriencik said, pointing to Wakamatsu and referring to his overall remake of the Mariners’ scouting and player-evaluation departments in the last month.

Wakamatsu will be Seattle’s fifth manager since the departure of Lou Piniella following the 2002 season. The Mariners have tried Bob Melvin, Mike Hargrove, John McLaren and Jim Riggleman since then.

Wakamatsu and the six other candidates all interviewed last week and all had zero experience as a manager in the major leagues. The overwhelming fan favorite was former Seattle second baseman and current Chicago White Sox bench coach Joey Cora.

Zduriencik said Wakamatsu got the job because he was a former catcher at Arizona State - where he played with Barry Bonds - and in the minors from 1985-96. That last season was as a player-coach for Double-A Port City in the Mariners’ system. He was a teammate for 19 games there with Raul Ibanez, Seattle’s top RBI producer who is now a free agent deciding whether to stay or leave.

The GM likes the catcher’s perspective of constantly considering the totality of games. He noted the Angels’ Mike Scioscia as one example of a successful manager who was a catcher.

Zduriencik also liked Wakamatsu’s ties to the Northwest. Wakamatsu also lived for two years in suburban Bremerton, Wash., as a grade schooler while his father built one of Seattle’s tallest buildings.

And the GM loved that Wakamatsu has spent his major league coaching life in the AL West, which Seattle hasn’t won since its last playoff appearance in 2001. Wakamatsu was a minor league catching coordinator for the Anaheim Angels in 2001-02 before going to Texas.

Wakamatsu was raised in Hayward, Calif., after moving out of that house which had been an internment barracks. He knows only a little Japanese, though it has improved lately with his daughter helping him with Berlitz courses. He hopes to learn the language better to relate closely with Suzuki and to improve Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima, who struggled so much last season he was benched months after signing a $24 million, three-year contract extension.

Asked what expectations should be in Seattle after last season ended as the Mariners’ worst since 1983, Wakamatsu said: “I’m not going to sit up here (and) promise the moon. Obviously, someone promised the moon last year and it didn’t work out.

“I think there’s talent. I think there’s youth … I think there’s starting pitching that’s pretty deep, a pretty good closer.

“Just with osmosis, we ought to be better than we were last year.”

Kansas City was 12th among 14 AL teams in runs last season and added power last month, obtaining first baseman Mike Jacobs from Florida.

The switch-hitting Crisp gives the Royals speed at the top of the lineup and a superb defender in center field who has World Series experience.

“The speed aspect of it was very important,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “I’ve talked many times about the importance of a balanced lineup, speed at the top and the bottom, and Coco certainly gives us that.”

The 29-year-old was the subject of trade rumors for much of last season following the emergence of rookie Jacoby Ellsbury.

The two split time in center, with Crisp hitting .283 with seven homers and 41 RBIs in 98 games. He also stole 20 bases in 27 attempts, the third straight season he’s reached the 20-steal mark.

Ellsbury hit .280 with nine homers and 47 RBIs last season, proving to the Red Sox that he’s ready to be an everyday player. Boston also gains financial savings by trading Crisp, who’s due to make $5.75 million next season in a deal that includes an $8 million club option for 2010 with a $500,000 buyout.

“He played through injuries. He played hard,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said of Crisp. “With the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury, we felt like we would be able to find a (backup) outfielder on the market easier than we would find a valuable member of the bullpen.”

The Royals got Ramirez, a 27-year-old righty, in a trade with Colorado before last season. They were so impressed with his stuff that they projected him to be their closer.

With a fastball that reaches the mid-90s mph, Ramirez is a power pitcher who seems suited for the late innings. He was one of the primary setup men for closer Joakim Soria and flourished in that spot, going 3-2 with a 2.64 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 71 2-3 innings.

“He’s very quietly had a tremendous amount of success in the major leagues over the last 2 1/2 years,” Epstein said.

Ramirez figures to play a setup role for closer Jonathan Papelbon and could send Justin Masterson back to the rotation, where he feels more comfortable.

“It’s a new experience for me to be able to play on a contending club. I know that Boston is going to be in it, as they have in previous years,” Ramirez said, speaking through a translator on a conference call. “I couldn’t be happier right now. I’m ecstatic.”

Masterson was 6-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 36 games as a rookie last season - 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA in nine starts. As a reliever, he was 2-2 with a 2.36 ERA and worked nine postseason games with a 1.86 ERA and no decisions.

