Reds manager Baker still sidelined

CINCINNATI — Dusty Baker won't manage the Cincinnati Reds until the final series in St. Louis, giving him time to recover from an irregular heartbeat and a mini-stroke suffered last week.

The 63-year-old manager was hospitalized for four days in Chicago because of an irregular heartbeat that he's had for some time.

He said in a statement released Tuesday that he also had a mini-stroke.

His cardiologists said his condition has "improved dramatically" and a full recovery is expected.

Bench coach Chris Speier will manage the team during a three-game series against Milwaukee at Great American Ball Park and a three-game series in Pittsburgh over the weekend.

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Buffaloes manager Okada's status up in air for 2013: team executive

Kobe — Akinobu Okada's days as manager of the Orix Buffaloes may be numbered, a team executive suggested on Friday. The skipper is in the final season of a three-year contract.

When questioned about next year's field management and coaching staff, an executive for the Pacific League's last-place club said, "That will have to wait until we have a talk with the manager."

On Tuesday, when it was learned that the team had yet to broach the subject of a new contract with the 54-year-old skipper, Okada said he would leave the decision up to the club. Okada had quit his job as Hanshin Tigers manager in 2009 after failing to advance in the playoffs for two straight seasons.

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NPB manager to suggest players for WBC squad

Nippon Professional Baseball confirmed Monday that it will ask the 12 team managers in Japan's pro leagues in a questionnaire to nominate players for the country's 2013 World Baseball Classic 40-man roster.

The matter was discussed at a meeting of representatives from NPB's 12 teams. Because the policy is for the manager selected by NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato to have the final say on players, the results of the survey are expected to provide a body of reference for those decisions.

As far as the process of selecting that manager, no details of the selection process were said to have been discussed.

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Liverpool set to hire Rodgers as manager

LONDON — Liverpool appears set to hire Brendan Rodgers as its new manager.

The hire would vault the Northern Irishman from relative obscurity to one of the toughest jobs in soccer, with his current club Swansea claiming a deal was expected to be finalized on Thursday.

Following talks with Liverpool's American owners — Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox — Rodgers told Swansea on Wednesday he has been offered the job as Kenny Dalglish's replacement at Anfield and was ready to accept.

"We are trying to finalize within the next 24 hours," Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said. "Although we are very disappointed to lose such a talented, young British manager, we didn't wish to stand in his way."

Liverpool will have to pay compensation to Swansea, reported to be in the region of $6 million, because Rodgers has three years left on his contract after signing a new deal in January.

In what will be one of the most low-key managerial appointments made by the traditional English powerhouse in a generation, the 39-year-old Rodgers was preferred to Wigan manager Roberto Martinez despite having only one season's experience in England's top division.

That year, however, was a highly successful one, with Swansea finishing 11th in its first season in the Premier League, earning plenty of admirers because of the Welsh team's attractive, possession-based style of play. It made Rodgers one of the most sought-after managers in Britain.

"We wish Brendan every success in the future," Jenkins said. "We will always remain good friends and we thank him for all his hard work and passion at this football club over the past two years. We shall now refocus and quickly start the process of finding his replacement to continue the great work Brendan has carried out at this football club."

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Kurosaki quits as Albirex manager

Albirex Niigata said Monday manager Hisashi Kurosaki and head coach Takayuki Nishigaya will resign to take responsibility for the club's recent woes.

"I have to seriously accept the results of our team up until now, and that's why I have decided to step down," said Kurosaki, whose J. League first-division side is in 17th place with only nine points.

Kurosaki, 44, was promoted from head coach to manager in December 2009, but his team fell from ninth place to 14th in his first season at the helm. Despite the addition of former Japan striker Kisho Yano and forward Shoki Hirai this year, Albirex are still in a tailspin.

Albirex were embarrassed in a 6-1 drubbing by Jubilo Iwata at home on Saturday, leaving them with an unflattering record of 2-7 with three draws and just five points ahead of last-place Consadole Sapporo in the league standings.

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Dalglish out as Liverpool manager

LONDON — The adulation of Liverpool fans wasn't enough to save "King Kenny."

Second stint over: Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was fired by the club on Wednesday after just 18 months in charge. AP

Kenny Dalglish's lackluster second stint in charge of the fallen English power was halted by the club's American owners Wednesday after less than 500 days in charge.

