Pirates finally acquire LaRoche from the Braves

After two months of trying, the Pittsburgh Pirates landed a deal for Atlanta power hitter Adam LaRoche on Wednesday when they agreed to acquire the first baseman for left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez.

The Braves also get shortstop prospect Brent Lillibridge, and the Pirates will receive outfielder Jamie Romak. Both played in Class A last season.

The trade will be announced after physicals are completed, according to a baseball official familiar with the negotiations. LaRoche, 27, hit .285 with 32 homers and 90 RBIs last season.

Gonzalez, who turns 29 in May, should substantially improve a Braves bullpen that blew 29 save chances last season. He was 3-4 with a 2.17 earned-run average last year and was 24 for 24 in save conversions until missing the final five weeks of the season because of a sore left elbow.

New San Diego Padres second baseman Marcus Giles was handcuffed, detained and escorted from Qualcomm Stadium during Sunday’s Chargers playoff game after getting involved in a fight on the stadium’s club level, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Giles does not face charges for the incident.

J.J. Putz cashed in on his breakout debut season as the Seattle Mariners’ closer, agreeing to a $13.1-million, three-year contract.... Left-hander Chris Capuano and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a $3.25 million, one-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration. Capuano, 28, earned $450,000 last season.

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds says he thinks Mark McGwire and Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame.

“I congratulate Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn for their induction to the Hall of Fame because they were great ballplayers,” Bonds said in the Dominican Republic. “But I also think McGwire and Pete Rose should be in Cooperstown.”

McGwire, tarnished after stonewalling Congress two years ago amid steroid accusations, was denied entry last week by the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America. Rose, the career hits leader, was given a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 for betting on the sport.

Retired first baseman Fred McGriff, 43, was hired as a special advisor by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

SOCCER

AC Milan interested

in Ronaldo again

AC Milan is interested in signing Ronaldo from Real Madrid, with Italian media reporting the sides had agreed to a deal worth around $7.7 million a season.

Giuseppe Rossi, a 19-year-old forward eligible to play for the national teams of the U.S. and Italy, was acquired by Parma from Manchester United on a loan for this season.

Preki knows what his boss at Chivas USA expects from his first season as coach.

“He has the ability to take us where we want and in our third year, we’re looking for a championship,” team president Antonio Cue said at a news conference in Carson.

Preki, 43, was hired under a multiyear contract to replace Bob Bradley.

Andre Akpan scored two goals and the U.S. under-20 team defeated Haiti, 4-1, in Panama City, in qualifying for this summer’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

South Florida running

back collapses and dies

South Florida running back Keeley Dorsey collapsed and died after a team conditioning workout in Tampa.

The 19-year-old freshman died at University Community Hospital, the school said.

Record-breaking Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan announced he would return for his senior season.

Former North Carolina State coach Chuck Amato is returning to Florida State as part of Coach Bobby Bowden’s major overhaul of his staff.

Amato, who succeeds Kevin Steele as executive head coach and linebackers coach, spent 18 seasons at Florida State in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Dallas Cowboys assistant coach David Lee left to return to Arkansas as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Lee, with the Cowboys since 2003, coached at Arkansas from 1984 to ’88 and in 2001-02.

Meanwhile, tight end Ben Cleveland has decided to stay at Arkansas. He had considered leaving after offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, his high school coach, and quarterback Mitch Mustain, his high school teammate, left the Razorbacks.

LaVon Chisley, a 23-year-old former Penn State defensive lineman, was arrested and arraigned on charges of first- and third-degree murder in the killing of student Langston Carraway, who was stabbed 93 times last June in Bellefonte, Pa.

MISCELLANY

Allen takes early lead

at Dick Weber Open

Patrick Allen, the 2004-05 PBA player of the year, averaged 251.60 to take the overall lead with a 1,258 five-game pinfall in the Dick Weber Open at Fountain Valley. Andrew Cain, the 2001 U.S. Amateur champion who got his PBA membership last week, was second at 1,243.

PASSINGS

Vanole, U.S. goalkeeper,

from Redondo Beach

David Vanole, a goalkeeper who started for the U.S. at the 1988 Olympics and helped the U.S. qualify for the 1990 World Cup, died. He was 43. Section B.

Ray Mooshagian, who coached high school football in Southern California for 33 years, died Friday in Fresno of an apparent heart attack. He was 76.

Mooshagian coached at Norwalk Glenn, La Mirada Neff and La Mirada and retired in 1990.

Danny Oakes, the king of West Coast midget racing in the 1940s, died at 95. Section B.