With a midnight deadline approaching, major league teams offered or decline to offer arbitration to their potential free agents Thursday night.

Manny Ramirez of the Indians, Juan Gonzalez of the Tigers were among the players offered arbitration by their teams, but Mark Grace, John Wetteland and Andres Galarraga were not offered arbitration.

Arbitration listings

Players offered arbitration American League Anaheim -- Mark Petkovsek, rhp Boston -- Tom Gordon, rhp Chicago -- Harold Baines, of; Charles Johnson, c Cleveland -- Sandy Alomar, c; Manny Ramirez, of; David Segui, 1b Detroit -- Juan Gonzalez, of Oakland -- Kevin Appier, rhp Seattle -- Tom Lampkin, c; Alex Rodriguez, ss Texas -- Mike Munoz, lhp; Ruben Sierra Toronto -- Alex Gonzalez, ss; Craig Grebeck, 2b National League Atlanta -- Andy Ashby, rhp; Bobby Bonilla, of; John Burkett, rhp; Wally Joyner, 1b; Scott Kamieniecki, rhp; Terry Mulholland, lhp Cincinnati -- Mark Wohlers, rhp Los Angeles -- Darren Dreifort, rhp New York -- Mike Hampton, lhp; Bobby J. Jones, rhp St. Louis -- Shawon Dunston, ss; Scott Radinsky, lhp San Diego -- Dave Magadan, 3b Players not offered arbitration American League Anaheim -- Ron Gant, of; Kent Mercker, lhp; Kevin Stocker, ss; Matt Walbeck, c Baltimore -- Mark Lewis, 3b; Pat Rapp, rhp Boston -- Manny Alexander, ss; Rico Brogna, 1b; Hector Carrasco, rhp; Jeff Fassero, lhp; Bernard Gilkey, of; Ramon Martinez, rhp; Steve Ontiveros, rhp Cleveland -- Jason Bere, rhp Detroit -- Rich Becker, of; Willie Blair, rhp; Gregg Jefferies, of; Hal Morris, 1b New York -- Jose Canseco, of; David Cone, rhp; Roberto Kelly, of; Luis Polonia, of; Darryl Strawberry, of Oakland -- Doug Jones, rhp; Mike Stanley, 1b Seattle -- Rickey Henderson, of Texas -- Luis Alicea, 2b; Mike Simms, of; John Wetteland, rhp Toronto -- Mark Guthrie, lhp; Dave Martinez, of; Steve Trachsel, rhp National League Arizona -- Matt Mieske, of; Dan Plesac, lhp Atlanta -- John Burkett, rhp; Greg McMichael, rhp; Reggie Sanders, of; Rudy Seanez, rhp; Walt Weiss, ss Chicago -- Rick Aguilera, rhp; Shane Andrews, 3b; Mark Grace, 1b; Jeff Huson, 2b; Jeff Reed, c Cincinnati -- Benito Santiago, c; Deion Sanders, of Colorado -- Jeff Frye, 2b; Jeffrey Hammonds, of Florida -- Henry Rodriguez, of Houston -- Tim Bogar, ss; Ken Caminiti, 3b Los Angeles -- Todd Hundley, c; Jim Leyritz, c; Ismael Valdes, rhp Milwaukee -- Charlie Hayes, 3b Montreal -- Lenny Webster, c New York -- Kurt Abbott, 2b; Derek Bell, of; Mike Bordick, ss Philadelphia -- Alex Arias, 3b; Kent Bottenfield, rhp; Jeff Brantley, rhp; Brian Hunter, 1b; Tom Prince, c St. Louis -- Eric Davis, of; Pat Hentgen, rhp; Thomas Howard, of; Jesse Orosco, lhp; Rick Wilkins, c San Diego -- Bret Boone, 2b; John Mabry, of; Randy Myers, lhp San Francisco -- Doug Henry, rhp; Scott Servais, c

The players who were offered arbitration have until Dec. 19 to accept or refuse arbitration. If they refuse, the teams can continue contract talks with them until Jan. 8, and will receive draft picks if the players sign elsewhere. If the players accept arbitration, and the sides cannot agree on contracts, an arbitration panel will hear testimony to determine salary.

Players not offered arbitration are free to sign wherever they wish, but cannot negotiate with their former teams until May 1, which greatly reduces the chances they would return in most cases.

Indians offer arbitration to Ramirez, three others
As expected, Cleveland offered salary arbitration to free agent outfielder Manny Ramirez, catcher Sandy Alomar and first baseman David Segui.

However, the club did not offer arbitration to free agent right-hander Jason Bere.

Ramirez, Alomar and Segui may all sign elsewhere, but the Indians assured themselves of high-compensation draft picks by offering arbitration.

Ramirez, one of the market's prize free agents, and his representative, Jeff Moorad, rejected a seven-year, $119 million contract offer from the Indians in November.

Moorad had been seeking a 10-year, $200 million deal for Ramirez, who has driven in 432 runs the past three seasons.

Ramirez and Moorad are expected to attend the winter meetings in Dallas where they are certain to talk with several interested teams. One of those teams could be the Indians, who are still looking for another hitter.

