Newsmakers

Signed The Seattle Sounders signed Swedish defender Adam Johansson to a multiyear contract to solidify the Sounders’ back line. The 28-year-old Johansson spent the past seven years playing for IFK Goteborg in the Swedish top division.

Agree The Chicago White Sox agreed to a five-year, $65 million contract with pitcher 26-year-old left-handed starting pitcher John Danks. Danks would have been eligible for free agency after next season. A 15-game winner in 2010, he slumped last season and was 8-12 with a 4.33 ERA.

Fined New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas has been fined $12,500 for a uniform violation and a touchdown celebration in which he placed a bow on a football and gave it to a fan. Thomas violated NFL policies by wearing Christmas-themed green and red tape on his black and gold Saints uniform.

Joins Six-foot-6, 32-year-old guard Michael Redd has come to the Phoenix Suns in a bid to revive a career derailed by injury. He signed a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum of about $1.3 million.

Engaged Former NBA superstar Michael Jordan is engaged to model Yvette Prieto, a spokesman for Jordan confirmed. No wedding date was announced. Jordan, 48, and Prieto, 32, have reportedly been dating since 2008.

Retired American skier Sarah Schleper let out her trademark roar at the start of a World Cup race for the last time in Lienz, Austria, then leisurely skied down the Hochstein course in a gray minidress, carrying a photo camera and picking up 3-year-old son Lasse midway through her run. Schleper, a four-time Olympian, said the slalom Thursday was the last World Cup race of her career. She retired at 32 – 15 years and 186 races after making her World Cup debut in 1995.

Apologized NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne apologized for comments he made on his Twitter account critical of public breastfeeding. He posted messages that he saw a mother breastfeeding a child in a supermarket, calling it “nasty.”