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baseball • Barry Bonds is all set to return to the San Francisco Giants. As a spring training instructor, that is.
The all-time home run leader who never officially retired is expected to arrive during the second week of March. Manager Bruce Bochy said Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz., that he's looking forward to having the 49-year-old Bonds in camp and thinks he can help the hitters.
Bonds spent his last 15 seasons with the Giants, finishing in 2007. He has not been elected to the Hall of Fame, with many voters saying his lofty numbers were boosted by performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds set major league records with 762 career home runs and 73 in 2001. He also had a .444 career on-base percentage, a .607 slugging percentage and stole 514 bases.
He'll join former Giants Jeff Kent, Robb Nen, Will Clark and J.T. Snow as special instructors.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena to a $25 million, five-year contract Saturday. The 23-year-old defected from Cuba last fall, establishing residency in Haiti. Arruebarrena was a teammate of Yasiel Puig's in the Cuban League from 2010-11. Known for his defense, Arruebarrena started for Cuba in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and batted .375 with two RBIs in six games.
• Free agent Nelson Cruz and the Baltimore Orioles have reached agreement on a one-year deal, giving the slugger a fresh start after his drug suspension. A person familiar with the agreement said that Cruz will earn about $8.5 million, and can make more in performance bonuses. The 33-year-old Cruz was suspended 50 games last year while with the Texas Rangers as a result of Major League Baseball's investigation into the Biogenesis drug scandal.
Minnesota gives Kill contract extension
college football • Minnesota has given football coach Jerry Kill a raise and another year on his contract. The university announced that Kill's deal was extended through the 2018 season and that he'll make $2.1 million in 2014, a big spike from his previous salary of $1.2 million. That was the lowest in the Big Ten.
The Gophers went 8-5 last year. They're 17-21 under Kill, who took over in 2011.
Kill has been hampered by epilepsy, and seizures forced him to miss a game for the first time last October. He coached much of the season from the press box.
From wire reports