Baseball Notes | Bradley, Rangers reach agreement

Outfielder Milton Bradley and the Texas Rangers reached a preliminary agreement yesterday on a $5 million, one-year contract.

Bradley, who had considered re-signing with the San Diego Padres, could play the outfield or be a designated hitter with the Rangers.

Bradley was the second-half offensive catalyst for the Padres, who fell one win short of their third straight trip to the playoffs. But he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and damaged cartilage in his right knee when Padres manager Bud Black spun him to the ground while trying to keep him from going after umpire Mike Winters during a confrontation Sept. 23.

San Diego and Bradley, who has a history of losing his temper, claimed that Winters had baited the player into the confrontation and directed a profanity at him. Winters was suspended for the final five days of the regular season.

Bradley, 29, hit .306 with 13 homers and 37 RBIs in 61 games with Oakland and San Diego in 2007.

Yankees. Moving to shore up its weak middle-relief corps, New York reached a preliminary agreement on a $3.75 million, one-year contract with LaTroy Hawkins.

Hawkins' deal is subject to his passing a physical.

The righthander, who will be 35 on Dec. 21, was 2-5 with a 3.42 ERA last season for the Colorado Rockies.

New York's middle relievers, Kyle Farnsworth and Luis Vizcaino, were inconsistent last season, and the Yankees converted Joba Chamberlain, a starter in the minors, into a reliever.

But New York plans to include Chamberlain in its starting rotation in 2008.

Angels. Vladimir Guerrero said he has almost fully recovered from an irritated right triceps that prevented him from playing right field for Los Angeles at the end of the season.

Guerrero was limited to the role of designated hitter from Sept. 4 through Game 1 of the Angels' first-round playoff loss to the Boston Red Sox.