Mexico international Rodolfo Pizarro is set to join Inter Miami CF as the club's second Designated Player after a deal with reigning Liga MX and CONCACAF champion Monterrey was agreed upon on Wednesday, according to ESPN sources.

Monterrey sporting director Duilio Davino told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the deposit from Inter Miami hadn't yet been received, but that Pizarro had indicated his willingness to leave and that he expected it to be completed.

Pizarro was left out of Monterrey's squad for the team's 0-0 tie against Santos Laguna in Copa MX action on Tuesday. He also missed Wednesday's training session.

Pizarro had previously been linked with Chicago Fire, as well as clubs in Europe, but Inter Miami launched a bid for the player in late-January and sealed the deal after long, drawn-out negotiations surrounding which club would have to pay taxes on the fee.

ESPN sources put the transfer fee at close to $12 million USD, almost two million more than Inter Miami was originally quoted by the player's representatives.

The 25-year-old midfield playmaker will rejoin manager Diego Alonso, who coached Pizarro at Pachuca and Monterrey, as David Beckham's club seeks to impact MLS in its debut season in the league.

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The Tampico, Tamaulipas native won a Liga MX title in each of his stints with Pachuca, Chivas and Monterrey and also won the CONCACAF Champions League with Chivas and at Monterrey.

Rodolfo started his first team career as a right-back, but can also play on either wing, as well as centrally behind a striker.

The Pachuca youth team product has played 25 times for Mexico and his international career was revived in 2018 under Gerardo "Tata" Martino, after the disappointment of missing out on the 2018 World Cup. Pizarro was an important part of Mexico's 2019 Gold Cup victory.

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Pizarro becomes the fourth Mexican to head to MLS this offseason, following on from Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (LA Galaxy), Alan Pulido (Sporting Kansas City) and Oswaldo Alanis (San Jose Earthquakes).

Other notable El Tri stars include the Galaxy's Jonathan dos Santos and LAFC's Carlos Vela, who won the MVP award last season after scoring a league record 36 goals.

Inter Miami's first Designated Player was 19-year-old Estudiantes winger Matias Pellegrini and the club still has one DP spot available ahead of its MLS opener on the road to LAFC on March 1.

The union representing the players on the United States men's national team issued a strong statement in support of the U.S. women's national team, accusing the U.S. Soccer Federation of engaging in a "false narrative" about the women's pursuit of equal pay.

Twenty-eight players from the U.S. women's national team are engaged in a class-action lawsuit against the USSF alleging "institutionalized gender discrimination" toward the team. The lawsuit was filed under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA), the union representing players on the men's team, has issued statements in the past, but this statement was more detailed and blunt in its criticism of the USSF. The statement asserted that the USSF's monopolistic control over who can play for a national team has been used "as a weapon" against the players and that the discrimination against the women's team has been long-standing.

"The Federation has been working very hard to sell a false narrative to the public and even to members of Congress," the statement read. "They have been using this false narrative as a weapon against current and former members of the United States Women's National Team."

The statement added: "With our unions working together since 1999, the goal was always to secure for the women comparable gains in pay and working conditions. For more than 20 years, the Federation has resisted any concept of equal pay or basic economic fairness for the USWNT players. Historically, the Federation also refused to include in the women's CBA the same provisions as the men's with respect to air travel, hotels, etc. This is systematic gender discrimination that should have never happened."

Asked for a response to the USNSTPA's statement, the USSF declined to comment.

Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the 28 players involved in the suit against the USSF, released the following statement on behalf of women's team star Megan Rapinoe on Wednesday: "Our great hope is that 2020 will be the year of equal pay. We are grateful for the support of our male colleagues, and also for the overwhelming solidarity from millions of fans and sponsors around the world who have stood with us to fight USSF's discrimination.

"Achieving equal pay is so much bigger than our team and our playing fields -- women in workforces everywhere deserve equality now."

The USNSTPA's collective bargaining agreement expired at the end of 2018, and the union has been operating under those terms as it attempts to hash out a new agreement. Yet the USNSTPA said that the CBA signed by the women in 2017 was worse than that signed by the men in 2011, when the impact of the Great Recession was still being felt.

