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San Francisco Giants: Mark Sweeney and the Giants agreed Thursday to a $1.8 million, two-year contract.

A first baseman and outfielder who is also a top pinch-hitter, the 36-year-old Sweeney batted .294 with eight homers and 40 RBI for the Padres last season. He is fourth in career pinch hits with 131 and tied for fourth in pinch-hit homers with 13.

"Mark will definitely augment our offense when he is in the lineup and prove to be a threat off the bench with the game on the line," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said.

Sweeney gets $850,000 next season and $950,000 in 2007. He can earn an additional $275,000 annually in performance bonuses.

Kansas City Royals: Pitcher Elmer Dessens agreed to a two-year contract with the Royals.

The 34-year-old right-hander was 1-2 with a 3.56 ERA in seven starts and 21 relief appearances for the Dodgers last season. He has a 41-51 career record with a 4.40 ERA in nine major league seasons with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Arizona and Los Angeles.

Also Thursday, the Royals selected White Sox left-hander Fabio Castro with the first pick in the winter meetings draft and then traded him to the Texas Rangers for infielder Esteban German.

German hit .313 and scored 103 runs last season with the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks, and also played five games with the Rangers. Castro was 5-5 with six saves and a 2.28 ERA with the Single-A Winston-Salem Warthogs.

Players selected in the draft must stay on the major league roster or be offered back to their original team for $25,000.

Ten of the 12 players selected in the draft were pitchers.

Pittsburgh took right-hander Victor Santos from Kansas City with the fourth pick. He was 4-13 with a 4.57 ERA in 29 games with Milwaukee last season.

San Diego chose right-hander Seth Etherton from the Royals was the sixth pick. Etherton, who agreed last month to a minor league contract with Kansas City, spent most of last season at Triple-A Sacramento and went 1-1 with a 6.62 ERA in three starts with Oakland.

Philadelphia Phillies: Philadelphia acquired left-handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez from Chicago on Thursday to complete last week's deal that sent Jim Thome to the White Sox.

The 20-year-old Gonzalez was assigned to Class-A Clearwater, although where he will pitch next season will be determined during the minor league training camp.

Gonzalez went 13-6 with 2.82 ERA in two different stops in the minor leagues last year.

Philadelphia also acquired right-hander Chris Booker from Detroit for cash following the winter meeting draft. The Tigers had selected Booker in the major league phase of the draft from the Washington Nationals.

Orlando Palmeiro agreed to a $1.9 million, two-year contract to stay with the Astros.

Palmeiro, an 11-year veteran, was primarily a pinch-hitter and fill-in outfielder for the NL champion Astros last season, when he hit .284 with three home runs and 20 RBI in 114 games. His 15 pinch hits included a team-record seven pinch-doubles.

Before joining the Astros two years ago, Palmeiro played for the Angels (1995-2002) and St. Louis Cardinals (2004).

Also, the Astros selected minor-league right-hander Ben Diggins from the Milwaukee Brewers' organization in the Triple-A phase of the winter meeting draft. Houston didn't lose any players in the draft.

Diggins, 26, is 18-20 with a 3.24 ERA in 72 career minor league appearances.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press