1.   But even management people acknowledged that a high tax would potentially inhibit clubs from signing players to high salaries.

2.   HARDBALL General manager Doug Melvin and owner Tom Hicks are in charge of signing players for the Rangers.

3.   His physical setbacks underscore the risk of signing players to long-term contracts.

4.   However, in a sign of some of the acrimony that has marked the negotiations, the owners Sunday night prohibited teams from signing players.

5.   Last week, company representatives were signing players to contracts that included incentives such as free equipment, money and trips.

6.   Lou Lamoriello, the president and general manager of the Devils, is notorious for signing players at bargain prices, but this was a bargain for the books.

7.   Sabean, too, acknowledged that signing players came first, but said that there was never any doubt about the desire to keep Baker.

8.   The ball club also financed youth baseball leagues in the borough and went as far as signing Brooklyn players right off the sandlots.

9.   The NFL has been criticized in the past for signing players with violent criminal backgrounds.

10.   The union obtained a temporary restraining order last week that barred teams from signing players to new contracts.