BASEBALL

The Toronto Blue Jays strengthened their rotation on Monday, agreeing to a $63 million, three-year deal with Chris Bassitt.

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the move to the AP on condition of anonymity because it was pending a successful physical.

The 33-year-old Bassitt became a free agent when he declined his $19 million option with the New York Mets, following rotation mates Jacob deGrom and Taijuan Walker into free agency.

Bassitt went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 30 starts after the Mets acquired the right-hander in a trade with Oakland at the end of the lockout. He set career highs for wins, starts, innings (181 2/3) and strikeouts (167).

• The Atlanta Braves acquired catcher Sean Murphy from the Oakland Athletics as part of a three-team deal that also sent All-Star catcher William Contreras to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Oakland acquired catcher Manny Pina and pitching prospects Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok and Royber Salinas from Atlanta and outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz from Milwaukee. The Brewers also acquired right-handed pitchers Joel Payamps and Justin Yeager.

Murphy, 28, led American League catchers in hits (114), doubles (28) and extra-base hits (46) this past season while batting .250 with 18 homers, 66 RBI and a .759 OPS in 148 games. He won a Gold Glove in 2021.

Contreras, who turns 25 on Dec. 24, made the NL All-Star team as a designated hitter in 2022. He batted .278 with 20 homers, 45 RBI and an .860 OPS while making 57 starts at catcher, 31 at designated hitter and one in left field.

The Brewers also boosted their bullpen with the addition of Payamps, who went 3-6 with a 3.23 ERA in 41 games with the Kansas City Royals and Athletics last season. Yeager spent the 2022 season in the Braves’ farm system.

Oakland added plenty of prospects in the deal along with the 35-year-old Pina, who played just five games for the Braves in 2022 before undergoing season-ending wrist surgery.

Muller, 25, was rated as the Braves’ top prospect by MLB.com and Baseball America. He went 6-8 with a 3.41 ERA at Triple-A Gwinnett and went 1-1 with an 8.03 ERA in three starts with Atlanta. The left-hander has gone 3-5 with a 5.14 ERA in 12 career major-league appearances.

Ruiz, 23, had a combined 85 steals and a .974 OPS while playing in the San Diego Padres’ and Brewers’ farm systems. He was part of the package that came to Milwaukee in the deal that sent four-time All-Star closer Josh Hader to San Diego.

Tarnok, 24, made one relief appearance for the Braves in 2022 while spending most of the season at Gwinnett and Double-A Mississippi. Salinas, a 21-year-old right-hander, pitched at the Single-A level for the Braves this past season.

In another move, the Athletics designated infielder Vimael Machin for assignment.

• Cleveland officially signed slugger Josh Bell to a two-year, $33 million contract on Monday after agreeing to the deal last week during the winter meetings in San Diego.

The AL Central champions were in the market for a big bat after hitting just 127 homers (second fewest in the league) last season and believe they’ve added one with the switch-hitting Bell.

The 30-year-old hit 37 homers in 2019 for Pittsburgh and has 130 over seven season in the majors.

He’ll likely platoon at first base with Josh Naylor and be used as a designated hitter. This will be Bell’s first time in the AL after playing with the Pirates, San Diego and Washington.

• Free agent left-hander Sean Manaea reached agreement on a $25 million, two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants, a person with direct knowledge of the deal said.

Manaea gets a $5 million signing bonus, half on March 15 in both 2023 and ’24, and salaries of $7.5 million next season and $12.5 million in 2024. He has the right to opt out after this season and become a free agent next fall.

The 30-year-old Manaea, who spent his first six major league seasons with the Oakland Athletics, went 8-9 with a 4.96 ERA over 30 appearances with 28 starts and 158 innings in his lone campaign with the San Diego Padres and former A’s manager Bob Melvin this year.

• The Minnesota Twins added Christian Vazquez, agreeing to a $30 million, three-year contract with the veteran catcher.

Vazquez played for Boston and Houston this season, hitting .274 with nine homers and 52 RBI in 119 games. He was traded to the Astros on Aug. 1.

Vazquez, 32, also appeared in six postseason games, batting .235 with three RBI in helping Houston win the World Series.

HIGH SCHOOLS

BOYS’ BASKETBALL: Richmond had a 15-5 advantage in the third quarter to beat Sacopee Valley 46-41 at Hiram.

Wyatt Cassidy had 19 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead Richmond (1-0), and Logan Zoulamus added 12 points.

Carson Black led Sacopee Valley (0-2) with 10 points.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Nneka Ogwumike will serve a third term as president of the WNBA Players Association after being re-elected.

The Los Angeles Sparks’ star has served as WNBPA President since 2016, first winning re-election in 2019. She was instrumental in negotiating for the ground-breaking 2020 collective bargaining agreement that saw major pay increases with the average salary reaching $130,000 and guarantees of full salaries of players on maternity leave. The contract, which runs through 2027, also provided enhanced family benefits, travel standards and other health and wellness improvements.

Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum was elected to serve as First Vice President of the union. It’s her first term on the WNBPA Executive Committee.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Team principal Jost Capito and technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison are leaving Williams after it finished last in the Formula One constructors’ championship.

Capito led the team for two seasons after investment firm Dorilton Capital bought the team in 2020 from the Williams family.

No reason was given for Capito’s departure. The statement included a comment from Dorilton chairman Matthew Savage that the 64-year-old German “postponed his planned retirement” when he took the Williams job.

TENNIS

AWARDS: Iga Swiatek was honored as WTA Player of the Year for the first time after rising to No. 1 in the rankings in April and remaining there for the rest of the season thanks in part to two Grand Slam titles.

Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland who was the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2020, led the tour with 67 match wins and eight titles. That included a run of six trophies in a row during a 37-match winning streak that lasted from February to July and was the longest undefeated stretch in women’s tennis in a quarter of a century.

The WTA Coach of the Year award went to David Witt. He works with Jessica Pegula, a 28-year-old American who rose to a career-best No. 3 in the rankings during 2022 and was a quarterfinalist at three Grand Slam tournaments.

SOCCER

PELE: Brazilian soccer great Pele is doing better after having been hospitalized to treat a respiratory infection aggravated by COVID-19, doctors at the Albert Einstein hospital said.

Pele has been in hospital since Nov. 29 and doctors said they still don’t know when he will be discharged from hospital.

He is “conscious and has stable vital signs,” a statement from the hospital said.

Pele, a three-time World Cup winner, is also fighting cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

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