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By Dave Van Dyck

LAS VEGAS -- No. 1 draft pick Jared Mitchell will undergo surgery on his left ankle next week and could miss what would have been his first full professional season after colliding with the wall while making a catch against the Angels.

Mitchell, who was taken from the field on a cart, was diagnosed with a posterior tib tear on the upper inside of the ankle. No recovery time will be set until after the surgery.

"Very, very bad," manager Ozzie Guillen said."It's a shame.He has to use his speed.

Reassigned to the minor league camp two days ago, Mitchell was recalled because the Sox needed players for the split squad games. He had just entered the game as a defensive replacement.

By Fred Mitchell

The Bulls trailed 28-17 to the Orlando Magic at the end of the first period Thursday night.

More troubling was the fact that All-Star guard Derrick Rose was knocked to the floor by Magic center Dwight Howard and sprained his left wrist.

He remained in the game for the final 55 seconds of the first period. But he was taken to the locker room at the end of the quarter. CSN is reporting Rose will have x-rays. He will not return tonight.

Tribune News Services

CLEVELAND -- Detroit's Rodney Stuckey was conscious and breathing on his own as he was taken to a hospital after collapsing on the Pistons' bench during a game on Friday.

The Pistons said Stuckey was taken to the Cleveland Clinic and his vital signs were stable, but was going for further testing and observation.

Stuckey was wheeled off the court on a stretcher during the third quarter after he collapsed into a trainer's arms on the bench during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Two down. One to go.

The Bears reeled in their second free agent of the day at Halas Hall as running back Chester Taylor agreed to terms Friday on a contract that likely will make him the favorite to be the starter while also weakening the backfield in Minnesota.

Taylor agreed to a $12.5 million, four-year contract with $7 million guaranteed, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. That's not far off the figures of $14 million in total value and $8 million guaranteed that a league source said the veteran back was gunning for last night.

Taylor flew in this morning along with defensive end Julius Peppers, who is expected to reach an agreement with the team at any moment. Tight end Brandon Manumaleuna had a deal in place for a five-year contract with $6 million guaranteed and a total value of more than $17 million before he landed this morning at O'Hare.

A report that said the Bears have hired Tim Ruskell to be their director of player personnel is not accurate, according to a highly placed source.

Not yet, anyway.

The report might be more premature than outright false. Ruskell likely will be hired, probably in the very near future. It would make sense to have in place before the scouting combine kicks off on Thursday.

The Bears learned in 1999 about the dangers of announcing a hiring before it is official when they thought they had Dave McGinnis in place to be their head coach. Word leaked that McGinnis had been hired--except no deal had been struck. McGinnis was offended with how the situation had been handled, and subsequently backed out.

Ruskell stepped down from his role as president of the Seahawks late last season when it became apparent the team was not intending to bring him back in 2010. He worked with Bears general manager Jerry Angelo for 13 years; the two were the primary architects of the Bucs teams that Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden led to postseason success.

The Bears recently fired pro personnel director Bobby DePaul. If he is hired, Ruskell is expected to oversee the pro department as well as the college department, and the Bears likely will name another pro personnel director to replace DePaul.

VANCOUVER -- The United States' women's hockey team will be playing for the gold medal.

The U.S. team hammered Sweden 9-1 on Monday in the semifinals of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Monique LaMoureux scored three goals and six other Americans scored, while Jessie Vetter made 11 saves to pick up the win in goal.

The U.S. team, which has outscored its first four opponents by a combined 40-2, will play the winner of the other semifinal between Canada and Finland for the gold medal Thursday.

Photo: Caitlin Catow (8) celebrates her goal with Angelo Ruggiero (4) during the U.S. team's 9-1 victory Monday over Sweden. (Alex Livesey/Getty)

By Brian Hamilton

RICHMOND, British Columbia -- Holding his arms high after a huge final lap, Chicago native Shani Davis became the first man to win two gold medals in the 1,000 meter speedskating race, crossing the line in 1:08.94 at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Wednesday night.

Davis was running just fifth after 600 meters but turned on the jets to become the only participant in the race to break 1 minute 9 seconds. Thus Davis reprised his gold medal win from the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

The U.S.'s Chad Hedrick authored a mild surprise with a bronze medal in the race with a time of 1:09.32.

