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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Chicago Cubs have emerged as the most active team at baseball's winter meetings, and why not?This is the team that went from the playoffs to the National League cellar in the space of one season. Now, general manager Ed Lynch and new manager Don Baylor are trying to deal their way back into contention just as quickly.The Cubs completed a major deal yesterday morning, acquiring starting pitcher Ismael Valdes and second baseman Eric Young from the Los Angeles Dodgers for right-handed relievers Terry Adams and Chad Ricketts and a player to be named.

The Board of Public Works approved a controversial proposal yesterday to provide about $600,000 in state and federal funds to acquire a Frostburg rail depot, which houses a failed restaurant owned by a friend of House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr.The three-member board also gave the state Department of General Services the green light to go to court to seek condemnation of the 2,229-acre Chapman's Landing tract in Charles County to preserve it from a...

Taking steps toward meeting its goal of doubling in size by the year 2000, Spectera Inc., a health services company with headquarters in Woodlawn, announced yesterday that it has acquired Group Vision Associates, a Philadelphia-based vision plan.Terms were not disclosed."GVA is the first in a number of vision care companies we plan to acquire in the next two years," said David T. Hall, chief executive officer of Spectera.GVA covers 550,000 people nationally, bringing the total enrolled in Spectera vision plans to about 2.5 million.

On the field: Orioles designated hitter Eddie Murray, two homers shy of 500, has gone two weeks without hitting a homer, which is why the Orioles stopped posting a huge No. 498 on the scoreboard at Camden Yards. "Our thought was maybe it was a little bit too much," said Orioles media relations director John Maroon. "Eddie never said a word, but it was a constant reminder."In the dugout: Orioles manager Davey Johnson wasted no time in starting Todd Zeile at third, despite the fact that Zeile hadn't played third since July 30. Zeile, knowing there was a chance he would be traded, has been taking grounders at third, "trying to keep my arm in shape."

WASHINGTON -- Bob Dole's difficulties reflect, in part, the fact that few Americans can say why this election matters. Indeed, when historians assess 1996, they may conclude that America's election was only the fourth-most -- perhaps even the fifth-most -- important election of the year.But the Dole campaign can acquire derivative drama from developments abroad.Taiwan's election produced the first democratically elected head government in four millennia of Chinese civilization. With Asia's fourth-largest economy (after Japan, China and South Korea)

Crestar Financial Corp. said yesterday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the deposits, customer accounts and select loans of 10 Mellon Bank branches in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties.The acquisition will initially bring to Crestar about $220 million in deposits and 17,400 customer households.Crestar did not disclose the purchase price.The move is the latest effort by Richmond, Va.-based Crestar to expand its Maryland operations. The $18.3 billion-asset banking company agreed Wednesday to acquire the Ryland Funding Group, the wholesale mortgage banking operation of Columbia-based Ryland Group Inc.'s mortgage subsidiary.

IT WOULD be easy "to end welfare as we know it," as President Clinton promised to. It's primarily just a matter of defining our terms."Welfare" is shorthand for the program known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).The first thing I would do if I were president is to write into the U.S. Code a non-cash definition of "Aid." Henceforth, the poor would get a credit card that entitled them to buy all the things that they needed for their "welfare," which would also be defined in the Code:"the state of faring well or doing well: thriving or successful progress in life"Thus one could buy -- or, rather, acquire -- milk, but not beer, for example.

38 lose jobs at 2 area Sam's ClubsWal-Mart Stores Inc. said yesterday that it has dismissed 38 workers at its two Baltimore area Sam's Clubs, which were converted from Pace Membership warehouses in January."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. said it will acquire control of Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. in a $141.5 million stock swap, expanding its reach in home entertainment programming.Blockbuster, the world's largest home-video retailer, will acquire 48.2 percent of the Los Angeles-based production and distribution company by issuing 7.6 million shares to Spelling's parent, American Financial Corp.The agreement, expected to close in several weeks, will make American Financial, a Cincinnati holding company controlled by investor Carl Lindner, the third-biggest shareholder in Blockbuster.

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees made an expected move to bolster their pitching yesterday, acquiring veteran left-hander Frank Tanana from the New York Mets.With a staff hampered by injuries and inexperience, general manager Gene Michael felt a sense of urgency to make a move. In exchange, the Mets received minor-league pitcher Kenny Greer, a right-hander who was 9-4 with a 4.42 ERA and six saves in 46 relief appearances for Triple-A Columbus.Tanana, who was 7-15 (4.48 ERA) with the Mets, will start tomorrow afternoon against Boston.

