By Ronald Blum
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Kerry Wood and the Chicago Cubs avoided swapping numbers in salary arbitration, agreeing Friday to a $9.75 million, one-year contract.

Wood, the cornerstone of Chicago's young pitching staff, was 14-11 with a 3.20 ERA last season and led the major leagues with 266 strikeouts.

Chicago will continue to negotiate with the 26-year-old right-hander, who combines with Mark Prior to form a formidable top of the rotation.

"We feel we'll have a multiyear deal done before spring training," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said.

Wood is eager for the season to start. The Cubs came within five outs of making the World Series last year, and he'd like nothing more than to finish the job.

"We were happy with the season, but we were obviously disappointed," Wood said. "You're supposed to be playing baseball in October, and we plan on making a habit of that."

Two others players who filed for arbitration settled, leaving 61 players set to exchange proposed salaries with their teams Tuesday. Texas right-hander Francisco Cordero agreed to a $2 million, one-year contract, and Cleveland left-hander Scott Stewart got an $850,000, one-year deal.

Among free agents, outfielder Orlando Palmeiro agreed to a $750,000, one-year contract with the Houston Astros.

San Diego agreed to a minor league contract with shortstop Rey Ordonez, who would get a $650,000, one-year deal if he's added to the 40-man roster,and Baltimore agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Keith Osik, who would get a $500,000, one-year deal if added to the roster.

Los Angeles confirmed its minor league contract with right-hander Rick White ($700,000 if he's added to the roster) and also agreed to a minor league deal with backup Jeremy Giambi, who missed the final two months of last season because of a torn ligament in his left shoulder.

Todd Zeile and the New York Mets reached a preliminary agreement on a contract, contingent on the infielder passing a physical early next week. In 15 major league seasons, the 38-year-old Zeile has played for 11 teams, including the Mets in 2000 and 2001.

Ivan Rodriguez has been offered a $40 million, four-year contract by the Detroit Tigers, a baseball source told The Associated Press on Friday.

The 10-time All-Star catcher and his agent, Scott Boras, were in Detroit on Thursday, according to the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said earlier this week the team is interested in Rodriguez, but has declined to elaborate much on his discussions with Boras.

"We continue to explore the situation," Dombrowski said Friday. "I don't expect anything imminently."