Greg Maddux is staying at home in Atlanta, but most free agents who were offered arbitration decided they'd like to keep testing the market.
Maddux, after a tentative 1½ months on the free-agent market, accepted the Braves' offer of salary arbitration, which makes him a signed player for the 2003 season.
Right-hander Terry Adams was the only other free agent to accept arbitration, deciding to return to Philadelphia. Among the other 22 offered arbitration on Dec. 7, 15 remain unsigned and can negotiate with the former teams through Jan. 8, a group that includes Roger Clemens (Yankees), Cliff Floyd (Boston), Chuck Finley (St. Louis) and Mark Grace (Arizona).
Boston GM Theo Epstein said Floyd's decision to reject arbitration ended his time with the Red Sox.
"I'm disappointed that Cliff won't be back with the Red Sox in 2003," he said. "At the same time, I'm excited about the flexibility we have now with our payroll and with a draft pick."
Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles and the New York Mets are the teams most likely to sign Floyd, and a deal is possible as early as Friday. Epstein said he didn't know if one already had been worked out.
Sam Levinson, who represents Floyd with brother Seth Levinson, did not go into details, but said "clearly, it was in Cliff's best interests, for numerous reasons, to reject arbitration."
Technically, the Red Sox can negotiate with Floyd through Jan. 8, but Epstein made it clear he held out no hope that the outfielder-designated hitter would be back.
The Red Sox will get two high draft picks as compensation from the team Floyd signs with. Another benefit is that the money that would have gone to Floyd, who earned $6.5 million last season, can be used on other players.
Meanwhile, Grace is close to a deal with the Diamondbacks, and his agent said it could be for more than one year.
"Mark thinks he can still play for awhile," Barry Axelrod, Grace's agent said. "Mark's one of those guys who's going to have to have the uniform torn off of him."
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