Given the improved financial health of the USSF and of the overall economy, the USNSTPA said the numbers should be drastically increased. The statement highlighted that when USWNT players were conducting their most recent CBA negotiations, the USSF's annual sponsorship, television and licensing revenue had grown from $16 million in 2011 to more than $49 million. Annual national team revenues at that time ranged from $29 million to $55 million. The USSF had $168 million in net assets. The annual combined revenue related to the men's and women's national teams had increased to between $78 million and $104 million.

"In our estimation, the women were due at least triple what our expired deal was worth in player compensation," the USNSTPA said. "We believe the Federation should have agreed to a deal directly tied to a fair share of the revenue players generate. That is what should have happened, based on the entire history of labor negotiations involving the men and women players and the Federation.

"Now, the Federation is taking the frivolous position that the USMNT players' compensation should also stay at those 2011-2018 numbers. This is not because there is any basis for that position. Instead, it's a desperate attempt to cover-up the fact that what they did to the women in 2017 is indefensible."

The statement concluded with a call to fans to withdraw support from the USSF's sponsors until the USSF "does the right thing" and gives the women a new CBA that pays a "fair share" of gate receipts, as well as revenues from television and sponsorship.

"Write to your Congressional representatives and tell them it is time to reform the Federation," the statement said. "Let the Federation know that you do not believe the false narrative they are circulating. Support the players, not the Federation."

South Africa's tour to Pakistan in March will come with logistical challenges for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). South Africa end their tour to India on March 18 and PCB intend to make them stay in Dubai - until the Pakistan Super League (PSL) ends on March 22 - and then fly them directly to Islamabad for a three-match T20 series in Rawalpindi.

Cricket South Africa (CSA), meanwhile, is set to send a security delegation headed by security expert Rory Steyn to Pakistan next month during the PSL, to assess the security arrangements. The reconnaissance, ESPNcricinfo understands, comes because CSA is intent to go through a process of physically checking security before formally approving the tour. It is, understandably, a players association requirement as well.

"The tour of South Africa is very much a waiting game now and by the end of the month we should have a clear position," Wasim Khan, PCB's CEO, said. "Their head of security is expected in Pakistan during the initial games of the Pakistan Super League. He has all the security plans for each of the different venues.

"He and the board of South Africa are very comfortable with touring. We have to make it work logistically as South Africa finish the tour of India on 18 March and we don't finish the PSL till March 22. For them to go back and come again won't be possible so we will have to see whether we can have them sit in the UAE [...] and provide them the support and practice facilities, or we fly them straight in here and provide all that here."

South Africa last toured Pakistan in 2007 and have since have played Pakistan twice in bilateral series, in 2010 and 2013, in the UAE. The next full tour Pakistan is scheduled to host is next year, in January-February, with two ICC Test championship games alongside five ODI and three T20s. The March T20s are extra fixtures that the PCB has arranged as a part of their ongoing drive to bring as many teams as possible to the country to normalise international cricket again.

Lahore and Karachi have been actively hosting International cricket since 2017 and PCB is gradually exploring more venues in the country to expand the scope. Cricket South Africa's assessment across all available venues is pending, though PCB suggested Rawalpindi for the fixtures.

"Lahore and Karachi venues have been diluted because we have been playing our entire cricket here and because of that the wickets here are also suffering," said Khan.

"We now have Rawalpindi as a venue available. For me, it makes sense to go there and play the three matches. I have suggested Rawalpindi as a venue to South Africa and they are comfortable with the suggestion."

Eoin Morgan, England's captain, backed his team to learn quickly and come back stronger after a thrilling one-run defeat in the first T20I, but added that the pressure to which his players had been exposed was a priceless experience in the final countdown to the T20 World Cup in October.

After an erratic display with the ball, in which South Africa racked up 105 runs in the first ten overs before being restricted to 177 for 8, it was England's high-octane batting that fell apart in the closing stages, as Morgan's own dismissal for 52 in the penultimate over allowed Lungi Ngidi to power his side over the line with a brilliant death over that yielded three wickets and just five runs.