Online retailer Amazon will acquire shoe seller Zappos Retail giant Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that it would acquire Zappos.com Inc., an online footwear and apparel company, in a deal valued at $807 million in stock. The acquisition would expand Amazon's online empire by about 3 million products. Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will exchange 10 million shares for all of Zappos' outstanding shares and assume all options and warrants. The stock transaction is worth about $807 million based on the average closing price for the 45 trading days ended July 17, Amazon said.

The New England Patriots must feel certain Tom Brady's injured knee will be fine next season. After putting the franchise tag on Matt Cassel as insurance for their two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, the Patriots shipped Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday. The Chiefs gave up the 34th pick in the April draft for both players. The Chiefs have the third overall selection after a franchise-worst 2-14 season. In yielding their second-round draft choice, they acquire a reliable 12-year veteran linebacker and a proven young quarterback.

Capital One Financial Corp. said yesterday that it will acquire Bethesda-based Chevy Chase Bank for $520 million in cash and stock, expanding its presence in its own backyard. Privately held Chevy Chase Bank has a sizable presence in the Baltimore area, where it is the 14th-largest bank, according to the most recent figures from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank has about $11 billion in deposits, with nearly 300 branches in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

Hoping to set the stage for the future renewal of one of the city's most distressed areas, officials are moving to acquire about 200 abandoned properties around the historic American Brewery building in a long-neglected corner of East Baltimore. The 30-odd properties closest to the brewery - which has been vacant for more than three decades but is slated to be renovated as the local headquarters of a nonprofit social services agency - will be shored up to prevent further deterioration, while the rest will be held until the city decides what to do with them.

Plan to expand HCC hits snag Howard Community College suffered a setback, though perhaps a temporary one, when a divided Planning Board refused to endorse its plans to acquire and expand the historic Belmont mansion and conference center in Elkridge. Mary Ellen Duncan, the president of the college, said safeguards are adequate to protect the character of the sprawling estate and minimize the intrusion on neighborhood residents, but she acknowledged that the issue has become acrimonious and added, "This is not a battle that we'll fight to the death."

Duratek Inc., a radioactive and hazardous waste management company based in Columbia, said yesterday that it has agreed to be acquired for nearly $400 million by a private Salt Lake City company in the same business. The acquirer, EnergySolutions, is a private company that was created this month from three entities involved in different aspects of the nuclear energy waste handling and disposal and technical services business. Duratek would help it continue to grow, the company said. A Duratek official said that the company provides complementary services, and its location near Washington decision-makers means that the employees and office are likely to be kept on as part of the new company.

Jimmy Carter, former Democratic president and Georgia governor, couldn't be more adamant in his contempt for the voter identification law in his home state. He called the requirement for a hard-to-get, state-issued photo ID that would have to be purchased an "abomination," "directly designed to deprive older people, African-Americans, [and] poor people of a right to vote." Even so, Mr. Carter backed a similar, though weaker, requirement as part of a package of election reforms recommended by a commission he chaired with former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, a Republican insider.

Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. announced on Sept. 2, 1948, that the state would acquire the beachfront property that would later become Sandy Point State Park. The vote to acquire the Chesapeake Bay parcel was considered so critical that the governor and comptroller held an emergency meeting of the Board of Public Works in Ocean City, with the state treasurer phoning in his vote from Baltimore. The scenic property, encompassing more than 500 acres, was offered to the state by the owner, William H. Labrot.

After a year of layoffs, restructuring and a management overhaul, Baltimore biotech Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced yesterday its sale to cancer-drug maker MGI Pharma Inc. of Bloomington, Minn., in a deal worth $177.5 million in cash and stock. Guilford shares jumped 41 percent yesterday on the Nasdaq stock market, rising 99 cents to close at $3.40 on the news after months of revitalization efforts under Dean J. Mitchell, the chief executive officer brought in from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. MGI, with about 300 employees, said it plans to maintain the Baltimore operation and retain many of Guilford's 250 staff members, particularly those in research and development and sales.

Baltimore, which for decades has relied on the power of condemnation to shape its much heralded renaissance, will continue to seize properties when necessary to assemble parcels large enough to attract private development, officials said yesterday. Yesterday's Supreme Court decision backing localities' use of eminent domain to foster economic revitalization removes any lingering doubt about the future of Baltimore renewal projects that depend upon the city's ability to acquire private property, development officials said.