Sports in Brief: After 200 wins, Wakefield retires

Righthander Tim Wakefield retired Friday after pitching the last 17 seasons for the Red Sox. The 45-year-old knuckleballer made the announcement at JetBlue Park, Boston's spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla.

After two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the righthander signed as a minor-league free agent in April 1995. He was 186-168 with a 4.43 ERA with the Red Sox. Only Roger Clemens and Cy Young had more wins (192) with the team.

Wakefield is first in team history with 3,006 innings and 430 starts, and second in games and strikeouts. For his career, Wakefield was 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA He was 7-8 with a 5.12 ERA last season in 23 starts and 10 relief appearances.

The Yankees agreed to trade much-maligned pitcher A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh for two minor leaguers, a deal that clears the way for New York to add former Phillie Raul Ibanez. Pittsburgh will pay $13 million of the $33 million salary due Burnett for 2012 and 2013, a source told AP. New York will receive righthander Diego Moreno, 25, and outfielder Exicardo Cayones, 20, both low-level prospects.

The Oakland Athletics still have strong interest in signing 39-year-old slugger Manny Ramirez, who presents a low-risk investment for the rebuilding franchise. If things come together, Ramirez must first serve a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy before he could play.

 NFL: Former Oakland Raiders coach Hue Jackson has been hired as an assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals. On the staff with Cincinnati in 2004-06, Jackson will help with the secondary and special teams. Jackson was fired after the Raiders missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record last season.

COLLEGES: The Texas Supreme Court denied former Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach's appeal in his wrongful-termination lawsuit. The court rejected Leach's appeal without comment more than two years after he was fired by Texas Tech amid allegations he mistreated a player.

Leach, who denied the allegation and later sued the school, has said he suspects an $800,000 bonus he was due the day after his firing was behind his dismissal. He was recently hired as the coach at Washington State.

AUTO RACING: NASCAR confiscated part of five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson's Daytona 500 car because of what it called illegal modifications.

BOXING: Challenger Dereck Chisora slapped WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko during the "stare-down" part of their weigh-in for Saturday's title fight in Munich, Germany.

- Wire reports