The Bulls and Knicks didn't just play a game Tuesday night. They're also competing for Tracy McGrady's expiring $22 million contract.

League sources said the Bulls have offered Brad Miller, Tyrus Thomas and either Kirk Hinrich or John Salmons to Houston for McGrady, who has been granted a leave and is training in Chicago.

Houston has shown little interest in either Hinrich or Salmons and thus, sources said, the Bulls have tried to recruit a third team to get involved. It's also possible the Bulls have made another unknown offer with a player replacing Hinrich or Salmons to the Rockets.

Some league sources believe the Bulls' offer is emerging as the front-runner.

Photo: Tracy McGrady drives on Vince Carter during a game in December. (John Raoux/AP)

Photo: Rod Marinelli runs a defensive line drill during minicamp in March. (Tribune file)

By Brad Biggs

The search is over.

Twenty-seven days after the Bears set out to find a new offensive coordinator, they have hired a man who was one of the most logical choices from the start, passing wizard Mike Martz.

Martz will be charged with turning around the Bears' dismal offense and doing it quickly with quarterback Jay Cutler, someone he was pining to work with even during last season

"They hired my main man,'' said running back Kevin Jones, who played under Martz with the Lions. "I love it. He was the best offensive coordinator out there.

"I think it's false information when people say he doesn't run the ball. He just has to have the back who can run the ball and catch the ball. Obviously, he did it with Marshall (Faulk). I did it in Detroit. The one season I was healthy, I had 61 catches in 12 games.''

Andre Dawson will be going into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the Montreal Expos, the Tribune has learned.

Dawson, who played the first 11 seasons of his major league career with the Expos, signed a blank contract to play with the Cubs in 1987 and promptly won the National League Most Valuable Player Award after hitting 49 home runs.

After attending the annual B.A.T. banquet in New York Tuesday night, Dawson sent the following text to The Tribune:

"Hall will issue a press release (Wednesday) announcing that I will go in as an Expo."

Dawson was the only player selected for the Hall of Fame in 2010 by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Photo: Andre Dawson takes a cut in 1985. (Rick Stewart/Getty)

Staff report

David Kaplan of the Tribune and WGN is reporting that the Cubs intend to keep their spring-training facilities in Mesa, Ariz., pending a vote by the Mesa city council Monday night to approve a financial package to improve the team's Cactus League facilities.

The Cubs had been courted by Naples, Fla., to move to the Grapefruit League.

More to come.

By K.C. Johnson

LOS ANGELES --- For the second straight game, flu has claimed a core guard from the Bulls' rotation.

John Salmons won't play Wednesday against the Clippers, one game after Kirk Hinrich sat with the illness that is spreading through the team. Salmons remained at the team hotel.

However, several sources disputed the team's claim that Brad Miller missed the morning shootaround because he might be getting the illness. Miller, the sources said, merely missed the team bus and will be fined.

Miller is playing against the Clippers.

"I'm excited, really excited," Tice said.

The former head coach of the Vikings had been working in Jacksonville as the assistant head coach/tight ends coach. The Jaguars gave the Bears permission to talk to Tice when it was unclear whether or not their staff would be retained.

Since that time, the Jaguars have decided to retain their coaching staff.

A source said Tice would like to be in the Midwest so he could be closer to his children.

Photo: Mike Tice on the Jacksonville sideline this season. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Tribune News Services

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Buffalo Bills interim coach Perry Fewell has been hired as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator.

Coach Tom Coughlin announced the move late Thursday evening after Fewell spent the past few days weighing offers from the Giants and the Bears.

"I am ecstatic to come to work for the New York Giants," Fewell said. "It's a good football team with good defensive players, and it is a franchise known for defense."

Fewell interviewed for the vacant Bills coaching job but he has said for a while that he felt he was a longshot for that position.

By Paul Sullivan

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry took the blame for the Milton Bradley fiasco, but made the deal with Seattle today to spare the organization of further aggravation.

"In hindsight, it was an acquisition I'm responsible for that didn't work out," he said of Bradley's $30 million deal. "I bear the responsibility for that not working out."

Does Bradley take any of the blame for the nightmarish season? According to one of his close friends, Bradley believes the blame should be 50-50 between himself and the Cubs.

"I would think he would think he should've performed better," Hendry said. "But I can't speak for him."