And while Morgan was disappointed with England's failure to get over the line, he was delighted to have been left with so much to digest, with just nine more opportunities for fine-tuning before until the T20 World Cup gets underway in Australia.

"It was an outstanding game of cricket," Morgan said in the post-match presentations. "Experiences like this, particularly with a World Cup around the corner, are just so valuable to the team.

"I think we learn more about both sides when they get put a little bit more pressure," he added. "Today was a fine example of that. Both teams gave it absolutely everything and left everything on the field, but in all honesty, I thought in all three departments today we could make up more than that."

Speaking on Sky Sports, Morgan went into greater detail. "We were always in a commanding position, and we never really looked flustered until Ngidi came on in the 18th over and then turned the game on its head," he said. "Even in a position of needing seven off the last over, with new guys coming in, we expected to win that game, but it's a great game to play in because you get a feel for where guys are at, what skill level they can produce, and how their temperament is. So in terms of actually improving [our team], I think it's great for us."

Whereas England went into the 50-over World Cup as a battle-hardened outfit that had risen to No.1 in the world over the course of four years of success, the T20 World Cup offers fewer opportunities for such team development due to the dearth of bilateral T20Is. Nevertheless, Morgan pointed out that the core of the squad still remembered the sickening circumstances of their final-over loss in Kolkata in the 2016 event, and he backed the class of 2020 to arrive in Australia well placed to go one better.

"In any given any circumstance, you've got to have the mindset of trying to win the game and trying to be as effective as you can," he said. "You can say [this defeat] doesn't really matter, but I actually think it does, because when you put in performances, it gives you a huge amount of confidence, and on the back of that confidence you win games of cricket.

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"Looking back on the 2016 T20 World Cup, we were beaten in the final in a dramatic fashion, but we took a lot of confidence from that tournament because we went into it as a bit of an afterthought, and learnt as much as we could. This time around, [if we learn these lessons], we'll be in a better position to counter anything that happens."

On this latest occasion, Morgan himself seemed to have broken the back of the run-chase in East London with a flurry of two fours and a six to bring the requirement down to a run a ball. But he holed out to deep midwicket off the final ball of the 19th over to give South Africa an opening.

"With all the games I've played and the experience I have, I would have liked to seen it through and I didn't manage to do that," he said. "But the more games I play, the more I back myself to be there at the end. I'll still continue with the method that I play and hopefully contribute to some more wins.

"But for the last few years I've been really enjoying my cricket, and the majority of that is down to the guys I play with," he added. "They are a great bunch of guys, and we're learning a huge amount from each other. The backroom staff contributes huge amounts, they are always provoking thoughts and are very inquisitive, so it's been thoroughly enjoyable.

"One of the big things in our change room is that we learn quite quickly from each other," he added. "We're very open and there's no massive egos around. It's okay for guys to say 'I struggled today, what did you look to do, and how were you effective? Teach me.'

"There will be a bit of a look back at the footage in the next 24 hours, but full credit to South Africa, they clawed their way back into a game that I thought we should have easily won, but we didn't, so fair play. We're going to have to try and negate Ngidi's slower ball because it was very effective on this wicket."

Morgan confirmed that England would continue to play their strongest available XI for the remainder of the series - unlike the mix-and-match approach they took to the ODIs - as they continue to fine-tune their plans before October.

"We want guys to get absolute clarity in their positions, particularly from one to seven," he said. "In the middle, at the end, in the Powerplay, whatever the circumstance might be … we want guys to feel as comfortable as they can. And to be exposed a little bit as well."

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Mercury continued to bolster their roster by trading for guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, the team announced Wednesday.

Phoenix sent the fifth and seventh picks in the 2020 draft and a 2021 first-round pick to the Dallas Wings in exchange for the four-time All-Star.

The Wings now hold four first-round draft picks with Nos. 2, 5, 7, 9 as well as the 15th and 21st selections. Dallas announced that it traded the acquired 2021 first-round pick to the Chicago Sky to acquire Astou Ndour.