Displaying its ruthless streak, Fenway Sports Group terminated the club great's contract after realizing he was unlikely to be able to bring the good times back to Liverpool by replicating his trophy-laden first spell.

Dalglish produced the last of Liverpool's 18 English league titles before quitting a year later, in 1991. His expensively overhauled 2011-12 team ended the season in eighth place, underperforming on the field and damaging the club's reputation following a racism incident involving forward Luis Suarez.

Winning the League Cup to end Liverpool's six-year trophy drought and reaching the F.A. Cup final wasn't enough to convince the FSG the club was on the right path. The decision was taken after Dalglish flew to Boston this week for an end-of-season review with ownership, which also runs the Red Sox.

"Results in the Premier League have been disappointing, and we believe to build on the progress that has already been made we need to make a change," chairman Tom Werner said. "We are committed to delivering success for our supporters and our ambition remains resolute to return this great club to the elite of England and Europe, where it belongs."

Liverpool came within four points of winning the league in 2009 under Rafa Benitez, who delivered a fifth European Cup title to the club in 2005 and also led the team to the 2007 Champions League final.

Dalglish won eight league titles as a player and coach from 1977-90. He returned to Anfield shortly after the Fenway takeover to replace Roy Hodgson in January 2011 with the club hovering above the relegation zone.

After lifting Liverpool from its perilous position to sixth place, Dalglish was given a three-year contract at the end of the 2010-11 season.

"Kenny came into the club as manager at our request at a time when Liverpool Football Club really needed him," Werner said. "He didn't ask to be manager; he was asked to assume the role. He did so because he knew the club needed him. He did more than anyone else to stabilize Liverpool over the past year and a half."

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Guardiola to quit as Barca manager

Out of the pressure cooker: Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola smiles at a news conference on Friday where he announced he would resign at the end of this season. AP

BARCELONA, Spain — In front of some of the players he has molded into one of the greatest soccer teams of all time, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola stepped down on Friday, bringing to a close a four-year reign of unprecedented success.

Guardiola announced he will leave the club at the end of the season, explaining at a news conference held at Nou Camp that the demands of the job were too high and his energy levels too low to continue.

Already Barcelona's most successful manager, Guardiola can add a 14th trophy when his team plays the King's Cup final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25 in his last game.

His assistant Tito Vilanova will then take over the team.

"Four years are long and they wear you down," Guardiola said. "I think that sincerely that the next person will have things to bring that I can't.

"Every day during four years, the demands are very high, the pressure, the necessary energy to push the players and enjoy it. I need to rest and move away."

His announcement ended a difficult week for the team that saw it exit the Champions League semifinals to Chelsea following a loss to Real Madrid which will likely cost it a fourth straight Spanish title.

Guardiola said he took the decision to quit in December but preferred to wait until the team's chase for major trophies was out of the way. He had extended his rolling one-year contract by February of the past two seasons but his decision not to do so this time led to ongoing speculation over his future.

"I'm very sorry for all of the uncertainty I created over this time over my future, maybe that was an error of mine," Guardiola said. "I didn't mean to create this kind of mood."

Guardiola's news conference was attended by Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Victor Valdes, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez — although three-time world player of the year Lionel Messi, the player Guardiola built his team around, was absent.

"Leo is with us now," Guardiola said. "All the players are here with me. I don't remember any single title, rather the emotion I shared with my players. You do everything for the trophy, but you take away the feeling."

Messi later said he was too moved by the moment to attend the news conference of the coach that had helped him become the club's all-time leading scorer with 243 goals.

"I want to thank Pep with all my heart for everything he has given me personally and professionally," Messi wrote on his Facebook page. "Due to the emotion I am feeling, I preferred not to be present at Pep's news conference and instead far from the media, above all because I know that they would look for the players' faces and that is something I decided not to show."

The 41-year-old Guardiola has led Barcelona to 13 trophies since replacing Frank Rijkaard at the beginning of the 2008-09 season, surpassing Dutch great Johan Cruyff as the European powerhouse's most successful coach in its 113-year history.

Under the former Spain international, Barcelona doubled its number of Champions League trophies with wins in 2009 and 2011, claimed three straight Spanish League titles, won two Club World Cups, two European Super Cups, three Spanish Super Cups and one King's Cup.

In 242 games, Guardiola has guided Barcelona to 175 wins, 46 draws and 21 losses and a goal difference of 618 to 178.

