As Johnson announces his retirement from major league baseball, it’s instructive to look back at the genetic circumstances that helped shape his persona. Let’s begin with an insight he shared as a rookie pitcher with the Montreal Expos in 1989, when he reflected on the high school growth spurt that brought him to a gangly 6 feet 10 inches tall.

“I felt like part of a freak show,” Johnson said 21 years ago. “I was the object of everybody’s jokes and teases. And it hurt. But it wasn’t within my personality to lash out. So instead, I went into a shell and became very defensive. I felt like I grew up in the center ring of a three-ring circus.”

Through more than two decades in big league clubhouses, Johnson came to grips with stardom while never entirely embracing it. He fed off the energy of crowds while reveling in his solitude. And he carved out a place in history — alongside Warren Spahn, Steve Carlton and the game’s other great lefty pitchers — while steadfastly refusing to look more than five days ahead.

Given his natural aversion to the spotlight, it’s only fitting that Johnson went out the way he did. Under cover of darkness.

Think about it: After striking out San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez with his final career pitch on Oct. 4, Johnson had the entire winter to contemplate his future. He had four long months to decide whether he wanted to spend another year squeezing into airplane seats and sleeping in hotel rooms, away from his family, and lots of idle time to determine whether his body could tolerate another season of baseball at age 46 going on 47.

So what happens? When Johnson finally calls it quits, it’s on a conference call, rather than squirming in a chair behind a microphone on a podium. Even the irascible Jeff Kent managed to emote and shed a few tears last winter at Dodger Stadium.

And the timing was certainly appropriate. Johnson made his retirement official about an hour after Matt Holliday, the biggest catch of the entire free-agent market, agreed to a seven-year, $120 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, and eight hours after Jason Bay, the second biggest catch of the winter, donned a Mets jersey in his introductory news conference at Citi Field.

Throw in the announcement of the 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame class on Wednesday, and it’s as inconspicuous a farewell as a 10-time All-Star, five-time Cy Young Award winner and 303-game winner can possibly have.

Coincidental? Perhaps. But of all Johnson’s observations Tuesday, perhaps the most telling came when he delved into a little psychoanalysis. He built himself an emotional bunker, it seems, because that was the best way for him to survive for those 22 glorious years.

“I don’t regret being that way,” Johnson said. “I got the most out of myself being that way because when I took it out to the mound, it was an intangible I had and I made it work for me.

“I didn’t realize it early in my career. But it really started to click in around 1993, and I was adamant about being as focused as I could be in this game. If it meant being a little ornery or animated or fierce or however someone may describe it, that was just me on the day I pitched.”

The postmortems, naturally, will focus on Johnson’s bushel basket of statistical achievements. He struck out 372, 364 and 349 batters in his best seasons, giving him three of the top 20 single-season outputs in history. He averaged 10.6 whiffs per nine innings for his career — compared with Nolan Ryan’s ratio of 9.5 K/9.

But when you reflect upon some of the most enduring moments of Johnson’s career, a larger-than-life, almost cartoonish thread runs through them.

Teammate Tim Raines gave Johnson his famous nickname in Montreal, colliding with him in batting practice, looking up and exclaiming, “You’re a Big Unit!”

When Johnson threw his perfect game against the Braves in 2004 — at age 40 — his final pitch was clocked at 98 mph. He threw 104 pitches to beat the Yankees in Game 6 of the 2001 World Series, and came back the next night to throw 17 pitches in relief in the series clincher.

Let the record show that Johnson’s first career strikeout came against Pittsburgh’s Orestes Destrade and that he fanned Rickey Henderson 30 times (and walked him 26 times) in 85 encounters. He survived knee surgery and multiple back procedures, and he hit his only home run against Doug Davis.

And it was Jeff Huson who once watched Johnson digging from first to third base on a teammate’s single and compared the sight to a “baby giraffe taking his first steps.”

Even Johnson — Mr. Intensity — can feel free to laugh at that one now. He’s free to play golf to his heart’s content in Arizona as part of his favorite foursome with Alice Cooper, Charles Barkley and Glen Campbell. And maybe, he observed Tuesday, he’ll wake up one morning and decide the time is right to go “parachuting or zip-lining or swimming with the great whites in Australia.”

