Piazza Agrees to $2-Million Deal With Padres

All-Star catcher Mike Piazza agreed Sunday to a $2-million, one-year contract with the San Diego Padres, giving the defending National League West champions a marquee player they think can still contribute.

Piazza, 37, had been interested in signing a free-agent deal with an American League team to become a designated hitter. Instead, he’ll stay in the NL and return to the West Coast for the first time since the Dodgers traded him to Florida in 1998.

The 12-time All-Star holds the major league record for most home runs by a catcher (374). He has 397 home runs and is a .311 hitter over his career.

Piazza became a free agent after last season, when he batted .251 with 19 home runs and 62 runs batted in in 113 games for the New York Mets.

It was his lowest average since he batted .232 in 69 at-bats with the Dodgers in 1992, his first season in the big leagues.

Still, his 19 home runs would have led the light-hitting Padres. Ryan Klesko hit 18 for San Diego, which struggled to the division title before being swept out of the playoffs by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The deal is expected to be announced today. It includes a mutual option for 2007 at $8 million.

“The Padres told Mike that he could pretty much catch as much as he wanted to,� said Piazza’s agent, Dan Lozano.

Piazza hopes to catch about 90 to 100 games this season, along with playing some first base and being the designated hitter in interleague games.

Padre General Manager Kevin Towers wasn’t available for comment.

Speaking Friday, Towers said Piazza wanted to play “with a competitive team in a desirable city. I think that his experience when he was with L.A. was a good one. He’s very popular out here and is familiar with the area. We’d like to think San Diego is a desirable city and that we’re a competitive ballclub.�

Piazza was slowed by injuries the last three years and has long had trouble throwing.

He was acquired by the Mets in a trade with Florida in May 1998, eight days after he was shipped from the Dodgers to the Marlins in a deal that also included Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson and Todd Zeile.

Piazza led the Mets to the 2000 World Series, which they lost to the cross-town rival Yankees.

The Padres, who acquired catcher Doug Mirabelli from Boston in December, will have to move a player off their 40-man roster before signing Piazza.

SWIMMING

Edmistone Breaks Her World Record

Australia’s Jade Edmistone broke her world record in the 50-meter breaststroke, finishing in 30.31 seconds in the heats on the opening day of the Australian championships in Melbourne.

Edmistone shaved 0.14 of a second off the record she set in winning the world championships in Montreal last year.

Edmistone will have a chance to improve on the mark again today in the final against 100-meter world champion Leisel Jones, who had the second-fastest time in 31.20.

WINTER SPORTS

Gruber Wins Super-G; American Earns Second

Christoph Gruber of Austria won a men’s World Cup super-G on the Kandahar course for his first victory this season in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Shrugging off a terrifying crash in Saturday’s downhill, Gruber smacked into several gates with force, but held on for his fourth career win. The Austrian finished in 1 minute 26.52 seconds, a commanding 0.82 of a second faster than second-place American Scott Macartney.

All three of Gruber’s super-G wins have come at this classic resort, including last year and in 2001. Macartney reached the podium for the first time in his career.

Norwegian veteran Kjetil-Andre Aamodt was third in 1:27.37.

Hermann Maier, who won Saturday’s downhill, finished fourth, 0.88 back.

Nicole Hosp of Austria skied a flawless second run to win a women’s World Cup giant slalom in Cortina, D’Ampezzo, Italy, for her first victory of the season.

Hosp was fourth after the opening run, covering the Olympia delle Tofane course in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes 33.51 seconds. Genevieve Simard of Canada finished second, 0.31 of a second behind, and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was third.

Defending overall World Cup champion Anja Paerson was sixth, and Janica Kostelic was seventh to maintain her lead in the overall standings.

AUTO RACING

Ganassi Team Wins Rolex 24

The team of Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon and Casey Mears survived the Rolex 24 to give owner Chip Ganassi a victory in America’s most prestigious sports car endurance event in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The winning Lexus Riley covered 734 laps and 2,613.04 miles on Daytona International Speedway’s 3.56-mile, 14-turn road circuit, good for a one-lap victory over the Lexus Riley of Champ Car teammates A.J. Allmendinger, Justin Wilson, Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson.

Dixon was in the winning car at the end. He was hit by race officials with a drive-through penalty for making unnecessary contact with the third-place car on a pass shortly after his last pit stop.

The Porsche Fabcar of Darren Law, David Donohue -- son of the late Indy 500 winner Mark Donohue -- and Sascha Maassen was on its way to third place when a flat tire forced Law to drive nearly a full lap at slow speed. He was able to get the car to the pits for a tire change, but lost third place to the pole-winning Porsche Crawford of Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Patrick Long.