Brian Jordan Meets With Yanks

After jetting out to Arizona for a dinner with Albert Belle, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spent Wednesday giving Brian Jordan a tour of New York.

The free agent outfielder, in New York to visit both the Yankees and the Mets, was taken to lunch at the famous "21" club in midtown Manhattan, met manager Joe Torre, got together at Yankee Stadium with team owner George Steinbrenner and even shook hands with actor Kevin Costner, filming a movie in the ballpark.

"We had a terrific meeting and felt comfortable with their interest," said Jordan's agent, Jim Turner. "After the meeting, we felt very comfortable that they were truly interested. It was a very impressive day."

Jordan, believed to be seeking a four- or five-year deal averaging about $8 million, planned to visit the crosstown Mets on Thursday.

Atlanta and Baltimore also are wooing the 31-year-old outfielder, who hit .316 last season with 25 homers, 91 RBIs and 17 steals.

New York's first choice is to re-sign Bernie Williams, who is seeking a seven-year contract averaging more than Mike Piazza's $91 million, seven-year contract with the Mets.

Williams has talked with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who denied making $100 million, seven-year offer, and also may be talking with the Orioles and Boston Red Sox.

But it's unclear how much interest the Orioles and Red Sox have in Williams, who turned down a $37.5 million, five-year offer from the Yankees last winter. New York hasn't made a proposal, but one is expected within the next week.

Meanwhile, it remained unclear how much interest the Yankees have in Belle, who also is dealing with the Red Sox. Belle became a free agent under a special clause in his contract with the White Sox but also has until Dec. 2 to return to his deal with Chicago, which has three years remaining and guarantees him $35 million.

Cashman and Torre made a big splash by going out to Tucson to meet with Belle, and the manager even played golf with the temperamental outfielder, but Steinbrenner hasn't met with Belle and says his baseball people haven't asked him for permission to make an offer.

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