Martínez says he hopes to sign soon

June 18, 2009

Former Red Sox righthander Pedro Martínez, 37, said yesterday from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, he has had talks with the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays and hopes to sign a contract in the near future. His four-year deal with the New York Mets ended after last season . . . A spokesman for Tom Ricketts, who heads his family’s nearly $900 million bid to buy the Cubs from Tribune Co., says the negotiations are continuing and “moving along very positively.’’ . . . The Toronto Blue Jays plan to put Roy Halladay (strained right groin) and closer Scott Downs (strained left toe) on the disabled list today. Righthander Casey Janssen was placed on the 15-day DL before last night’s game against the Phillies with inflammation in his surgically repaired shoulder . . . Mariners lefthander Erik Bedard, who has not pitched since June 7, was placed on the 15-day DL with shoulder inflammation.

Former major league outfielder Mel Hall, 48, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in Fort Worth after being convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he coached on an elite basketball team. Hall was convicted on three counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child. He must serve about 22 1/2 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole . . . Jose Canseco plans to file a class-action lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the players’ association, saying he’s been ostracized for going public with tales of steroids use in the sport . . . Andrew Darr doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th and Arkansas, which had been down to its last strike in the ninth, rallied to eliminate Virginia, 4-3, in the College World Series in Omaha.

Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf posted a $45,000 bond in Washington for drug and burglary charges out of Texas after being arrested by customs agents as he returned to the United States from Canada. Legal assistant Jennifer Bonstein said Leaf declined to waive extradition during a hearing in Bellingham, Wash., about 90 miles north of Seattle. The ex-Washington State University and San Diego Chargers quarterback is charged with burglary to a habitation, a second-degree felony. Leaf also was indicted on seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of delivery of a simulated controlled substance.

Former NBA player Jerome “Pooh’’ Richardson passed along a tip from a police officer friend that federal agents were about to raid the home his half-sister shared with a drug kingpin, according to an indictment unsealed in Philadelphia. Richardson, 43, is not charged in the indictment, which accuses only the Philadelphia detective, Rickie Durham, with criminal wrongdoing. Police recovered more than $500,000 in cash, 10 guns, and 450 grams of cocaine in the couple’s home and other properties linked to Alton “Ace Capone’’ Coles’s group . . . Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy arrived at a Tampa halfway house from a federal prison camp in the Florida Panhandle to serve the rest of his 15-month sentence in a gambling scandal . . . Brigham Young coach Dave Rose has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer . . . Sophomore Drew Gordon of UCLA tore the patellar tendon in his right knee Tuesday in Colorado Springs during tryouts for the US team that will play in the Under-19 world championships . . . In the WNBA, Diana Taurasi scored 28 points as host Phoenix beat Minnesota, 104-80.

Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra is heading to Belmont Park to run the Mother Goose Stakes June 27. Calvin Borel, the filly’s regular jockey, will ride Rachel Alexandra . . . American-trained horse Jealous Again has given trainer Wesley Ward and jockey John Velazquez a second win in two days at Royal Ascot with a 5-length victory in the Queen Mary Stakes in Ascot, England . . . Emily Jones of the Bromfield School was named the Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Johnson signed a letter of intent to run at Georgetown in the fall . . . Fredy Montero’s left-footed strike gave Seattle a 3-1 lead early in the second half, but D.C. United rallied with a pair of goals, including an own goal off the head of Seattle defender Tyrone Marshall to salvage a 3-3 tie with the host Sounders in Major League Soccer.