The Associated Press

DENVER - Charles Johnson reversed his decision and approved a trade to the Colorado Rockies, the catcher's agent said Saturday, clearing the way for a six-player deal that sends left-hander Mike Hampton to the Florida Marlins.

Johnson, who had used his no-trade rights to block the deal earlier in the day, changed his mind after getting an additional $1 million to make up for the fact there is no state income tax in Florida.

"We got some tax elements taken care of in the transfer, so the monetary element would remain the same in Colorado," agent Scott Boras told The Associated Press. "My understanding is that this was the final step."

Rockies spokesman Jay Alves said the deal wasn't quite done.

"The trade has been reignited and we are talking again," he said. "We've got some things to work out yet."

A Marlins spokesman refused to comment.

Johnson would go to Colorado along with outfielder Preston Wilson, left-handed reliever Vic Darensbourg and second-base prospect Pablo Ozuna. Hampton and outfielder Juan Pierre would head to Florida.

Hampton, who also had a no-trade clause, agreed to the deal earlier Saturday. Both players maintain their no-trade rights with their new teams.

The transaction raises the Rockies' payroll initially but provided long-term relief from Hampton's record-setting contract.

Hampton signed an eight-year, $121 million contract with Colorado in December 2000. He is guaranteed $84.5 million over the next six years, plus has deferred $19 million of his signing bonus.

The Rockies will pay $11 million of Hampton's remaining salary and the signing bonus.

Johnson has $25 million coming over the next three seasons and Wilson is owed $27.5 million the next three years.

While Hampton preferred a trade to Houston, St. Louis, the Chicago Cubs or New York Yankees, those teams considered acquiring him only if he agreed to give up a significant portion of his contract. The deal with Florida did not call for any restructuring.

Hampton, a 30-year-old left-hander, was 7-15 with a 6.15 ERA this year - the highest in the major leagues among pitchers who qualified for the ERA title.

He is 21-28 with a 5.75 ERA since leaving the New York Mets to sign the richest deal ever with the Rockies in December 2000. Following a 9-2 start in 2001, he is 12-26 with a 6.62 ERA.

Johnson, a 31-year-old catcher, hit .217 this season with six homers and 36 RBIs in 244 at-bats.

It was the first of three deals the Rockies hoped to make to eliminate long-term obligations to Hampton, left-hander Denny Neagle and outfielder Larry Walker.

Colorado has been working on a deal that would send Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks for third baseman Matt Williams, outfielder David Dellucci, right-handed reliever Bret Prinz and first baseman Erubiel Durazo.

Walker and Williams both have no-trade clauses. Walker gave the Rockies a list of teams in which he had interest, and Arizona was among them.

Williams, however, might balk because of family issues. Williams, headed into the final year of his contract, has full custody of his three children in the Phoenix area. He was traded by the Cleveland Indians to Arizona at his request.

The Rockies also were discussing a deal that would send Neagle to the New York Mets for outfielder Jeromy Burnitz and shortstop Rey Ordonez.

A'S: Oakland traded right-handed pitcher Cory Lidle to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor-leaguers Mike Rouse (infielder) and Chris Mowday (right-hander).

Lidle was the No.4 starter in the A's talented rotation the past two seasons behind the young, high-profile trio of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and AL Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito. Lidle was a career reliever before Oakland gave him a regular spot in the rotation, but he won 21 games over his two years with the A's.

Lidle went 8-10 last season with a 3.89 ERA, recovering from a terrible start before having a spectacular August, when he went 5-0. He helped the A's win the American League West before losing to the Minnesota Twins in the AL division series in five games.

The deal saves money for the A's. Lidle will make $4.8 million next season.

The two prospects Oakland acquired in the trade are infielder Mike Rouse and right-handed pitcher Chris Mowday.

Blue Jays' general manager J.P. Ricciardi was Oakland's director of player personnel before taking over in Toronto last winter.

In Ricciardi's first deal with Oakland, he acquired AL Rookie of the Year Eric Hinske in a deal for closer Billy Koch last winter. Koch went 11-4 with 44 saves for the A's this season.

Aaron Harang will likely replace Lidle in the rotation. Harang went 5-4 with a 4.83 ERA for the A's last season.

Lidle was originally acquired by the A's on Jan. 8, 2001 as part of a three-team, nine-player trade with Tampa Bay and Kansas City that also brought Johnny Damon to Oakland.

Lidle went 13-6 in 2001, with his victory total a career high.

Rouse is a left-handed hitting second baseman who played at Double-A Tennessee last year. He batted .260 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs in 71 games. Rouse was selected by the Blue Jays in the fifth round in 2001.

Mowday split the 2002 season between Class-A Dunedin and Class-A, where he was a combined 3-2 with a 2.99 ERA in 37 games.

YANKEES: The New York Yankees signed an agreement that will establish scouting and marketing ties with the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most popular and successful baseball team.

Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui became a free agent after 10 seasons with Yomiuri and could be on the wish list of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. New York general manager Brian Cashman denied any link between the agreement and Matsui.

"The sole purpose of this agreement is to form a working relationship," Cashman said. "We're both smart enough to recognize we can learn a great deal from each other."

Cashman hopes to meet with Matsui when the seven-game series between the major league and Japanese stars ends Sunday.

"We respect the fact that he is engaged in a tremendous competition and needs to stay focused," Cashman said. "On the conclusion of the series, if appropriate, I would love to meet with him."

The 28-year-old Matsui is a three-time Central League MVP who hit a league-leading 50 homers for the Japan Series champion Giants this season. He has 332 homers since signing with Yomiuri in 1993.

"A player of that ability would be attractive to any organization," Cashman said. "We certainly appreciate his abilities."

The Yankees and Giants will exchange scouting reports on players in Japan and the United States and will support each other in scouting and player development in Japan, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Rim.

Yoshinori Horikawa, president of the Yomiuri Giants, said the agreement came about after Yankees president Randy Levine wrote Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe this year. Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman arrived in Japan in August to discuss the arrangement.

The agreement will allow the teams to take advantage of their marketing clout on both sides of the Pacific.

"We'll be working within the rules of major league baseball to do things together that can help drive growing the game all over the world," Levine said.

The Yankees previously had a similar agreement with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League.

ETC: Bernie Williams hit a solo homer and drove in three runs to lead the major-league all-stars to a third consecutive win over their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo.

Barry Bonds went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the major-leaguers' 12-7 victory in Game6 of the seven-game exhibition series. The series is tied at three games apiece.

"We came out swinging real well tonight and just kept adding on," major-league manager Art Howe said. "After the first three games, everyone was counting us out, but we're right back in it and ready to go tomorrow."

The major-league stars haven't lost a tour of Japan since 1990.