Mets pitcher Dave Williams had surgery Wednesday to repair a herniated disk in his neck and it's unclear how long he could be sidelined. The team also announced that it agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Ruben Sierra and invited him to spring training, and right-hander Jason Standridge chose to become a free agent after he was designated for assignment last week.

Right-hander Mark Prior and the Cubs agreed on a one-year deal Wednesday and avoided salary arbitration. Prior will get $3,575,000 and would earn an additional $150,000 each for making 27 and 30 starts. Once considered a Cubs' ace of the future, Prior has won just 18 games the past three seasons while battling injuries.

Barry Bonds' contract with the Giants isn't final just yet. After the commissioner's office rejected Bonds' $15.8 million, one-year deal because it contained a personal-appearance provision, the team sent revised documents to his agent, Jeff Borris. "At this time, Barry is not signing the new documents," Borris said Wednesday.

Red Sox ace Curt Schilling says he isn't looking for a raise now that he's decided to pitch in 2008 -- he just wants a contract. If he doesn't have an extension by the end of spring training, Schilling says he won't negotiate during the season and will become a free agent for the first time in his career after the 2007 World Series. "It will be quick and painless, one way or another, and that's probably the best way to do something like this," Schilling said Wednesday.

Barry Bonds' contract was not approved by the commissioner's office because it contained a personal-appearance provision, a baseball executive said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because those details had not been made public. Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, said late Tuesday the team was redrafting the agreement and sending him a revised version by express mail for Bonds to review and sign.

Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday that the 2008 All-Star Game will be hosted by the Yankees at Yankee Stadium next July. The announcement was made in a press conference at City Hall attended by Commissioner Bud Selig, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Steve Swindal, a Yankees general partner sitting in for George Steinbrenner, the team's longtime principal owner. "It is always a great honor for a team's home stadium to serve as host for the All-Star Game, and the Yankees are proud and delighted to have been selected for the honor in 2008," Steinbrenner, the team's owner since 1973, said in a statement. "It will be one of many historic moments in the 2008 season as we say goodbye to a great facility."

The Red Sox reportedly still aren?t close to reaching a deal with Wily Mo Pena on a new contract, which could lead to the first arbitration case to go to a hearing since Theo Epstein took over as general manager after the 2002 season. The outfielder, who was paid $1.25 million last year, is seeking a raise to $2.2 million. The club is offering $1.725 million. A potential hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 16.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will meet with the media on Wednesday for only the second time since joining the Red Sox. Matsuzaka, who signed a six-year, $52 million contract after the Sox procured his negotiating rights from Japan?s Seibu Lions for $51.1 million, has been working out in Southern California since Jan. 11. The MVP of last winter?s inaugural World Baseball Classic has agreed to let cameras shoot him working out in Mission Viejo, Calif., this afternoon before meeting with reporters at agent Scott Boras? office in Newport Beach. Matsuzaka is expected to report to Fort Myers for the start of spring training on or around Feb. 14. Pitchers and catchers must be in town by Feb. 16. The first workout is scheduled for Feb. 18.

Mark Newman, Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations, said yesterday that there's "some chance" Philip Hughes, the elite pitching prospect, could begin the 2007 season with the big-league club. "I would never count someone of his ability out," Newman said in a telephone conference. "But in the best-case scenario, we'll give him some time at Triple-A." Hughes, 20, is considered by many industry experts to be the best pitching prospect in all of baseball. He finished last season with Double-A Trenton and totaled ' innings (plus six more in the postseason) for Trenton and Class A Tampa. "We're elevating his workload to 175 [innings], 180 maximum," Newman said. "We think of him as a long-term, high-end starter for the Yankees. We don't want to sacrifice the long-term for a short-term need. Admittedly, that's hard to do with our team and our city. But with top-of-the-rotation starters ... the lesson is to go slower rather than faster."

Mike Mussina said on Tuesday that 2007 is an important season for Carl Pavano. "I think he has to be there," Mussina said of Pavano, when asked what the perennially injured righthander had to do to win back his teammates. "I think he has to pitch. I think he has to do his job. Just kind of be the new guy again, is the best way to put it. "He's been away a long time. He's come and gone for periods of time, and he's been real close, and everyone thought he was coming back and he didn't. So he's got to earn some trust from some players again, from a coaching staff and a manager and an organization. "But if he can do it, we know he can pitch, and we know he can get people out. If he gets over those other hurdles, he'll be an asset."