Yanks make big offer to Rivera

Mariano Rivera was offered a three-year, $45 million contract to stay with the New York Yankees. Now, the team is waiting to hear back from its star closer.

"He'd be by $4 million a year the highest-paid relief pitcher," Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Tuesday. "To say that's a strong offer would be an understatement."

On Monday, the Yankees retained catcher Jorge Posada when they upped their offer to $52.4 million for four years. Posada is due to take a physical today, another step toward finalizing that agreement.

Rivera, the next step in the team's off-season plan, was allowed to start discussing money with other teams Tuesday. Steinbrenner confirmed the $45 million offer, which was made several days ago and was first reported by The New York Times.

"The ball's in their court," Steinbrenner said. "If they still want to look for more somewhere else, that's up to them."

Rivera's agent, Fernando Cuza, did not return telephone messages.

Mets closer Billy Wagner is the highest-paid reliever, averaging $10.75 million during his four-year, $43 million. Only four pitchers are signed for next year at higher average salaries than the Yankees' proposal to Rivera: the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano ($18.3 million), Barry Zito ($18 million), Jason Schmidt ($15.7 million) and Atlanta's Mike Hampton ($15.1 million).

Around the horn: John Allen, 58, announced his resignation Tuesday as the Cincinnati's chief operating officer, effective the end of the year. After 18 years in baseball, he and his wife, Anna, are returning to their native Kansas to try something else. … The Kansas City Royals sent pitcher Danny Christensen (2-15, 6.21 ERA in 27 games at Double-A Wichita) to Detroit to complete the trade that brought right-hander Roman Colon to Kansas City in midseason.