Marlins cut more salary, ship Delgado

Carlos Delgado is headed to the Mets, 10 months after he spurned New York to sign with the Florida Marlins.

The Mets reached a preliminary agreement yesterday to acquire Delgado and $7 million from the Marlins for first baseman Mike Jacobs and minor league pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, a baseball official familiar with the talks said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal was not final.

''We're very happy because we will have Delgado in our organization. It's a matter of hours before he becomes a Mets player," Tony Bernazard, special assistant to Mets general manager Omar Minaya, said on Puerto Rican radio station WIAC. ''I can't give any details, but I'm sure everything will have a happy ending for us."

It was the second big, tentative deal struck this week by the payroll-slashing Marlins, who also have a pending agreement to send 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett to the Red Sox for three prospects. The two trades would cut Florida's payroll, which was $60 million at the start of last season, by about $27 million next year.

Frustrated they have been unable to put together financing for a new ballpark, the Marlins said Tuesday they have received permission from the commissioner's office to explore moving the franchise for the 2008 season.

New York would receive $7 million from the Marlins as part of the trade to offset the $48 million Delgado is owed over the next three seasons. The first baseman turned down the Mets' offer last January to accept a $52 million, four-year contract from the Marlins, who did not offer the no-trade clause contained in the Mets' deal.

Thome to White Sox

The Phillies reached a preliminary agreement to send Jim Thome and cash to the World Series champion White Sox for center fielder Aaron Rowand.

The deal is subject to the players passing physicals, the Phillies and White Sox said. Because of the cash involved, it also must be approved by the commissioner's office. The Phillies are giving the White Sox $22 million as part of the deal, a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the teams did not make that information public.

Thome, an oft-injured first baseman, is owed $43.5 million in the final three seasons of his $85 million, six-year contract. He hit .207 with seven homers and 30 RBIs in just 193 at-bats last season and became expendable after the emergence of Ryan Howard, who won the NL Rookie of the Year award . . . Bobby Howry agreed to a $12 million, three-year contract with the Cubs, becoming the second free agent reliever in a week to join the team's restocked bullpen. Terms of Howry's deal were revealed by two people familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because Chicago had not yet announced the deal. A week earlier, the Cubs agreed to a contract with Scott Eyre that guaranteed the lefthander $11 million over three years. Like Eyre, Howry once pitched for the White Sox . . . Diamondbacks pitcher Javier Vázquez filed a trade demand to make it easier for his family to visit him during the baseball season. Vázquez said during a visit to his hometown of Ponce, P.R., that it was easier for his family to visit him when he played for the Montreal Expos and New York Yankees. ''What I said to Arizona is that I would like to be on a team that's on the East Coast and, if possible, on a winning ballclub," he said. If the Diamondbacks don't deal Vázquez by March 15 and he doesn't withdraw the trade demand, he would become a free agent. However, he would forfeit the final $24 million he is owed from the $45 million, four-year contract he agreed to with the Yankees in January 2004 . . . Bud Black has decided to remain with the Los Angeles Angels as pitching coach rather than pursue the Dodgers' managerial job.