BASEBALL

CLEMENS, SANTANA SEEK RAISES VIA ARBITRATION

Roger Clemens filed for a record $22 million in salary arbitration yesterday, and the Houston Astros offered the seven time Cy Young Award winner $13.5 million. The Rocket, who helped lead the Astros within one win of their first World Series appearance, still has not decided whether to pitch this year or retire.

Also yesterday, AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana asked the Minnesota Twins for a raise to $6.8 million in arbitration and was offered $5 million. The left-hander lost his arbitration case last year and made $1.6 million instead of his $2.45 million request. Minnesota also is negotiating with right-handers Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse, who are both eligible for arbitration for the first time.

GAGNE SIGNS TWO-YEAR DEAL WITH DODGERS

Former Cy Young Award winner Eric Gagne avoided another difficult salary arbitration hearing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, agreeing yesterday to a $19 million, two-year contract.

Gagne and the Dodgers agreed to the deal just before they were scheduled to exchange figures in salary arbitration. He remains eligible to become a free agent after the 2006 season. A year ago, Gagne was awarded $5 million by a panel of three arbitrators rather than his $8 million request.

Other players who avoided arbitration and signed with their teams yesterday included: Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins, infielder Placido Polanco, and right-hander Vicente Padilla; Florida right-hander Josh Beckett; Anaheim starters Jarrod Washburn and Scot Shields, and catcher Jose Molina; Pittsburgh outfielder/first baseman Craig Wilson and right-hander Josh Fogg; San Diego third baseman Sean Burroughs; Texas outfielder Gary Matthews Jr.; White Sox right-hander Luis Vizcaino; and Boston second baseman Mark Bellhorn and picher Bronson Arroyo.

FOOTBALL

RAVENS HIRE FASSEL, NEUHEISEL TO HELP OFFENSE

The Baltimore Ravens completed a shake-up of their coaching staff yesterday, hiring Jim Fassel as offensive coordinator, Rick Neuheisel as quarterback coach, and promoting Rex Ryan to defensive coordinator.

Fassel, who coached the Giants from 1997 to 2003, served as a senior consultant to the Ravens this season. He replaces Matt Cavanaugh, who resigned under pressure earlier this month. Neuheisel has been out of coaching since being fired by the University of Washington in June 2003 for participating in a high-stakes basketball pool. He was hired to refine the skills of quarterback Kyle Boller, a role that Fassel filled this season. Ryan takes over for Mike Nolan, who left Monday to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

ST. JOHN’S RALLIES TO UPSET NO. 21 PITT

Daryll Hill scored 26 points, including three free throws in the final 25 seconds, and St. John’s ended a three-game losing streak with a 65-62 victory over no. 21 Pittsburgh last night.

Hill, who had career highs of 29 and 30 in his last two games, only had three points over the final 15 minutes but they were enough to give the Red Storm (7-7, 1-3 Big East) its second win this season over a ranked team.

Carl Krauser had 22 points, seven assists, and eight turnovers for the Panthers (12-3, 3-2), who had won two in a row after dropping two straight at home

HORSE RACING

PLEAS ENTERED IN HORSE-DOPING CASE

A New York horse trainer and a harness racing driver were among 17 people who pleaded innocent yesterday to charges that they fixed a race at Aqueduct as part of a gambling ring.

Trainer Gregory Martin and harness driver Rene Poulin entered their pleas in U.S. District Court, where they and 15 others were charged last week in an 88-count indictment after a federal investigation outlined a gambling operation that processed more than $200 million in bets over four years. All were free on bail.

Martin and Poulin were charged with doping a horse with a performance-enhancing “milkshake” before a December 18, 2003, race at Aqueduct. The horse, A One Rocket, won. If convicted, both men face up to 25 years in jail.

The gambling ring is alleged to have operated in several states, including New York, New Jersey, Florida, California, and Nevada, and on Curacao and the Isle of Man.

Also yesterday, NYRA ended simulcast agreements with four betting sites named in the indictment: Euro Off-Track on the Isle of Man, International Racing Group, Inc., and Elite Turf Club, both in Curacao and on the Tonkawa Indian Reservation in Oklahoma.

– Associated Press