Former Twins pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons.
The 38-year-old righthander didn't pitch after June 1 in 2012 because of a strained right shoulder. His spleen was removed in January 2013 after he was injured when he fell in the snow at his home in Vermont.
Pavano had been hoping to return to the major leagues this year.
"Despite my strong desire to compete and hard work in preparing for the upcoming season, I feel that the amount of time lost from my spleen injury, coupled with the recovery from my complications from that injury, preclude me from continuing to compete at my highest level, which is necessary to perform in the major leagues," Pavano said.
"I have achieved many things as a major league pitcher of which I am very proud. However, I feel at this time, I am simply not able to continue to pitch at the major league level, and these last three months of rigorous training have failed to produce the results that I was looking for to allow me to continue my major league career."
Pavano, an All-Star in 2004, was 108-107 with a 4.39 ERA for Montreal (1998-02), Florida (2002-04), the Yankees (2005, 2007-08), Cleveland (2009) and Minnesota (2009-12). He was 33-33 with a 4.32 ERA with the Twins, including going 17-10 with a 3.75 ERA in 2010.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to have been a major league baseball player, and the gratitude I have for being able to do that is profound and beyond any expression I can make in words," he said.
... Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton will be sidelined for at least two weeks because of a strained calf muscle. ...Angels outfielder Mike Trout agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract, a prelude to a long-term deal.
olympics
Minneapolis is top viewing market
Minneapolis watched the Winter Olympics more than any other market, NBC announced Wednesday. Minneapolis topped the 56 major markets Nielsen measures with an average 19.4 percent of homes for the Games, followed by Salt Lake City at 19.0. New York ranked 41st at 12.0. Miami ranked last.
The average prime time viewership for the Games' 17 nights (not including the bonus night of Feb. 6) was 21.4 million — down from the mostly live coverage from Vancouver in 2010 but up 6 percent from the last European Olympics in Turin in 2006. The Vancouver Games averaged 24.4 million viewers in prime time.
around the horn
NFL: All-Pro tackle Jason Peters agreed to a five-year, $50 million contract with the Eagles.
Auto racing: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports said it hired 42-year-old Jacques Villeneuve to race in this year's Indianapolis 500.
minnesota scene
U swimmers in sixth at Big Tens
The Gophers were in sixth place with 54 points after Day 1 of the Big Ten men's swimming and diving championships at Ann Arbor, Mich. Minnesota placed fifth in the 200-yard medley relay and sixth in the 800 freestyle relay. The first-place Wolverines, the three-time defending champions, have 80 points.
• Sophomore goalie Amanda Leveille was named the WCHA defensive player of the week. She shut out Minnesota Duluth twice.
• The Montreal Alouettes released former Gopher Arland Bruce two weeks after the receiver was fined by the CFL for Twitter comments about openly gay NFL prospect Michael Sam. Bruce misspelled the word "gay" in his message that urged Sam to "man up" and get on his knees and "submit to God fully." Bruce later apologized.
Bruce is three-time CFL all-star and has played on two Grey Cup title teams.
staff AND wire reports
Series: What's happening at the U as NIL rules rock college sports?
