ESPN to replace Jon Miller and Joe Morgan

ESPN is shaking up its “Sunday Night Baseball” team of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan after 21 years.

Norby Williamson, an executive vice president at ESPN, said in a statement that “Jon and Joe have contributed greatly to the success of ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ for the past 21 seasons … we owe them our deepest thanks for an outstanding body of work.”

Miller, 59, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July, has been offered the chance to be the ESPN radio voice of those Sunday games. It is expected that Dan Shulman, 43, will take over as the play-by-play voice of “Sunday Night Baseball,” with former Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser taking Morgan’s place as lead analyst. Hershiser was added to the booth last season.

—Diane Pucin

Former Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta is joining Sandy Alderson in the New York Mets’ front office.

DePodesta was hired as vice president of player development and scouting, the Mets said.

The Oakland Athletics have won bidding for negotiating rights to Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma.

The Athletics’ bid was accepted by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League under the bidding treaty between Major League Baseball and the Japanese commissioner’s office, MLB said.

ETC.

NASCAR shakeup

Four-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson had a major shakeup to his race team when Hendrick Motorsports gave him teammate Jeff Gordon’s pit crew for the final two races of the season.

The swap came a day after Johnson’s crew was benched mid-race at Texas Motor Speedway after a shaky performance on pit road. The switch Sunday was made possible after an accident knocked Gordon out of the race.

Gordon’s crew was flawless the rest of the day for Johnson, but he still finished ninth and winner Denny Hamlin took over the points lead.

Reserve Brandon Paul scored all of his 18 points on three-pointers to lead No. 13 Illinois to a 79-65 season-opening win over UC Irvine in the opening round of the 2K Sports Classic at Champaign, Ill.

Darren Moore led the Anteaters with 18 points.

Brad Wanamaker scored 24 pointsAshton Gibbs and No. 5 Pittsburgh survived an upset scare, rallying from eight points down to beat Rhode Island, 83-75, at Pittsburgh.

Alberto Contador, the Spaniard who in July won his third Tour de France, will be formally investigated for doping, said a statement from the International Cycling Union (UCI).

Contador failed a test for a banned anabolic agent, clenbuterol, in a sample taken during the race ahead of a crucial stage in the Pyrenees. The 27-year-old cyclist has said he must have ingested tainted meat for the test to have been positive.

His case is now in the hands of the Spanish cycling federation. According to UCI rules, it is up to national federations to investigate doping cases and impose penalties. If found guilty, Contador could face a two-year suspension and be stripped of his Tour title.

Jacinto Vidarte, a spokesman for Contador, said in a statement: “If this is the news, then it means we’re on the way to resolving this issue.”

—Diane Pucin