Adrian Beltre, Rangers nearing a deal

All-Star third baseman Adrian Beltre and the American League champion Texas Rangers are nearing agreement on a contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

“We’ve still got some central issues to resolve. Not done yet,” the person said, without getting into specifics.

Beltre became a free agent after turning down a $10-million player option to stay with Boston.

The Angels were among the teams pursuing Beltre this off-season.

A two-time Gold Glove winner, Beltre hit .321 with 49 doubles, 28 homers and 102 RBIs in 154 games in his only season with the Red Sox. He was an All-Star for the first time in his 13-season career.

The Rangers were spurned in their attempt this off-season to keep Cliff Lee, even after offering the ace left-hander $138 million over six years. Lee instead returned to Philadelphia.

Beltre, who will turn 32 the first week of the regular season, is a .275 hitter in 1,835 career games for the Dodgers (1998-04), Seattle (2005-09) and Boston.

The Dodgers signed Beltre as a 15-year-old in 1994, and he made his major league debut with the team four years later. After hitting .334 with 48 homers and 121 RBIs in his final season with the Dodgers in 2004, Beltre went to the Mariners.

The Baltimore Orioles have agreed to a $10-million, two-year contract with right-handed reliever Kevin Gregg, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press.

The deal is subject to Gregg passing a physical, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not yet final.

The 32-year-old Gregg went 2-6 with a 3.51 earned-run average and 37 saves with the Toronto Blue Jays last season. He is expected to compete with Koji Uehara for the job as Baltimore’s closer.

Miguel Olivo and the Seattle Mariners have completed their $7-million, two-year contract, bringing the catcher back to the Pacific Northwest.

Seattle also has agreed to a $2.75-million, two-year contract with shortstop Brendan Ryan, acquired last month in a trade with St. Louis. In a deal that avoids arbitration, Ryan gets $1 million this season and $1.75 million in 2012.

Rodriguez may learn fate at Michigan on Wednesday

Michigan and Rich Rodriguez will meet again Wednesday to discuss the embattled football coach’s future, the Associated Press reported.

A person familiar with the situation told the AP that Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon had not decided whether to fire Rodriguez, who has compiled a 15-22 record with college football’s winningest program.

Defensive back James Rogers said a Tuesday night players meeting was postponed until Wednesday afternoon; Rodriguez traditionally holds the meeting the night before classes resume each semester.

Michigan officials declined to comment amid reports that Rodriguez had already been fired.

“The definitive voice on this matter is Dave Brandon, and he has not and will not speak publicly until a final decision has been made,” associate athletic director Dave Ablauf said in a statement.

If Rodriguez is fired, Michigan would owe him $2.5 million to buy out the final three years of his contract.

Potential candidates to replace him include Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh, a former Wolverines quarterback, and San Diego State Coach and former Wolverines assistant Brady Hoke.

Michigan won its first five games, but lost six of the last eight. The season was also marred by NCAA violations tied to practices and workouts that led to three years of probation, one of the nation’s worst defenses and a pair of kickers who missed 10 of 14 field goals.

Texas has hired Alabama defensive line coach Bo Davis to coach the Longhorns’ defensive tackles. The move is the second hire on coach Mack Brown’s depleted staff after the Longhorns went 5-7 in 2010, their first losing season in 13 years.

Brigham Young Coach Bronco Mendenhall promoted quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman to offensive coordinator and picked graduate assistant Kelly Poppinga as outside linebackers coach.

Doman replaces Robert Anae, a member of BYU’s 1984 national championship team, who resigned last week under pressure.

Miami cornerback Brandon Harris will skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Harris is projected as a late first-round prospect.

Mavericks’ Butler has knee surgery, is likely out for season

Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn tendon in his right knee, and probably will miss the rest of the season.

It’s a big blow for Dallas and Butler, who is eligible for free agency this summer. The Mavericks were second in the Western Conference at 25-8 entering Tuesday night’s game against Portland.

Butler is Dallas’ third-leading scorer, averaging 14 points and 4.1 rebounds in almost 30 minutes per game. The Mavericks have relied on him to draw defenses from leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki.

