Carpenter stays in St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals announced Monday a five-year deal with 2005 National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter, locking him up through the 2011 season for about $65 million. The deal includes a club option for 2012 that would bring the total value to $77 million.

“It was important for us to show what we think of him,” General Manager Walt Jocketty said.

Carpenter was 15-8 with a 3.09 earned-run average last season, finishing third in Cy Young balloting and helping the Cardinals win their first World Series title in 24 years. He was 3-1 with a 2.78 ERA in five postseason starts, including the clincher in the division series against the San Diego Padres and eight shutout innings in Game 3 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers.

St. Louis has made the playoffs in each of his three years there, reaching the World Series twice.

Carpenter had been signed for $7 million in 2007 with a $9-million option for 2008.

Pitcher Vicente Padilla and the Texas Rangers reached an agreement on a $33.75-million, three-year contract.

The deal is subject to a physical, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made.

The San Francisco Giants agreed to an $8-million, two-year contract with first baseman Rich Aurilia and a $5.1-million, one-year deal with third baseman Pedro Feliz.

General Manager Brian Sabean said at the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., that the Giants are exchanging offers with the agent for outfielder Barry Bonds.

Aurilia, 35, played for the Giants from 1995 to 2003. He spent the last two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.

The Seattle Mariners and outfielder Jose Guillen agreed on a one-year, $5.5-million contract.

Guillen was sidelined for much of the 2006 season after reconstructive surgery on his right elbow.

Major League Baseball will pay tribute to the civil rights movement with an exhibition game between St. Louis and Cleveland on March 31 at Memphis, Tenn.

The game will be played at the home of the Cardinals’ triple-A affiliate and will raise money for the National Civil Rights Museum, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Negro Leagues Museum and Memphis charities.

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HOCKEY

Clarke has a new

post with the Flyers

Bob Clarke returned to the Philadelphia Flyers as a senior vice president, more than six weeks after he quit as the team’s general manager because of burnout.

Clarke was Philadelphia’s general manager from 1984 to 1990 and from 1994 until Oct. 22, when he resigned with the Flyers off to a 1-6-1 start. Clarke said he had grown tired of the general manager’s duties and the hours.

The Aquilini Investment Group took full control of the Vancouver Canucks and their arena by approval of the NHL’s board of governors.

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GOLF

Ballesteros to play

in Masters, British Open

Seve Ballesteros said he will compete in the Masters and British Open next year.

Ballesteros, a five-time major winner, said he wants to join the Champions Tour in the United States when he turns 50 in April.

The Spaniard has had chronic back trouble in recent years. He last played in July at the British Open at Hoylake.

The U.S. Golf Assn. announced a multiyear deal that will make American Express its first corporate partner. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

American Express had been the title sponsor of the World Golf Championship the last eight years, a relationship that ended two months ago.

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MOTOR RACING

Company won’t build

Staten Island racetrack

International Speedway Corp., the largest U.S. automobile racetrack operator, said it had ended plans to build a NASCAR track on New York City’s Staten Island because of a lack of political support and unacceptable approval requirements.

International Speedway, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., wanted to build a $550-million, 82,000-seat raceway in the Bloomfield neighborhood of the New York City borough to gain a presence in the country’s top media market.

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MISCELLANY

New Orleans to stage

2007 Arena Bowl

The 2007 Arena Bowl will be played July 29 at the New Orleans Arena, marking the first professional championship in the city since Hurricane Katrina.

Olympic speedskating champion Joey Cheek will receive the inaugural Heisman Humanitarian Award on Dec. 11 in New York for his efforts to help refugees in war-ravaged Darfur.

Cheek donated all of his Turin Olympics performance bonuses -- $40,000 -- to Right to Play, a humanitarian organization.

Los Alamitos stewards suspended jockey Alex Bautista for 30 days after his unexcused absence Nov. 30, when he was scheduled to ride seven horses on the nine-race program.