Arbitration deadline comes with moves

NEW YORK -- Greg Maddux and Ivan Rodriguez will have new teams next season, and so will Vladimir Guerrero, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez.\nOn a busy Sunday night, Kazuo Matsui accepted a contract with the Mets and headed to New York to finalize the deal.\nPhiladelphia offered arbitration to Kevin Millwood, extending the negotiating period with the right-hander for another month. Also among the 25 players offered arbitration were Chicago White Sox right-hander Bartolo Colon and Oakland shortstop Miguel Tejada, the 2002 AL MVP.\nBut Atlanta also didn't offer arbitration to Javy Lopez or Gary Sheffield, meaning the Braves won't get draft picks as compensation if the outfielder finalizes his deal with the Yankees.\nFifteen players who faced the midnight deadline agreed to re-sign, including Minnesota outfielder Shannon Stewart, who got an $18 million, three-year contract from the Twins, and Seattle reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who received a $6.3 million, two-year deal.\nMaddux, who helped the Braves reach the playoffs during his 11 seasons in Atlanta, was not offered salary arbitration and can't re-sign until May 1.\nLast year, the four-time Cy Young Award winner was offered arbitration and accepted, with the sides later agreeing at $14.75 million. The 37-year-old right-hander went 16-11, moving within 11 wins of 300.\nRodriguez and the World Series champion Marlins failed to agree to a contract during negotiations at Miami International Airport. The catcher's previous deal prevented Florida from offering salary arbitration to the 10-time All-Star.\nFriday, Rodriguez asked for a $40 million, four-year contract. He made $10 million last season.\n"I tried my best to remain a Marlin by not requesting a salary increase," Rodriguez said in a statement issued by his agent, Scott Boras. "To my knowledge, I'm the only major leaguer in recent times who won the World Series and received a postseason MVP award, and yet his club did not offer a higher salary."\nMarlins general manager Larry Beinfest said the team offered a package with an annual salary "in the range" of $7 million annually, but that Boras and Rodriguez were "immovable" off the $10 million request.\n"We'll all go to sleep tonight knowing we tried very hard to bring Pudge back," Beinfest said. "It didn't work out."\nPlayers who received arbitration offers have until Dec. 19 to accept and can re-sign with their old teams through Jan. 8.\nAmong those not offered arbitration were Chicago Cubs outfielder Kenny Lofton and Anaheim first baseman Scott Spiezio.\nThe Yankees offered arbitration to left-handers Andy Pettitte and David Wells, and Wells' agent said his client was close to a deal.\nMeanwhile in Japan, Matsui announced he had accepted a three-year offer from the Mets, a deal worth about $20 million. The seven-time All-Star was pursued by the Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Yankees.\nNicknamed "Little Matsui," the 28-year-old shortstop is not related to New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui.