MLB
It’s official: Parra gets $27.5M from Rockies
DENVER – The Colorado Rockies finalized a $27.5 million, three-year contract with outfielder Gerardo Parra.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the team designated former first-round pick Kyle Parker for assignment. Parker, the 26th overall selection in the 2010 draft, hit .182 with three homers and 12 runs batted in in 64 games with the Rockies.
Parra is a two-time Gold Glove winner and a lifetime .277 hitter. He joins a crowded Colorado outfielder that already features Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson.
The 28-year-old Parra will make $8 million in 2016 and ’17, and $10 million in ’18. There’s a club option for $12 million in ’19 or a $1.5 million buyout.
Homeland Security head addresses baseball owners
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – With worries about terrorism heightened following attacks in France and California, baseball owners began their two-day meeting Wednesday by discussing threat protection with the U.S. Homeland Security secretary.
Presenting more than 2,400 games a year in venues that attract large crowds, Major League Baseball has tightened checks in recent years. Starting last year, fans were required to go through metal detectors at all 30 ballparks.
NFL
Two new Pro Bowlers added because of injuries
ALAMEDA, Calif. – Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was added to the Pro Bowl roster as an injury replacement for Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.
Carr threw for 3,987 yards with 32 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 91.1 passer rating this season. He had four fourth-quarter comeback drives as Oakland finished 7-9 in his second NFL season.
Carr is the first Raiders quarterback to be picked for the Pro Bowl since Rich Gannon went from 1999-2002.
NEW YORK – New York Jets running back Chris Ivory also was added to the roster, replacing injured Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy.
Ivory ran for a career-high and AFC-leading 1,070 yards and rushed for seven touchdowns this season.
Skiing
Pyeongchang Alpine test event cleared after worries
The alpine skiing test event for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics will go ahead as planned next month following clearance from the International Ski Federation, ending worries that a key gondola would not be ready in time.
A men’s World Cup downhill and super-G are scheduled Feb. 6-7 in Jeongseon.
FIS technical expert Gunter Hujara said in a statement Wednesday: “After checking the snow conditions on the race course and also the operational requirements in Jeongseon, I can confirm that planning and preparations meet the standards.”
Hujara told The Associated Press that he rode the gondola for the first time Tuesday and appreciated the efforts of contractors, saying “they worked through Christmas and through New Year at 24-hour shifts.”
Tennis
Agassi says match-fixing wasn’t a problem for him
Andre Agassi says match-fixing in tennis “never even made my radar” while he was on tour.
The eight-time Grand Slam title winner, who retired in 2006, said that he never had any brush with the sort of corruption that was alleged in recent media reports and has been the main topic of conversation at the Australian Open.
He also believes tennis’s leaders will make sure match-fixing is not happening nowadays, because it “poses an existential threat to the very fabric of what sports is about.”
Associated Press
