BASEBALL

Center fielder Harrison Bader and the New York Mets agreed to a one-year contract for about $10 million, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Bader, a Gold Glove winner with St. Louis in 2021, returns home to New York after spending a little more than a year across town with the Yankees. He was acquired from the Cardinals in an August 2022 trade for pitcher Jordan Montgomery and then claimed off waivers by Cincinnati on Aug. 31 last year.

The 29-year-old Bader batted .232 with seven homers and 40 RBI during an injury-plagued season with the Yankees and Reds. He had a .622 OPS in 98 games and a career-best 20 stolen bases in 23 attempts.

He became a free agent in November after completing a $10.4 million, two-year contract he signed with St. Louis.• Outfielder Bubba Thompson was claimed by the New York Yankees off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.

The 25-year-old hit .170 (9 for 53) with no homers, four RBI and four stolen bases in 37 games with Texas last year. He batted .258 with six homers, 34 RBI and 27 steals in 65 games with Triple-A Round Rock and Omaha.

BASKETBALL

NBA:  Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James are the early leaders in fan voting for next month’s All-Star Game, the NBA said.

Antetokounmpo had 2,171,812 votes to lead all Eastern Conference frontcourt players, and James had 2,008,645 votes to lead all Western Conference frontcourt players.

The West frontcourt leaders are James, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Nikola Jokic. The East frontcourt leaders are Antetokounmpo, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Boston’s Jayson Tatum. The West guard leaders are Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Golden State’s Stephen Curry, and the East guard leaders are Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard.

The All-Star Game is Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.

• The NBA fined the Brooklyn Nets $100,000, marking the first time a team was sanctioned for violating the league’s player participation policy that went into effect this season.

The Nets held out four rotation players — starters Spencer Dinwiddie, Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson, along with key reserve Dorian Finney-Smith — in what became a 144-122 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 27. Three of the players Brooklyn started that night logged 12 minutes or less.

Brooklyn asserted that giving players rest on the second night of a back-to-back — at the start of a stretch where the Nets would play six times in nine days — was best for its club. But the league made clear to teams entering this season that resting multiple players, who are healthy enough to play, at once will no longer be overlooked.

• Veteran guard Ricky Rubio, who stepped away from his playing career — and the Cleveland Cavaliers — this season to concentrate on his mental health, said his NBA career is over.

The 33-year-old Rubio posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he’s “doing much better and getting better every day” but that his NBA career “has come to an end.”

The Cavs have been in talks to buy out Rubio’s $6.1 million contract for this season. The Spanish native has spent the past two seasons recovering from a torn knee ligament, and was limited to just 33 games last season.

• Shaquille O’Neal’s number will be retired Feb. 13 by the Orlando Magic, who will become the third NBA franchise to give that tribute to the four-time champion and Basketball Hall of Famer.

O’Neal will be the first player to get a jersey number — he wore No. 32 in Orlando — retired by the Magic. The Los Angeles Lakers retired his No. 34 jersey in April 2013, and the Miami Heat retired his No. 32 jersey in December 2016. O’Neal won three titles with the Lakers, and another with the Heat.

HOCKEY

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: Sweden will play the United States for gold on home ice at the world junior hockey championship.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored on a power play in the third period before adding an insurance goal as the tournament hosts defeated the Czech Republic 5-2.

The United States battled back from an early two-goal deficit to down Finland 3-2 and book the other spot in Friday’s final.

NHL: Sidney Crosby has been named an NHL All-Star for the 10th time, as the league unveiled its initial rosters for the event next month in Toronto.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain was one of the first 32 All-Stars chosen by the league’s hockey operations department. One player from each team is picked, with others added by fan vote later.

David Pastrnak was selected from Boston.

Tom Wilson from the rival Washington Capitals, a Toronto native, was also picked and is an All-Star for a second time. The Capitals had Wilson’s dad, Keven, deliver the news by video to him in front of his teammates.

“We will all be there to cheer to you on,” Wilson’s dad said. “And your 95-year-old Grampie will be so pumped when he hears the news.”

Reigning MVP Connor McDavid is Edmonton’s representative, and league-leading scorer Nikita Kucherov was picked from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Chicago rookie of the year front-runner Connor Bedard, Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon and defending champion Vegas center Jack Eichel are were also chosen.

Auston Matthews, the first player to 30 goals this season, is the first Maple Leafs player picked, though he’ll almost certainly not be the home team’s only representative. William Nylander is Toronto’s leading scorer with 51 points.

Brady Tkachuk was picked from the Ottawa Senators.

All-Star Weekend takes place Feb. 1-3. This year the popular player draft is back with celebrity captains being paired with NHL All-Stars to chose the four teams for the 3-on-3 tournament.

SOCCER

WORLD CUP: MetLife Stadium officials plan to remove 1,740 seats to widen the field for World Cup matches as they hope to host the 2026 final but will retain a narrower surface for this year’s Copa América.

The stadium in suburban East Rutherford, New Jersey, is among the contenders for the final of the expanded 48-nation, 104-game World Cup on July 19, 2026, along with AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

NWSL: Champion Gotham FC signed U.S. national team players and World Cup champions Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett through 2026, the team announced.

Lavelle and Sonnett, both midfielders, played for OL Reign last season and were free agents.

MLS: American goalkeeper Zack Steffen transferred to Colorado Rapids after playing in just two Premier League matches over 4 1/2 seasons during his contract with Manchester City.

The 28-year-old from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, agreed to a three-year contract that includes a team option for 2027.

Steffen had arthroscopic knee surgery last summer to repair longstanding wear and tear and returned to training in late October after a 2 1/2-month layoff, agent Dan Segal said.

• U.S. national team defender Miles Robinson signed a one-year contract with Cincinnati, leaving Atlanta after seven seasons.

The deal includes a team option for 2025, Cincinnati said.

TENNIS

AUCKLAND CLASSIC: U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff overcame hard-hitting Czech teenager Barbara Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-0 and to reach the quarterfinals at New Zealand.

Gauff will play eighth-seeded Varvara Gracheva of France in the quarterfinals on Friday. Gracheva beat Lulu Sun of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4.

BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL: Rafael Nadal’s comeback from a year-long injury layoff reached the quarterfinals after dominating Jason Kubler 6-1, 6-2 at Australia.

The 22-time major winner is playing on a wild card after his ranking slipped into the 600s as he recovered from hip surgery, and he’s desperate for match time ahead of the Australian Open this month.