Washington meets with owner Hicks  —  Wakamatsu, Hillman also finalists; Acta, Russell out of running  —  ARLINGTON — The interview process is complete.  —  The Rangers now have to decide who their next manager will be.  —  More to the point, the Rangers have to decide …

Yankees pick up Sheffield's option  —  Right fielder expected to be dangled as trade bait  —  NEW YORK — Gary Sheffield is still a member of the New York Yankees.  For now, anyway.  —  The Yankees announced Sunday that they have picked up Sheffield's $13 million option for the 2007 season …

Riding a stationary cycle  —  Trade talk recurs, Ramírez goes nowhere  —  One American League general manager put it this way when asked if he thought Manny Ramírez would finally be traded this offseason: "He's been on the block for, what, five years?

Moose close to new deal  —  Arn Tellem, the agent for Mike Mussina, said yesterday that he and the Yankees have made "substantial progress" in their negotiations for a two-year contract.  —  At this rate, Mussina's contract, which is expected to be worth as much as $25 million …

Dangerous arms race  —  Pitching-needy Yanks, Mets must proceed carefully  —  If there are two lessons to be learned from the Cardinals winning the World Series behind rookie Anthony Reyes, castoffs Jeff Weaver and Jeff Suppan, and staff ace Chris Carpenter, it is that good pitching always prevails …

MLB clinches Japan Series with rout  —  TOKYO — Over the first four innings, it seemed as if Daisuke Matsuzaka — who has the Far East and the United States abuzz these days — had secretly entered this Japan All-Star Series disguised as Horoyuki Kobayashi.

Braves' Giles could join his brother in S.D.  —  The emergence of Padres rookie second baseman Josh Barfield last season seemingly ended the chances of Marcus Giles joining his older brother, Brian, in San Diego.  —  Not so fast.  —  The Braves are open to trading Marcus Giles …

Mulder on radar at Shea  —  At age 24, Mark Mulder had 49 career victories, a 21-win season and four postseason starts.  He was considered one of baseball's premier young pitchers, seemingly a cinch to get a huge contract once he finally became a free agent.

Hall, Rays move even further apart  —  Despite being traded from the Devil Rays to the Dodgers in June, Toby Hall still proudly considers himself part of the Tampa Bay community, and on Monday night he is hosting his second annual Spikes and Strikes charity bowling event at Splitsville in Tampa.

Pedro's agent says pitcher feels great  —  Retirement may well be an option for Pedro Martinez if his shoulder does not heal to his liking, but there was no talk of quitting coming from the righthander at his birthday party last week, according to one guest.

Mussina nearly signed  —  You can forget the idea of Mike Mussina going to the Mets.  His agent said there has been "significant progress" in getting an extension signed.  —  Look for Mussina to sign a new two-year deal sometime this week, probably worth $11 or $12 million a year.