Diggins-Smith did not play in the WNBA in 2019 after giving birth to her son in April. She last played for Dallas in 2018, when she averaged 17.9 points and 6.2 assists per game while leading the Wings to the playoffs, where they lost to the Mercury in a first-round game.

She has been playing on the U.S. women's national team, where she most recently started next to Sue Bird in the backcourt during the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament earlier this month.

"Players with Skylar's skill set and ceiling don't become available in free agency often," Mercury general manager Jim Pittman said. "She was our top target this offseason, and we think teaming her with Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner will give us the league's most dynamic offensive trio."

Diggins-Smith said in late January that she didn't want to play for the Wings next season after an acrimonious relationship between the two sides during her pregnancy. Diggins-Smith tweeted in October that she experienced a lack of support from the team.

The Wings gave Diggins-Smith a core designation, team president and CEO Greg Bibb told The Associated Press late last month. She was one of three players in the league, along with Phoenix's Brittney Griner and New York's Tina Charles, to receive the label. With that, the Wings controlled Diggins-Smith's rights for 2020, meaning that Dallas had to re-sign Diggins-Smith before trading her.

The Mercury have been active in reshaping their roster this week.

They traded forward DeWanna Bonner to the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday in exchange for three first-round picks: Nos. 7 and 10 in 2020 and a 2021 first-round pick. They subsequently moved the No. 7 pick and the 2021 first-rounder, while keeping the 10th.

The Mercury also signed free agent Bria Hartley on Wednesday.

Phoenix finished 15-19 in 2019 and lost in the single-elimination first round of the playoffs to the Sky.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The union representing the players on the United States men's national team issued a strong statement in support of the U.S. women's national team, accusing the U.S. Soccer Federation of engaging in a "false narrative" about the women's pursuit of equal pay.

Twenty-eight players from the U.S. women's national team are engaged in a class-action lawsuit against the USSF alleging "institutionalized gender discrimination" toward the team. The lawsuit was filed under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA), the union representing players on the men's team, has issued statements in the past, but this statement was more detailed and blunt in its criticism of the USSF. The statement asserted that the USSF's monopolistic control over who can play for a national team has been used "as a weapon" against the players and that the discrimination against the women's team has been long-standing.

"The Federation has been working very hard to sell a false narrative to the public and even to members of Congress," the statement read. "They have been using this false narrative as a weapon against current and former members of the United States Women's National Team."

The statement added: "With our unions working together since 1999, the goal was always to secure for the women comparable gains in pay and working conditions. For more than 20 years, the Federation has resisted any concept of equal pay or basic economic fairness for the USWNT players. Historically, the Federation also refused to include in the women's CBA the same provisions as the men's with respect to air travel, hotels, etc. This is systematic gender discrimination that should have never happened."

Asked for a response to the USNSTPA's statement, the USSF declined to comment.

Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the 28 players involved in the suit against the USSF, released the following statement on behalf of women's team star Megan Rapinoe on Wednesday: "Our great hope is that 2020 will be the year of equal pay. We are grateful for the support of our male colleagues, and also for the overwhelming solidarity from millions of fans and sponsors around the world who have stood with us to fight USSF's discrimination.

"Achieving equal pay is so much bigger than our team and our playing fields -- women in workforces everywhere deserve equality now."

The USNSTPA's collective bargaining agreement expired at the end of 2018, and the union has been operating under those terms as it attempts to hash out a new agreement. Yet the USNSTPA said that the CBA signed by the women in 2017 was worse than that signed by the men in 2011, when the impact of the Great Recession was still being felt.

Given the improved financial health of the USSF and of the overall economy, the USNSTPA said the numbers should be drastically increased. The statement highlighted that when USWNT players were conducting their most recent CBA negotiations, the USSF's annual sponsorship, television and licensing revenue had grown from $16 million in 2011 to more than $49 million. Annual national team revenues at that time ranged from $29 million to $55 million. The USSF had $168 million in net assets. The annual combined revenue related to the men's and women's national teams had increased to between $78 million and $104 million.

