College Basketball
Oregon hired Willie Taggart, who spent the last four seasons as head coach at South Florida, to take over the Ducks following the dismissal of Mark Helfrich.
Taggart has led USF to an 18-7 record over the last two seasons, including a 10-2 mark this year. He also spent three seasons as coach of Western Kentucky, his alma mater, and was an assistant coach at Stanford under Jim Harbaugh.
Oregon fired Helfrich last week after the Ducks went 4-8.
Taggart, 40, is the first coach Oregon has hired from outside the program since 1976. The Ducks’ previous three coaches, Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and Helfrich, were all assistants who were promoted.
Taggart will be the first black head football coach at Oregon.
MLB
OXON HILL, Md. – Agent Scott Boras says baseball’s new labor contract will cause Latin American players to turn away from the sport and play soccer.
The deal places limits on bonuses for players who reside outside the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, restricting teams to signing pools that start at $4.75 million for the year starting next July 2.
Baseball’s previous labor contract put signing pools on residents of the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada who are subject to the amateur draft each June.
OXON HILL, Md. – The World Series champion Chicago Cubs acquired star closer Wade Davis from the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Jorge Soler.
Davis will take over the ninth-inning role held by Aroldis Chapman, who became a free agent after the Cubs won their first championship since 1908.
The 31-year-old Davis went 2-1 with 27 saves in 30 tries and a 1.87 ERA last season. He spent time on the disabled with a forearm injury and was limited to 43 1/3 innings, but returned to pitch in September.
Davis has done especially well in the postseason and helped the Royals win the 2015 crown. In 27 1/3 postseason innings as a reliever, he has a 0.33 ERA with 39 strikeouts.
The 24-year-old Soler hit .238 with 12 home runs and 31 RBIs in 86 games last season. He missed almost two months because of a strained left hamstring.
OXON HILL, Md. – Free agent outfielder Matt Holliday and the New York Yankees have finalized a $13 million, one-year contract.
Holliday, who turns 37 next month, fits into the Yankees strategy of signing veterans to short-term deals while pivoting toward a youth movement.
A seven-time All-Star with a .303 career average, Holliday was drafted by Colorado in 1998, traded to Oakland after the 2008 season and then dealt to St. Louis the following July. He hit .246 with 20 homers and 62 RBIs in 110 games this year, missing substantial time after his left thumb was broken when he was hit by a pitch on Aug. 11.
Soccer
ZURICH – Referees will be able use video replays at this month’s Club World Cup in Japan to help them make “match-changing” decisions in the first ever use of broadcast TV feeds by match officials during a game.
Though goal-line technology has already been introduced to detect if a ball has crossed the line, FIFA announced on Wednesday that “an important piece of history will be made” when Video Assistant Referees are given access to all the broadcast TV feeds in operations rooms set up at the games in Japan.
Associated Press
