Ordonez, Tigers Agree to Deal

Free-agent outfielder Magglio Ordonez and the Detroit Tigers agreed Monday to a $75-million, five-year contract, a deal with two option years that could raise the total to $105 million over seven seasons.

Ordonez is “a big, big addition to our team, a cornerstone, the type of player you build around and try to win championships,” Tiger President Dave Dombrowski said at a news conference in Comerica Park.

With Ordonez’s bat in the middle of the lineup, Detroit figures to improve its chances of competing in the American League Central.

Ordonez, 31, had a $14-million salary last year with the Chicago White Sox.

He had 202 at-bats last season and batted .292 with nine home runs and 37 runs batted in, but sat out 36 games because of a knee injury that required two surgeries.

The Tigers would have the right to void Ordonez’s contract after the 2005 season if he has a recurrence of the injury and if the recurrence lands him on the disabled list for 25 days or more.

Ordonez said he expects to be 100% healthy by the middle of spring training.

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Former 20-game winner Denny Neagle agreed on a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who avoided arbitration with left-handed pitcher Trever Miller by signing him to a $1.1-million, one-year deal.

Neagle hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 2003 because of arm surgeries.

His contract was terminated by the Colorado Rockies in December after he was cited for soliciting a prostitute.

The left-hander is involved in a grievance with the Rockies over the termination.

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The Houston Astros agreed to a $750,000, one-year contract with pitcher Tim Redding and a $700,000, one-year contract with pitcher Pete Munro.

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President Bush was not aware of any steroid use by Texas Ranger players while he was a team executive, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said.

In his upcoming book “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big,” former outfielder Jose Canseco said he introduced Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez to steroids after being traded to Texas in 1992, the New York Daily News reported.

Canseco said Bush, managing partner at the time, must have known about the drugs.

Miscellany

Lang Ping was hired as coach of the U.S. women’s volleyball team, replacing Toshi Yoshida, who resigned last year.

Ping was an elite player in the 1980s for China and coached the Chinese to a silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He coached several teams in the Italian League recently.

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Donald Young, a 15-year-old American coming off the Australian Open junior singles title, made his ATP Tour debut as a wild-card entry, losing to Robby Ginepri, 6-2, 6-2, in the SAP Open at San Jose.

Young is the youngest current player to play an ATP match.

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Ellen MacArthur set a solo around-the-world sailing record, completing the 26,000-mile circumnavigation Monday at 2:29 p.m. PST by crossing an imaginary finish line between Ushant, France, and the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall on the south coast of England.

The 28-year-old Englishwoman’s final time on a 75-foot trimaran was 71 days 14 hours 18 minutes 33 seconds.

The previous record had been 72 days 22 hours 54 minutes 22 seconds by Francis Joyon in February 2004.

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Former Notre Dame defensive back Dave Duerson, who won two Super Bowl rings, was charged with hitting his wife, Alicia, during an argument Thursday in their motel room in South Bend, Ind., and school officials said he has resigned from the board of trustees.

Passings

Former car owner John Zink Jr., whose 13 Champ Car wins included two Indianapolis 500 titles, has died at 75. Zink, inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in May, died Saturday in a hospital in Tulsa, Okla., Indianapolis Motor Speedway said.

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Robert W. Brannum, an All-American at Kentucky who played four seasons with the Boston Celtics, died Saturday of pancreatic cancer, said his daughter Debbie. He was 78.