Cleveland signed Ellis Burks to take over in right field, but the club has left open the possibility of re-signing Ramirez.

The Indians were unable to reach an agreement with Alomar, who spent 11 seasons in Cleveland, and acquired catcher Eddie Taubensee from Cincinnati in a trade on Nov. 16.

Alomar turned down a three-year, $6.5 million offer from the Indians. Since then, he has fired his agent, Jaime Torres, and replaced him with John Boggs.

Cubs part ways with Grace
Mark Grace is Mr. Cub no more after Chicago declined to offer the free-agent first baseman arbitration, ending his 13-year run with the team.

"It's a sad day for him," said Barry Axelrod, Grace's agent. "But life goes on. Team's do things because that's the businesslike thing to do. I don't begrudge them, but it's sad."

Grace is expected to reach a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks soon, possibly as early as Friday.

"This is a business, and when your employer doesn't want you back you have to find work elsewhere," the first baseman told Phoenix television station KPNX. "Now I'm a Diamondback."

The Cubs also declined to offer arbitration to closer Rick Aguilera, catcher Jeff Reed and infielders Shane Andrews and Jeff Huson.

Grace had spent his entire career with the Cubs, and said repeatedly that he wanted to retire a Cub. While Sammy Sosa has been the heart of the Cubs the past few seasons, Grace has been their soul. He's been Mr. Cub of the '90s, right down to the ivy he had painted on his Harley-Davidson.

While Grace is a career .309 hitter, the 36-year-old dropped to .280 last year with 11 homers and 82 RBI. He also made $5.3 million last year, and the Cubs would have had to pay more to keep him whether they gave him a new deal or offered arbitration.

Rangers part with Wetteland, who ponders retirement
John Wetteland, the Texas Rangers' career saves leader, was not offered arbitration and is considering retiring because of a back problem. Texas also declined to offer arbitration to second baseman Luis Alicea and outfielder Mike Simms.

The team did offer arbitration to left-handed reliever Mike Munoz and outfielder Ruben Sierra, a former All-Star who returned to the majors late last season.

Wetteland, 34, has a degenerative disk in his back. He's working out four times a week, but has yet to throw a baseball. "I'm doing everything I can," he said. "If that's enough, great. If it's not, then it's great to move on to another phase."

Wetteland, the MVP of the 1996 World Series while pitching for the New York Yankees, signed with the Rangers in '97 and had 150 saves over four years with at least 30 each season. He saved 34 last season and had a 4.20 ERA.

Big Cat enters brave new world
The Braves refused to offer salary arbitration to Andres Galarraga, probably ending the first baseman's career in Atlanta.

Atlanta did offer arbitration to six of its former players who became free agents: pitchers Andy Ashby, Terry Mulholland, John Burkett and Scott Kamieniecki; first baseman Wally Joyner and outfielder Bobby Bonilla.

Ashby agreed Wednesday to a $22.5 million, three-year contract with Los Angeles, but the deal has not been finalized.

Galarraga's $24.75 million, three-year contract expired at the end of the season and he became a free agent.

After missing the 1999 season because of cancer, Galarraga hit .302 with 28 homers and 100 RBI. The Braves made an offer Wednesday morning, but Galarraga's agent, Jim Bronner, said it was too low. Galarraga is seeking a two-year contract.

Tigers still hope to tie up Gonzalez
Juan Gonzalez will have another month to decide if he wants to stay with the Detroit Tigers, who offered him salary arbitration.

While the free agent outfielder can sign with any team, his agent, Scott Boras, said Gonzalez wants to return to Detroit.

In the first season after Texas traded him to the Tigers, Gonzalez batted .289 with 22 home runs and 67 RBI -- less than half what he averaged the previous four years. He missed 47 games and sat out the final 1½ weeks of the season with a herniated disk.

Late last month, Gonzalez completed his medical examination on his back after canceling two previous appointments in Detroit, saying he needed to be with his young daughter, who has a health problem.

The Tigers have said they want to determine if Gonzalez is healthy before offering him a contract. The Tigers and physicians have not commented on the test results.

Last winter, Gonzalez's former agent negotiated a reported eight-year package with the Tigers worth more than $140 million, but Gonzalez turned it down for unknown reasons.

Hammonds plays wrong tune for Rockies
The Colorado Rockies on Thursday refused to offer salary arbitration to Jeffrey Hammonds, meaning the outfielder's days in Colorado are probably over.

Hammonds sought a contract worth $8 million to $9 million a year, but the Rockies ownership thought that was too steep, team spokesman Jay Alves said.

Hammonds injured his shoulder in September and did not play again but finished the 2000 season batting .325 with 20 homers and 106 RBI in 122 games. He hit .399 at home, but just .275 on the road and 71 of his RBI came at Coors Field.

Assistant GM Josh Byrnes said the Rockies decided not to pursue Hammonds because "we ended up sinking some money into pitching and decided to try to look for a cheaper way to fill our outfield." The team met with Ron Gant on Thursday.