March 3, 1985

Darryl Strawberry agreed today to a long-term contract with the Mets that he said would foreclose any future haggling and provide the security he needs ''to make the most of my career.'' The contract was neither drawn nor disclosed, and it will not be signed for perhaps a week. But it was believed to run for five years with a complex set of annual raises, incentive bonuses and deferred payments that could total as much as $4 million. The duration of the contract was a surprise because Strawberry has played just under two years in the big leagues and cannot become a free agent until the season of 1990. Also, as a slugging outfielder with great potential, he could conceivably reach peaks of performance in the next couple of years that would be worth millions. But both he and the Mets made it clear that they were entering a long-term deal for one purpose: stability.

WILLIAM C. RHODEN St. John's, soothed by a packed crowd overflowing with emotion, ended its most successful regular season yesterday by beating Providence, 72-53, at Alumni Hall to win the Big East season title outright for the first time. The capacity crowd of 6,545 had come to see a game and a celebration. The primary object of their affection was Chris Mulllin, the 6-foot-6-inch senior who was playing his last game before a home crowd on the Redmen's Queens campus. The all-America forward, who had led his team to the top of the national rankings, scored 18 points and was treated to several long standing ovations as St. John's finished the season with a 25-2 record, 15-1 in the conference.

Yasir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said today that he was firmly committed to his agreement with Jordan on a joint approach to seeking peace in the Middle East. But, in an interview, he denounced the United States for its ''shameful response'' to the Jordanian-P.L.O. accord and its ''hypocritical'' refusal to recognize the Palestinian group. ''They called for an agreement between Arafat and King Hussein,'' Mr. Arafat said of the Reagan Administration. ''But when we signed it, they asked us for more. There is no wish to arrive at a peace settlement.''

NOT long ago a psychologically oriented consulting firm was hired to help a billion-dollar bank set up a succession plan. As consultants typically would in such a case, the firm, Rohrer, Hibler & Replogle, asked the bank's chief executive officer to pick potential successors from his 10 top executives. They were all staunchly loyal - the shortest time any of them had worked for the bank was 15 years. Yet the C.E.O. could not in good conscience suggest promoting any of the men. Not one had shown initiative or leadership potential in his long tenure with the company. In fact, the C.E.O., by nature a paternal man, had been covering up each of his managers' mistakes and, at times, actually doing their work for them. The C.E.O. retired in despair and his successor was hired from outside. Within

As 1985 unfolds, the ranks of the unemployed should thin, partly because the economy is still improving and partly because the nation's labor force is not growing as fast as the number of jobs, according to M.D. Levy, chief economist of the Fidelity Bank of Philadelphia. He noted: ''Demographic patterns tell us that the number of people that will be entering the labor force this year, 3.1 million, continues the slight, but steady decline that began several years ago.''