Yankees and Mets, Padres and A's make trades

NEW YORK (AP) — New York's baseball teams have swapped relievers, with the Mets sending right-hander Miguel Castro to the Yankees for left-hander Joely Rodriguez. The 27-year-old Castro had a 3.45 ERA over a career-best 69 appearances last season, going 3-4 with 77 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings. He'll make $2.62 million this season after signing a deal this month to avoid arbitration. Rodriguez gives the Mets a needed southpaw for the bullpen after Aaron Loup left for the Los Angeles Angels in free agency. The 30-year-old Rodriguez was traded from Texas to the Yankees last season and combined to post a 4.66 ERA in 52 appearances.

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — The San Diego Padres have acquired left-hander Sean Manaea (mah-NY'-ah) in a trade with the Oakland Athletics. San Diego got the 30-year-old Manaea and minor league right-hander Aaron Holiday from Oakland for pitching prospect Adrian Martinez and minor league infielder Euribiel Angeles. Manaea went 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 32 starts last year. He had two shutouts and struck out a career-high 194 batters, ranking eighth in the American League. The A's are rebuilding after going 86-76 last year, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Major League Baseball is stepping up its experimentation with an electronic communication channel for calling pitches. After trying out the PitchCom system at Low-A West in the second half of last season, big league clubs are tinkering with the technology during spring training. If the development is met with widespread acclaim, the system could be used in the majors this year. With the PitchCom system, the catcher wears a wristband with nine buttons for calling the pitch and location. There is a receiver in the pitcher's cap, and another one in the catcher's helmet. Multiple languages are available.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Geno Auriemma (aw-ree-EH'-muh) and his UConn Huskies have gone 11-0 in NCAA title games and will look to continue that success when they face South Carolina for the women's basketball title tonight. This is South Carolina's second appearance in the title game. Dawn Staley's squad won the championship in 2017. The Hall of Famer knows how difficult it is to win one, let alone 11. The Gamecocks have been the best team in the country all season, going wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the AP Poll. The two teams played back in November in a tournament in the Bahamas. South Carolina came away with a 73-57 win, outscoring the Huskies 16-3 in the fourth quarter.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods is on his way to Augusta National. Still to be determined is whether he plays in the Masters. Woods says he is flying to Augusta to continue his preparation, but it's a game-time decision whether he plays. His right leg so was severely damaged in a car crash 13 months ago that he said doctors contemplated amputation. Woods played with his son in the PNC Championship in December, but that was a scramble format and he rode in a cart. He played a practice round five days ago. This is the next step.

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