SoCal Varsity Awards: Harvard-Westlake's Ryan Neapole tops the All-Varsity Boys Water Polo Team  —  The Southern California News Group honors the region's top fall sports athletes:  —  SoCal Varsity Awards special section is in Sunday's edition of your local SCNG newspaper.  —  PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Pitcher Alex Wood says Cincinnati Reds could ‘surprise some people’ next season  —  When Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson spoke on the phone with Alex Wood on Friday night, one of the first things he mentioned was relief that they were finally on the same team.

Baseball notes: Dodgers' Kelly is happy to be going home  —  Joe Kelly helped the Boston Red Sox win a World Series title.  His next goal is to try to win one for the team he grew up rooting for and defeated in October.  —  The Dodgers on Friday officially announced signing Kelly …

Texan of the Year finalist Adrian Beltre brought a love of baseball to Texas Rangers fans  —  Athletes provide the rest of us with lesser motor skills the joy of living vicariously.  And when they are good guys, too, so much the better.  —  Such is Adrian Beltre, one of the greatest players …

A's to re-sign RHP Mike Fiers to two-year deal  —  The Athletics and Mike Fiers have agreed to a two-year contract for the right-hander to return to Oakland, according to MLB.com.  —  MLB.com reports that the deal, which is pending a physical, could be worth up to $15 million.

Red Sox writer refuses to vote Mariano Rivera into Hall of Fame  —  Leave it to a Red Sox scribe to rain on Mariano Rivera's historic quest.  —  Bill Ballou, of the Worcester, Mass., Telegram, spent about 1,500 words Saturday arguing that the Yankees legend shouldn't receive a bid into the Hall.

Cubs remaining relatively quiet while NL Central rivals make their moves  —  Photos of Theo Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  The Cubs' official 2018 postseason T-shirts were marked down from $40 to $10 at a local sporting-goods store Saturday morning.

Mets, potential trade chip Travis d'Arnaud agree to 1-year deal … Whether Travis d'Arnaud remains with the Mets is another question, but the catcher has avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal with the club for $3.515 million, an industry source confirmed Saturday.

Detroit Tigers mailbag: Have we seen rock bottom yet in rebuild?  —  The mailbag has hit the holiday season, and there isn't much left on the Detroit Tigers' wish list other than netting a prospect haul for right fielder Nicholas Castellanos.  —  At the Winter Meetings, they got their shortstop —