A lot of retiring ballplayers say the clubhouse camaraderie is the aspect of the game they’ll miss the most. Not Johnson.

“I’ll miss having an outlet to be that competitive,” he said. “Every fifth day, it was a process, and I enjoyed and I relished that process.”

The feeling was mutual, Big Unit. Best of luck in your next chapter.

Free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre has reached tentative agreement on a one-year, guaranteed $10 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, multiple sources have told ESPN.com and ESPNBoston.com.

The deal will pay Beltre a base salary of $9 million in 2010. It includes a $5 million player option for 2011 and a $1 million buyout, and is contingent upon Beltre passing a physical exam, the sources said.

Beltre, a 12-year veteran, batted .265 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs for the Mariners last season, in which he was limited to 111 games due to injuries. From 2006-08, his average numbers were .270, 25 homers, 88 RBIs and 149 games played.

Beltre’s best offensive season came in 2004 for the Dodgers when he batted .334, had a league-leading 48 homers and added 121 RBIs to finish second in the MVP voting. That season led to a big free-agent contract with the Mariners, but he never again came close to matching that offensive output. Beltre was paid $12 million in 2009, the last year of the five-year, $64 million deal he’d signed as a free agent with the Mariners. Beltre was offered salary arbitration by the Mariners, but declined.

His best season with the Mariners came in 2007 when he hit .276 with 26 homers and 99 RBIs.

Beltre’s career average hitting in Fenway Park is .179 and isn’t that much better in other AL East parks — .185 in Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field and .219 in the old Yankee Stadium. Boston will play 99 of 162 games at these parks.

Many teams looked at Beltre, however, for his defense. He won Gold Gloves in 2007 and 2008. The Red Sox have had Mike Lowell at third base, but he has been limited by injuries.

A source told ESPNBoston.com’s Gordon Edes last week that even after the Lowell trade with Texas was nullified by the Rangers, the Red Sox had quietly continued their pursuit of Beltre through agent Scott Boras.

The abortive Lowell deal complicated matters, since the Red Sox are obligated to pay Lowell $12 million in 2010. The proposed deal with Texas had called for them to pay $9 million of his salary to the Rangers in exchange for minor league catcher Max Ramirez.

A baseball source told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that the Red Sox have talked to the New York Mets about a possible Lowell-for-Luis Castillo trade. But there are several obstacles to the deal, and it’s uncertain how motivated either team would be to make it happen.

Lowell would have to move to first base in New York, because David Wright is already entrenched at third.

By moving Castillo, the Mets would be free to make a play for free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson. But Castillo has played all 1,609 of his career games at second base, and Boston already has an All-Star second baseman in Dustin Pedroia. The trade probably wouldn’t work for the Red Sox unless they were able to flip Castillo to a third club.

But the Red Sox now have quite a bit of money committed to third base.

The Orioles and Angels were also thought to be interested in Beltre.

The Orioles did sign infielder Garrett Atkins, but that did not seem to preclude them from moving on either Beltre or free-agent first baseman Adam LaRoche. The Angels lost their third baseman, Chone Figgins, to Seattle, Beltre’s former team, and while they have indicated they plan to give in-house candidate Brandon Wood a crack at the job, they might have turned to Beltre if his asking price had dropped.

The Athletics were thought to be interested but dropped out of the bidding, an industry source told Edes. Oakland could use a third baseman given the ongoing health problems of incumbent Eric Chavez.

Mets Land Jason Bay
Jason Bay and the New York Mets have reached an agreement on a four-year, $66 million dealTags: MLB, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox
Mets Land Jason Bay
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Free-agent outfielder Jason Bay has reached agreement on a four-year, guaranteed $66 million contract with the New York Mets, a baseball source confirmed to ESPN.com Tuesday.

The agreement will become official once Bay passes a physical exam sometime next week, the source said. The deal includes a vesting option year that could increase Bay’s overall payout to slightly more than $80 million over five years.

WFAN was the first to report the agreement had been reached.

Bay, a three-time All-Star, hit .267 with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs for the Boston Red Sox in 2009.

