BASEBALL

FRUSTRATED POSADA DIDN’T CHALLENGE YANKEES ON WORLD CLASSIC While angry he was blocked from playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, Jorge Posada opted not to challenge the Yankees.

Under the tournament’s rules, teams could petition the commissioner’s office and the players’ association to block their players from appearing. New York’s move to keep Posada from playing was accepted.

“I was upset,”the 34-year-old catcher said after working out at the Yankees’ minor league complex.”Obviously,I wanted to play for Puerto Rico. I wanted to play in front of my family, to be there and wear that P.R. on my shirt. But it didn’t happen.”

FOOTBALL

WARNER SIGNS THREE-YEAR DEAL WITH CARDINALS The Arizona Cardinals signed Kurt Warner to a three-year contract yesterday worth a reported $18 million, ending speculation about their quarterback plans. The deal means the 34-year-old Warner, a two-time NFL MVP who started 10 games for the Cardinals in an injuryshortened 2005 season,will enter training camp as the starter.Warner’s 85.8 quarterback rating, which ranked 14th in the NFL, was the best by a Cardinal since Neil Lomax had an 86.7 rating in 1988. His five 300-plus-yard passing games led the league.

BASKETBALL

CAVS’ HUGHES COULD MISS REST OF SEASON Cavaliers guard Larry Hughes is likely to miss the rest of the regular season after having surgery yesterday for the second time in six weeks on his broken right middle finger. Hughes, the team’s second-leading scorer,was supposed to miss six to eight weeks after having surgery January 6. But doctors concluded last week that the finger hadn’t healed as quickly as the team had hoped.The team said he will now miss an additional eight to 10 weeks. Hughes, who signed a five-year, $60 million contract in the off-season, averaged 16.2 points and 3.9 assists in 28 games.

SONICS SEND RADMANOVIC TO CLIPPERS FOR WILCOX The Seattle SuperSonics traded Vladimir Radmanovic to the L.A. Clippers for Chris Wilcox yesterday in a swap of 6-foot-10 forwards auditioning for next season. Radmanovic and Wilcox will be free agents at seasons end and both had fallen out of favor with their previous teams. Radmanovic, 25, who turned down a $42 million, six-year deal with the Sonics before the season and signed a one-year tender instead, is averaging 9.3 points – down from 11.8 last season.The 23-year-old Wilcox has career averages of 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in three-plus seasons with the Clippers after they made him the eighth overall selection in the 2002 draft following his twoyear college career at Maryland.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

VILLANOVA GIVES WRIGHT SEVEN-YEAR EXTENSION Villanova coach Jay Wright signed a seven-year contract extension yesterday, one day after his fourthranked Wildcats (20-2, 10-1 Big East) defeated no. 1 Connecticut 69-64.

SETON HALL DOWNS NO. 11 WEST VIRGINIA Kelly Whitney had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Seton Hall bounced back from a 42-point loss to top-ranked Connecticut with a 71-64 victory over no. 11 West Virginia last night. Brian Laing added a career-high 19 points for the Pirates (16-7, 7-4 Big East), who had won six straight before the 99-57 loss to Connecticut last Saturday. Kevin Pittsnogle had 24 points for the Mountaineers (18-6, 9-2).

– Associated Press