Yankees Accused of Tampering With Irabu

The Japanese commissioner’s office has sent a letter to the major league commissioner’s office accusing the New York Yankees of tampering with pitcher Hideki Irabu.

Bill Murray, the executive director of baseball operations at the major league commissioner’s office, received the letter and passed it on to acting commissioner Bud Selig, a baseball official said Thursday on the condition he not be identified.

Irabu is also closing in on a multiyear deal with the Yankees worth in excess of $13 million, the source said.

New York has until May 31 to reach an agreement with Irabu, or his rights revert to the San Diego Padres.

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Yankee pitcher Dwight Gooden admitted he had a fight with Texas taxi driver Ziauddin Hakim last week in a dispute over an unpaid fare.

“I hit him. We were fighting,” Gooden said at Yankee Stadium. “It stopped. Then it started again. I tried to finish him. I wasn’t thinking at the time.”

Police refuse to confirm that Gooden is the suspect but said they were investigating Hakim’s complaints.

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Cleveland Indian outfielder Chad Curtis was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a bruised right thumb.