Fresh from an impressive showing in the final month of the season, Brad Penny reached a tentative agreement with the Cardinals on a $7.5 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the talks told the Associated Press. Penny, 31, went a combined 11-9 with a 4.88 ERA in 30 starts for Boston and the Giants . . . Minnesota starter Carl Pavano, Atlanta reliever Rafael Soriano, and Colorado setup man Rafael Betancourt accepted salary arbitration offers, keeping them with their teams for next season . . . The Nationals acquired reliever Brian Bruney from the Yankees for a player to be named. Bruney went 5-0 with a 3.92 ERA in 44 appearances with the World Series champions this year. The 27-year-old righthander is 16-10 with 13 saves and a 4.27 ERA in 230 career games over six seasons with the Yankees and Diamondbacks . . . The Rockies sold the contract of outfielder Matt Murton to the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. The 28-year-old Murton hit .250 with 5 doubles, 1 home run, and 6 RBIs in 29 games for the Rockies in 2009 . . . Smooth-fielding shortstop Adam Everett decided to stay with the Tigers, agreeing to a $1.55 million, one-year contract. Everett hit .238 with 3 homers and 44 RBIs this year . . . For an eighth consecutive season, the Pirates won’t raise season-ticket prices - the longest such stretch without a hike in the major leagues. The Pirates haven’t boosted season-ticket prices since a much-criticized increase following their 100-loss season in 2001. One plan for 2010 offers a full 81-game package for $399, an average of $4.93 per game . . . The Cubs say Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg will manage Triple A Iowa next season. Sandberg managed Double A Tennessee in 2009, and Single A Peoria the previous two seasons.

A VH1 reality series that promises an inside look at the lives of NBA players’ wives and girlfriends is set to debut March 15. VH1 said that “Basketball Wives’’ will show the upside of the women’s lives - big homes, designer clothes, and jewelry - and the drawbacks, including worries about whether their husbands are being faithful. Shaquille O’Neal’s wife, Shaunie, will be featured and is an executive producer. Others taking part are Eric Williams’s wife, Jennifer, and Mesha O’Neal, married to Jermaine O’Neal . . . Two people with knowledge of the team’s plans say the Knicks will travel to Italy next fall and play at least one exhibition game in Milan.

A person familiar with the plan says Danica Patrick has reached a deal to enter NASCAR with JR Motorsports. Patrick will announce a partial Nationwide Series schedule today in Phoenix, the person familiar with her plans told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Last week Patrick signed a three-year contract extension with Andretti Autosport to stay in the IndyCar series, but its schedule gives her enough time to also try NASCAR. It’s not clear yet how many races she will drive in NASCAR’s second-tier series for team owners Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Rick Hendrick.

Darren McCarty, a veteran of 15 NHL seasons who won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, announced his retirement. The 37-year-old McCarty spent 13 seasons with Detroit. He appeared in 758 games, recording 127 goals, 288 points, and 1,477 penalty minutes. He scored the Cup-winning goal in the 1997 finals against Philadelphia to end Detroit’s 42-year title drought. He also helped the Red Wings hoist the Cup in 1998, 2002, and ’08.

Officials with knowledge of the plan say the International Olympic Committee is ready to reallocate the individual Olympic medals stripped from Marion Jones for doping - but withhold the 100-meter gold from another drug-tainted athlete. Jones won three gold medals and two bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The officials say the IOC will redistribute Jones’s gold in the 200 meters and bronze in the long jump. They will not give disgraced Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou - who finished second to Jones - the 100-meter gold because she was at the center of another drug scandal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.