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From The Associated Press

Twins snag Livan Hernandez from D-backs

MINNEAPOLIS—The Minnesota Twins added some seasoning to their suddenly raw rotation.

Right-hander Livan Hernandez agreed Tuesday to a $5 million, one-year contract with the team that could earn him an additional $2 million in performance bonuses, raising the average age for a group ransacked by the departures of Johan Santana and Carlos Silva.

Santana was traded to the New York Mets, and Silva signed with the Seattle Mariners. Another starter from last season, Matt Garza, was dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays.

“If we could find the right guy, we were going to add that,” general manager Bill Smith said. “We certainly weren’t afraid to go in without veteran starters, but it’s going to be give those young players someone to look to.”

Last year, Hernandez made $7 million while going 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA in 33 starts for Arizona. He pitched for the Diamondbacks in the NL championship series.

Hernandez, a native of Cuba, has been quite durable over 10-plus years in the majors, logging at least 199 innings each season since 1998. As a rookie in 1997, he won a World Series with the Florida Marlins.

Over the past eight years, the two-time All-Star — who has never pitched in the American League — led the majors with more than 1,837 innings and 32 complete games. He is 134-128 with a 4.25 ERA in 350 career starts.

“He’ll be a good influence on the rest of the rotation,” Smith said. “We’re looking forward to having him here, and we’re happy to be adding him to our ballclub.”

Closer Joe Nathan was a teammate of Hernandez’s with San Francisco from 1999-2002. He remembered getting his “butt whipped” on the golf course by Hernandez, who often shot near par. Nathan lamented that Hernandez won’t get to bat, other than in interleague road games, because he’s a .232 hitter with nine career home runs. In 2001, Hernandez batted .296 in 81 at-bats for the Giants.

Canseco’s affidavit says he never saw Clemens use

WASHINGTON—Former major leaguer Jose Canseco told Congress in a sworn affidavit that he has never seen Roger Clemens “use, possess or ask for steroids or human growth hormone.”

The affidavit, dated Jan. 22, was obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday. It is part of the evidence gathered by the congressional committee looking at drugs in baseball.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government’s hearing Wednesday will focus on Clemens’ denials of his former personal trainer’s allegations in the Mitchell Report. The trainer, Brian McNamee, told federal prosecutors and then-baseball investigator George Mitchell that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

“I have never had a conversation with Clemens in which he expressed any interest in using steroids or human growth hormone,” Canseco said in the affidavit. “Clemens has never asked me to give him steroids or human growth hormone, and I have never seen Clemens use, possess or ask for steroids or human growth hormone.”

Canseco continued: “I have played on three teams with Roger Clemens and I have no reason to believe that he has ever used steroids, human growth hormone, or any other performance enhancing drugs.”

According to McNamee, Clemens first raised the subject of steroids not long after McNamee saw Canseco and Clemens at a June 1998 party. At the time, Canseco and Clemens were teammates on the Toronto Blue Jays, and McNamee was working for the team. Canseco says in his affidavit Clemens was not at that party.

Goodell to meet with Specter to discuss Spygate

NEW YORK—NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Sen. Arlen Specter are to meet Wednesday to discuss the Spygate case involving the New England Patriots.

The NFL said Tuesday the afternoon meeting will take place in Specter’s office in Washington. The Pennsylvania Republican has asked Goodell to explain his decision to destroy the tapes and notes from the case, which go back to 2002.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000. The Patriots also forfeited a first-round draft pick.

Specter’s challenge to Goodell came two days before the Super Bowl, lost by the Patriots to the New York Giants on Feb. 3.

The top-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned the quality of the NFL investigation that followed the illegal taping of the New York Jets’ defensive signals in the opening week of this season as well as the commissioner’s decision to destroy video evidence uncovered by the league. He has raised the possibility of congressional hearings if he wasn’t satisfied with Goodell’s answers.

Vikings DE Kenechi Udeze has form of leukemia

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.—Minnesota Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze has a form of leukemia, which is cancer of the blood and bone marrow, a person with the team confirmed Tuesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information. The Vikings declined to comment, but they issued a statement from coach Brad Childress that didn’t specifically address Udeze’s condition.

“We respect the privacy of Kenechi. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Minnesota Vikings organization are with Kenechi and his family,” the statement read.

Two Twin Cities television stations first reported the news on Monday night. KSTP-TV, without citing a source, reported that the 24-year-old Udeze was undergoing tests to determine the severity of the disease. Ethan Lock, Udeze’s agent, declined to comment.

Clemens suit against McNamee moved to federal court

HOUSTON—Roger Clemens’ defamation lawsuit against former trainer Brian McNamee has been moved to federal court.

Clemens filed suit last month in Harris County District Court in Houston, but McNamee’s attorneys had it moved Monday to U.S. District Court in Houston. In their motion, McNamee’s attorneys wrote the court has jurisdiction because the case is between residents of two states and that Clemens will likely seek more than $75,000 in damages — two criteria needed for such a transfer.

An initial pretrial conference is set for April 4.

In the Mitchell Report, McNamee claimed he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner claimed in his suit that the statements McNamee made were “untrue and defamatory.”

McNamee’s attorneys have not filed their response to Clemens’ suit.

Clemens and McNamee were set to testify Wednesday before a congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report, which made McNamee’s allegations public.

Busch, Stewart on 6-race probation after wreck

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—NASCAR placed drivers Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart on probation for six races Tuesday, beginning with the Daytona 500.

The punishment stems from a confrontation between the two former series champions, who wrecked in practice last week and then carried it into the NASCAR officials’ trailer.

While nobody involved in the incident would confirm that Stewart actually punched Busch during a meeting with officials, as is widely believed, NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton inferred that Busch’s penalty was for what happened on the track and Stewart’s was for what happened afterward.

“The accident was a racing incident,” Pemberton said. “How they conducted themselves after that, after the accident and coming onto pit road and from there through the rest of the evening is why the penalties were equal.”

NASCAR officials came into this season saying drivers would be given more latitude to show emotion this year, and the relatively light nature of Tuesday’s punishments would seem to support that.

Panthers return to the ice after Zednik injury

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.—Upon hearing Richard Zednik’s recovery from a life-threatening neck laceration could last six to eight weeks, Olli Jokinen checked his calendar.

That would be playoff time in the NHL.

And suddenly, the Florida Panthers have a huge source of postseason motivation.

Zednik continued what some termed a remarkable recovery Tuesday, when his condition was upgraded to good and he was moved out of the intensive care unit at Buffalo General Hospital. That was just two days after Jokinen’s razor-sharp skate blade sliced the 32-year-old forward’s neck, cutting his carotid artery and stopping just shy of his jugular vein.

As Zednik recovers, so do the Panthers, who returned to the ice Tuesday, albeit still somber and shaken, yet somewhat uplifted by the continued good reports about their teammate.