BASEBALL

Yelich heads to Brewers as Marlins’ moves continue

Miami Marlins center fielder Christian Yelich was traded Thursday to the Milwaukee Brewers for four prospects, including highly regarded outfielder Lewis Brinson.

Yelich became the fourth starter traded by the Marlins as they reduce payroll and rebuild a weak farm system under a new CEO, Derek Jeter. The Marlins earlier dealt away major league home run champion Giancarlo Stanton, stolen base champ Dee Gordon and All-Star left fielder Marcell Ozuna.

In the wake of the earlier deals, Yelich had said he preferred to play elsewhere this year rather than be part of a Marlins rebuilding effort.

He’ll make $7 million this season in the third year of a $49.57 million, seven-year contract.

Yelich, batted .282 with 18 homers and 81 RBI last year. Miami also acquired infielder Isan Diaz, outfielder Monte Harrison and right-handed pitcher Jordan Yamamoto.

Later, reports surfaced that the Brewers also signed free-agent outfielder Lorenzo Cain to a five-year, $80 million contract. The team would not confirm that report because Cain has to pass a physical examination first.

HALL OF FAME: Vladimir Guerrero said he’ll become the first player to wear an Angels hat on his Hall of Fame plaque despite spending more time in Montreal.

BASKETBALL

NBA: LeBron James got Kevin Durant and reunited with Kyrie Irving in the NBA’s first All-Star draft. Stephen Curry picked James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s top scorers, and grabbed two other Golden State teammates – Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

James also took Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins of New Orleans. His reserves are Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, Cleveland teammate Kevin Love, Washington guards John Wall and Bradley Beal, LaMarcus Aldridge of San Antonio, Victor Oladipo of Indiana and Kristaps Porzingis of New York.

After taking starters Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and DeMar DeRozan of Toronto, Curry rounded out his roster with Thompson and Green, plus Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns of Minnesota, Kyle Lowry of Toronto, Damian Lillard of Portland and Al Horford of Boston.

• Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum of the Celtics were named to the Rising Star team that will meet the World team during All-Star weekend.

• De’Aaron Fox’s rebound dunk with three seconds left capped a huge comeback by the visiting Sacramento Kings, who rallied from a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Miami Heat, 89-88 on Thursday night.

SOCCER

PREMIER LEAGUE: Jose Mourinho, the manager, had his contract extended by Manchester United, tying him to the club until at least 2020.

Mourinho was hired in 2016 on a three-year deal with the option of an extra 12 months. In his first year in charge, he won the League Cup and the Europa League.

SPANISH LEAGUE: First-half goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez guided Barcelona to a 2-0 victory over city rival Espanyol, keeping alive the team’s hopes of a fourth consecutive Copa del Rey title.

The other teams in the semifinals are Sevilla, Valencia and Leganes, which on Wednesday stunned Real Madrid on the road.

OLYMPICS

MEN’S HOCKEY: Former NHL players Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk will lead the team of the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” at the Games.

It will be the fifth Olympics for Datsyuk and Kovalchuk. They are on a team drawn entirely from the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League.

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