Bay and outfielder Matt Holliday were the most hotly pursued position players on the free-agent market this winter.

Exclusive company

BayWith the new deal, Jason Bay has the sixth-highest average annual payout among free-agent left fielders. And at $66 million, he also has the Mets’ second-highest free-agent contract since 1990, surpassed only by Carlos Beltran ($119 million, in 2004-05). A look at the highest payouts (starting with the first year of the deal):
Yr. Player Team Length Avg.
‘09 Manny Ramirez LAD 2 yrs. $22.5M
‘01 Manny Ramirez BOS 8 yrs. $20M
‘02 Barry Bonds SFO 5 yrs. $18M
‘07 Alfonso Soriano CHC 8 yrs. $17M
‘07 Carlos Lee HOU 6 yrs. $16.67M
‘10 Jason Bay NYM 4 yrs. $16.5M

It’s believed that Bay’s vesting option provision includes readily attainable targets based on plate appearances. Bay has averaged 154 games a season since 2005 with Pittsburgh and the Red Sox, so he should have a good chance of making the option vest if he stays healthy.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and several other principals in the deal are traveling or in the middle of holiday plans, so Bay’s physical exam isn’t expected to take place until early next week.

The Mets expect Bay to add thump to an offense that ranked last in the major leagues with 95 home runs in 2009. New York’s lineup was decimated by injuries to center fielder Carlos Beltran, shortstop Jose Reyes and first baseman Carlos Delgado, and manager Jerry Manuel’s team ranked 25th in the big leagues with 671 runs scored.

Bay has been maligned in some quarters for his subpar defense, but the Mets analyzed the metrics and found that he suffered in Boston from the “Fenway Park factor.” They think his perceived lack of range in left field was accentuated by the minimal area of ground he had to cover in Fenway.

The Mets also expect that Bay’s ability to pull the ball will help him in pitcher-friendly Citi Field, which is spacious in the gaps but plays fairer to hitters down the lines.

At the beginning of the free-agent process, many observers believed that Bay was destined to return to Boston. But after the Red Sox spent $82.5 million on free agent starter John Lackey and $15.5 million on outfielder Mike Cameron, it became clear that Bay’s tenure in Boston had reached an end.

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Law Jason Bay might perform well enough to justify his contract, but the bigger problem for the Mets is that Bay can’t pitch, as Keith Law explains. Blog Insider
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Bay underwent shoulder surgery in 2003 and arthroscopic knee surgery in 2006, and the Red Sox reportedly had enough concerns about his long-term health to hold firm at a four-year contract offer rather than the five-year deal that Bay was seeking.

Bay’s agent, Joe Urbon, recently spoke to the Red Sox about a possible reunion. But with Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew in the outfield mix, a Red Sox official said it was a “long shot” for Bay to return to Boston.

Bay, 31, broke into professional ball as a 22nd round draft pick with the Montreal Expos in 2000. The Mets acquired him in a trade in March 2002, but sent him to San Diego four months later as part of a five-player deal with the Padres.

In his next stop, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bay made two All-Star teams and posted back-to-back, 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons in 2005 and 2006.

The Mets have had a relatively slow winter, but the Bay signing gives the team the impact bat Minaya had been seeking. New York is now expected to turn its attention to adding a catcher — with Bengie Molina a prime target — and acquiring an innings-eating starter for the back end of the rotation. Free agents Jon Garland and Doug Davis are among the possibilities.

Bay’s .676 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position last year ranked second in baseball behind Albert Pujols’ .697. Since 2005, Bay is tied for fourth among big league outfielders with 155 home runs, and ranks fifth with 514 RBIs.

Bay, a native of Trail, British Columbia, is the first native Canadian to play for the Mets since shortstop Brian Ostrosser, an Ontario product, went hitless in five at-bats in 1973.

via ESPN.com

The Boston Red Sox have reached a tentative deal with right-handed pitcher John Lackey, pending a physical, worth slightly more than the $82.5 million, five-year contract A.J. Burnett signed with the New York Yankees last year, a source familiar with the negotiations told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark.

Lackey traveled to Boston for a physical exam Monday, fueling speculation that an agreement was close at hand.

