Baseball

Gary Sheffield of the San Diego Padres, last season’s National League batting champion, avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.11-million, one-year contract, four times more than the $725,000 he made last season.

Others coming to terms were Colorado Rockies’ third baseman Charlie Hayes, New York Yankees’ pitcher Melido Perez, Minnesota Twins’ pitcher Kevin Tapani and outfielder Derek Lee, Kansas City Royals’ pitchers Kevin Appier and Bill Sampen, San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Trevor Wilson and Chicago White Sox outfielder Lance Johnson.