Cespedes agrees to 3-year deal with Mets
NEW YORK — Slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is returning to the New York Mets. How long he stays, he will decide.
A person familiar with the deal says the star free agent and the National League champions agreed Friday night to a three-year contract for $75 million.
Cespedes, 30, can opt out of the contract after just one season and make it worth $27.5 million. Cespedes also got a full notrade clause.
Cespedes was traded from Detroit to New York last July 31. He launched 17 home runs in 57 games, powering the Mets to their first World Series appearance since 2000.
Dufner has lead at La Quinta
Jason Dufner patiently worked his way around PGA West’s TPC Stadium Course to take the lead in the CareerBuilder Challenge at La Quinta, Calif.
Dufner shot a 7-underpar 65, matching the best round of the first two days on the difficult course that is being used in the tournament for the first time since 1987. Jamie Love- mark was a stroke back after a 65 on the adjacent Nicklaus Tournament Course.
Dufner parred the final four holes, escaping trouble on the par-5 16th. The 2013 PGA Championship winner played the front nine in 6-under 30, bogeyed the 10th after hitting into the water, and added birdies on 12 and 14.
Dufner had a 15-under 129 total. He opened with a 64 on Thursday on the Nicklaus Course, will play La Quinta on Saturday and return to the Stadium Course for the final round Sunday. In other golf news: • Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and other big names slid off the leader board at the weather-affected Abu Dhabi Championship, leaving American amateur Bryson DeChambeau to chase clubhouse leader Andy Sullivan in the second round. After fog delayed the start of play by nearly three hours, Sullivan shot another 5-under 67 to get to 10 under. Spieth and McIlroy were in the marquee afternoon group, but both played erratically and were 1 over after 13 holes when play was suspended for the day because of darkness. Spieth was at 3 under and McIlroy at 5 under. DeChambeau, the first-round leader, was a shot behind Sullivan after playing nine holes in 1 under.
Balanced effort spurs St. Thomas
Craig Grigsby had 15 points and five steals, Bryon Makel scored 14 points and Jason Brancato added 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead the St. Thomas men’s basketball team to a 70-62 victory over University of the Southwest at the Jera- beck Activity and Athletic Center. The Celts (8-7, 5-4 Red River Athletic Conference) snapped a three-game home losing streak.
Panthers blank Blackhawks
Roberto Luongo stopped 27 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, Aaron Ekblad scored in his first game back from a concussion and Florida beat Chicago 4-0 at Sunrise, Fla., to stop a four-game losing streak. In other news: • Columbus coach John Tortorella broke two ribs falling after a collision with forward Rene Bourque during an outdoor practice and will not coach Saturday at Boston. Associate coach Craig Hartsburg will lead the Blue Jackets against the Bruins. Tortorella’s status for Monday night against Montreal is unknown. The injury occurred about 20 minutes into the team’s first practice at a temporary rink built for public skating across the street from Nationwide Arena.
Short program elevates Aaron
Max Aaron leads the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at St. Paul, Minn., after the short program as he seeks his second national title.
Aaron landed a quadruple salchow-triple toe loop combination to open his performance and scored 91.83 points.
Ross Miner, runner-up to Aaron in 2013, was second with 90.90 despite not trying a quad. Adam Rippon, last year’s runner-up who also didn’t do a quad, was third with 88.01.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates lead the ice- dance competition as they seek to defend their title.
The top three teams from last year held the same spots after the short dance. Chock and Bates, the 2015 world silver medalists, scored 75.14 points, followed by siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani with 74.67 and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue with 71.10. In other news: • Aksel Lund Svindal mastered a tricky super-G course at Kitzbuehel, Austria, to extend Norway’s World Cup winning streak to five races, and Alexis Pinturault of France won the combined event for the third consecutive year. Svindal avoided major mistakes and sped to his seventh victory of the season and 32nd overall, winning in 1 minute, 11.79 seconds. He beat Andrew Weibrecht of the United States by 0.31, and Hannes Reichelt of Austria by 0.42. In the combined event, which added the results of the super-G and those of a slalom run five hours later, Pinturault led a French sweep of the podium ahead of Victor Muffat-Jeandet and Thomas Mermillod Blondin.