Baseball
FREE AGENTS: Mark Grace decided to return to the Chicago Cubs, while David Cone still didn't chose between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees.
Rod Beck, who was eligible for salary arbitration, agreed to a $6 million, two-year contract with San Francisco. And Jody Reed returned to San Diego for a $1.4 million, two-year deal.
All 11 free agents who could have accepted arbitration from their old teams rejected the offers: Erik Hanson of Boston; Jim Abbott, Chuck Finley and Dave Gallagher of California; Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees; Kenny Rogers of Texas; Roberto Alomar of Toronto; Dwight Smith of Atlanta; Ron Gant of Cincinnati; Andre Dawson of Florida; and Tom Henke of St. Louis.
They may continue to negotiate with their old clubs through Jan. 8.
Grace, also facing the midnight deadline, agreed to a $9.05 million, two-year contract. Chicago has an option for 1998 that could make the deal worth $14 million over three years. But Grace, who had a $4.05 million base salary in 1995, has the right to terminate the deal after next season.
Cone's agent, Steve Fehr, talked with Orioles general manager Pat Gillick and Yankees general manager Bob Watson, but didn't make a decision.
Beck was eligible for arbitration. One day before the deadline for clubs to offer contracts to unsigned players on their roster, six other arbitration-eligible players agreed to one-year deals.
New York Mets pitcher Doug Henry got $750,000, Boston designated hitter Reggie Jefferson got $570,000, Seattle infielder Rich Amaral got $400,000, Mariners infielder Doug Strange got $350,000, Detroit pitcher John Doherty got $400,000, and California infielder Damon Easley got $305,000.
Football
NFL LABOR: The NFL, beset by franchise turmoil this season, agreed to a contract extension with its players' union that could ensure labor peace through the 2002 season.
The agreement, announced jointly by the league and its players, adds one year to the current contract, which ends after the 1999 season, with the option for two more.
The agreement must be ratified by three-quarters of the owners, who are to vote on the matter Jan. 17 in a meeting in which they will also decide on the Cleveland Browns' relocation. A majority of voting union members must approve the contract.
Hockey
STARS-FLAMES TRADE: The Dallas Stars acquired Joe Nieuwendyk from the Calgary Flames and signed the holdout center to a five-year contract.
The Stars sent center Corey Millen and the rights to junior right wing Jarome Iginla to the Flames.
WHALERS-DEVILS TRADE: The Hartford Whalers traded right wing Jocelyn Lemieux to New Jersey and acquired defenseman Jeff Brown from Vancouver.
Hartford sent Lemieux and its second-round pick in 1998 to the Devils for center Jim Dowd and a second-round choice in 1997. The Whalers then sent Dowd, defenseman Fran Kucera and their second-round pick in 1997 to the Canucks for Brown and a third-round choice in 1998.
Tennis
TARANGO APOLOGIZES: After six months of battling the tennis establishment over his Wimbledon walkout, Jeff Tarango apologized for his actions.
In what amounts to a plea-bargain agreement, Tarango pleaded guilty to his offenses in exchange for a lighter penalty. The Grand Slam Committee reduced his fines by $15,000 and relaxed his two-tournament suspension.