With players and their teams set to exchange proposed salaries Tuesday, many avoided arbitration by reaching early settlements.

The Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday signed emerging star Bob Abreu to a three-year, $14.25 million contract.

	Abreu

"I'm going to work hard to prove that it is a good deal and help the team make the playoffs," Abreu said from his home in Venezuela.

Abreu, who made $400,000 last year, gets a $1 million signing bonus, $2.6 million this season, $4.65 million in 2001 and $6 million in 2002.

"We feel Bobby is one of the bright young stars in the game today and we hope to have him here for a long time," Phillies general manager Ed Wade said.

Abreu, 25, finished third in the National League batting race last season, hitting .335 with 20 homers and 93 RBI. He also tied for first in the league with 11 triples and was third in on-base percentage (.446).

Phillies right-hander Robert Person, also eligible for arbitration, agreed to a $1.4 million, one-year contract, nearly four times the $379,000 he made last year.

Tuesday's focus was also on a pair of New York Yankees: shortstop Derek Jeter and closer Mariano Rivera.

Jeter won $5 million in arbitration last winter and Rivera $4.25 million. Jeter asked for an arbitration-record $10.5 million salary and Rivera was close behind, requesting $9.25 million, both exceeding the record amount requested -- $9 million by teammate Bernie Williams in 1998.

But Jeter's case is not expected to ever see a hearing room. The All-Star shortstop, according to a pair of sources familiar with the talks, is close to an agreement on a record-setting deal: a seven-year contract worth about $118 million.

New York countered Williams at $7.5 million in the winter of '98, the most offered by a team, and the sides settled at $8.25 million. After the season, when Williams was a free agent, the Yankees signed him to an $87.5 million, seven-year contract.

Most players and teams settle before hearings. The highest award by an arbitrator was the $5.3 million pitcher Jack McDowell got from the Chicago White Sox in 1994 -- when he lost his case.

The Blue Jays on Wendesday signed second baseman Homer Bush to a three-year, $7.375 million deal. Bush batted .327 with five homers, 55 RBI and 32 stolen bases for Toronto last season.

On one of the busiest days of the offseason, Abreau and Person were among 27 players in arbitration agreed to contracts Tuesday. The others were Dodgers infielder Mark Grudzielanek (three years, $15 million); Expos right-hander Dustin Hermanson (three years, $15 million); White Sox right-hander James Baldwin (one year, $3.3 million); Braves second baseman Quilvio Veras (one year, $3 million); Reds second baseman Pokey Reese (one year, $1.95 million) and outfielder Michael Tucker (two years, $3.5 million); Cardinals right-handers Kent Bottenfield (one year, $4 million) and Alan Benes (one year, $550,000) and left-hander Mike Mohler (one year, $690,000); Indians right-hander Steve Karsay (one year, $1.2 million); Cubs reliever Matt Karchner (one year, $776,000); Tigers right-hander Danny Patterson (one year, $550,000); Devil Rays catcher Mike DiFelice (two years, $1.3 million); Angels outfielder Orlando Palmeiro (one year, $550,000); Blue Jays catcher Alberto Castillo (two years, $1.5 million); Rockies infielder Aaron Ledesma (one year, $525,000); Royals right-hander Jeff Suppan (one year, $1.45 million); Brewers left-hander Bill Pulsipher (one year, $575,000); Brewers right-hander Jamey Wright (one year, $1.025 million); Dodgers right-handers Chan Ho Park (one year, $3.85 million), Terry Adams (one year, $1.4 million) and Dan Naulty (one year, $300,000), third baseman Kevin Orie (one year, $600,000) and outfielder Trenidad Hubbard (one year, $300,000); and Tigers right-hander Danny Patterson.

Fifty-two players wound up exchanging arbitration figures with their teams, and one of them, Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, immediately settled on a $1.25 million, one-year deal.

A pair of players traded during the offseason also asked for large salaries.

Boston outfielder Carl Everett, acquired from Houston, asked for a raise from $2.5 million to $6 million, and the team countered at $4.4 million.

New York Mets closer Armando Benitez asked for $4.9 million, more than double his $2,037,500 salary last season. He was offered $3.25 million.

Baltimore catcher Charles Johnson, who lost in arbitration last year after winning in 1998, asked for a raise from $3.6 million to $5.1 million, with the Orioles offering $4.6 million.

Last January, when just 38 players swapped numbers with their teams, the most asked for was $6.5 million, by Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado.

Players who avoided arbitration Monday were San Diego right-handers Donne Wall ($2 million for two years) and Brian Boehringer ($830,000); Padres outfielder Ruben Rivera ($700,000); Toronto first baseman David Segui ($4.325 million); Blue Jays right-hander John Frascatore ($1.85 million for two years); San Francisco right-hander Felix Rodriguez ($1.4 million for two years); Chicago Cubs left-hander Felix Heredia ($625,000); Cincinnati left-hander Gabe White ($630,000); and Milwaukee outfielder Mark Sweeney ($515,000).

Cincinnati also got around to announcing a $1.6 million, one-year contract with left-hander Ron Villone, a deal agreed to before players filed for arbitration Friday.