The 36-year-old hit .266 with 11 homers and 49 RBI for Oakland last year but had yet to sign with a team for the 2003 season.

Overall, the left-hander hit .279 with 305 homers and 1,017 RBI in 1,610 games.

A 14-year major league veteran, Justice appeared in four World Series and was a regular in the post-season.

Beginning in 1991, he appeared in the play-offs in all but one season, excluding the strike-shortened 1994 campaign.

Justice, the 1990 National League Rookie of the Year, said: "Fourteen seasons is enough - I have a diminished desire to play."

He launched his career with Atlanta at the end of the 1989 season and was a key player in their dominant teams of the 1990s.

Justice also played for Cleveland and the New York Yankees before joining the Athletics last season.