Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BASEBALL Harrison, Rangers finalize deal

Matt Harrison has gone from a pitcher the Texas Rangers left off their postseason roster to one they believe can become one of the league’s best left-handers. The Rangers finalized a $55 million, five-year contract with the All-Star lefty Thursday. The deal includes a 2018 club option that could become guaranteed depending on the number of innings Harrison pitches. Harrison was 18-11 with a 3.29 ERA and 4 complete games in 32 starts last year, and his 3.10 ERA in 18 road starts was the lowest in the American League. Over the past two seasons, since being left off the Rangers postseason roster in 2010, he is 32-20 while throwing 399 innings.

Frederick Talbot, who pitched in the American League for eight seasons, has died. He was 71. Talbot pitched from 1963-1970 for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics and Seattle Pilots. He compiled a career record of 38-56, pitching mostly as a starter. His career ERA was 4.12. Talbot died at home in Falls Church, Va., on Jan. 11 after a long illness, according to his sister-in-law, Fredda Kushner of Sterling.

The NL East champion Washington Nationals have signed righthanded reliever Rafael Soriano to a $28 million, two-year contract that includes $14 million in deferred money. Soriano, who is 33, joins a Nationals bullpen that already includes righties Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard. Both closed games for Washington last season. A onetime All-Star, Soriano had 42 saves and a 2.26 ERA for the AL East champion New York Yankees last year while filling in for injured closer Mariano Rivera, who plans to return from a knee injury in 2013.

Outfielder Will Venable and the San Diego Padres have avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $2,675,000, a raise of $1.2 million. The 30-yearold hit .264 last year with 9 home runs and 45 RBI.

Reliever Joba Chamberlain and the New York Yankees haveagreed to a one-year contract worth $1,875,000, avoiding salary arbitration. Chamberlain returned Aug. 1 after being sidelined for 14 months by elbow and ankle injuries. The 27-year-old right-hander went 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in 22 games, striking out22 in 20 2/3 innings.

BASKETBALL Director’s actions not criminal

A review of the NBA’s players’ association found that ExecutiveDirector Billy Hunter did nothing illegal with union funds, but enough wrong that players should consider whether he should remain in his position. The report revealed that Hunter’s current contract was never properly approved and he failed to disclose that information to the NBPA’s executive committee or player representatives. The eight-month review by the firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP was released Thursday. It states that Hunter’s actions were “inconsistent” with his financial obligations to the union, “displayed poor judgment, and paid little attention to the appearance of impropriety.” It adds that “his conduct could foreseeably create and did not properly manage conflicts of interest.” The report is also critical of Hunter’s practices of hiring family members, and of misusing union funds for gifts and travel. It urges players to discuss Hunter’s position at their meetings next month during All-Star weekend. Because his contract, signed in 2010 and to run through either 2015 or 2017, was never properly approved, the report finds that players are under no obligation to keep him. If they do, they can either keep him under the current terms or may wish to hire independent counsel to negotiate new terms. The review was sought in part by Derek Fisher (Little Rock Parkview, UALR), the union president who clashed with Hunter during and after the NBA lockout that lasted from July through November 2011. The union either employed or worked with many people who had ties to Hunter, who hired his daughter and nephew, permitted a daughter-in-law to remain on staff, and sought to do business with a banking firm that employed his son. BOXING

Broken hand delays bout

Yoan Pablo Hernandez has called off his IBF cruiserweight title defense against Eric Fields of the United States after breaking his left hand while sparring. The Cubanborn champion was scheduled to fight Fields in Berlin on Feb. 2. Hernandez’s management says no new date for the fight has been set.

FOOTBALL Leaf kicked out of drug treatment center

HELENA, Mont. - Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf has been moved from a drug treatment center to the Montana State Prison for threatening a staff member and violating his treatment plan, a corrections official said Thursday.

The former San Diego Chargers and Washington State quarterback was charged last spring with breaking into two houses and stealing prescription painkillers near his hometown of Great Falls. He pleaded guilty in May to burglary and criminal possession of dangerous drugs, and his fiveyear sentence called for spending nine months in a locked drug treatment facility as an alternative to prison.

Leaf said then that he was looking forward to the treatment at Nexus Treatment Center in Lewistown. But on Thursday, the Montana Department of Corrections released a statement by Great Falls regional probation and parole administrator Dawn Handa that said Leaf will now serve his sentence in the Deer Lodge prison.

Adult Community Corrections Division Director Pam Bunke wrote that Leaf was too great a security risk to leave in a community setting, and that staff had exhausted all resources in keeping him there.

Leaf told his roommate at the treatment center that he wanted to drag a program staffer by his hair, according to the Department of Corrections document approving Leaf’s transfer to prison.

Leaf also wrote in three “Thinking Error Reports” that he wantedto throw the staffer against the wall and smash his glass into the man’s head.

Thinking Error Reports are part of the treatment program meant to help participants monitor their potential problems and help them recognize and cope with the source of their addiction, according to an agency description.

Leaf was moved out of the Lewistown center Dec. 29. He was held in the Fergus County Jail until he was transported to the Deer Lodge prison Wednesday, Corrections spokesman Bob Anez said.

A disciplinary hearing was held Jan. 9 in which a hearings officer found Leaf guilty of threatening another person or his possessions, according to a summary by the Department of Corrections.

He also was found guilty of wearing clothes he was told not to wear and volunteering his services when directed not to, according to the summary.

Those may seem to be minor charges, but it represented the fourth therapeutic action plan given to Leaf to try to bring him into compliance, the report said.

When Leaf was served papers for the hearing, he was “less than cooperative,” according to the report.

“He got angry, swore at staff, refused to sign off on the witness form and threw the hearing notification papers on the floor,” the report said.

Leaf will remain in the state prison until at least June 30, when he becomes eligible for parole, Anez said. That does not mean he will be released, but he will receive a hearing before the state Board of Pardons and Parole.