NEW YORK (AP) – New York wasted little time finding a replacement Andy Pettite, agreeing to the outline of a tentative trade with Los Angeles that would bring Kevin Brown to New York in exchange for Jeff Weaver, two baseball officials said on the condition of anonymity.

The Yankees would send Los Angeles two minor leaguers and $3 million to cover part of the $18.75 million Weaver is owed in 2004 and 2005.

Brown, who has the right to block a trade, must approve any deal and has not yet been approached, agent Scott Boras said. Players must pass physicals, and the Yankees want to review Brown’s contract before signing off on the trade, the officials said.

Pettitte accepted Houston’s heavily backloaded $31.5 million, three-year deal after weighing a new offer from the Yankees on Wednesday night.

In other baseball news Thursday, catcher Benito Santiago completed his $4.3 million, two-year contract with Kansas City. Among players eligible for arbitration, left-hander Mark Buehrle and the Chicago White Sox agreed to an $18 million, three-year deal. Seattle settled on an $11 million, three-year contract with outfielder Randy Winn and a two-year deal with right-hander Ryan Franklin.

On Wednesday, Detroit agreed to a $6 million, two-year contract with second baseman Fernando Vina, Colorado agreed to a $2.1 million, one-year deal with third baseman Vinny Castilla, and Texas replaced Rafael Palmeiro by agreeing to $1 million, one-year contract with Brad Fullmer.

Pittsburgh settled on minor league contracts with outfielder Daryle Ward and right-hander Juan Acevedo.

The New York Mets finalized their $20.1 million, three-year contract with shortstop Kazuo Matsui, and San Diego completed a two-year contract with reliever Akinori Otsuka.

, a deal worth just under $2 million.

In Texas, general manager John Hart sounded doubtful the Rangers would pull off the big-money trade that would send AL MVP Alex Rodriguez to Boston for Manny Ramirez. Hart said he and Texas manager Buck Showalter had said “many, many times” that they envision Rodriguez staying with the Rangers.

“We’ve been saying all along this thing has taken on a life of its own and has been a runaway fire,” Hart said.

Around the major leagues, teams prepared for the start of the winter meetings Friday in New Orleans.

“I think the first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to find out where the Yankees and Red Sox are staying and go hang around their rooms and see if somebody drops their wallet,” said Doug Melvin, general manager of the low-budget Milwaukee Brewers. “I think they’re going to dominate the meetings, the Yankees and Red Sox, the A-Rod thing.”

Giants general manager Brian Sabean believes the winter meetings could be quiet for most teams.

“You know how business is done: You can’t predict it,” he said. “I’m not going to speculate. We always have irons in the fire. Just because the winter meetings are about to commence doesn’t mean you’ll do business or be forced to do business.”

Pettitte, 31, was signed by the Yankees in 1991 and went 149-78, including 21-8 with a 4.02 ERA last season. If he had stayed in New York, he would have had the chance to surpass Whitey Ford’s 236 victories and become the winningest pitcher in team history.

With the Astros, he joins a team trying to rebuild and win at the same time. Houston dealt closer Billy Wagner to Philadelphia last month in a cost-cutting move. Pettitte will combine with Wade Miller and Roy Oswalt to form a powerful front three in the rotation.

Brown, who turns 39 in March, signed baseball’s first $100 million contract with the Dodgers, a deal that has two seasons remaining at $15 million annually.

He was 14-9 with a 2.39 ERA last year for Los Angeles, but has pushed for a trade to a team closer to his home in Macon, Ga.

Injuries limited him to 19 starts in 2001 and 10 in 2002, but he rebounded to make 32 starts last season, when he had the second-lowest ERA in the NL behind Jason Schmidt.

Weaver, 27, has struggled since the Yankees acquired him from Detroit in July 2002, failing to keep his spot in the rotation. He was 7-9 with a 5.99 ERA last season, and allowed the 12th-inning homer to Florida’s Alex Gonzalez that won the pivotal fourth game of the World Series.

Another free agent the Yankees are dealing with, outfielder Gary Sheffield, is confident he will sign with New York despite differences that have jeopardized the deal.

“We’ll get it done,” Sheffield told The Associated Press on Wednesday night as he watched the Maryland-Florida basketball game from the stands.

Sheffield, who became a free agent after playing for Atlanta the last two seasons, agreed with New York owner George Steinbrenner on the parameters of a deal that would be worth $39 million over three seasons, the baseball official said. But the sides have argued over deferred money and a no-trade clause.

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AP Sports Writers Jaime Aron in Texas, Janie McCauley in San Francisco, Eddie Pells in Gainesville, Fla., and Arnie Stapleton in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

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