Maddux returning as instructor

Greg Maddux just can't stay away from spring training.

Maddux, who retired in December after winning 355 games and 18 Gold Gloves during a 23-year career, has agreed to become a spring training instructor for the San Diego Padres. He's scheduled to arrive in camp Wednesday.

"Last year a lot of our conversations were about the future," Padres manager Bud Black said Monday. "I said, 'Greg, you have some freedom to explore. I'll tell you what I'm thinking about before, during and after the game.'"

Black said he and Padres general manager Kevin Towers kept in contact with Maddux over the winter about the possibility of returning as a coach.

Black said the Cubs also inquired about Maddux returning as a coach.

"His role is undefined," Black said. "It gives me and Kevin and the other coaches a great resource."

Around the horn: Trevor Hoffman, Pat Burrell and Raul Ibanez started to settle in with their new teams Monday, while Mike Hampton left Houston Astros camp to get treatment for a minor irregularity in his heartbeat.

The upcoming World Baseball Classic also lost one of the sport's biggest stars when St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols said he will not play for the Dominican Republic because of insurance issues.

Hampton returned to Houston to be examined by team physician Dr. Jim Muntz before undergoing a procedure to correct the heartbeat with an electrical current. The Astros hope to have him back in camp Thursday.

Hoffman is using his early arrival at spring training this year to get to know his new teammates and surroundings with the Milwaukee Brewers.

After spending most of the past decade as an everyday outfielder with the Philadelphia Phillies, Burrell is expected to be the primary designated hitter for Tampa Bay this season.

Ibanez was Philadelphia's only major off-season acquisition after winning the World Series. He signed a $31.5 million, three-year contract to replace left fielder Burrell.

- The Seattle Mariners signed top draft choice Josh Fields to a contract with a $1.75 million signing bonus Monday, ending an eight-month impasse in negotiations with the 20th pick in last summer's draft. The right-hander closer will be on the field for workouts with the Mariners today as an invited minor-league player.

- Outfielder Ryan Ludwick and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a $3.7 million, one-year contract and avoided an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for today.

Ban 'em for a year: David Ortiz wants players who test positive for steroids to be suspended from baseball for a year instead of the current 50-game penalty.

Taking players to court, though, for cases involving use of the substances before players were subject to penalty is not the way to clean up the game, the Red Sox designated hitter said Monday.

"I would suggest everybody get tested, not random, everybody," he said. "You go team by team. You test everybody three, four times a year, and that's about it."

And if a player tests positive for steroids?

"Ban .'em for the whole year," the slugger said.