Specific details weren’t available, but the Red Sox’s heightened pursuit of Lackey came after reports that Boston is fading in its efforts to retain free agent outfielder Jason Bay.

Lackey, 31, is 102-71 with a 3.81 ERA in eight seasons with the Angels, and he would join Josh Beckett and Jon Lester at the top of a powerhouse rotation in Boston. The Mariners, Angels and Mets are among the other teams interested in signing Lackey.

Entering the offseason, it was believed that Lackey would use A.J. Burnett’s five-year, $82.5 million contract with the New York Yankees as a benchmark, but industry estimates of his potential haul have ranged from $60 million to $100 million.

There were reports that Lackey declined a $72 million offer earlier this year from the Angels, but his representatives have since characterized those reports as untrue.

Lackey shut out the Red Sox through 7 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the AL Division Series and nearly no-hit Boston in 2008, but in nine career regular-season starts at Fenway Park, he is 2-5 with a 5.75 ERA.

Bay turned down Boston’s latest contract offer late last week and was ready to “move on” from Boston, according to his agent, Joe Urbon. The Red Sox have no intention of offering Bay a five-year deal, a source told ESPNBoston.com.

In other moves on Monday, the Red Sox reached a tentative agreement on a two-year deal with free agent outfielder Mike Cameron, a source told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick. Cameron will have to pass a physical exam for the deal to become official.

Also still up in the air is the status of third baseman Mike Lowell, who will undergo a physical for the Rangers this week, a source told ESPNDallas.com, as the Red Sox and Rangers continue to evaluate a proposed trade that would send Lowell to Texas and catcher Max Ramirez to Boston.

The Boston Red Sox have reached a preliminary agreement to trade third baseman Mike Lowell to the Texas Rangers for catcher Max Ramirez, sources told ESPN.

The Red Sox will pay $9 million of Lowell’s $12 million salary. The trade was first reported by FoxSports.com.

A cash transfer of that magnitude would also require approval from the commissioner’s office.

However, on Thursday morning, Rangers GM John Daniels said the deal is not yet done.

“Reports of the deal were somewhat overstated,” Daniels said.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein left the winter meetings before the Rule 5 draft and has not responded to requests for comment.

Passing a medical exam may not be the formality it is in many trades. Lowell, who turns 36 on Feb. 24, underwent surgery after the 2008 season for a torn labrum in his right hip, which drastically affected his mobility in the field last season. Lowell played in 119 games, but missed a dozen games when he went on the disabled list because of a strained hip.

Lowell also missed nearly a month at the start of the 2008 season with what was called a sprained left thumb.

Asked if the remaining hurdles to the deal were health or financial issues, Daniels said “Any of the above. Both clubs have the ability to pursue other options.”

Asked about the financial portion of the deal, Daniels said “The general parameters are understood and both clubs need to decide whether it’s the right fit.”

“There’s a financial component to it, but I’m not going to address that specifically. Both clubs know what’s on the table and we’ll continue to talk and work through it.”

But an official of another club that had been talking with the Red Sox about Lowell said Thursday that it was his understanding that an agreement had indeed been reached.

The official’s belief was that the Red Sox were prepared to pick up $9 million of the $12 million owed Lowell in 2010.

Lowell, who attended David Ortiz’s charity golf tournament in the Dominican Republic last weekend, said at the time that he had not “missed a single moment of sleep” because of rumors that the Red Sox — uncertain that he would make a full recovery — were planning to trade him. Lowell, who reiterated that doctors had told him he would require a year to heal, said he felt much better than he had last season.

The Rangers, if the deal goes through, would use Lowell as a right-handed designated hitter and part-time first baseman, a position he has never played in the big leagues. Lowell has played 1,470 games at third base, winning the Gold Glove in 2005.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona, asked last week about flipping Lowell to first and returning Kevin Youkilis to third, rejected that idea.

“I’m not for it,” Francona said. “The guy has played third base his whole life. He could do it, but I don’t know if it’s as easy as people think, and I don’t know if it’s in his best interests.”

Francona said moving Lowell to first base could actually increase the stress on his surgically repaired right hip, since it would introduce a whole different set of movements at a new position.

