BASEBALL: Mulder returns to Cardinals
Mark Mulder is staying with the Cardinals, agreeing yesterday to $13 million, two-year contract. The 29-year-old left-hander, recovering from rotator cuff surgery, is expected to miss the first half of next season.
* The Reds obtained infielder Jeff Keppinger from the Royals for minor league pitcher Russ Haltiwanger. The 26-year-old Keppinger was traded by the Mets to the Royals last July 19.
* Relief pitcher Tim Worrell retired yesterday after a 14-year career that ended with the Giants . . . Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis pleaded not guilty to drunken driving in Miami Beach.
NFL: Tagliabue on Hall of Fame ballot
Recently retired NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and former Buffalo star running back Thurman Thomas were among 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2007.
Among the other notables on the list are wide receivers Art Monk and Michael Irvin, linemen Bob Kuechenberg and Russ Grimm and punter Ray Guy. To be elected, a finalist must receive a minimum of 80 percent of the total votes by the panel of media members. The panel will vote on Feb. 3, the day before the Super Bowl.
* Members of the Broncos have offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of a suspect or suspects involved in the killing of teammate Darrent Williams.
COLLEGE: LSU QB declares for draft
LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell said he’ll skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft. Also leaving early is Dwayne Jarrett, the leading receiver in Southern Cal history, and Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson.
STEROIDS: Reporters make appeal
Lawyers for the San Francisco Chronicle urged a federal appeals court to toss out a jail sentence imposed on two reporters refusing to testify about who leaked them secret grand jury testimony from a steroids investigation.
In a court filing, the lawyers asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court’s ruling that reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams should be imprisoned for up to 18 months for not revealing the source of the transcripts. The appeals court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 12.