CARACAS, Venezuela — Vladimir Guerrero homered twice as the Dominican Republic opened its defense of the Caribbean Series title with a 9-5 victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday.

        Guerrero hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning and added a solo homer in the eighth off Ricky Bones to lead the Licey Tigers in the opening game of the round-robin tournament.

        Tony Batista had a two-run homer in the fourth for the Dominican Republic.

        Odalis Perez, recently traded from Atlanta to Los Angeles, allowed three hits in six innings and earned the victory.

        Puerto Rico's Miguel Correa drove in two runs during a three-run rally in the seventh. Reds lefty Hector Mercado, from the Bayamon Cowboys, took the loss.

        Mexico's Culiacan Tomato Growers face Venezuela's Magallanes Navigators today.

        YANKEES:

        Pitchers Orlando Hernandez and Ramiro Mendoza agreed to one-year contracts with New York, which cleared away two more potential arbitration cases.

        Hernandez agreed to a $3.2 million contract; Mendoza's deal was $2.6million.

        Hernandez, fighting for a spot in the rotation after an injury-filled season, was 4-7 with a 4.85 ERA in 16 starts and one relief appearance last year. Because of his inconsistency, El Duque heads into spring training behind Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina, battling for a spot with David Wells and Sterling Hitchcock.

        Though he is 45-33 with a 4.13 ERA in 100 regular-season games with the Yankees, the 36-year-old right-hander is 9-2 with a 2.48 in 13 postseason starts. If he fails to gain a spot in the rotation, El Duque could get traded.

        The 29-year-old Mendoza was a vital part of the Yankees' bullpen as he rebounded from shoulder surgery in 2000. The right-hander went 8-4 with a 3.75 ERA and six saves in 54 relief appearances and two starts.

        Hernandez's settlement was under the midpoint of the $3.55 million he had asked for and the $3 million the Yankees had offered. He made $2.05 million in 2001, the final season of a four-year deal.

        Mendoza, who made $1.6million last year, settled at the midpoint of the $2.8 million he had asked for and the $2.4 million the Yankees had offered.

        New York has two players left in arbitration. The Yankees are closing in on a five-year contract with catcher Jorge Posada at about $50 million but could wind up going to a hearing Wednesday with outfielder Shane Spencer.

        Posada's deal will include a vesting option for the sixth year and will make him Posada the second-highest paid catcher in the majors. The New York Mets' Mike Piazza earns $13million a year. The 30-year-old Posada had asked for $7.75 million in salary arbitration while the Yankees offered $6.7 million, but both sides are confident that the multiyear contract will be completed soon.

        Spencer, slowed by knee surgery in 2000, asked for a raise from $320,000 to $1.2million and was offered $750,000. He hit .258 with 10 homers and 46 RBI in 283 at-bats.

        RANGERS:

        Catcher Pat Borders agreed to a minor-league contract and received an invitation to spring training as a non-roster player.

        Borders, 38, spent most of last season at Triple-A Durham in the Tampa Bay organization. He was traded to Seattle in August and went 3-for-11 (.273) with one homer and two RBI in three games at Triple-A Calgary, then joined the Mariners on Sept.5 and went 3-for-6 in five games.

        Borders spent his first 13 seasons in the Toronto organization before signing as a free agent with Kansas City in 1995.

        PADRES:

        Reliever Rob Ramsay will miss spring training after having brain surgery last month but plans on being back with San Diego later this season, his agent said.

        Ramsay's chances of making a full recovery are excellent, agent Steve Canter said in a statement.

        Ramsay, 28, had surgery on Jan.23 to remove a tumor and was released from the hospital four days later. His followup treatment will include radiation and chemotherapy.

        The tumor did not spread to other parts of his body, Canter said.

        Ramsay was claimed off waivers in November from the Seattle Mariners. He was 10-11 with a 4.82 ERA in 26 starts for Triple-A Tacoma last season.

        Ramsay led AL relievers in 2000 by allowing only 14.7 percent of inherited runners (5-of-34) to score. The left-hander pitched twice for Seattle in the 2000 ALCS against New York.

        WHITE SOX:

        Kenny Lofton, out of Cleveland where the Indians have undergone a major restructuring, found himself in an unfamiliar position before joining Chicago.

        He was a free agent searching for a job with spring training a half-month away.

        “I can't say what it is that is going on. I have no answers for it. It's just kinda weird,” Lofton said in a conference call one day after agreeing to a one-year, $1.25 million deal with the White Sox.

        A six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, Lofton took a big pay cut to join a team he tried so hard to beat for nine seasons with the Indians.

        Lofton made $8 million last season when his average dipped to a career-low .261.

        Then the Indians, with a new general manager, took a new approach, trading Roberto Alomar to the Mets and losing free agent Juan Gonzalez to the Rangers.

        “John Hart left and they started cutting payroll and changing the team with Mark Shapiro. I guess he wanted to do his own thing. That's what went on,” Lofton said.

        Lofton, bothered the first half of last season by a rib cage problem, said he worked in the offseason on his flexibility and strength by doing yoga, hoping to prevent injuries that have slowed him the last several years. In the 1999 playoffs, he tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder while sliding.

        Lofton said he and his agent talked with numerous teams, but couldn't settle a deal.

        “They wanted me and then they didn't want me,” Lofton said. When the White Sox, who'd earlier tried to acquire Darrin Erstad from the Angels, traded center fielder Chris Singleton to the Baltimore Orioles last Tuesday, there was an opening for Lofton.

        Lofton said the chance to go back home — he's from East Chicago, Ind., — and play in front of his family made it attractive. He's even got $1.4 million in bonuses based on the White Sox's home attendance.

        “All the time when Cleveland would come in, so many people from northwest Indiana who knew me growing up always came to see me play,” Lofton said.

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