Baseball
NEW DEAL FOR HELTON: After flirting with .400 last season, Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton is in exclusive company again: the top-paid players in baseball.
Helton has agreed to a new contract worth $151 million over 11 years, the fourth-largest deal in sports history.
Helton, 27, was a first-round amateur draft pick in 1995 and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting in 1998.
He hit .320 with 35 homers and 113 RBIs in 1999, and was voted the Associated Press Major League Player of the Year last season after hitting .372 with 42 home runs and 147 RBIs.
YANKEES TRADE: Overflowing with outfielders, the New York Yankees traded Glenallen Hill to the Anaheim Angels.
In exchange, the Yankees get Double-A outfielder Darren Blakely from the Angels.
The trade drops the Yankees' projected opening-day payroll under $109 million, which probably will be below both the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees led the major leagues last year with a $113 million payroll.
CANSECO RELEASED: Jose Canseco, who signed a minor-league contract with the Anaheim Angels in January, was released.
Drafted by Oakland in the 15th round in June 1982, Canseco has a .266 lifetime average, with 1,140 runs scored, 446 home runs and 1,358 RBI in 1,811 games.
PITCHER DEALT: The Oakland Athletics traded pitcher Omar Olivares to the pitching-depleted Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named.
Olivares is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $4 million this year. The A's will pay about half of Olivares' salary.
Basketball
KARL GETS RICHER: George Karl became the highest-paid coach in professional sports and a part-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Terms weren't revealed, but a source with knowledge of the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity said the two-year extension is worth $14 million and also includes a small slice — believed to be 1 to 2 percent — of the franchise that is valued at $125 million.
Karl, who turns 50 in May, is committed to the Bucks through the 2003-04 season.
HALL OF FAMERS: Final Four coaches Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Lute Olson of Arizona are on the short list for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Krzyzewski and Olson were among 17 finalists — seven players, seven coaches and three contributors. The inductees will be voted into the hall in May and enshrined Oct. 5.
Other coaches among the finalists are Larry Brown, Temple's John Chaney and Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian, who won an NCAA championship at UNLV.
Among the players were Moses Malone, who skipped college to play 21 years in the ABA and NBA; James Worthy, one of the game's greatest fastbreak finishers; scoring star Adrian Dantley; and defensive ace Bobby Jones.
AMAKER TO MICHIGAN: Tommy Amaker has resigned as basketball coach at Seton Hall to rebuild the program at Michigan.
Amaker will replace Brian Ellerbe, who was fired two weeks ago after posting a 62-60 record in four seasons, including a 25-9 mark his first year. The Wolverines were 12-19, 15-14 and 10-18 the past three seasons and didn't finish better than eighth in the Big Ten.
Football
RAMS TRADE CARTER: Defensive end Kevin Carter, an All-Pro two years ago but a big disappointment last season, was traded by the St. Louis Rams to the Tennessee Titans.
He was dealt for a first-round pick, the 29th selection overall, in the April 21 draft, Rams coach Mike Martz said. St. Louis already held the 20th selection in the opening round.
The 27-year-old Carter was the first player drafted by the Rams after the team moved to St. Louis in 1995. He led the NFL in sacks in 1999 with 17 and has 39 1/2 sacks during the past three seasons.
BROWN FILES LAWSUIT: Orlando Brown filed a $200 million lawsuit against the NFL, claiming his career was ended by eye injuries sustained from a penalty flag thrown by a referee.
A starting offensive tackle for most of his seven-year NFL career, Brown was with Cleveland when he was injured. In a Dec. 19, 1999, game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, referee Jeff Triplette threw his penalty flag and it hit Brown's right eye.
Brown never played again and was cut by the Browns in September 2000. But he was paid for the first three games of the season.
Hockey
LINDROS WON'T PLAY: Eric Lindros won't be playing at the World Hockey Championship.
The forward, who's been sidelined the entire NHL season, turned down an invitation to play for Canada in next month's tournament in Germany.
Tennis
ERICCSON OPEN: Fourth-seeded Jennifer Capriati beat an injured Serena Williams 6-1, 7-6 (5) to advance to the semifinals of the Ericsson Open.
While Williams played through her injury. Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport retired with a bone bruise in her right knee several hours later while trailing No. 7 Elena Dementieva 6-3, 1-0.
Injury also played a role in the elimination of Andy Roddick, whose breakthrough run ended with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to No. 7 Lleyton Hewitt.
Roddick played with a sore hand caused by fatigue from playing so much tennis recently.
Hewitt's opponent in the semifinals Friday will be Jan-Michael Gambill, who survived a match point in the second set to beat Gaston Gaudio 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Swimming
WORLD RECORD: Ed Moses clipped .07 seconds off the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke at the USA Swimming National Championships.
Moses' time of 1 minute, 0.29 seconds erased Roman Sloudnov's old mark, set last June at the Russian Olympic trials.