Devils Rays to Offer Deal to Piniella to Manage

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will meet today with Lou Piniella and offer him a contract to become the team’s manager.

General Manager Chuck LaMar spoke Monday with agent Alan Nero and arranged a meeting that will include Piniella and Tampa Bay managing general partner Vince Naimoli.

“At that time,” the team said in a statement, “the Devil Rays will make a formal contract proposal to Mr. Piniella.”

Piniella has a year remaining on his contract as manager of the Seattle Mariners, but has expressed a desire to work closer to his home in Tampa, Fla.

Last week, the Devil Rays received permission to talk to Piniella after they agreed to provide compensation to Seattle in the event they sign the manager.

The Devil Rays, who had the lowest payroll in baseball at about $34 million last season, are believed to be prepared to offer a deal with an average salary in excess of the $2.5 million Piniella was to earn in Seattle next year.

Nero, who has said Piniella also would like to talk to the New York Mets about their managerial opening, did not return telephone messages from Associated Press.

The Mets have targeted Piniella as a possible replacement for Bobby Valentine, but have been unable to agree with the Mariners on compensation.

Tampa Bay fired Hal McRae with one year remaining on his contract after losing a franchise-record 106 games this season.

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Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett declared he is innocent of charges he dragged a woman into the men’s restroom of a restaurant in a Minneapolis suburb Sept. 6 and groped her.

Puckett, 41, spent less than a half hour in the county jail for a booking procedure and appearance before a judge. Puckett remains free on his own recognizance.

Prosecutors charged the former Minnesota Twins’ star with a felony count of false imprisonment and a gross misdemeanor count of criminal sexual conduct.

If convicted, Puckett probably would be put on probation and given less than a year in the county workhouse.

Puckett retired in 1995 after 12 seasons with the Twins, a team he helped win the World Series in 1987 and 1991. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year and is now an executive vice president of the Twins.

According to the complaint, the victim was waiting to use the women’s restroom at the restaurant when Puckett grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the men’s room. She told police that Puckett pushed her into a stall and put his hand on one of her breasts. She said that after a friend of hers yelled into the restroom, Puckett let her go.

Basketball

The Orlando Miracle will move next season as part of the WNBA’s restructuring plan.

San Antonio has applied for a WNBA franchise in 2003 and is nearing its goal of 6,000 season ticket deposits. The WNBA is talking with several people in other cities who are interested in acquiring a team, the league said in a release.

“We believe strongly in the WNBA product and think it will continue to succeed in other markets,” said John Weisbrod, Chief Operating Officer of RDV Sports, which owns the Orlando Magic.

The company said it would concentrate on its NBA franchise.

“Unfortunately, we were not able to make it work financially in Orlando,” Weisbrod said.

The WNBA is owned by the 29 NBA owners, and all of its teams have been in cities where an NBA franchise is located.

But the NBA Board of Governors decided this month to allow non-NBA owners to acquire teams and to allow teams in non-NBA markets. The board decided the Charlotte Sting could remain in that city even though the Hornets moved to New Orleans.

The Miracle had a 60-68 record in four seasons in Orlando.

Texas El Paso men’s coach Jason Rabedeaux, 37, resigned, saying his heart was not in coaching.

Rabedeaux declined to provide details on his decision. He said only that it was in the best interest of UTEP, himself and his family.

Rabedeaux led the Miners to a 23-9 record last season. He replaced Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins in 1999.

Fresno State guard Ashley Knowlton is out for the season after tearing ligaments in his left knee during practice Sunday.

Tennis

Lindsay Davenport, ranked No. 1 in the world in 2001 before a career-threatening knee injury, and Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder have qualified for the season-ending WTA Tour Championships on Nov. 6-11 at Staples Center.

Davenport won the Championships title in 1999 and finished second in 1994, 1998 and 2001. She couldn’t play in the 2001 final against Serena Williams because of the injury.

Eleven players already had qualified in singles, including Williams, her sister Venus, Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles. Three spots remain up for grabs.

Todd Martin defeated Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3, 7-5, in the first round of the Stockholm Open. Martin, the 1998 champion, saved 14 break points.... Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny defeated Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia. Fourth-seeded Jiri Novak pulled out of the tournament because of a groin injury.... Israel’s Anna Smashnova defeated Meghann Shaughnessy, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the first round of the Generali Ladies Open at Linz, Austria.

Miscellany

Peter Ueberroth, former commissioner of Major League Baseball and president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Games, was elected chairman of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. He succeeds John C. Argue, who died in July.

The AAF, endowed with Southern California’s share of the surplus from the 1984 Olympics, awards grants to youth sports organizations and establishes its own youth sports programs. It has given out more than $130 million.

The AAF board also awarded grants worth $535,595 to 13 organizations and allocated $243,715 for its own Run 4 Fun program, which reaches more than 2,000 youngsters at 55 middle schools in southern California. The money will also fund instructional clinics for high schools and community youth sports coaches.

Four-time world champion ski jumper Martin Schmitt of Germany will sit out the start of the World Cup season in November because of a right knee injury.

Passings

Nolan White, who in August set a land-speed record for piston engine cars, died Sunday at the University of Utah Medical Center of injuries suffered in a crash Thursday on the Bonneville Salt Flats. He was 71.