Vazquez dealt to Atlanta

Javier Vazquez was shipped from the Chicago White Sox to Atlanta yesterday as the teams completed a six-player deal agreed to earlier in the week. Lefthanded reliever Boone Logan also went to the Braves, while the White Sox acquired four prospects: catcher Tyler Flowers, infielders Jonathan Gilmore and Brent Lillibridge, and lefthander Santos Rodriguez.

"Hopefully, I can bring a consistent guy to the rotation, someone who can just take the ball every five days and give his team a chance to win," Vazquez said. "That's what they're expecting of me."

Vazquez was 12-16 with a 4.67 ERA in 33 starts for the American League Central champion White Sox last season, surpassing 200 innings for the eighth time in nine years. But he struggled down the stretch, when manager Ozzie Guillen said Vazquez wasn't a big-game pitcher. In his last three regular-season starts and the playoff opener against Tampa Bay, Vazquez was 0-4 with a 13.22 ERA.

The 32-year-old righthander has a 127-129 career record. He is owed $11.5 million in each of the next two seasons.

Giants sign Renteria

Free agent Edgar Renteria joined the San Francisco Giants, receiving an $18.5 million, two-year contract to replace 11-time Gold Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel.

A five-time All-Star, Renteria has spent 11 of his 13 major league seasons in the NL.

He gets a $2 million signing bonus, $7 million next year, and $9 million in 2010. The Giants have a $9.5 million option for 2011 with a $500,000 buyout.

Cashman, Boras meet

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with agent Scott Boras and plans to get together this weekend with free agent pitcher CC Sabathia ahead of the winter meetings.

Cashman's meeting with Boras and intention to meet with Sabathia were disclosed by separate baseball officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Yankees did not announce Cashman's plans.

The Yankees made a six-year, $140 million offer to Sabathia Nov. 14.

Cardinals get Greene

The Cardinals addressed one of their major offseason concerns, acquiring shortstop Khalil Greene from the Padres for minor league pitcher Mark Worrell and a prospect to be named. The 29-year-old Greene hit just .213 with 10 home runs last season and struck out 100 times in 105 games. But in 2007, he had 27 homers, 44 doubles, and 97 RBIs . . . Federal prosecutors dropped four counts of lying to a grand jury against Barry Bonds, leaving him to face trial next year on 10 counts of making false statements about alleged steroid use plus an obstruction of justice charge . . . Marc DelPiano, a Red Sox scout the last three seasons, joined the Pirates as a special assistant to the GM . . . The average salary in major league baseball this past season was $2.93 million, the Players Association said in its annual report. The 3.6 percent increase was the smallest since 2004, when the average declined 2.5 percent from the previous season. The Yankees topped the major leagues in average salary for the 10th consecutive season. Their average of $6.86 million was down from a record $7.47 million last year. The Red Sox ($4.2 million) ranked sixth . . . Free agent reliever Jorge Julio agreed to a $950,000, one-year contract with Milwaukee.