Tim Hudson agreed to a $28 million, three-year contract with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, giving the team a wealth of starting pitching and setting up a likely trade to bolster the offense. Hudson could have returned to the Braves under a $12 million option, but the sides focused on a longer deal after the right-hander showed he had overcome major elbow surgery.
The Red Sox exercised their $7.7 million option on Victor Martinez and declined options on Jason Varitek and Alex Gonzalez on Monday. Boston also agreed to a $5 million, two-year contract with 43-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, replacing a perpetual $4 million annual club option. The moves on the options were expected after Boston obtained Martinez from the Cleveland Indians on July 31 and he…
Manny Ramirez is coming back to the Dodgers next season. The team said Friday that the slugger exercised his $20 million contract option for 2010. His agent Scott Boras informed general manager Ned Colletti of the decision, which Ramirez had until this month to make. He could have exercised an out clause in the two-year, $45 million deal he signed in March.
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Myron Rolle swapped shoulder pads, hard hits and a professional US football contract for lectures, tutorials and quiet anonymity at Oxford University when he traded a spot in the National Football League draft last year for a Rhodes Scholarship.
Rolle, 22, was a star defensive player at Florida State University, where he also won acclaim as a pre-medical student for research on stem cells and cancer cells.
In the safety position, Rolle, who is 6ft 2in and weighs 15 stone 5lbs, specialised in taking players to the ground with punishing tackles at full speed, snagging opponents’ passes out of the air and running them back for touchdowns.
A top prospect for the NFL, Rolle last year opted to defer entering the league’s amateur draft for a year and study for a master’s degree in medical anthropology at Oxford, all with an eye towards an eventual career in medicine.
Three-time Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware finally has his big contract with the Dallas Cowboys. He just won't be getting paid as much as some of the elite quarterbacks he will be trying to sack. After months of talks that intensified over the past two weeks, Ware agreed Monday to a $78 million, six-year deal through the 2015 season that guarantees him $40 million.
Mark McGwire is back in baseball, reunited with Tony La Russa as the St. Louis Cardinals' hitting coach. La Russa agreed to return for a 15th year as manager Monday with a one-year contract, the first time he hasn't had a multiyear deal with the team. All of his coaches will return except for Hal McRae, who will be replaced by the former star.
The regular referees made the call. They're coming back to work. The referees union and the NBA agreed on a two-year contract Friday, ending a lockout of more than a month and saving the league from using replacements when the regular season starts. The officials voted to ratify the deal that was reached earlier this week.
The Portland Trail Blazers signed forward LaMarcus Aldridge to a five-year contract extension on Thursday. The terms of the deal have not been announced. The team was in Vancouver, British Columbia, for an exhibition game against the Phoenix Suns. The Blazers scheduled a news conference in Portland on Friday.
The Portland Trail Blazers are close to signing forward LaMarcus Aldridge to a contract extension, a person close to the situation told The Associated Press. The five-year deal is expected to be completed within the next two days, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract wasn't final.
The Chicago Bears and quarterback Jay Cutler have agreed on a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2013 season. A person familiar with the negotiations said the deal includes approximately $20 million guaranteed and roughly $30 million in new money. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the terms were not released.
Joe Torre says he doesn't plan to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers after his contract expires. "I have one year on my contract and I don't anticipate it being more than that," he said Tuesday, two days before the Dodgers open the NLCS against Philadelphia. However, he noted, "I've said that before and my wife doesn't believe me at all." The 69-year-old manager is…
Junior Seau is back with the New England Patriots, coming out of retirement for a third time to sign a contract Tuesday for a 20th season as an NFL linebacker. The signing of the 12-time Pro Bowl player was announced by Versus, the television network on which Seau has a show. The Patriots have not announced the signing, which had been expected, although the team said he had a physical and a workout…
Michael Crabtree is confident he can play a big role for the San Francisco 49ers as a rookie even though he's months behind. He will get his chances in an offense that could really use him. Crabtree signed a six-year contract early Wednesday after a drawn-out negotiation process that had some wondering whether the star wide receiver would ever show up this season.
The NBA has told teams it's going ahead with replacement referees, days after the league thought a deal had been reached with locked-out officials. The league sent a memo Tuesday informing teams it had "no expectation of concluding a timely labor contract." The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, follows the latest failure in negotiations.
Power forward David Lee is staying with the New York Knicks for a one-year deal Thursday worth about $8 million. Lee sought a multiyear contract. But with the Knicks hoping to save salary cap room for the summer of 2010, he had to settle for the chance to become an unrestricted free agent next year. Lee averaged 16 points and 11.7 rebounds last season.
The NBA's president of basketball operations is confident replacement officials would perform well if they are needed when games begin. The players aren't so sure. The NBA and its referees union have failed to reach an agreement on a new contract, so the league will begin training replacements this week.
The Colorado Rockies have added former AL MVP Jason Giambi to the active roster. The Rockies on Tuesday also added right-hander Joel Peralta, left-hander Randy Flores and catcher Paul Phillips. The 38-year-old Giambi signed a minor league contract with the Rockies Aug. 24 and was assigned to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Offensive tackle Andre Smith signed a contract Sunday with the Cincinnati Bengals, ending an impasse that dragged on a month into the preseason. The Bengals originally planned to have Smith start at right tackle, but he has missed all three preseason games. He was in Cincinnati and agreed to the deal shortly before the start of a late afternoon practice.
Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall, openly unhappy with the Denver Broncos, was suspended by the team for the rest of the preseason for what coach Josh McDaniels called "detrimental" conduct. Marshall, who has brooded since demanding a trade and asking for a new contract, was informed of the suspension by McDaniels on Friday.