The New York Yankees are trying to set up a meeting with Alex Rodriguez while they work on picking a manager. Rodriguez has until the 10th day following the World Series to decide whether to opt out of his record $252 million, 10-year contract and become a free agent. The Yankees plan to offer him an extension and say they would drop out of talks if A-Rod opts out.
David Ortiz will play first base for Boston when the World Series resumes Saturday night, and Kevin Youkilis will be benched as the Red Sox adjust to life without a designated hitter. Mike Lowell will remain at third for the Red Sox, who have a 2-0 Series lead against the Colorado Rockies. Ortiz, bothered by a left knee that will need surgery, worked out at first base Friday.
The Dodgers may return to the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of “Moon Shots,” for one game next season. If it works out, the game will be part of the team’s 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. “We’re just hoping to add it to a list of things we want to do to celebrate,” Dodgers spokeswoman Camille Johnston said Friday.
The old man will get another chance for the Carolina Panthers. Coach John Fox on Friday named 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against Indianapolis. Testaverde got the nod ahead of David Carr, who is recovering from a back injury. “It’s not an indictment on David Carr by any stretch.
Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew was limited in practice Friday — the third consecutive day he’s missed part of team drills — and was listed as questionable against Tampa Bay. Jones-Drew hasn’t missed a game in his short career and vowed earlier in the week to play Sunday against the Buccaneers.
Defensive end Aaron Smith has been one of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ most dependable players since his rookie season in 1999, rarely overpowered at the line of scrimmage or caught in a mismatch against a superior player. The problem is Smith can’t produce if he’s not on the field and, for the first time since his rookie year, he won’t be there Sunday in Cincinnati.
Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma will miss New York’s game against Buffalo on Sunday with a knee injury. Vilma, who missed practice all week, was listed as out on the team’s injury report Friday and it’s uncertain how long the former Pro Bowl linebacker will be sidelined. He was injured sometime during the Jets’ loss at Cincinnati last Sunday, when he was removed from the game for a stretch in the…
Eagles starting right tackle Jon Runyan missed his third straight practice Friday and is questionable to make his 185th consecutive start Sunday against the Vikings. Runyan bruised his tailbone in a training room fall last week, but played in Philadelphia’s 19-16 loss to Chicago. He sat out practice this week and will be re-evaluated once the team arrives in Minnesota.
Former NBA player Eddie Griffin had more than three times the legal alcohol limit in his system when he crashed his sport utility vehicle into a moving train and died this summer, according to an autopsy report released Friday. The Harris County Medical Examiner’s office said the 25-year-old Griffin died of “multiple blunt force injuries.” The medical examiner’s office performed tests on Griffin’s…
