Yankees sign Matt Holliday for $13 million
A person familiar with the negotiations said outfielder Matt Holliday and the New York Yankees have agreed to a $13 million, one-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday night because the agreement had not yet been announced. Holliday, who turns 37 next month, fits into the Yankees’ strategy of signing veterans to short-term deals while pivoting toward a youth movement. Holliday, a seven-time All-Star, 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 in 2016, missing substantial time after his left thumb was broken when he was hit by a pitch on Aug. 11. Holliday, who became a free agent when St. Louis declined his $17 million option, was an attractive DH option for many teams, including the Red Sox.
. . . The Braves agreed to a one-year deal with lefthander Jacob Lindgren, who is making a comeback from Tommy John surgery. Lindgren, 23, made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2015, when he had a 5.14 ERA in seven games in relief before having season-ending surgery to remove bone spurs from his left elbow.
The Yankees selected Lindgren out of Mississippi State in the second round of the 2014 amateur draft. Lindgren had elbow ligament-replacement surgery in August after appearing in six games with Single A Tampa. He was released Friday . . . Former Tigers infielder Casey McGehee, 34, agreed to a one-year deal with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Central League worth $1.7 million. McGehee played in 30 games for the Tigers in 2016 posting a .228 batting average. This will be McGehee’s second stint in Japan. In 2013, he batted .292 with 28 home runs and 93s RBI while helping the Rakuten Eagles of the Pacific League win the Japan Series.
colleges
UConn women’s streak at 82
Napheesa Collier scored 24 points and No. 2 UConn won its 82nd consecutive game with a 72-54 victory over No. 14 Texas on Sunday in the annual Jimmy V Classic in Uncasville, Conn. Kia Nurse added 15 points for the Huskies (7-0), who are in the midst of the second-longest winning streak in women’s basketball history, trailing only their 90-game run from 2008-10. A showdown awaits with top-ranked Notre Dame on Wednesday in South Bend, Ind. It will be the third straight ranked opponent the Huskies have faced. UConn led by 9 at the half before Texas (2-4) closed to 51-49 with 3:18 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Brooke McCarty.
The Huskies then scored the next 12 points, including the final 6 of the period to get some breathing room. Collier capped the burst with a nifty reverse layup off a rebound that made it 63-49. Texas couldn’t get within single digits the rest of the way. McCarty led the Longhorns with 15 points. Texas lost second-leading scorer Ariel Atkins in the first quarter when she was hit in the head inadvertently. She came in averaging 13.6 points and had just four in six minutes.
. . . Rebecca Greenwell scored 7 of her 29 points in the final 5½ minutes, leading host Duke (9-1) past No. 3 South Carolina (6-1), 74-63 . . . Alexis Jones had a career-high 30 points to go along with 10 assists and nine rebounds while helping No. 4 Baylor (9-1) win, 88-66, handing No. 22 Tennessee (4-3) one of the most thorough defeats ever suffered on its home floor . . . Junior forward G’mrice Davis scored Fordham’s first 10 points on her way to a career-high 22 as the Rams (6-2) never trailed in a 56-49 victory over Boston College (2-6). Sophomore Mariella Fasoula led the Eagles with 20 points, as the 6-foot-4-inch sophomore shot 10-for-15 from the floor.
UNC loses Berry in win
Sophomore Kenny Williams III had 14 of his…