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BALTIMORE - Sidney Ponson is returning to the Orioles, who traded the right-hander in July in the midst of his finest season.
Ponson and the Orioles agreed on a $22.5-million, three-year contract Wednesday. That's $1.5-million more than the offer he rejected shortly before Baltimore dealt him to the Giants.
The deal won't become official until Ponson passes a physical next week, but the Orioles are counting heavily on a pitcher who went 17-12 in 2003, his first winning season in the majors.
Ponson, on a Caribbean cruise sponsored by the Orioles, said in a conference call, "After I got traded, I told Mike that I was willing to talk to the Orioles after the season. I've always loved Baltimore, so I was open to coming back."
Ponson went 14-6 with a 3.77 ERA in 21 starts with Baltimore. He was 3-6 with a 3.71 ERA for the Giants.
SLIP OF THE TONGUE: Pete Rose, speaking to a Calabasas (Calif.) High School journalism class, inadvertently admitted more than a year before his latest autobiography was released that he had bet on baseball.
Editors of the school newspaper, the Calabasas Courier, chose not to publish Rose's remarks, made Dec. 9, 2002.
After Rose's confession last week that he had bet on baseball while managing the Reds, the paper's former co-editor in chief, Nick Reder, played a videotape of the session for the Los Angeles Times.
Asked by a student why he had sacrificed a berth in the Hall of Fame, Rose said: "You mean, why did I bet on baseball? Well, it was because I made mistakes. I made mistakes. You know, when you do something, you think you're not going to get caught. It's not like I'm the only guy in the world to gamble."
Pete Rose: My Prison Without Bars, released Jan. 8 with a first printing of 500,000, will top the New York Times' nonfiction hardcover chart coming out Jan. 25.
CUBS PURSUE MADDUX: Chicago would like Greg Maddux to finish where he started.
The Cubs offered Maddux a two-year deal thought to be worth $14-million to $15-million. Maddux, who has 289 career wins, spent his first seven seasons in Chicago.
EX-ASTRO PUZZLED: Former Astros closer Billy Wagner thought he was traded to the Phillies as a cost-cutting measure.
The Astros since have signed pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, and Wagner now thinks he was traded because he was an outspoken critic of owner Drayton McLane for not making a big move during the season, when Houston was battling for the NL Central title.
"When I was traded, it was my understanding it was financial, and then they get Clemens and Pettitte for double what I was making," Wagner said. "Instead, they got rid of me because they don't like me."
OWNERS MEETING: It appears the proposed sale of the Dodgers to a Boston real estate developer will go down to the Jan. 31 deadline.
Baseball's ownership committee discussed in Scottsdale, Ariz., the $430-million agreement between News Corp. and Frank McCourt and will send a delegation to meet with him in Los Angeles next week.
The committee has been examining whether the deal's financing complies with MLB rules on the allowable amount of debt.
SCOUTS SEE JAPANESE STAR: Shingo Takatsu, Japan's career saves leader, worked out in Irvine, Calif., in front of scouts for 24 teams, agent Joe Urbon said. The free agent will decide by Jan. 26 whether to sign with a major-league team or return to the Yakult Swallows.
OBITUARY: Mike Goliat, the second baseman on the 1950 Phillies' pennant-winning "Whiz Kids" team, died Tuesday at his home in Seven Hills, Ohio. He was 82.
BLUE JAYS: Left-hander Ted Lilly, acquired Nov. 18 from Oakland, signed a $5-million, two-year deal.
DIAMONDBACKS: Bank One Corp. announced it has agreed to be acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., but the team said the $60-billion deal would not change the name of its Phoenix home, Bank One Ballpark.