Sports Desk

BASEBALLMITCHELL REPORT TO NAME MVPS, ALL-STARSThe Mitchell Report exposes a “serious drug culture within baseball, from top to bottom,” fingers MVPs and All-Stars and calls for beefed-up testing by an outside agency to clean up the game, the Associated Press learned yesterday.The report by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell will include names of 60 to 80 players linked to performance-enhancing substances and plenty more information that exposes “deep problems”afflicting the sport, one of two sources with knowledge of the findings told the AP. Both sources said the report would not address amphetamines.The two sources were familiar with discussions that led to the final draft but did not want to be identified because it was confidential until its scheduled release today. They said the full report, which they had not read, totaled 304 pages plus exhibits.One person familiar with the final version would only speak anonymously but described it as “a very thorough treatment of the subject” and said some aspects were surprising. He said the report assigns blame to both the commissioner’s office and the players’ union.MLB’s “not going to love it, the union’s not going to love it,” he said.The report comes at the end of a year when San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds broke the career home run record, only to be indicted three months later on charges of lying to a federal grand jury about steroid use.FORMER AL MVP TEJADA TRADED TO ASTROS FROM ORIOLESMiguel Tejada got his wish — albeit a couple of years later than he wanted.Tejada was traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Houston Astros for five players on Wednesday, giving the 2002 AL MVP a fresh start on a team looking to boost its lineup.The Orioles got outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton, and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo for the four-time All-Star shortstop.Two winters ago, Tejada caused a stir in Baltimore when he said he was unhappy with the Orioles’ direction and wanted to be traded. He later backed off that stance.“I feel very happy with this trade, because it’s something that I’ve been really looking forward to,” Tejada told the Associated Press by telephone from Miami.ROWAND AGREES TO $60M, 5-YEAR DEAL WITH GIANTSAaron Rowand wanted some long-term stability, and so did the San Francisco Giants.Rowand agreed to a $60 million, five-year contract with the Giants on Wednesday, giving the club a Gold Glove center fielder without having to trade young pitchers Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum.The 30-year-old Rowand is expected to bat fifth for San Francisco after spending the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. Before that, he helped the Chicago White Sox win the 2005 World Series.“Bottom line, I wanted to get in a spot where I would be long term,” said Rowand, who noted he weighed four or five similar multiyear offers. “In this day of free agency, that’s not commonplace. That’s really the thing I was looking forward to most.”CUBS, JAPANESE OF FUKUDOME AGREE ON 4-YEAR, $48M DEALJapanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and the Chicago Cubs reached a preliminary agreement on a $48 million, four-year contract.The deal is subject to a physical that is expected to take place next week, the Cubs said yesterday.Fukudome was considered one of the best outfielders in Japanese baseball. The 30-year-old slugger was a key member of the Japan team that won the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006.He had surgery on his right elbow in August and sat out the Japan Series, but has 192 homers and a .305 batting average over nine seasons with the Chunichi Dragons, who won their first championship in 53 years on November 2.FOOTBALLEMMITT THOMAS TO BE FALCONS’ INTERIM COACHEmmitt Thomas waited a long time to serve as head coach of an NFL team.He never could have imagined his opportunity would come this way.One day after Bobby Petrino’s unexpected resignation, Thomas inherited an Atlanta Falcons team eager for new leadership.Thomas, 64, was promoted yesterday to interim head coach for the final three games of the season. Petrino resigned to become coach at Arkansas — and left behind Atlanta players who feel betrayed that he quit after 13 games, and furious he left word in a brief note placed at the players’ lockers.TRACK & FIELDIOC FORMALLY STRIPS JONES OF 5 SYDNEY OLYMPIC MEDALSThe IOC formally stripped Marion Jones of her five Olympic medals yesterday, wiping her name from the record books following her admission that she was a drug cheat.The International Olympic Committee also banned the disgraced American athlete from attending next year’s Beijing Olympics in any capacity and said it could bar her from future games. Jones had already handed back the three gold medals and two bronze she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Sports Desk

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