“(He) gives us the flexibility to start Masterson,” Epstein said. “Ramirez potentially could replace Masterson in the ‘pen.”

Boston traded for Crisp after his breakout season - .333, 15 homers, 69 RBIs - with Cleveland in 2005. But a broken finger derailed Crisp’s first year in Boston and Epstein said his offense never fully recovered.

Crisp has always been a superb fielder and picked up his offense the last half of 2008, hitting .315. He also hit .417 (10-for-24) in the playoffs, driving in the tying run in the eighth inning to complete Boston’s comeback from a 7-0 deficit in Game 5 of the AL championship series against Tampa Bay.

“I play hard and pretty much stay within myself,” said Crisp, a career .280 hitter. “I know what I can and cannot do, and with that I think it makes me a pretty good ballplayer. And to help the team, besides stepping on the field, I can hopefully bring a presence into the clubhouse that will help us win, the attitude of winning.”

Epstein said the Red Sox hope to replace Crisp with a right-handed fourth outfielder who can play center. He probably will look outside the organization.

The addition of Crisp could signify more moves for the Royals, as well.

Crisp is expected to be the starter in center and Jose Guillen, the highest-paid player in franchise history, is locked in at right. That means Kansas City will have to find a way to get enough playing time for David DeJesus and Mark Teahen.

The loss of Ramirez also creates a hole in the middle of the bullpen that will likely need to be filled from outside the organization.

“I think it’s safe to assume there’s possible changes, but if we have to begin the season with the core group we finished the season with, it can be managed easily,” Moore said.

“I’d make it one-game-and-you’re-out for the first series,” the Oakland Athletics owner said Wednesday. “It would be exciting. It would be great.”

Begun in 1995, the division series has been a best-of-five competition. Some people have advocated it be expanded to best-of-seven, matching the league championship series and the World Series. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has repeatedly said he favors the current format.

Wolff said he hasn’t brought up his concept with Selig.

“No, I’m afraid to do that,” he said.

Under the current format, Game 7 of the World Series wouldn’t be until Nov. 5 next year. Selig said during this year’s World Series that the postseason has too many off days, but shortening it appears to be impossible if Major League Baseball sticks to having the World Series start on a Wednesday, a schedule that began in 2007.

“I’ve always thought a one-game wild card (playoff) would be a pretty good idea,” said Bob DuPuy, MLB’s chief operating officer. “Lew is an imaginative fellow and has a lot of good ideas.”

On other matters, Wolff said he’s inclined to keep newly acquired outfielder Matt Holliday for the entire season, even if he becomes a free agent next November and leaves the A’s.

“I’d rather take the two draft choices than lose him in the middle of the season,” Wolff said.

Holliday, obtained from Colorado, is represented by Scott Boras, who advocates that clients not sign contracts before filing for free agency.

Wolff said that in preparing for an amateur draft, he noticed that certain prospective picks were on “one board with different colored cards.”

“What is that?” he asked his baseball operations employees.

The answer, he said, was: “Scott Boras clients.”

Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said representatives of four bidders have met in New York in recent weeks with officials from the commissioner’s office, MLB’s Internet company and the sport’s new television network.

The team was put up for sale in April 2007 when Tribune Co., the Cubs’ owner, announced it was being acquired by real estate developer Sam Zell. DuPuy said the latest deadline was set by the Tribune Co.

“Bids are expected the week after Thanksgiving,” DuPuy said. “Mr. Zell claims the team is for sale and they’re moving forward.”

The Tribune Co. declined comment, spokesman Gary Weitman said.

Given the current financial climate and the difficulty in raising capital, there has been widespread speculation that bidders are having trouble raising money for a purchase of the famously unsuccessful franchise, which hasn’t won the World Series in a century.

Baseball officials do not think Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been part of the bidding process for months. Cuban was charged Monday by federal regulators with insider trading for allegedly using confidential information on a stock sale.

In other actions:

-MLB said it had ceased efforts to locate the MLB Network in Harlem and would keep the offices and studios are their temporary location in Secaucus, N.J.

-The sport adopted a budget with no increase for 2009, deferring unspecified projects because of the deteriorating economy.

-Discussions took place to formalize in the rules commissioner Bud Selig’s decision that postseason games cannot be shortened due to weather.

