Off the wire

BASEBALL

White Sox add Melky Cabrera

The Chicago White Sox have finalized a $42 million, three-year contract with free-agent outfielder Melky Cabrera. The White Sox scheduled a news conference today to introduce offseason acquisitions Jeff Samardzija and David Robertson, and the team could announce Cabrera’s deal at the same time. White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton welcomed Cabrera in a tweet on Saturday night, and then Cabrera retweeted the message — signaling a deal was imminent. WSCR-AM 670 was the first to report the agreement. Cabrera, 30, hit .301 with 16 home runs and 73 RBI last season.

A person with knowledge of the negotiations says outfielder Alex Rios and the Kansas City Royals have agreed to an $11 million, one-year contract. Rios will take over in right field from Nori Aoki, who became a free agent after helping the Royals win their first AL pennant since 1985. Rios, who turns 34 in February, had been with Texas since August 2013 and hit .280 this year with 4 home runs and 54 RBI. He set career highs with the Chicago White Sox in 2012 with 25 home runs and 91 RBI.

Infielder Jed Lowrie and the Houston Astros have agreed to a $23 million, three-year contract. Lowrie receives salaries of $8 million next year, $7.5 million in 2016 and $6.5 million in 2017 under the agreement announced Monday. Houston has a $6 million option for 2018 with a $1 million buyout. Lowrie was acquired by the Astros from Boston for pitcher Mark Melancon in December 2011 in Jeff Luhnow’s first trade as general manager and was Houston’s shortstop in 2012. He was dealt to Oakland in February 2013 in that trade that brought Chris Carter to the Astros. A switch-hitter, Lowrie had 35 home runs and 155 RBI over the last three seasons.

The Yankees filled the remaining hole in their infield Monday by agreeing on a four-year contract worth roughly $50 million with third baseman Chase Headley. Headley, 30, batted .262 with a .371 on-base percentage, 6 home runs and 17 RBI in 58 games for the Yankees last season after he was acquired in a July 22 trade with the Padres, who received Yangervis Solarte and Rafael De Paula in return. Headley is a career .265 hitter with a .347 OBP and 93 home runs in eight seasons. Headley is an elite defensive third baseman. He posted 13 defensive runs saved in 2014 with a career-high 20.9 ultimate zone rating. Traditional stats also rate him well. Headley had a .975 fielding percentage in 2014 and made 8 total errors, 5 fielding and 3 throwing.

Jason Motte is moving to the other side of one of baseball’s best rivalries. The veteran reliever is leaving St. Louis for a $4.5 million, one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs. Motte made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 2008 and had spent his entire career with the team that selected him in the 19th round of the 2003 draft. The contract is pending a physical and includes bonuses that could increase the value to $7 million. Motte was one of baseball’s top closers in 2012, when he had 42 saves in 49 chances and helped St. Louis reach the NL championship series. But the right-hander had elbow-ligament replacement surgery in May 2013 and missed that whole season. He returned this year and went 1-0 with a 4.68 ERA in 29 games.

Outfielder John Mayberry Jr. and the New York Mets have finalized a $1.45 million, one-year contract.

Mayberry figures to provide a right-handed bat with power to New York’s bench. Mayberry had 7 home runs and 23 RBI in 146 at-bats this year for Philadelphia and Toronto, which acquired him Aug. 31. Mayberry has 53 home runs in six big leagues seasons. He turns 31 next month.

Outfielder Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals came to terms on a $7.5 million, two-year contract, avoiding a grievance hearing. Harper will receive salaries of $2.5 million in 2015, and $5 million in 2016 from the reigning NL East champions. Harper, the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year, had been scheduled to have a $1 million salary in 2015, along with the chance to earn up to $500,000 in roster bonuses. But the Major League Baseball Players Association filed a grievance on his behalf over whether he could void the final season of the $9.9 million, five-year contract he signed when he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2010. Harper, who turned 22 in October, is already a two-time NL All-Star and one of the Nationals’ most popular and marketable players. He’s coming off an injury-interrupted season in which he batted .273 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI but thrived in Washington’s NL Division Series loss to the San Francisco Giants. Harper hit .368 with three home runs and four RBI in that four-game series.

FOOTBALL

NFLPA backs Peterson

The NFL Players Association sued the NFL on Monday on behalf of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, arguing that the suspension for the remainder of the season he received for beating his 4-year-old child was unfair and that the arbitrator who upheld the suspension was biased. The complaint, filed in federal court in Minnesota, attacks the league for its handling of Peterson’s case and portrays Roger Goodell, the NFL’s commissioner, as arbitrary and heavy-handed. The players association asked the court to reverse the arbitrator’s decision and allow Peterson to be reinstated. Peterson claimed the league had agreed that after his legal case was resolved, he would be allowed to return to the team. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge in November. Yet days later, Goodell suspended Peterson for at least the rest of the season for beating his son and not showing sufficient remorse.

HOCKEY

Struggling Oilers fire coach

Dallas Eakins was fired Monday as coach of the Edmonton Oilers, who have lost 15 of 16 games and are well on the way to missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season. General manager Craig MacTavish will coach the team until the job is given to Todd Nelson, who is being promoted to interim head coach from Edmonton’s American Hockey League affiliate in Oklahoma City. MacTavish did not say when he would return to the front office. MacTavish called Eakins an “excellent coach” but said something had to be done after the losses piled up. The general manager acknowledged his share of the blame, saying there was “blood all over my hands” because he “put the lineup together.” “I’m not here to absolve myself of accountability,” MacTavish said at a news conference. The Oilers, once the jewel of the NHL, won five Stanley Cups between 1984 and 1990. Now, MacTavish said, all aspects of the organization, including him, remain under scrutiny. Edmonton has 19 points through 31 games, last in the Western Conference. The Oilers went 36-63-14 under Eakins in parts of two seasons, including 7-19-5 this year. Nelson is the Oilers’ fifth head coach in seven years.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are worried forward Beau Bennett has mumps. General Manager Jim Rutherford said Monday that Bennett has symptoms and the team is awaiting test results before making a diagnosis. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was out for Monday night’s game against Tampa Bay after being diagnosed over the weekend. Rutherford said Crosby is past the infectious stage and could return to the team as early as Tuesday. The Penguins are one of a handful of NHL teams dealing with a mumps outbreak.

Upcoming Events