Another piece

The Pirates sign one-time first-round pick to a minor league deal.

Nick Franklin and the Pirates agreed to a minor league contract Wednesday. Franklin, 27, was drafted by the Seattle Mariners with the 27th pick of the 2009 draft. The deal includes an invite to major league camp.

Franklin has 143 appearances at second base, 37 in left field, 30 at shortstop, 19 at first base, 11 in right field and one at third base in his career with the Mariners (2013-14), Tampa Bay Rays (2014-16), Milwaukee Brewers (2017-18) and Los Angles Angels (2017).

The Pirates also agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed pitcher Tom Koehler, 32, who will spend most of the 2019 season rehabbing from shoulder surgery. He has a 36–55 record in the big leagues with a 4.39 ERA and 604 strikeouts.

Hockey

Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu will miss the rest of the season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee in a collision Tuesday against Buffalo. … The Nashville Predators picked up Brian Boyle from the New Jersey Devils and Cody McLeod from the New York Rangers in exchange for draft picks.

Pro football

The Atlanta Falcons released kicker Matt Bryant, 43, ending the 10-year run of the team’s all-time leading scorer. Bryant made 20 of 21 field goals and 33 of 35 extra points last season.

Winter sports

Dominik Paris of Italy won the men’s super-G at the world championships in Are, Sweden, 0.09 seconds ahead of Johan Clarey of France and Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria, who tied for silver.

Boxing

Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 knockouts) and Daniel Jacobs (35-2, 29 knockouts) will meet May 4 in a middleweight title unification fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Elsewhere

Andre Boudrias, the former Vancouver Canucks captain and Montreal Canadiens assistant general manager, died at the age of 75 in Whistler, British Columbia.