baseball
Rangers, Harrison set on 5-year deal
• The Texas Rangers finalized a $55 million, five-year contract with All-Star left-hander Matt Harrison.
The deal includes a 2018 club option that could become guaranteed depending on the number of innings Harrison pitches.
Harrison was 18-11 with a 3.29 ERA in 32 starts last year and is 32-20 over 399 innings during the past two seasons. He started Game 7 of the 2011 World Series.
Texas acquired Harrison along with shortstop Elvis Andrus and right-hander Neftali Feliz from Atlanta in July 2007 in a seven-player deal that sent Mark Teixeira to the Braves. He has a career record of 48-30.
• USA Baseball Thursday announced its 28-player World Baseball Classic roster, which includes two Indians. Tribe closer Chris Perez and setup man Vinnie Pestano will leave spring training early to pitch for the U.S. team that will compete in the March tournament. Four other Cleveland players will join teams representing their native countries: catcher Carlos Santana will play for the Domnican Republic, shortstop Mike Aviles and left-hander Giovanni Soto will play for Puerto Rico and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera will play for Venezuela.
• Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a $4.5 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2 million. The Red Sox and catcher Mike Napoli agreed to shorten their deal to a one-year contract worth $5 million, according to a source. The deal includes the possibility of bonuses that could raise Napoli’s 2013 income to $13 million, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not yet final.
• Jeff Karstens and the Pittsburgh Pirates finalized a $2.5 million, one-year contract.
• Reliever Joba Chamberlain and the New York Yankees agreed to a one-year contract worth $1,875,000 and avoided arbitration.
• The Oakland Athletics agreed to one-year contracts with new catcher John Jaso and outfielder Seth Smith. Jaso gets $1.8 million and Smith’s deal is for $3,675,000.
• The NL East champion Washington Nationals signed right-handed reliever Rafael Soriano to a $28 million, two-year contract that includes $14 million in deferred money. Soriano, 33, joins a Nationals bullpen that already includes righties Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard.
• Outfielder Will Venable and the San Diego Padres avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $2,675,000.
• Outfielder Carlos Gomez and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a $4.3 million, one-year contract.
• Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette, the team’s vice president of baseball operations, signed contract extensions with Baltimore through 2018. The Orioles said that Showalter signed a five-year extension and that Duquette’s deal was extended four years.
college SPORTS
Pacino set to play Paterno in movie
• Al Pacino will play Joe Paterno in a movie about the late Penn State football coach. Producer Edward R. Pressman confirms Brian De Palma will direct Happy Valley, the tentative title of the film, based on Joe Posnanski’s best-seller Paterno.
• Florida coach Will Muschamp wasted little time finding a replacement for departing defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Muschamp promoted linebackers coach/special teams coordinator D.J. Durkin to the position, keeping some continuity during a hectic recruiting period. Durkin will continue to serve as linebackers coach.
• Cincinnati point guard Cashmere Wright will be limited by a sprained knee — if he plays at all — when the Bearcats host No. 25 Marquette on Saturday.
golf
Three hit 63 to lead Humana Challenge
• Jason Kokrak, Roberto Castro and James Hahn topped the leaderboard in the Humana Challenge at 9-under 63. Phil Mickelson opened his season with an erratic even-par 72, leaving him 9 strokes behind the first-round leaders in La Quinta, Calif.
• Justin Rose and unheralded Jamie Donaldson had 5-under 67s for a 1-shot lead after the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Rory McIlroy finished with a 75 and Tiger Woods shot 72.
Other sports
Armstrong admits doping to Winfrey
• Lance Armstrong admitted that he doped during the first of a two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey. He was light on the details and didn’t name names and he was certain his “fate was sealed” when longtime friend, training partner and trusted lieutenant George Hincapie, who was along for the ride on all seven of Armstrong’s Tour de France wins from 1999-2005, was forced to give him up to anti-doping authorities.
• Louisville defender Andrew Farrell was selected by the New England Revolution with the top pick in Major League Soccer’s draft.
• The Columbus Blue Jackets reassigned promising forward Boone Jenner to his junior team and newly acquired defenseman Tim Erixon to Springfield, Mass.
— From wire reports
