Yankees exercise Sheffield's option

Baseball

Although Gary Sheffield may not figure in the Yankees' plans, they probably aren't keen on seeing him in a Red Sox uniform. Sheffield's $13 million option was exercised yesterday by the Yankees, preventing the slugger from becoming a free agent and blocking him from perhaps signing with the Red Sox. Sheffield, who turns 38 Nov. 18, was an All-Star during his first two seasons with the Yankees but missed most of last season after injuring a wrist April 29 against Toronto during a collision at first base with Shea Hillenbrand. The wrist didn't get better and Sheffield had surgery June 13. Sheffield did not want the Yankees to exercise the option, preferring to control his destiny. His contract does not contain a no-trade clause. New York had until yesterday to decide on Sheffield's option. The Yankees have until Nov. 12 to exercise pitcher Jaret Wright's $7 million option or pay a $4 million buyout and until Nov. 15 to exercise pitcher Mike Mussina's $17 million option or pay a $1.5 million buyout. Mussina's agent, Arn Tellem, and the Yankees have been negotiating a two-year contract in the $20 million to $25 million range.

The Texas Rangers hired Oakland third base coach Ron Washington as manager, two baseball sources told The Dallas Morning News. Washington could be introduced as Buck Showalter's successor as early as today. Showalter was dismissed Oct. 4. Washington, who has spent the last 11 years on the Oakland staff, played parts of 10 seasons in the major leagues with five teams . . . The Rangers exercised their 2007 club option on lefthanded reliever Ron Mahay, who was 1-3 with a 3.95 ERA in 65 appearances last season, his fourth in Texas. He has played in parts of 10 major league seasons for the Red Sox, Oakland, Florida, the Cubs, and the Rangers. He has a 16-10 record and three saves in 301 career games . . . Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer and the MLB All-Stars defeated the stars of Japanese baseball, 11-4, in Tokyo for a 3-0 lead in a five-game tour. Howard, who led the majors with 58 homers for the Philadelphia Phillies, connected off reliever Yuya Kubo in the bottom of the seventh inning at Tokyo Dome to give his team a six-run lead. It was the third home run of the series for the Phillies' first baseman.

Tennis

Lindsay Davenport is 30, married, and very interested in raising children. But the winner of three majors, who has coped with knee, back, and other injuries over a 15-year career, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel she is not retiring. Davenport told the paper she's not planning to play more than seven or eight tournaments in 2007, but hopes to play at least three of the major tournaments . . . Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters won her comeback tournament before an adoring home crowd in Hasselt, Belgium, beating Kaia Kanepi, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to retain the Gaz de France title. After missing 10 weeks with a left wrist injury, Clijsters earned a jolt of confidence heading into the WTA Championships starting tomorrow in Madrid. "I'm very happy to be part of it again . . . despite all the injuries this year," she said. "The Masters are one of my favorite tournaments. The best eight players will be there, which is quite rewarding." Clijsters, the winner of the Championships in 2002 and 2003, drew a pool with Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Elena Dementieva . . . Marion Bartoli routed Olga Poutchkova, 6-0, 6-0, in 41 minutes to win the Bell Challenge in Quebec and close the year just as she started it -- with a title. Bartoli, seeded second, captured her first career WTA Tour title in Auckland, New Zealand, in the first week of January . . . Nikolay Davydenko routed Dominik Hrbaty, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, to win the Paris Masters for his fifth title of the season. The fourth-seeded Russian dropped only one set in the tournament -- to Tommy Robredo in the semifinals -- in winning his 10th career title.

Golf

Karrie Webb, whose two-year run as Rolex Player of the Year was stopped by Annika Sorenstam in 2001, got payback by ending Sorenstam's Mizuno Classic streak at five. Webb closed with a 6-under-par 66 for a four-stroke victory over Kaori Higo in Japan's lone LPGA Tour event. Sorenstam shot a 70 to finish five strokes back at 9-under 207 on the Kashikojima Country Club course in Mie. The Swedish star also failed in her second attempt in a month to win an LPGA Tour event a record six times. Sorenstam began the streak in 2001 at Musashigaoka and won four times at Seta. Last year, she became the first LPGA Tour player to win a tournament five straight times and matched the record she shares with Mickey Wright for victories in an event. The 36-year-old Sorenstam also had a chance to win the Samsung Championship for the sixth time last month, but lost a final-round lead to Lorena Ochoa.

Miscellany

Ben Walter scored two goals and assisted on two others as the host Providence Bruins came back from a two-goal deficit for a 5-3 win over the Binghamton Senators. The win was the Bruins' fifth in a row. Providence scored twice in a 37-second span to tie the game at 2-2 in the middle period. Walter scored his first on a backhander at 11:01 and then fed Petr Tenkrat for the tying goal at 11:38. Martins Karsums scored the winning goal at 4:36 of the third when he knocked in the rebound of a shot by Walter . . . The Seattle SuperSonics signed 7-foot-1-inch free agent center Andreas Glyniadakis and waived guard Kareem Rush, who could not overcome a groin injury sustained in training camp . . . NBA commissioner David Stern said there is no question about the Hornets' full-time return to New Orleans in the short term, but that long-term concerns about the city's recovery and corporate support for pro basketball need to be resolved soon . . . In Victoria, British Columbia, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon of Canada capped off a dominating performance with a sultry free dance to easily win the Skate Canada dance title, taking the gold ahead of compatriots Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.