"In our estimation, the women were due at least triple what our expired deal was worth in player compensation," the USNSTPA said. "We believe the Federation should have agreed to a deal directly tied to a fair share of the revenue players generate. That is what should have happened, based on the entire history of labor negotiations involving the men and women players and the Federation.

"Now, the Federation is taking the frivolous position that the USMNT players' compensation should also stay at those 2011-2018 numbers. This is not because there is any basis for that position. Instead, it's a desperate attempt to cover-up the fact that what they did to the women in 2017 is indefensible."

The statement concluded with a call to fans to withdraw support from the USSF's sponsors until the USSF "does the right thing" and gives the women a new CBA that pays a "fair share" of gate receipts, as well as revenues from television and sponsorship.

"Write to your Congressional representatives and tell them it is time to reform the Federation," the statement said. "Let the Federation know that you do not believe the false narrative they are circulating. Support the players, not the Federation."

Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried Feb. 7 in a private ceremony in Corona del Mar, California, according to death certificates released Tuesday by Los Angeles County officials.

The burial occurred at Pacific View Memorial Park, which is near the family's home in Orange County.

Burial originally was planned for Westwood Village Memorial Park but was changed.

Bryant and his daughter, 13, were killed along with seven other people in a helicopter crash Jan. 26 near Calabasas, California. Among the victims were players and their parents and a coach from Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy basketball team and the pilot.

A public memorial service for Kobe and Gianna Bryant is planned for Feb. 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The date 2/24 corresponds with the No. 24 jersey he wore with the Los Angeles Lakers and the No. 2 worn by Gianna, whose team was coached by her father.

At a public memorial Monday, several thousand people mourned three of the other victims: Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and their daughter Alyssa, Gianna's teammate.

Also killed in the crash were Christina Mauser, who helped Bryant coach the teenage girls' basketball team, as well as Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton, another of Gianna's teammates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Detroit Tigers agreed to a one-year major league contract with outfielder Cameron Maybin on Wednesday, the team announced.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but according to multiple reports, the deal is for one year and $1.5 million with the chance to make more in incentives.

The deal marks a return to the Tigers for Maybin, who played for the team in 2007 and 2016 and was a first-round draft pick by the organization in 2005.

"Cameron is a dynamic outfielder that we can rely on for solid play in both the field and at the plate," Tigers general manager Al Avila said in a statement. "His veteran presence will be an asset to our lineup and we're excited to have him back with the organization."

Maybin, who turns 33 in April, hit .285 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs in 239 plate appearances last season for the New York Yankees, who acquired him from the Cleveland Indians on April 25 in a trade that added depth to their injury-ravaged outfield.

He was a solid defensive player and provided clutch hitting and aggression on the bases throughout a division-winning season for the Yankees.

After a few down years, Maybin became a valuable hitter again thanks to an improved launch angle that led to career-best barrel and hard-hit rates last season. Top baseball analysts say that if he had implemented such changes to his swing in his prime years, he probably could have been a star in the majors. Instead, he has been forced to take a series of one-year and minor league deals the past few seasons in hopes of playing enough to show he can still contribute.

The right-handed-hitting Maybin signed a minor league deal with the Indians early last season after being released by the San Francisco Giants. He was arrested during spring training and charged with two DUI offenses -- driving while impaired and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or more.

Maybin split the 2018 season between Miami and Seattle. He batted .249 with four home runs, 28 RBIs and 10 stolen bases over 129 games. He played on Houston's World Series championship team in 2017.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Boston Red Sox spent the first half of the 2019 season without a reliever in a defined closer role, but interim manager Ron Roenicke does not have a similar plan for the 2020 season.

Roenicke said Wednesday that he envisions reliever Brandon Workman closing out games this season.

"I think with what he did last year, he deserves a shot to be the closer," Roenicke said.

Workman, who entered camp as the favorite to close games out, ended 2019 15th among major league relievers with an average of 13.06 strikeouts per nine innings. He also posted a 1.88 ERA and a 2.1 fWAR, which was tied for fifth among qualified relievers.