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Nervy QPR fires manager Warnock

LONDON — Queens Park Rangers fired manager Neil Warnock on Sunday, with the club admitting it feared for its Premier League future.

QPR has lost six of its last eight league matches to sit 17th in the standings, one point above the relegation zone in its first season back in the topflight after 15 years.

Announcing the departure of the manager who led QPR back into the Premier League, the club said: "The board's commitment to retaining our Premier League status ultimately led to this decision."

Warnock's last match in charge saw the west London club held to a 1-1 draw in the F.A. Cup on Saturday by MK Dons of the third tier. Key midfielder Alejandro Faurlin was injured during that match and QPR's survival hopes were dealt a blow on Sunday with the Argentine announcing on Twitter that he had been ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

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Tokyo appoints Popovic as manager

Promoted FC Tokyo on Monday named former Oita Trinita boss Ranko Popovic as the newly crowned Emperor's Cup winners' manager for next season.

The 44-year-old Serbian, who got FC Machida Zelvia promoted from the semi-professional Japan Football League to the J. League after guiding them to third place last season, takes over from Kiyoshi Okuma.

"I want to establish an attractive FC Tokyo style and try and win games with an attacking brand of soccer," Popovic said in a club statement.

Popovic in July 2009 replaced sacked Brazilian manager Pericles Chamusca at Oita when the club had effectively already been relegated to the second division.

Okuma steered second-division champion Tokyo to a 4-2 win over Kyoto Sanga in the Emperor's Cup final on Sunday.

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Yokohama fires manager Kimura

Yokohama — Yokohama F. Marinos said Friday they have fired manager Kazushi Kimura following the club's loss in the Emperor's Cup semifinals to second-division team Kyoto Sanga.

Kimura, 53, will be replaced by 50-year-old coach Yasuhiro Higuchi.

Kimura, who greeted players at the clubhouse Friday morning after Marinos' 4-2 extra-time defeat to Sanga the previous day, was given notice of his termination by team president Akira Kaetsu after the match.

"I wanted to win this title for the players," Kimura said. "I am sorry that I wasn't able to provide the leadership to achieve that result."

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Nakahata named BayStars manager

Yokohama — The Yokohama DeNA BayStars on Friday announced the appointment of former Yomiuri Giants batting coach Kiyoshi Nakahata as their first manager under the ownership of DeNA Co.

Nakahata took the job that was about to be filled by former Seibu Lions pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo, whose talks with general manager Shigeru Takada broke down earlier this month over the team's plans for 2012.

"I've always wanted to pay my debt of gratitude to baseball by managing," Nakahata said. "The position of manager is the most challenging in the game. I'm just shaking out of excitement."

Nakahata spent all of his 14-year playing career through 1989 with the Giants, hitting .290 with 171 homers and 621 RBIs.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he guided Japan to a bronze-medal finish as acting manager in place of Shigeo Nagashima, who was unable to travel to the Greek capital after suffering a stroke.

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Kashima manager Oliveira to leave

Kashima Antlers said Monday manager Oswaldo Oliveira will not be returning to the club next season.

The 61-year-old Brazilian, who led Kashima to a record three successive J. League crowns from his first year in charge in 2007, informed the club of his intention to leave after his side's Emperor's Cup campaign.

His successor is yet to be determined.

Kashima finished sixth in the J. League, having a 13-10 record with 11 draws, in the season that concluded Saturday,

In the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup, Kashima will play second-division Kyoto Sanga on Dec. 17.

Under Oliveira, Kashima won the Emperor's Cup in 2007 and 2010, and the Nabisco Cup this year.

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Bombs sent to Celtic manager, fans

LONDON — Police say that parcel bombs have been sent three times over the past several weeks to the manager of the Celtic soccer team and two of its high-profile fans.

Scottish police said Tuesday that a package addressed to Neil Lennon was intercepted at a sorting office on March 26 in Kirkintilloch outside of Glasgow.

Another package destined for Scottish lawmaker Trish Godman was intercepted at her constituency office two days later. A third package destined for Paul McBride, a lawyer who has represented Lennon, was intercepted earlier this week.

The motive behind the mail bombs wasn't made clear but sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland and Glasgow often find expression in the violent rivalry between Celtic fans, who are mostly Catholic, and Rangers fans, who are mostly Protestant.

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