Ramirez, a 25-year-old native of Venezuela, was originally signed by the Braves and has played parts of the last two seasons with the Rangers. He is considered a better hitter than catcher.

Gordon Edes is ESPNBoston.com’s Red Sox reporter. He has covered the Red Sox for 12 years and has reported on baseball for 25 years. Information from ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney and ESPNDallas.com’s Richard Durrett was used in this report.

When the Yankees look at Curtis Granderson, they don’t see a man with a plummeting OPS and funky numbers against that sneaky portion of the population that insists on throwing a baseball left-handed.

No sir. When the Yankees look at Curtis Granderson, they see Derek Jeter.

Or they see a man who reminds them of Derek Jeter, anyway:

Polished. Professional. Comfortable in front of any camera. Comfortable inside his own skin.

They see a man, in other words, who gives them no sense of trepidation whatsoever that he can play baseball in New York, walk the high-pressure streets of New York or handle everything that comes with New York, from Page Six to Hank Steinbrenner.

So on Tuesday, the Yankees made Granderson the centerpiece of the first (uh, make that only) significant trade of the 2009 winter meetings — a three-team, seven-player, sport-rattler of a deal that deposited smokeballer Edwin Jackson in Arizona, four high-ceiling young players in Detroit and Curtis Granderson in The Bronx, N.Y.

It’s a trade that wasn’t announced Tuesday. That won’t happen before sometime Wednesday, once all the medical fine print has been sifted through.

But after everyone has left the podium, this will go down as a deal that changes the face of all three franchises. The Tigers get younger and cheaper. The Diamondbacks get a revamped rotation without having to plunge into the free-agent shark waters. And the champs?

The champs get Curtis Granderson.

He’s a man who may not be the face of the franchise. But he’s clearly now the face of their future.

Last winter, the Yankees renovated their roster with dollars. But their first major thunderbolt of this offseason wasn’t about the money — for a change.

It was about an aging nucleus, about a team whose World Series roster included 10 players age 33 or older, about general manager Brian Cashman’s mission to make this team younger and more athletic, and to do it sooner, not later.

So out the door went 22-year-old outfield stud Austin Jackson, widely viewed as either the Yankees’ No. 1 or No. 2 prospect. And out that door, right along with him, went their most dependable left-handed reliever last year, Phil Coke. And the third guy on that exit ramp was pitcher Ian Kennedy, a guy the Yankees once balked at trading for Johan Santana.

That was a long ways from the price tag the Tigers and Diamondbacks were pushing for when these trade talks began. Ultimately, the price tag didn’t include Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain or highly regarded left-hander Mike Dunn.

But merely by their willingness to include Austin Jackson, the Yankees were telling us all exactly what they think Curtis Granderson is going to become. And that is a man who is going to be way more than just another name on their scorecard.

They envision him as their next big-time center fielder …

The kind of outfielder they haven’t had since Bernie Williams …

A guy whose left-handed power is a Match.com fit for their ballpark …

A fellow whose flair for swinging and missing can be helped by hitting guru Kevin Long …

And, maybe most of all, a personality who can be safely trotted out to face any camera crew in town.

Well, it’s easy to envision Granderson being all of that.

But it’s also easy for the skeptics to envision the Yankees being dead wrong about him.

“It all depends on which Curtis Granderson shows up,” said one NL scout on Tuesday, “the ‘08 Granderson or the ‘09 Granderson.”

And he’s dead on, because the 2009 Curtis Granderson definitely had his issues.

His batting average slipped from .280 to under .250. His OPS was down 78 points (to .780). His 141 strikeouts were the ninth most in the American League.

His .319 on-base percentage out of the leadoff hole was the second-lowest in the league, ahead of only B.J. Upton. And his .183 average against left-handers was the worst by any AL hitter with 100 or more plate appearances.

“And you know what really disappointed me,” said one scout, “was how he played center field, not getting balls you expect a guy like him to get to.”

There was no denying any of that, even though Granderson graded out as an above-average defensive center fielder overall according to the Fielding Bible’s plus-minus ratings.

But was that just One of Those Years? Or was this some kind of ominous U-turn in the wrong direction? Well, it’s obvious how the Yankees saw it.

