Angels pass on K-Rod; may eye Ramírez

The chances of the Los Angeles Angels retaining record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez went from slim to virtually none yesterday, with owner Arte Moreno saying, "We're turning the page on this one," the Los Angeles Times reported. Moreno did not rule out the possibility of the Angels pursuing Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramírez if they are unable to sign free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira, who is the team's top priority this winter. "He single-handedly took LA to the promised land," Moreno said in a radio interview of Ramírez, who led the Dodgers to the National League Championship Series after being dealt at the trade deadline by the Red Sox. Rodriguez, who went 2-3 with a 2.24 ERA in 69 games last season and set a major league record with 62 saves, is looking for a deal of four or five years in length and $15 million a year. Scott Boras, agent for Ramírez, meanwhile, said, "Beginning Friday, I will begin, for the first time, taking serious offers," suggesting the proposed three-year deal from the Dodgers that could wind up worth nearly $60 million won't be good enough to retain Ramírez. The Dodgers' proposal includes salaries of $15 million for 2009 and $22.5 million for 2010, with a $22.5 million club option for 2011 that could be bought out for $7.5 million. Ramírez can open negotiations with other teams beginning tomorrow . . . The A's completed their trade with the Colorado Rockies for star outfielder Matt Holliday, securing the big bat Oakland sought for the middle of its order. Colorado received righthanded reliever Huston Street, lefthanded starter Greg Smith, and promising outfielder Carlos Gonzalez from the A's . . . Lefthander Damaso Marte and the Yankees agreed to a $12 million, three-year contract.

Mor Avi Hanan scored off a free kick with 5:58 left in the second overtime, helping Boston College avert an upset with a 1-0 win over Clemson in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer tournament in Cary, N.C. The third-seeded Eagles (10-6-2) will face No. 2 seed Maryland (16-3-2) in tomorrow's semifinals . . . Richy Dorman scored with 8:15 left in the second half, helping Boston University down Vermont, 2-1, in the semifinals of America East men's soccer tournament at Nickerson Field. The top-seeded Terriers (10-5-3) advance to Saturday's final against Binghamton . . . North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams said reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough (shin) is "extremely doubtful" for the top-ranked Tar Heels' season opener against Pennsylvania Saturday . . . A pair of senior quarterbacks - Harvard's Chris Pizzotti (Reading) and Trinity's Eric McGrath (Lynn) - received this week's Gold Helmets from the New England Football Writers. In a 42-28 Ivy League win over visiting Columbia, Pizzotti threw for a career-high 376 yards and a career high-tying four touchdowns to collect the third helmet of his career. In piloting the Bantams (8-0) to their 11th unbeaten season, McGrath passed for 376 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-14 victory over Wesleyan. He also hauled in a TD reception . . . Minorities are getting more interviews but still aren't getting enough football jobs, according to the Black Coaches and Administrators. Almost one-third of the candidates interviewed last year were minorities, said a study released by the group, but only four were hired for 31 head coach openings in NCAA Division 1 football. The recent firings of Ty Willingham at Washington and Ron Prince at Kansas State left the Bowl Subdivision with only four black head coaches, plus one Latino and one Pacific Islander . . . John Marinatto was promoted to commissioner of the Big East Conference, replacing Mike Tranghese, who is stepping down after 18 years . . . Former Patriots tight end J. Lin Dawson was hired as athletic director at Grambling State.

The New Jersey Nets are trying to do more for their fans in these hard economic times: They want to help get them jobs. The Nets announced they are providing 1,500 free tickets over the next two months to unemployed fans who submit résumés to the team. The NBA team plans to send the résumés to its 120 corporate sponsors and a couple hundred firms that own season tickets. "Our belief right now is let's invest in people who might invest in us later," Nets chief executive Brett Yormark said. The team said last night it had received about 1,000 résumés . . . Charlotte Bobcats scoring leader Jason Richardson will be out about a week following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

Teresa Earnhardt and Chip Ganassi will combine their sponsorship-strapped race teams next season, an effort to stabilize their organizations in tough economic times. The new team will be called Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and will field cars for Martin Truex, Aric Almirola, Juan Pablo Montoya, and a driver to be named . . . Roger Federer kept his hopes alive for a fifth Masters Cup title by beating Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, in Shanghai. Stepanek was playing in the place of Andy Roddick, who withdrew from the tournament with a sprained ankle after losing his opening match Monday. Earlier, Andy Murray reached the semifinals of the season-ending tournament by beating Gilles Simon, 6-4, 6-2, in the other Red Group match . . . Ottawa Senators forward Jarkko Ruutu was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL for elbowing Montreal's Maxim Lapierre during Tuesday night's game . . . American Peter Marshall broke the short-course record in the 50-meter backstroke at a World Cup meet in Stockholm, his second record-breaking effort in two days. Marshall won in 23.05 seconds, beating Australian Robert Hurley's mark of 23.24.