MLB took in a record $6.5 billion this year, but DuPuy said the economy had caused baseball to be cautious in its spending.

“No one wants to count any dollars before they actually come across the transom,” he said.

Of specific concern has been the Nov. 10 announcement by Deutsche Post AG, the German parent of DHL, that it will no longer offer U.S. domestic-only air and ground services as of Jan. 30. DHL sponsors MLB awards for relief pitchers, and the company has agreements with some individual teams.

“We’ve had very positive conversations. They’re staying in business obviously, they’re just shifting their emphasis internationally,” DuPuy said. “But obviously in this market we’re talking to all of our sponsors to make sure that we give them as much value as possible for their sponsorship dollars and try to keep them all in place.”

As for the network, a $435 million project with Vornado Realty Trust was announced in January to construct a 21-story office building in Harlem at Park Ave. and 125th St. Instead, baseball has decided to remain at the former MSNBC studios in Secaucus.

“The Harlem project ran into difficulty getting financing, developer financing,” DuPuy said. “There’s no activity on the Harlem project. At the moment, we’re very satisfied with the Secaucus facility. It’s a terrific facility and will serve our needs very well.”

Staffing at the network had doubled to about 120 over the past month, ahead of its January launch, and there will be about 155 employees when hiring is completed. Auditions are taking place this week for studio staff and next week for reporters. While the network originally contemplated broadcasting Saturday night games, DuPuy said discussions are ongoing to shift those to Thursday evenings.

DuPuy said talks also were underway on the issue of not shortening postseason games. Selig decided last month that Game 5 of the World Series wouldn’t be cut short by rain. While the game was suspended with the score tied after 5 1/2 innings, Selig said if one team had been ahead when play was stopped, he would have presided over the longest rain delay in baseball history until weather allowed action to resume.

“The commissioner has indicated his intention of getting that done,” Selig said. “There are various approaches that could be taken, and we’re still working on the process.”

Approval of the players’ association might be necessary.

DuPuy also said:

-MLB officials discussed last week’s presentation to the International Olympic Committee. The sport hopes to regain Olympic status for 2016.

-Talks were continuing over clubs’ local television territories.

-Wendy Lewis had been promoted to senior vice president from vice president of strategic planning, recruitment and diversity.

Mussina, who turns 40 next month, would become the first pitcher to call it quits following a 20-win season since Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax in 1966.

“I have not talked to him lately,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday evening at a Manhattan charity event to benefit his Catch 25 Foundation and Alzheimer’s research. “He had led me to believe that that’s what was going to happen at the end of the year. I wasn’t quite sure in a sense that I believed him because sometimes when you get away from it you really miss it.”

Only 30 wins shy of 300, Mussina was 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA for the Yankees this season - becoming the oldest pitcher in big league history to win 20 games for the first time. The right-hander tossed 200 1-3 innings in 34 starts, rebounding impressively from a disappointing 2007 season that included a career-worst 5.15 ERA.

Mussina has spent 18 years in the majors - the first 10 with Baltimore followed by eight in New York. He filed for free agency after the World Series.

“Mike will be making a decision on his intentions shortly,” agent Arn Tellem said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “Given the significance of this to Mike I would hope you can respect his desire to be the author of any such announcement consistent with his own time table. A decision of this magnitude should not be the subject of unconfirmed rumors and speculation. Accordingly, I am not going to make any further comment until Mike has made his final decision.”

The FoxSports.com report said Mussina delayed his retirement announcement until after baseball’s major postseason awards had been handed out. He won his seventh Gold Glove and finished tied for sixth in AL Cy Young Award balloting.

“I know he talked about wanting to be home more. And if he does, I won’t be surprised,” Girardi said. “But if he comes back, I won’t be surprised, either. And I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if that’s what he said, (then) changes his mind in January. Because you know it’s something that’s been such a huge part of his life and his family life, that you miss it.”

A text message sent to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was not immediately returned. Girardi said he hadn’t spoken with Mussina since the season ended.

“I know Brian, as far as I know as of today, had not made him an offer,” Girardi added. “But we were just kind of waiting to see what he said, and he was on our radar screen as well as many other starting pitchers that are free agents.”

After missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993, New York is pursuing several big-name starters on the free-agent market, including CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.

Yankees 2B Robinson Cano said he’ll spend a month playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic to prepare for next season, starting Friday. He also said he plans to represent the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.