Home for the holidays, teams show off their acquisitions

(AP)-Back home from the winter meetings, teams showed off their stars. <br><br>Manny Ramirez's $160 million, eight-year contract with Boston was finalized Wednesday, as was Todd Hundley's $23.5

Thursday, December 14th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(AP)-Back home from the winter meetings, teams showed off their stars.

Manny Ramirez's $160 million, eight-year contract with Boston was finalized Wednesday, as was Todd Hundley's $23.5 million, four-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.

``This kid has been the most gifted hitter in the business,'' Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette said at Fenway Park. ``We're a lot stronger than we were.''

There were new deals, too.

Shortstop Alex Arias agreed to a $1.3 million, two-year contract with the San Diego Padres; Atlanta agreed to a one-year contract with infielder Rico Brogna and a minor league contract with infielder Kurt Abbott; and Toronto agreed to minor league contracts with seven players, including right-hander Jaime Navarro and outfielder Ryan Thompson.

Texas picked up three more free agents, agreeing to minor league contracts with outfielder Ruben Sierra, left-hander Mike Munoz and right-hander Kevin Foster.

On Monday, the Rangers agreed to a record $252 million, 10-year contract with shortstop Alex Rodriguez, causing intense criticism of the Rangers. A day later, Rodriguez criticized the Mets and general manager Steve Phillips.

``All I can say is I wish I could play against Steve Phillips' team and lead 24 guys to beat 'em up,'' Rodriguez said.

Phillips responded Wednesday:

``I think he doth protest too much for having a $250 million contract,'' he said. ``We wish him the best.''

In Boston, Ramirez said he wants to help the Red Sox overtake the New York Yankees, who have won three straight World Series titles and 26 in all since Boston last won in 1918.

``I'm just tired to see New York always win,'' he said.

In Cleveland, Indians general manager John Hart was ready to move on.

``He's the enemy now,'' Hart said.

Cleveland offered $136 million to retain Ramirez, its best hitter.

``It came down to the Boston structure was significantly different than ours,'' Hart said. ``We had a signing bonus, but they had a bigger signing bonus and so much more was paid into the first three or four years of the deal, where ours was backloaded to fit our payroll structure. This wasn't like we were low-balling him or anything.''

In Chicago, the Cubs announced their deal with Hundley, which was agreed to in Dallas, pending a physical. Hundley grew up as a Cubs fan, watching his father, Randy Hundley, catch for them.

``This is really a dream come true. More like a fantasy come true,'' the younger Hundley said. ``I've always wanted to play here and to come home to the organization.

``To play at the place I was at a lot as a kid, missing school ... it's great to be home.''

Arias, 33, hit .187 in 70 games last year and is a career .269 hitter with 16 home runs and 184 RBIs. In 1999, he set career highs with a .303 average, 105 hits, 20 doubles and four homers.

Arias is a nine-year veteran, the last three with Philadelphia. He will make $550,000 in 2001 and $750,000 in 2002. He can make an additional $250,000 in performance bonuses each season if he has 600 plate appearances.

Two days after signing A-Rod, the Rangers brought back Sierra and Munoz.

Sierra, a 35-year-old outfielder, hit .233 with one homer and seven RBIs in 60 at-bats with the Rangers last season after spending a year with Cancun of the Mexican League. With Triple-A Oklahoma, he had 18 homers and 82 RBIs.

Munoz, a 35-year-old left-hander, was 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA for the Rangers in seven relief appearances before tearing a tendon in his pitching elbow in April and missing the rest of the season.

Atlanta, which lost Andres Galarraga, brought in Brogna, who was hampered last season by a broken left forearm.

Brogna, 29, averaged 21 home runs and 96 RBIs from 1997-99 with the Philadelphia Phillies. Last season, he hit .248 with one homer and 13 RBIs in 38 games with the Phillies before being claimed off waivers by Boston in August. He hit .196 with one homer and eight RBIs in 43 games with the Red Sox.

Abbott, 31, hit .217 with six homers and 12 RBIs for the Mets last season. He had a career-high 17 homers and 60 RBIs for the Florida Marlins in 1995.

Navarro spent this year with Milwaukee, Colorado and Cleveland, going a combined 0-6 with a 10.53 ERA. He has a 116-126 career record with a 4.72 ERA in 12 seasons with Milwaukee, the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland.

Thompson, a former Blue Jays prospect, split the season between the Yankees and Triple-A Columbus, hitting .260 for New York with three homers and 14 RBIs.