Pettitte opts to rejoin Yankees

Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees reached a preliminary agreement Friday on a one-year, $16-million contract, a deal that reunites the two-time All-Star with the team he helped to win four World Series titles.

The deal includes a $16-million player option for 2008, meaning Pettitte is guaranteed $32 million if he exercises the option. His agent, Randy Hendricks, said Pettitte would not exercise the option if he were hurt and unable to play.

Pettitte, who spent the last three seasons with his hometown Houston Astros, must pass a physical for the agreement to be finalized. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman confirmed the preliminary agreement.

“It’s been a brutal several days trying to come to this decision,” Pettitte told a Houston TV station.

“It’s been extremely difficult. That’s really all I can say right now. It’s been an emotional day. It’s been an emotional couple of days.”

When Pettitte left the Yankees after the 2003 season to sign with the Astros, he felt unwanted by New York. This time, he felt unappreciated by Houston.

“We told the Astros we would do the same deal at $14 million,” Hendricks said. “They have been stuck on $12 [million] and essentially said, ‘Take it or leave it.’ ”

Astros General Manager Tim Purpura wouldn’t get into numbers but said Pettitte’s side made a late request for an option year, which was a deal breaker for Houston.

Pettitte was 14-13 with a 4.20 earned-run average last season and joins a Yankees rotation that includes Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson.

Carl Pavano, sidelined by injuries for 1 1/2 seasons, hopes to return next season, and the Yankees also have the rights to sign Japanese left-hander Kei Igawa.

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Mike Piazza finalized his one-year, $8.5-million contract with Oakland, giving the Athletics their new designated hitter.

The 38-year-old Piazza replaces Frank Thomas as DH and probably will bat in the cleanup spot. He will also be the No. 3 catcher behind starter Jason Kendall and Adam Melhuse.

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Third baseman Brandon Inge has agreed to terms on a four-year, $24-million contract with the American League champion Detroit Tigers.

“It’s awesome to get this done because Detroit is the only place I wanted to play,” Inge told the Associated Press.

“This organization stuck by me through tough times and for them to still believe in me when times are good, it’s really gratifying.

“The deal is basically done because the only thing that would hold it up would be a problem with the physical that I took today, but I can’t see that there would be any problem with that.”

Inge was eligible for arbitration and would have been eligible for free agency after next season.

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Reliever Mike MacDougal and the Chicago White Sox agreed to terms on a three-year, $6.45-million contract.

The 29-year-old right-hander was 1-1 with a 1.55 ERA and one save in 29 appearances with Kansas City and the White Sox, who acquired him July 24.

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The San Francisco Giants and reliever Steve Kline agreed to terms on a two-year, $3.5-million contract.

The 34-year-old left-hander went 4-3 with a 3.66 ERA last season, his first with the Giants. Pitching in a number of roles, he made a team-high 72 appearances, 58 of them scoreless.

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Reliever Russ Springer and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to terms on a one-year, $1.75-million contract.

Springer appeared in a career-high 72 games in middle relief with the Astros last season, going 1-1 with a 3.47 ERA. He had been with the Cardinals in 2003.

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First baseman Ken Harvey and the Minnesota Twins agreed to terms on a minor league contract. An All-Star in 2004 with Kansas City, Harvey didn’t play in the majors last season after a bad back limited him to 12 games in 2005.

WINTER SPORTS

Rohbock sets mark in bobsled victory

American Shauna Rohbock had never won as a driver in a World Cup women’s bobsled race until this season.

After two races, she has two World Cup gold medals. Rohbock and brakeman Valerie Fleming won for the second consecutive week, setting a track record at Utah Olympic Park.

Rohbock also won the season opener last week in Calgary, and she and Fleming will go for a North American sweep next week in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Rohbock and Fleming, who won the silver medal at the Turin Olympics, won by nearly half a second. Their second run of 48.73 seconds was the fastest for women’s bobsled on the track, breaking the record of 48.81 that Americans Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers set while winning gold in the 2002 Olympics.

Germany’s Cathleen Martini and brakeman Janine Tischer were second (1:38.01), followed by Canadians Helen Upperton and Jennifer Ciochetti.

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Ole Einar Bjorndalen posted his eighth consecutive World Cup biathlon victory after shooting perfectly and winning a 10-kilometer race at Hochfilzen, Austria.

The 32-year-old Norwegian won his 67th World Cup title in 26 minutes 27.9 seconds, beating Michael Greis, who missed one target, by 39.2 seconds. Matthias Simmen was third, 46.5 seconds back.

Andrea Henkel clinched her fifth World Cup victory, shooting perfectly to win the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint.

She won in 24 minutes 22.6 seconds -- 30.6 seconds ahead of Magdalena Gwizdon, who also shot perfectly. Yingchao Kong, who led until the last lap, was 37.4 seconds back in third place.

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Alpine skier Stephan Goergl will sit out the rest of the World Cup season after damaging his right knee during super-G training in Zauchensee, Austria.

Goergl, 28, underwent surgery at the University Clinic of Innsbruck after he ruptured ligaments when he crashed.

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

UCLA women reach NCAA quarterfinals

Fourth-seeded UCLA defeated Oklahoma, 30-22, 30-16, 30-26, at Honolulu in the third round of the NCAA Division I women’s tournament.

Nana Meriwether had 17 kills to lead the Bruins (32-3), who will play the winner of a late match between fifth-seeded USC (27-4) and 12th-seeded Hawaii (28-5) today in the quarterfinals.

Ali Daley had 11 kills and Kaitlin Sather 10 for UCLA.

GOLF

U.S. is eight shots behind Argentina

Stewart Cink and J.J. Henry face a big weekend challenge if they’re to claim the 24th World Cup title for the United States.

They shot a two-over-par 73 at St. James, Barbados, falling to three under for the tournament -- eight shots behind Argentina’s team of Andres Romero and Angel Cabrera.

Cink and Henry capped the foursomes, or alternate-shot, round by making four bogeys in the final seven holes, including consecutive ones on Nos. 17 and 18.

Seeking their nation’s first win in the event since its start in 1953, Romero and Cabrera extended their streak of bogey-free holes to 35. They shot 67 and are at 131.

Scotland’s team of Colin Montgomerie -- playing World Cup for the first time since 1999 -- and Marc Warren had four birdies in a five-hole span on the front to move up, before closing with a bogey at the par-three 18th and settling for a 67. They are in a three-way tie for second with Sweden (70) and Germany (69).

PASSINGS

Former Giants shortstop Uribe, 47

Former San Francisco Giants shortstop Jose Uribe was killed early Friday morning in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic. He was 47.

The Dominican National Police said Uribe’s sport utility vehicle crashed on a highway about 30 miles west of the capital, Santo Domingo. Police said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Uribe played in the major leagues from 1984 to ‘93, mostly with the Giants. He had a career batting average of .241 and a fielding percentage of .969.

His death prompted an outpouring of grief in his hometown, where Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero led thousands of mourners through the streets.