Indians make run at Wood

The Cleveland Indians have offered free agent Kerry Wood, the former Chicago Cubs starter-turned-reliever, a two-year contract, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

Wood, who has had numerous injuries in the past, needs to pass a physical before the deal can be completed. He went 5-4 with 34 saves last season.

Dodgers. Los Angeles reached agreements to re-sign third baseman Casey Blake and sign infielder Mark Loretta, formerly of Houston.

Orioles-Reds trade. Baltimore sent catcher Ramon Hernandez to Cincinnati for outfielder Ryan Freel and minor-league infielders Justin Turner and Brandon Waring.

Baltimore will give Cincinnati cash to offset part of Hernandez's contract. He is owed $8.5 million next year.

Crackdown on bats. All bats used in big-league games soon will have their own serial numbers and ink markings for tracking, part of the first step in the sport's efforts to decrease the number of broken bats.

MLB's safety and health advisory committee wants all bats to be certified by baseball, and the 32 manufacturers will be held to a new list of production standards.

During a two-month stretch last season, 2,200 broken bats were collected and 750 of those broke into multiple pieces. Among the committee's findings were that maple bats were three times as likely to break in multiple places as their ash counterparts.

Brewers. Infielder Mike Lamb agreed to a one-year contract with Milwaukee, which also agreed to a one-year deal with righthanded reliever Todd Coffey, avoiding arbitration.

Kubek honored. Tony Kubek, an all-star shortstop who became a fixture on NBC's Game of the Week telecasts for more than two decades, was honored with the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award.

The award is presented annually for contributions to baseball broadcasting.

Clemens investigated. FBI agents investigating Roger Clemens pored through medical records from his former teams earlier this year, looking for evidence that the pitcher perjured himself in February when he told Congress he had never used steroids or human growth hormone, ESPN.com reported.

Agents met with club officials and attorneys from the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays in late spring, reviewing medical documents and interviewing medical and training personnel.