They saw a player whose home/road splits suggested that Comerica Park killed him. Granderson hit just .230 at home last season, with a gruesome .388 slugging percentage and only 10 homers in 309 at-bats.

But everywhere else, Granderson slugged .516, with 20 homers in 322 at-bats. And he hit 25 of his 30 homers to right field — the fourth-highest total in the American League (behind Mark Teixeira, Carlos Pena and Hideki Matsui).

So you think he might do a little damage in Yankee Stadium, or what?

“He’s going to lift some fly balls,” said one of the scouts quoted earlier. “So it’s tough to say they made a mistake. At first glance, you say the Yankees gave up too much. But when you look at it, Austin Jackson is a piece the Yankees can afford to give up, because they’re just not going to play a kid every day until they turn that club over, until Derek Jeter is done and A-Rod’s on the back end of that contract.”

Of course, Granderson is only the first piece in the Yankees’ offseason jigsaw. They still have to reel Andy Pettitte back in, then figure out whether Johnny Damon is willing to return and play left on a short-term deal, then hone in on one more starting pitcher — which could be anyone from Roy Halladay or John Lackey to a fourth-starter type.

But it’s very possible that their biggest acquisition of this post-tickertape offseason was the man they traded for Tuesday. And next year this time, we’ll all know if that’s the right call or the wrong call.

“The price was steep,” said one scout. “But I think this guy is a nice piece for their club. I have my concerns about him. But I still think he’ll fit into that lineup just fine.”

Derek Jeter posed in his crisp pinstripe uniform, resting a shiny black bat on his shoulder, while a photographer lying on the ground near the entrance to a Bronx subway station snapped pictures of the New York Yankees shortstop from a low angle.

Photographing the Yankees captain from below to make him look more regal seemed beside the point. Jeter already has an image that is larger than life.

Jeter was back at Yankee Stadium a couple of weeks after winning his fifth World Series title, capping a stellar season with a photo shoot for his latest achievement: Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year.

The magazine made the announcement Monday.

“It’s unbelievable. It was completely unexpected. It came out of the blue,” Jeter told The Associated Press during a break in the photo shoot. “When I heard it, what can you say? It’s one of the greatest honors you can achieve in sports.”

The 35-year-old Jeter is the first Bronx Bomber to be tapped for the award that has been given out since 1954. Swimmer Michael Phelps was last year’s recipient.

“That’s even harder considering all the great Yankee players that have played for this organization,” said Jeter, standing under the banners depicting Yankees greats that hang in the Great Hall of the new stadium. “So I hope I’ve done them proud.”

Sports Illustrated Group editor Terry McDonell certainly thinks he has.

“This verifies my idea that he is on the level of Ruth and Gehrig,” McDonell said. “He’s the greatest shortstop in the history of the game.”

Some other baseball players to win the award are Sandy Koufax (1965), Tom Seaver (1969), Cal Ripken Jr. (1995); and the recent nemeses of Jeter’s teams, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling (2001), and the Boston Red Sox (2004).

All business between the lines, Jeter has become one of the untarnished ambassadors in the steroids era of baseball through steady play and quiet leadership on and off the field.

“He’s so classy,” McDonell said. “He brings a dignity and elegance to the game.”

Jeter’s 2009 season was remarkable.

He batted .334 with 18 homers and 66 RBIs with 30 steals to help lead the Yankees to their first World Series title in nine years — a frustrating drought for the player who won four championships in his first five seasons.

And as calls swelled for Jeter to switch positions after his contract expires in 2010, the 10-time All-Star went out and had one of his best defensive seasons: He made a career-low eight errors in winning his fourth Gold Glove.

He also passed Yankees icon Lou Gehrig’s club record for hits, won the Hank Aaron Award as the AL’s top hitter, and was given the Roberto Clemente Award for excellence on and off the field.

The World Series victory might have been Jeter’s most cherished accomplishment this year, but what clinched the sportsman award for him was his philanthropic work. Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation has doled out over $10 million in grants since 1996 to organizations that help keep young people away from alcohol and drugs.

“It’s about the manner of the striving and the quality of the effort, too,” McDonell said. “Off the field he has grown so much as a member of the community.”

