Reliever Smith, Pinder get deals, avoid arbitration

The Oakland A’s agreed to terms on one-year deals with right-handed reliever Burch Smith and utility player Chad Pinder, avoiding arbitration, the team announced Tuesday. Smith is in his first year of arbitration and Pinder in his second.

Pinder’s deal is reportedly worth $2.275 million. While Smith’s is worth $705,000.

A forearm strain sustained in August sidelined Smith for the remainder of the season, but he should return as one of the team’s strongest relievers.

Pinder and Smith are two of the 10 arbitration eligible players on the A’s roster, with a deadline to tender contracts looming today.

— Shayna Rubin

RED SOX AGREE TO ONEYEAR DEAL WITH LHP RODRIGUEZ >> The Boston Red Sox avoided arbitration with pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez and agreed with the lefthander to a one-year, $8.3 million deal, multiple outlets reported.

Boxing

HOLYFIELD CALLS OUT TYSON >> Evander Holyfield called out Mike Tyson on Tuesday, saying it was time the two former undisputed heav yweight champions returned to the ring to cap their rivalry and settle legacies. Holyfield’s challenge comes after 54-year- old Tyson dominated Roy Jones Jr, 51, in an exhibition fight on Saturday in Los Angeles that was ruled a draw.

Calling the bout with Jones Jr “a tune-up” Holyfield taunted Tyson, urging him to give the world the fight they want to see.

“No more excuses,” said Holyfield in a statement. “This is the fight that must happen for both our legacies. Saturday night you said you were ready to fight me, so sign the contract and get in the ring, Tyson. The world is waiting and it’s on you now. I’m ready.”

They met twice in their prime, with Holyfield winning the first fight in an 11th round TKO, while the second ended in controversy when Tyson was disqualified for biting a chunk out of his opponent’s ear.

College football

USC ON TRACK TO PLAY SUNDAY >> No. 17 USC (3- 0) resumed conditioning workouts Tuesday as coach Clay Helton expressed cautious optimism they will be able to play Washington State (11) on Sunday.

“By moving the game from Friday to Sunday, it allows us to garner the adequate number of players that we need at a certain position to be able to play this game,” Helton said.

Four players tested positive last week and another seven are in quarantine because of contact tracing. Those absences put USC under the minimum number of scholarship players established by the Pac-12, leading to its first cancellation of the abbreviated season.

A ll available players tested negative Tuesday, which allowed USC to resume team activities. Another round of negative tests today will lead to a return to practice in full pads, Helton said.

NO CHANGE S ATOP CFP RANKINGS >> There was no change atop the College Football Playoff rankings, with Alabama taking the top spot followed by Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State.

The ratings were dominated by the Southeastern Conference, which placed four teams in the top eight.

Notre Dame has clinched a spot in the ACC championship game. Clemson, with a win over Virginia Tech (4-5) on Saturday, will face the Irish in the Dec. 19 game and their postponed game against Florida State will not be made up.

Soccer

WOMEN’S TEAM, U. S. SOCCER

SETTLE PART OF THEIR LAWSUIT >> U. S. women’s national team players and the U. S. Soccer Federation have settled their long-running lawsuit over inequitable working conditions with the men’s team while leaving their dispute over unequal pay for additional litigation.

The parties filed a redacted public notice of the settlement with the federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday while providing the complete agreement to U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner. The deal with the world champion American women and the sport’s U.S. governing body calls for charter flights, hotel accommodations, venue selection and professional staff support equitable to that of the men’s national team.

PROSECUTORS RAID HOME OF MARADONA’S PSYCHIATRIST IN PROBE >> Argentine investigators raided the home of Diego Maradona’s psychiatrist on Tuesday, the latest twist in a probe into the soccer legend’s death last week, which has already seen files seized from his personal doctor.

Prosecutors, with a judicial order, carried out searches in the house and the private office of Agustina Cosachov in Buenos Aires, as they had done on Sunday with the properties of Maradona’s personal doctor Leopoldo Luque.

Motorsports

F1 CHAMPION HAMILTON TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 >> Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the upcoming Sakhir Grand Prix, the sport’s governing FIA said.

Hamilton, who has already secured a recordequalling seventh world title and won Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, was experiencing mild symptoms but was otherwise fit and well, his Mercedes team said.

The 35-year- old Briton was isolating according to local health guidelines, the team said, with a replacement driver to be announced in due course.