Wang, Fuentes And Valverde Lose Arbitration Cases

Pitchers Chien-Ming Wang, Brian Fuentes and Jose Valverde lost in salary arbitration yesterday, as major league teams improved to 4-0 with five cases potentially remaining this year.

Two players who had been scheduled for hearings next week reached agreements, with the Cincinnati Reds giving second baseman Brandon Phillips a four-year, $27 million contract and the Seattle Mariners settling on a one-year, $7 million deal with pitcher Erik Bedard, obtained from the Baltimore Orioles last week. Shortstop J.J. Hardy and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a one-year, $2.65 million contract.

Wang, a 19-game winner in each of the last two seasons for the New York Yankees, was awarded $4 million instead of his request for $4.6 million by arbitrators Stephen Goldberg, Jack Clarke and Christine Knowlton. Wang was eligible for arbitration for the first time after making $489,500 last year. His salary is the second highest for a pitcher eligible for arbitration for the first time, trailing only the $4.35 million Dontrelle Willis earned under an agreement with the Florida Marlins in 2006.

"He's a special talent. It's just really about where he slots in a market of special players as a first-time eligible," Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said. "Based on where the market is . . . there was really no room to go any higher than 4 [million]. It would have been out-of-market."

Fuentes will get a raise from $3.53 million to $5.05 million rather than his request for $6.5 million after saving 20 games and helping the Colorado Rockies reach the World Series for the first time. His case was decided by arbitrators Robert Bailey, Dan Brent and Elliott Shriftman.

Valverde, acquired by the Houston Astros from the Arizona Diamondbacks during the offseason, will earn $4.7 million rather than $6.2 million. He made $2 million last season, when he led the major leagues with 47 saves.

¿ ATHLETICS: Catcher Jeremy Brown, one of the central subjects in the book "Moneyball" that chronicled Billy Beane's unconventional methods as Oakland's general manager, told the team he's calling it a career.

The A's said that Brown would not report to spring training after telling them Tuesday he planned to retire for personal reasons. In response, they agreed to terms with free agent catcher Matt LeCroy on a minor league deal to help fill the void of Brown's departure. He was due to arrive at spring training today.

The 5-foot-10, 226-pound Brown, whose bulky frame and high on-base percentage made him the kind of player Beane sought, was selected 35th overall in the 2002 draft out of Alabama.

He's played five games in the big leagues, all in 2006, and had two doubles and a single in 10 career at-bats.