Newsmakers

Signed Right-hander Luke Hochevar and the Kansas City Royals completed a $10 million, two-year contract Thursday that includes a mutual option for 2017. Hochevar, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2006, missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

• Right-hander Colby Lewis signed a $4 million, one-year deal to stay with the Texas Rangers. The 35-year-old Lewis was 10-14 with a 5.18 ERA in 29 starts last season, and pitched a team-high 170 1/3 innings. He had a 3.86 ERA in his last 13 starts after the All-Star break.

Hired The Chicago Cubs hired Dave Martinez to serve as manager Joe Maddon’s bench coach. The 50-year-old Martinez had the same position with Maddon in Tampa Bay for the previous seven seasons. He made his major league debut with the Cubs in 1986 and played for the franchise for parts of four seasons.

Awarded Auto racer Dale Earnhardt Jr. won NASCAR’s prestigious Myers Brothers Award. The award, presented annually since 1958, is given to a person who makes significant contributions to the sport. Earnhardt was recognized for both his participation on the track – he won four races – and also for his care and concern for the history and the future of NASCAR.

Released Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt was released from a Houston hospital more than three weeks after triple-bypass heart surgery. Foyt was admitted Nov. 7 with chest pains. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Sidelined U.S. figure skating champion Gracie Gold withdrew from the Grand Prix Final because of a stress fracture in her left foot. The Grand Prix Final is Thursday through Dec. 14 in Barcelona. The 19-year-old Gold qualified after winning her first Grand Prix Series event, NHK Trophy, last week in Japan.

Established Brazil set a world record to win the men’s 4x50-meter medley relay final on the second day of the short-course swimming world championships in Doha, Qatar, improving a mark that had been set hours earlier by Russia. Brazil’s quartet of Guilherme Guido, Felipe Franca Silva, Nicholas Santos and Cesar Cielo finished in 1 minute, 30.51 seconds.

Acquired The Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League acquired defenseman Jesse Blacker and draft considerations from the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Colby Robak. Blacker has five assists in 15 AHL games this season. Robak had three assists and 25 penalty minutes in 42 games with the Panthers.