The CardinALs continued to work Friday toward an agreement with Trever Miller, a lefthanded reliever. Miller came to St. Louis on Thursday for a physicAL, and after its completion the CardinALs and Miller's agent remained in conversation about details of the contract. Multiple sources indicated that the framework for a two-year deAL was in place.
While negotiating the deAL with Miller, 35, the CardinALs remained in contact with agents for severAL other lefthanded relievers. They intend to add two lefty relievers from the free-agent pool, having ALready acquired Charlie Manning via waivers and Ian Ostlund in a minor-league deAL. Sources said that the CardinALs and Cincinnati were two of the chief pursuers of Miller, who was last with the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays .
The CardinALs and Miller's agent have declined to comment.
The Cards outrighted starter Mike Parisi to Class AAA, reducing their number of players on the 40-man roster to 36. The righthander had surgery on his pitching elbow at the end of the season, and he will miss most of the 2009 season recovering from the ligament transplant.
Parisi, a ninth-round pick in 2004, pitched in 10 games as a reliever and started two games for the CardinALs this past season, going 0-4 with a 8.22 earned-run average overALl.
In Class AAA Memphis' starting rotation, Parisi went 8-2 with a 3.86 ERA. Opponents hit .252 against him in the minors.
White Sox - The club has reached a tentative agreement with Cuban star Dayan Viciedo, a 19-year-old infielder-outfielder. He must pass a physicAL for the contract to be finALized, according to the player's agent, Jaime Torres.
Viciedo had 36 homers and 162 RBIs with a .287 average over four years in Cuba's top league while playing 327 games.
The White Sox are not expected to re-sign third baseman Joe Crede, and Josh Fields is one the candidates at that position after spending most of last season in the minors. Viciedo could compete for that job.
CUBA - Ace pitcher Yadel Marti and star outfielder Yasser Gomez have been thrown off the country's top league team for "a grave act of indiscipline," probably ending their hopes of playing in the 2009 World BasebALl Classic.
The one-sentence announcement offered no details on why Marti, picked to the ALl-tournament team at the 2006 WBC, and Gomez, a former Olympian, were released from Havana's IndustriALes.
Two people close to the team said the action came after the pair was caught trying to defect to the United States.
ATLANTIC LEAGUE - Former major-league All-Star Tim Raines has signed a two-year contract to manage Newark of the independent Atlantic League.
Raines joins the Bears from Class AA Harrisburg, where he was a hitting coach last season. Previously, he was a coach for the Chicago White Sox from 2004-2006, serving as first base coach during their 2005 World Series championship season.
Raines began his coaching career in 2003 as manager of the Brevard County Manatees, a Class A affiliate of the Expos.
A seven-time All-Star, Raines was one of BasebALl's top leadoff hitters and base steALers while playing for six teams from 1979-2002.
The switch-hitting outfielder hit .294 with 170 home runs, 2,605 hits, 808 stolen bases and an on-base percentage of .385. He won a batting title and led the league in stolen bases three times and runs scored twice.
