Tampa Bay signs David Price for $14 million

Three-time American League All-Star David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a $14-million, one-year contract, the highest single-season salary in franchise history.

The 2012 Cy Young Award winner had been the subject of trade speculation after finishing 10-8 with a 3.33 earned-run average last year while earning $10,112,500. He is eligible for free agency after the 2015 season.

His 2013 season was interrupted by his first stint on the disabled list, caused by a strained triceps.

Veteran infielder John McDonald, 39, agreed to a minor league deal with the Angels that includes an invitation to spring training, the team confirmed.

The well-traveled defensive standout, who has played for eight major league clubs in 15 years, will compete with Andrew Romine for the utility infield job. He will earn $850,000 in base salary plus incentives if he makes the team.

—Mike DiGiovanna

ETC.

Spurrier receives raise, extension

South Carolina football Coach Steve Spurrier received a one-year contract extension and a raise that will pay him $4 million annually.

The university board of trustees approved a $700,000 raise and the extension Thursday. The deal ties Spurrier to the school through 2018. If the 68-year-old coach decides to retire, the trustees voted for a contract clause that would make Spurrier a special assistant to the university president and the athletic director.

Phil Mickelson didn’t have much success with his new driver in the first round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, failing to make a single birdie in a one-over-par 73 to sit six shots behind the leaders in the United Arab Emirates.

Matthew Baldwin of England was tied for the lead with Romain Wattel of France and Rafa Cabrera-Bello after a 67.

The Galaxy chose defender Kyle Venter of the University of New Mexico as the team’s first selection in this year’s Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

Venter, 22, was the 23rd pick overall in the second round of the 76-player SuperDraft held in Philadelphia. The Galaxy has one more pick in the fourth round (72nd overall) that will be held Tuesday.

Chivas USA, meanwhile, chose midfielder Thomas McNamara as its first selection (20th overall). McNamara, 22, spent four years at Brown University and then moved to Clemson University to use his fifth year of eligibility as a graduate student.

—Jim Peltz

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Boston police have been investigating whether jailed former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez may have been the gunman in a 2012 double slaying, according to a search warrant request released Thursday.

Hernandez, who is awaiting trial on murder charges in a 2013 shooting near his home, was seen on surveillance footage in the same nightclub as the victims on the night of the attack in Boston’s South End, authorities have said. But newly released documents in Connecticut confirm for the first time that police suspect Hernandez could have carried out the shooting.

No charges have been filed in the deaths of Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado, who were killed on July 16, 2012, when somebody inside a sport utility vehicle opened fire on their car.

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American hockey goalie Jesse Vetter will have to go to the Olympics without a quote from the U.S. Constitution on her mask.

Vetter’s original design included a reference from the preamble to the Constitution, including the script of the opening words, “We the People.” But International Olympic Committee rules ban any “form of publicity or propaganda, commercial or otherwise,” on uniforms.

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Jose Sulaiman, the longtime head of the World Boxing Council who promoted renowned fighters and introduced rules to protect boxers, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 82.