Nowitzki missed his fifth straight game Tuesday with a sprained right knee. He is day to day.

Crosby is tops in NHL All-Star voting

Sidney Crosby is the top vote-getter for the NHL All-Star game.

The NHL also announced leading vote-getters Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The rest of the 42 All-Stars will be revealed on Jan. 11. They will nominate captains and alternates, who will then choose teams in a draft on Jan. 28.

The All-Star game is Jan. 30 in Raleigh, N.C.

The Penguins’ Crosby received 635,509 total votes, Toews got 407,676 and Malkin received 376,887. Pittsburgh’s Letang, a write-in candidate, was the top defenseman, with 477,960 votes. His teammate Fleury led goalies with 426,305.

ESPN fires Franklin after his comments on female colleague

ESPN fired announcer Ron Franklin after he reportedly berated a female colleague. The network had pulled him from its radio coverage of Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl, and Franklin issued a public apology Monday.

Sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards wrote in an e-mail to USA Today in response to Internet reports Monday that Franklin called her “sweet baby” in a condescending tone Friday. When she objected, he used a derogatory term. Edwards said a colleague reported the incident to ESPN officials.

Franklin had worked for ESPN since 1987, calling primarily college football and basketball. He focused on the Big 12 in recent years.

Emelianenko to headline Feb. 12 fight card

Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko has agreed to a contract extension with the mixed-martial-arts organization Strikeforce and will anchor an eight-fighter heavyweight tournament that will begin Feb. 12 on Showtime.

Emelianenko (31-2), considered the world’s top MMA fighter before an upset loss in June to Fabricio Werdum, will fight Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will fight Sergei Kharitonov on the card in East Rutherford, N.J.

The remaining quarterfinal matches will be between Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem and Werdum and Brett Rogers and Josh Barnett, possibly in April, a Showtime official said.

— Lance Pugmire

Ultimate Fighting Championship owner Lorenzo Fertitta confirmed reports that welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre of Canada will defend his belt April 30 against Jake Shields at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays and the largest venue yet for a UFC card. The card will include a battle of former light-heavyweight champions, Lyoto Machida versus Randy Couture.

St-Pierre dominated Josh Koscheck in December en route to a unanimous decision in Canada. Shields, a former champion for rival fighting organization Strikeforce, won a narrow decision over Martin Kampmann in October in Anaheim.

— Lance Pugmire

Federer does it again

Roger Federer added to his repertoire of through-the-legs winners on his way to beating Dutch qualifier Thomas Schoorel, 7-6 (3), 6-3, at the Qatar Open in his first official match of the season.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal also advanced, beating Karol Beck, 6-3, 6-0.

After a sluggish first set, the No. 2-ranked Federer hit his stride in the second. Leading 5-2 and faced with a ball that changed direction after clipping the top of the net, he flicked it through his legs for a clean winner into the corner.

“It’s one of the best shots again of my career, one I’m going to look back on and smile, of course,” Federer said. “It was quite fantastic.”

Novak Djokovic defeated Lleyton Hewitt, 6-2, 6-4, to help Serbia remain unbeaten at the Hopman Cup at Perth, Australia, with a 2-0 victory over Australia.

Ana Ivanovic stopped Alicia Molik, 6-4, 6-0, to win the first point for Serbia despite appearing to hyperextend her left knee in the second set. Djokovic and Ivanovic later combined to win the doubles 6-7 (5), 6-4 (10-6 tiebreaker).

Also, seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin beat Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-4, 6-3, to help Belgium sweep Kazakhstan.

Merriman wins case against Laettner and Davis

Buffalo Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman was awarded $3.7 million from two former Duke basketball stars after a federal judge ruled in his favor in a loan dispute.

A federal court judge in Maryland last month ordered Christian Laettner and Brian Davis to pay Merriman.

According to court documents, Merriman said he loaned Laettner and Davis $3 million for their real estate business in 2007, but the two failed to pay back all the money and interest as required to in 2009. Laettner and Davis claimed in court documents there were problems with the agreement.

Attorney Daniel Shea said his two clients were “very disappointed” and might appeal.