Newsmakers

Agreed The Kansas City Royals agreed to terms with reliever Aaron Crow on a $1.475 million, one-year deal. Crow can earn an additional $50,000 if he is named an All-Star, which he was in 2011.

Purchased A company tied to St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke purchased a prime 60-acre piece of land in Inglewood, Calif., amid speculation the NFL franchise is considering a return to the city it left for the Midwest nearly two decades ago. The Rams can break their 30-year lease in St. Louis after the 2014 season under a deal that requires their home stay among the top quarter of the 32 NFL stadiums.

Denied The management company for Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe denied media reports the five-time Olympic champion checked into a rehabilitation facility in Sydney seeking treatment for depression and alcohol abuse.

Died Former Auburn golfer and LPGA player Danielle Downey died in a single-car accident in Auburn, Ala., at about 10 p.m. Thursday. She was 33. The coroner says Downey lost control as the car overturned several times and she was ejected. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Named U.S. hockey general manager David Poile announced Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild will be the captain of the U.S. men’s hockey team at the Sochi Olympics. Minnesota’s Ryan Suter and Dustin Brown of the Kings will be the alternate captains.

Retired Ex-Spokane Indian Michael Young retired after 13 major league seasons, all but one with Texas. The seven-time All-Star is the Rangers’ career leader with 2,230 hits.

Achieved 102-year-old French cyclist Robert Marchand broke his world record in the over-100s category, riding 16.7 miles in an hour, more than 1.5 miles better than his previous best time two years ago.

Signed Spanish Vuelta champion Christopher Horner became the first American to sign for Italian cycling team Lampre-Merida.

• The Los Angeles Angels avoided arbitration with third baseman David Freese and reliever Kevin Jepsen, signing Freese for $5.05 million and Jepsen for $1.46 million.