Hideki Matsui, Oakland A’s finalize $4.25-million contract

The Oakland Athletics and free-agent slugger Hideki Matsui finalized a $4.25-million, one-year contract Tuesday after he passed a physical. The sides had agreed to terms during the weekend. Matsui can earn an additional $100,000 in bonuses.

Oakland introduced Matsui on Tuesday afternoon in a news conference attended by more than 100 media members. Matsui provides a reliable bat in the middle of the order that General Manager Billy Beane was seeking this off-season.

The 36-year-old Matsui batted .274 with 21 home runs and 84 runs batted in last season with the Angels. He spent his first seven major league seasons with the New York Yankees.

Mariano Rivera and the Yankees have finalized their $30-million, two-year contract.

The 41-year-old closer receives $15 million in each of the next two seasons, with $1.5 million each year deferred with no interest. The deferred money will be paid in $1 million annual installments starting in 2013.

Rivera was 3-3 with a 1.80 ERA and 33 saves in 38 chances this year. The 11-time All-Star has 559 regular-season career saves, second to Trevor Hoffman’s 601, and a record 42 in the postseason.

The Cincinnati Reds reached agreement with outfielder Jay Bruce on a six-year contract through the 2016 season with a club option for 2017. The deal is worth $51 million.

The 23-year-old Bruce established himself last season as one of the NL’s premier right fielders while helping the Reds win the NL Central title. He hit .281 with 25 home runs and 70 RBIs in 148 games.

Free-agent first baseman Lyle Overbay reached a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, returning to the NL after five seasons with Toronto.

The 34-year-old Overbay hit 20 home runs and 37 doubles last year with the Blue Jays. He batted .243 with 67 RBIs.

Overbay made 150 starts at first base last season and led AL fielders at the position in assists and double plays, and ranked second in total chances.

Pinch-hitter Matt Stairs has agreed to a non-guaranteed minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.

Washington said Stairs will be invited to the team’s major league spring training camp. He turns 43 in February.

Stairs holds the career record with 23 pinch-hit homers, 15 more than any other active player. He has played for 12 big league teams and homered for 11, both tied for the career record. In 18 major league seasons, he has a .264 batting average, 265 homers and 897 RBIs.

With the San Diego Padres last season, Stairs hit .232 with six homers and 16 RBIs in 99 at-bats. His four pinch-hit homers tied for the lead in the majors.

Tennis: Nadal, Wozniacki honored as year’s top players

Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki were named ITF World Champions for 2010. Nadal, who won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, won the award given by the International Tennis Federation for the second time.

Wozniacki, a Dane who won six tour titles this year to take the No. 1 ranking but failed to reach a Grand Slam final, won for the first time.

In doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan won the men’s award; Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta won the women’s.

Tennis great Martina Hingis has married French equestrian Thibault Hutin during a private ceremony in Paris.

Several Swiss magazines reported that the wedding ceremony was held last Friday in the presence of the couple’s close friends and family.

Hingis, 30, won five Grand Slam singles titles before retiring in 2007, when she was suspended for two years for testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon.

Swimming: Beard memoir will recount ‘harrowing journey’

Gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard wants to set an example outside the water, as well as in it.

Touchstone announced Tuesday that Beard is working on a memoir that will tell of her life away from the pool, a “harrowing journey” through drugs, alcohol and eating disorders.

The 29-year-old Beard won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.

Beard says she hopes her memoir “will help others, especially high school and college-aged women, who may be dealing with some of the same issues.”

“In the Water They Can’t See You Cry” will be released in April 2012.