Source: Hampton ready to rejoin Astros

Oft-injured lefthander Mike Hampton is set to return to the Astros, reaching a preliminary agreement yesterday on a one-year, $2 million contract. His deal would contain an additional $2 million in performance bonuses, a person familiar with the agreement said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been finalized. Hampton, 36, pitched for Houston from 1994-99, winning 22 games his final season there. He's pitched for the Mets, Rockies, and Braves since, but has made only 25 starts the last four years because of injuries.

With teams facing a midnight deadline to offer salary arbitration to free agents, several Type A players received offers from their clubs, including Manny Ramírez (Dodgers), Mark Teixeira (Angels), and CC Sabathia (Brewers). Players offered arbitration have until Sunday to accept the terms; if a Type A free agent signs with another club, the previous team would receive two additional draft picks in June. Other Type A free agents offered arbitration were A.J. Burnett (Blue Jays), Derek Lowe (Dodgers), Francisco Rodriguez and Darren Oliver (Angels), Brian Fuentes (Rockies), Oliver Perez (Mets), and Raul Ibanez (Mariners) . . . The Yankees declined arbitration with all eight of their players who became free agents, including Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu, both Type A . . . Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said he's had preliminary talks with the agent for outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. . . . Rickey Henderson heads 10 first-time candidates on this year's Hall of Fame ballot, which is the smallest ever with only 23 players. Other newcomers are former Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn, Jay Bell, David Cone, Ron Gant, Mark Grace, Jesse Orosco, Dan Plesac, Greg Vaughn, and Matt Williams. Voting will be announced Jan. 12.

Stephon Marbury did not get the divorce he wants, but he and the New York Knicks agreed to a separation. Marbury was ordered by team president Donnie Walsh to stay away from the Knicks while the team looks for a solution to a problem that has lingered since the preseason and exploded last week when the team suspended Marbury for refusing to play and he retaliated with a series of inflammatory remarks about coach Mike D'Antoni. Marbury's future with the Knicks was "not resolved" during a meeting with Walsh, the point guard, and his representative, Hal Biagas, at the team's practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., according to Biagas. Marbury will earn about $21 million this season in the final year of his contract and is adamant that he won't give much of it up in a buyout. However, that salary makes him nearly impossible to trade, and the Knicks are reluctant to give him all his money to leave . . . Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Corey Brewer will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Brewer suffered the injury in Saturday's loss to Denver, and an MRI yesterday revealed the extent of the damage . . . Former Celtics forward Rodney Rogers was hospitalized in Raleigh, N.C., after being injured while riding an all-terrain vehicle. A spokesman for the North Carolina Highway Patrol said Rogers was taken by helicopter to Duke University Hospital in Durham. His condition wasn't immediately known . . . WNBA president Donna Orender said the Houston Comets are disbanding because the league-owned franchise is unable to find a new owner.

Syracuse moved into the Associated Press men's Top 25 at No. 16, giving the Big East a record eight teams in the poll. North Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1 selection, while No. 2 Connecticut and No. 3 Pittsburgh started the Big East's collection of ranked teams. The other ranked conference members are No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 11 Louisville, No. 17 Villanova, No. 20 Georgetown, and No. 25 Marquette . . . UConn moved back to being an unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in the AP women's poll. The Huskies fell one vote shy of being unanimous last week, but garnered all 45 first-place votes this time, just as they did in the first poll of the season . . . Boston College junior guard Mickel Picco was named the Atlantic Coast Conference women's player of the week after averaging 22.5 points in two victories.

Hubert "Pit" Martin, 64, a four-time NHL All-Star in the 1960s and '70s and a former Bruin, died after his snowmobile plunged into an icy lake, Quebec provincial police said. Police said Martin was driving the vehicle on Lake Kanasuta in northwestern Quebec Sunday when the ice cracked and he plunged into the freezing water. Martin played 1,101 NHL games from 1963-79, and was part of a blockbuster trade in 1967, when he and two others were sent to Chicago in the deal that made Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Fred Stanfield part of a Bruins dynasty. (Obituary, Page B13) . . . BC climbed from fifth to second in the USCHO.com men's hockey poll. Northeastern slipped from fourth to sixth, and Boston University rose one spot to No. 7 . . . Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo won the Golden Ball award as Europe's best soccer player . . . Scott Speed will race full time next season in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, a move anticipated since Red Bull Racing released A.J. Allmendinger to make room for the former Formula One driver.