Sports in Brief | Boston, J.D. Drew finalize five-year pact

The Boston Red Sox and

J.D. Drew

finally resolved their wrangling over a five-year, $70 million contract yesterday, more than seven weeks after agreeing to everything except what to do about the outfielder's surgically repaired right shoulder.

Drew's contract contains language stating the team can opt out of guaranteed money in the event a specified pre-existing injury recurs. Agent Scott Boras and the players' association agreed that if the Red Sox exercise their rights under that language, neither Drew nor the union would contend that the language is unenforceable.

Drew, 31, hit .283 with 100 RBIs for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

Jack Lang, a Hall of Fame baseball writer who, for two decades, called players to tell them they'd been elected to Cooperstown, died yesterday in Huntington, N.Y. He was 85.

The Seattle Mariners signed reliever Arthur Rhodes to a minor-league contract. The 36-year-old lefthander was 0-5 with a 5.32 ERA in 55 games for the Phillies last season. He missed the final three weeks with an injured pitching elbow.

Elsewhere: The Cubs released lefthander Glendon Rusch after his 2006 season was cut short by a blood clot in his lung. . . . Pirates outfielder Jody Gerut, out for most of two seasons with knee problems, accepted a $25,000 pay cut and agreed to an $850,000, one-year deal. . . . Outfielder Darin Erstad and the Chicago White Sox agreed on a $1 million, one-year contract. . . . The Toronto Blue Jays finalized a $1.5 million contract with pitcher Tomo Ohka. . . . Third baseman Morgan Ensberg, shortstop Adam Everett and outfielder Jason Lane agreed to one-year contracts with the Houston Astros. . . . The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms with lefthander Joey Eischen on a minor-league contract. . . . Righthander Aaron Sele agreed to a minor-league contract with the New York Mets. . . . The Mets announced that manager Willie Randolph had received a $5.65 million, three-year contract that runs through 2009. . . . Yankees president Randy Levine and general manager Brian Cashman will head a delegation that travels to Beijing next week for meetings that could lead to Major League Baseball establishing an academy in China.

Major League Soccer announced that the 2007 All-Star Game will be held in Denver on July 19. The game will feature the MLS all-stars against famed Glasgow Celtic.

AC Milan made Real Madrid an offer for Ronaldo, a move that would return the Brazilian soccer star to the city where he spent five years with rival Inter Milan. Ronaldo has six days remaining in the January transfer window to switch teams or stay at Madrid at least until the end of the season.

Top-ranked Germany faces the second-seeded United States in the Four Nations tournament today in Guangzhou, China. The Women's World Cup tune-up also features China and England.

The U.S. ski team's top technician has been sent home from Europe for failing to prepare

Scott Macartney's

skis for a race after a night out.

Brian Burnett was indefinitely removed from the World Cup circuit after failing to get Macartney's skis ready for a super-combined race in Wengen, Switzerland, 12 days ago.

Brian Joubert of France captured his second title at the European Figure Skating Championships in Warsaw, Poland, followed by Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic and Kevin Van Der Perren of Belgium.

Czech ski-jumper Jan Mazoch, who crashed last week at a World Cup event in Zakopane, Poland, was breathing on his own after being brought out of a coma in a hospital in Krakow.

France's anti-doping agency dropped its investigation of Tour de France runner-up

Oscar Pereiro,

saying the Spanish rider provided sufficient justification for use of an asthma medication.

Western Carolina point guard Kyle Greathouse was released from a hospital late Wednesday after spending several hours in critical condition following a car wreck. Greathouse was a passenger in a car that hit a tree and ran into a in Cullowhee, N.C.