Coming 15 seasons into a career full of honors, the award could be seen as a lifetime achievement, but both McDonell and Jeter dismissed the idea.

McDonell was impressed by Jeter’s leadership, how he “stepped in and molded a team” this spring with the arrival of three expensive free agents, and Alex Rodriguez’s admission to using steroids from 2001-03 and then having hip surgery that kept him out until May.

For Jeter, who only looks as far ahead as the next game, he’s nowhere near the end of an illustrious career that could culminate with 4,000 hits.

“I’ll take it one hit at a time. That’s a long way in the future,” said Jeter, who has 2,747 hits. “I’m going to play as long as I’m having fun. Right now I’m having a blast.”

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Bob Sheppard has no intentions of returning to his longtime job as the public address announcer at Yankee Stadium, MLB.com reported Thursday.

Sheppard, who is 99, hasn’t worked a game since late in the 2007 season due to illness.

“I have no plans of coming back,” Sheppard told the Web site in a telephone interview. “Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don’t think, at my age, I’m going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well.”

When contacted by The Associated Press, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said the team had no announcement or comment at this time.

Famous for his distinct and resonant tones, Sheppard became the PA announcer at the old Yankee Stadium in 1951. Decades later, Reggie Jackson gave him the nickname “The Voice of God.”

Sheppard has called out names from Joe DiMaggio to Mickey Mantle to Derek Jeter. For the final game at the old Yankee Stadium in 2008, he recorded a greeting to fans and the introduction of New York’s starting lineup.

Paul Olden took over as the public address announcer at the new Yankee Stadium this year in Sheppard’s absence. Jim Hall, a longtime backup, filled in for Sheppard late in 2007 and last year.

But when Jeter steps to the plate, it’s still a recording of Sheppard’s voice that rings out: “Now batting for the Yankees, No. 2, Deh-rick Jee-tuh.”

Sheppard told MLB.com that he doubts “very, very much” that he’ll be able to resume his duties for even one game next season.

“It’s not just the two hours or three hours of baseball,” he said. “It’s the trip, the preparation, the trip home, and a long, long day. I think at my age, it’s time to accept the fact that I had a great run. A great run. And I only made a few mistakes along the way.”

The Boston Red Sox are ready to deal and they want to see an ace.

The Red Sox are in the running for Roy Halladay, but they face lots of competition if they’re to acquire one of the game’s top pitchers, ESPNBoston.com’s Gordon Edes writes. Story

Citing an unnamed source, the New York Daily News reported on Tuesday that the team is “putting on a full-court press” to acquire Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays.

“They would love to get it wrapped up before the winter meetings [beginning Dec. 7],” the source said, according to the newspaper.

Halladay’s name was mentioned prominently in relation to the Red Sox at the trade deadline last summer when the Jays said they were shopping the right-hander, but no deal could be worked out and he stayed put.

The six-time All-Star went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and 208 strikeouts in 2009, but the Jays finished 75-87 and a whopping 28 games behind the first-place Yankees.

Halladay, who has pitched his entire 12-year career with Toronto, has expressed a desire to win. The Red Sox, Yankees, and Angels have all been mentioned prominently as possible suitors for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner.

It’s a given the Red Sox’s interest in Halladay has diminished little since the summer, when all of their offers were rejected by then-general manager J.P. Ricciardi.

But a source told ESPNBoston.com reporter Gordon Edes that there is “nothing” to the timing and urgency mentioned in the report.

The consensus among baseball people is that new Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos will get the deal he wants this winter, and if not, he will wait until the trading deadline in July.

Albert Pujols is the unanimous winner of the National League MVP award, becoming the first player to repeat since Barry Bonds won four in a row from 2001-04.

Pujols received all 32 first-place votes and 448 points in balloting announced Tuesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

It is the third MVP award for the St. Louis Cardinals star, who also won in 2005. He becomes the first unanimous MVP since Bonds in 2002.

Florida’s Hanley Ramirez was second with 233 points, followed by Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard (217) and Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder (203).

Pujols led the majors in home runs (47), runs (124), slugging percentage (.658) and intentional walks (44), and topped the NL in on-base percentage (.443).

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press