BASEBALL Pirates sign Jose Mesa to minor league deal

The Tigers are on the verge of signing catcher Ivan Rodriguez.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PITTSBURGH -- Jose Mesa, who lost his closer's job with the Phillies late last season after struggling to retire batters with men on base, agreed Thursday to a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The right-handed Mesa, eighth among active pitchers with 249 career saves, likely will compete with another non-roster pitcher -- Juan Acevedo -- to be the Pirates' closer.
Mesa and Acevedo combined for 73 saves in 2002, with Mesa getting 45 for the Phillies and Acevedo 28 for the Tigers. Both are coming off poor 2003 seasons.
Mesa converted 24 of 28 save opportunities last season, but was replaced by a closer-by-committee situation in September as the Marlins overhauled the Phillies for the NL wild card.
Tigers
NEW YORK -- Ivan Rodriguez's contract could be terminated after the 2005 season if he gets a spine injury in his lower back that lands him on the disabled list for five weeks or more.
The 10-time All-Star catcher does not currently have any injuries, but the provision would protect the Tigers if one occurs.
On the verge of agreeing to a guaranteed $40 million, four-year contract with the Tigers, Rodriguez was in Texas on Thursday to be examined by Dr. Andrew Dossett, the Rangers' spine consultant.
Dodgers
LOS ANGELES -- Six years after going corporate, the Dodgers are back to being family owned.
The $430 million sale of the Dodgers from News Corp. to Frank McCourt was unanimously approved by baseball owners.
The O'Malley family controlled the Dodgers for nearly 48 years before selling to News Corp. in March 1998.
Mariners
SEATTLE -- Former closer Kazuhiro Sasaki cleared waivers Thursday and was released. Yung-Chi Chen, a middle infielder from Taiwan, agreed Thursday to a minor league contract. Chen, 20, is the second Taiwanese player to sign with the Mariners, following Chao-Kuan Wu.
Yankees
TAMPA, Fla. -- Jon Lieber threw 50 pitches in the bullpen Thursday during his first early spring training workout at the Yankees minor league complex. He started throwing off a mound last month. The right-hander did not pitch in the majors last season after reconstructive elbow surgery in August 2002.
Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The contract of right-hander Carlos Almanzar was purchased from Triple-A Oklahoma Thursday and infielder Mike Lamb was designated for assignment.
The Rangers also hired Keith Boeck as a scout. Boeck spent the last 12 years in the Cleveland organization.
Marlins
MIAMI -- Florida is pursuing free agent Wil Cordero as a reserve first baseman and outfielder. Cordero hit .278 in 130 games last season for Montreal with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs. Florida also finalized its $750,000, one-year contract with left-hander Darren Oliver, who could earn another $250,000 in performance bonuses. He went 13-11 with a 5.04 ERA for the Colorado Rockies last season.