40 Man

BaseballAthletics: Selected P Juan Perez from Triple-A Edmonton and placed him on the 40-man roster. Outrighted P Willie Adams, P Bill King, P Dave Telgheder, P Tim Kubinski and OF Mike Neill to Edmonton.Blue Jays: Named Sal Butera third-base coach and Marty Pevey bullpen coach and catching instructor. Retained Jim Lett, bench coach; Mel Queen, pitching coach; and Gary Matthews, batting coach; for 1999.Indians: Released former Orioles IF Jeff Manto and IF Ricky Gutierrez.Marlins: Claimed OF Bruce Aven off waivers from Indians.

Baseball Cleveland Indians -- Set their 40-man roster by adding P John Carter, P Carlos Crawford, P Kevin Logsdon, P Greg McCarthy, 1B/DH Herbert Perry, 3B David Bell and OF Omar Ramirez. Designated P Jeff Mutis and P Mike Christopher for assignment.Colorado Rockies -- Agreed to terms with 3B Howard Johnson on a one-year contract.Chicago Cubs -- Announced that Single-A Geneva (N.Y.) Cubs will move to Williamsport, Pa., and be managed by Jerry Weinstein.Kansas City Royals -- Purchased the contracts of OF Joe Vitiello, OF Les Norman, IF Joe Randa and IF Shane Halter from Double-A Memphis, and C Chad Strickland, IF Gary Caraballo and OF Darren Burton from Single-A Wilmington.

Baseball ANGELS: Purchased contracts of IF Alfredo Amezaga and P John Lackey; added them to 40-man roster. ASTROS: Purchased contracts of OF Jason Lane, P Ryan Jamison, P Brandon Puffer, P Rodrigo Rosario, P Thomas Shearn, C John Buck and C Raul Chavez from Triple-A New Orleans. BRAVES: Added P Jung Bong, P John Ennis, IF Nick Green, OF Ryan Langerhans, P John Foster and IF-OF Travis Wilson to 40-man roster. CUBS: Agreed to minor-league contract with 3B Kevin Orie. Added P Ben Christensen and P Steve Smyth to roster.

John Miller never has wandered far from home. He grew up in a house on the edge of Slentz Field in Irvington, graduated from Edmondson High and lives in Westview now.This is a West Baltimore boy, through and through. His wife, Judy, is a Woodlawn High grad.Miller pitched mostly as a starter for the Orioles for parts of five seasons in the 1960s, had a few good moments, then became a fireman -- a real one.When his sore right shoulder rebelled with every pitch and the Kansas City Royals released him during spring training in 1969, Miller left baseball, worked in construction for several years and then became a firefighter.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos and manager Mike Hargrove were pulling for bench coach Sam Perlozzo to land the Seattle Mariners' managing job last week, but when he didn't get it, they were both glad to have him back. Perlozzo's contract with the Orioles has expired, but Angelos said he'll be back, along with the rest of the coaching staff. "He's an excellent coach and a fine guy," Angelos said. "I'm sorry for him that he didn't get [the Seattle job], but it's good for us." The Mariners interviewed 12 candidates for the position, then narrowed the field to four finalists, including Perlozzo, before ultimately selecting former Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach and former Orioles catcher Bob Melvin.

Auto racingPacWest -- Named Danny Sullivan IndyCar driver for 1995.BaseballOrioles -- Signed free-agent P Rich DeLucia and free-agent 2B Junior Noboa.Boston Red Sox -- Claimed P Heath Haynes off waivers from the Montreal Expos.California Angels -- Purchased the contracts of P Erik Bennett, P Ken Edenfield, P Shad Williams and OF Marquis Riley from Triple-A Vancouver and added them to the 40-man roster. Purchased the contracts of P Bill Simas from Double-A Midland and added him to the 40-man roster.

Moves Baseball ATHLETICS: Declined to exercise contract options of OF Jermaine Dye and P Chris Hammond. Sent outright P Kirk Saarloos, C Mike Rose, IF Esteban German, IF Graham Koonce, OF Mike Edwards and OF Billy McMillon to Triple-A Sacramento. Purchased contract of OF Nelson Cruz from Sacramento. BRAVES: Assigned P Tim Drew and P Travis Smith outright to their minor league camp and announced they will be free agents. Activated IF Carlos Guzman from 15-day DL and released him. DODGERS: Declined to exercise contract option of P Elmer Dessens.

Veteran catcher Rick Dempsey said yesterday there is a "90 percent" chance he will announce his retire- ment next week and accept a job in the Orioles organization.The club announced earlier in the day that Dempsey had been waived for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release, a move meant to open space on the 40-man roster for Triple-A outfielder Doug Jennings.The move was not a surprise, considering what little time Dempsey spent on the active roster during the 1992 season. The real question was whether he would remain in the same kind of "taxi squad" role he played for the majority of the Orioles schedule.