Ben Sheets signs with Athletics

The Oakland Athletics added another veteran arm to their young rotation, agreeing to terms Tuesday with free-agent right-hander Ben Sheets on a $10-million, one-year contract.

The 31-year-old Sheets has been plagued by injuries. The four-time National League All-Star didn’t pitch in the majors last season while recovering from elbow surgery but last week held a pitching session for several scouts in Louisiana.

Sheets spent his first eight major league seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, going 86-83 with a 3.72 earned-run average. He struck out a career-best 264 batters in 2004.

Slugger Jim Thome and the Minnesota Twins have agreed to a one-year, $1.5-million contract. The 39-year-old Thome finished last season with the Dodgers. He has 564 career home runs.

A person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press that outfielder Xavier Nady and the Chicago Cubs have reached preliminary agreement on a one-year, $3.3-million contract.

Jon Garland, who pitched for Arizona and the Dodgers last season, has agreed to a $5.3-million, one-year contract with the San Diego Padres.

Six years after signing Miguel Tejada to a top-dollar contract, the Baltimore Orioles welcomed back the 2002 AL MVP at a bargain price. Tejada received a $6-million, one-year contract after passing a physical. In 2003, Tejada signed a six-year, $72-million contract with the Orioles.

Catcher Carlos Ruiz finalized an $8.85-million, three-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, avoiding salary arbitration. Ruiz hit .255 last season with 26 doubles, a career-high nine home runs and 43 runs batted in.

WINTER SPORTS

Vonn, Miller lead U.S. ski team

Hardly a surprise, Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller lead a list of U.S. skiers earning spots for the Vancouver Olympics. The announcement of the team was delayed until Tuesday to see if any extra spots opened up.

Some did and the Americans received four extra spots, bringing the total on the men’s and women’s teams to 22 skiers.

Vonn is rolling into Vancouver having won five straight World Cup downhill events this season. She also leads the overall standings and could be a five-medal threat in Vancouver.

Miller made his fourth Olympics team. He captured two silver medals at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City but was shut out in Turin.

Reigning Olympic champions Julia Mancuso and Ted Ligety also made the team. Mancuso won the giant slalom at the Turin Games in 2006 and Ligety captured gold in the combined.

The squad features nine skiers with Olympic experience and 13 newcomers.

Reinfried Herbst of Austria mastered the icy Planai course for a second straight year in winning the World Cup night slalom in Schladming, Austria. Miller finished out of the top 10 and failed to earn any World Cup points.

Herbst earned his third win of the season and eighth overall in a combined 1 minute, 45.91 seconds. Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland was 0.56 seconds back in second. Austria’s Manfred Pranger was third, 0.82 seconds behind.

Herbst regained the lead in the slalom standings, three points ahead of Julien Lizeroux of France.

ETC.

Suspects named in soccer shooting

Authorities have identified two suspects in Monday’s predawn shooting of Paraguayan soccer star Salvador Cabanas in the bathroom of a Mexico City bar favored by athletes and other celebrities.

Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City’s attorney general, said the suspects were José J Balderas Garza, a regular at the nightclub, and his bodyguard. Both were caught rushing out of the restroom moments after Cabanas, who was at the bar with his wife and brother-in-law, was shot in the head.

Mancera did not say whether either man had been detained.

Cabanas, 29, who helped Paraguay win a spot in this summer’s World Cup, remained in critical but stable condition Tuesday with a bullet lodged in his skull. Doctors said he was sedated but had responded to stimulus and was demonstrating regular brain activity.

-- Kevin Baxter Two more Michigan State football players face misdemeanor assault and conspiracy charges connected to a Nov. 22 fight on campus. Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio said that defensive tackle Oren Wilson and receiver Myles White have been indefinitely suspended. So far, 11 current or former Spartans players have been charged in the fight with members of a campus fraternity.