NEW YORK (AP) -- Mike Mussina and the New York Yankees reached a preliminary agreement Monday on a $23 million, two-year contract.

Mussina is scheduled to take a physical Tuesday that would allow the deal to be finalized. He declined comment on the agreement, saying he would refrain from any remarks until a telephone conference call Wednesday.

A right-hander who turns 38 on Dec. 8, Mussina left the Baltimore Orioles after the 2000 season to sign an $88.5 million, six-year contract with the Yankees. He was 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA this year.

New York declined a $17 million option last week, paying a $1.5 million buyout, but the Yankees have said since the end of the season that they hoped to keep Mussina. Some of the money in his new contract will be deferred, lowering its present-day value for purposes of the luxury tax.

NEW YORK -- Gary Sheffield left New York with what he wanted: a $28 million contract extension through 2009 and a promise that he wouldn't be playing first base.

Law on Sheffield trade
In Gary Sheffield, the Tigers get almost everything they could have asked for: He's patient; he has power; he makes a lot of contact; and he can play right field. • To read the rest of Keith Law's blog, click here .

Sheffield was traded from the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers on Friday for three pitching prospects in the first major trade of the offseason, a deal that brings him back to Tigers manager Jim Leyland and team president Dave Dombrowski.

"I was ecstatic because I get reunited with the people that I've always loved," Sheffield said. "They're business-minded. They're smart people. They're respectful people. They treat you like men. That's what you want to be around. To reunite with them after 10 years is a blessing."

New York gets right-handers Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett.

"I was trying to find something that would make the Yankee family happy and consequently that would make the Sheff family happy, so I think this worked in everybody's favor," New York general manager Brian Cashman said. "I had a number of deals on the table and this is the one I wanted."

NEW YORK -- The Yankees and Orioles were discussing a deal Saturday that would send Jaret Wright to Baltimore for prospects.

Wright and Yankees teammate Mike Mussina filed provisionally for free agency Saturday, awaiting decisions on team options for 2007.

New York had until Sunday to exercise a $7 million option on Wright, a deal that carries a $4 million buyout. While the Yankees have until Wednesday to decide on Mussina's $17 million option, which has a $1.5 million buyout, the team and the pitcher's agent have been discussing a new two-year contract in the $20 million to $25 million range.

Wright, a right-hander who turns 31 next month, has been a disappointment in two seasons with the Yankees. He was 5-5 with a 6.08 ERA in 2005, when he injured a shoulder and was limited to 13 starts, then went 11-7 with a 4.49 ERA this year, only rarely lasting past the sixth inning.