Under Alex Cora, Boston entered 2019 with a bullpen-by-committee approach, but the team had transitioned into a more structured approach with their relievers by midseason.

As has become normal with the influx of analytics into the game. Roenicke said he doesn't plan on locking in Workman only for the ninth inning, even with a formal closer title.

"I don't think it has to be automatic, but I know mentally, these guys handle things better if they know what's going on," Roenicke said. "If I have a discussion with him earlier and say, 'Listen you're the closer, but I may need you to stop an inning in the eighth because it's important,' I think they're fine with that."

Asked earlier Tuesday about closing, Workman kept his answer brief.

"That's not my call," Workman said.

Wednesday marked the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers in Boston's camp, with Chris Sale a notable absence on the backfields of JetBlue Park. Roenicke said Sale is still recovering from a flu that turned into mild pneumonia, and the Boston ace would be re-evaluated Friday.

Sale threw approximately 60 pitches Tuesday, according to Roenicke, and had plans to throw at some point Wednesday as well. He posted the worst season of his career in 2019, going 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in 147 1/3 innings pitched. His season ended in August with elbow inflammation.

"It's concerning because he worked so hard to get himself to this point," Roenicke said. "His arm feels great. It was the worst time to come up with the flu. ... We're going to go easy when he comes back and make sure we're going through the right steps."

Roenicke is still getting used to his new job title. On Wednesday morning, he walked up to his old locker from his time as bench coach and realized his clothes were instead sitting in the manager's office.

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball continues to investigate the Red Sox for sign-stealing allegations stemming from the 2018 season, leaving some uncertainty regarding the outlook of the season. With the process still ongoing, Roenicke said he was going to hold off naming a bench coach.

"It was brought up in the interview what I thought, so I mentioned a couple of things, but we'll talk about that more today and tomorrow, and it would probably help if the investigation is over and we can just make a decision," Roenicke said.

Roenicke also discussed the possibility of using an opener to start the season, something that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom helped initiate while with the Tampa Bay Rays. With David Price being dealt to the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts trade, the Red Sox are short a starter, entering camp with Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez in their projected rotation.

Roenicke said he would be open to a fifth starter, specifically mentioning Ryan Weber (5.09 ERA in 40 2/3 innings over 18 games and three starts in 2019).

"The opener is a possibility when you don't have the five guys you really like," Roenicke said. "Obviously, Chaim is very familiar with it. And talking to him about it, it wasn't like, 'This is what we want to do.' It was, 'What's the personnel that we have and what's the best way to get these guys to perform at a level that we hope they can be.'

"It ends up having to be a couple of days where they have openers. He's OK if we go there, but if we can fill it with a fifth guy, he's also OK if we don't go there. We see where we end up at the end of camp and if we have one day of an opener, it's OK."

Roenicke said he's leaning on his past experience as manager, specifically bringing up the media storm he managed when MLB suspended Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun in 2013 for performance-enhancing drugs.

"I know I'm going to get tough questions all year," Roenicke said. "But I really enjoy challenges and the experience makes it way easier to get through the challenges that happen. Going back to when I was in Milwaukee with the Ryan Braun thing with the suspension there, that was half a year of basically every day answering questions about it. Knowing what the players feel like going through different trials helps me to talk to them and for them to get through it."

Keone Kela will begin the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates' closer, manager Derek Shelton announced Wednesday.

Felipe Vazquez was an All-Star the past two seasons as the Pirates' closer, but he was arrested in September on felony charges stemming from an alleged sexual relationship with a minor.

Kela converted 24 of 25 save opportunities for the Texas Rangers in 2018 before being traded to the Pirates in late July.

Kela says he's excited about getting another chance to close, and he's eager work with his new manager.

"[Shelton's] message is to just have fun,'' Kela said. "He's waited a long time to be a manager. He has that passion and I think it's going to resonate through the whole clubhouse. It's a new feel. It's a new vibe. I think it's what everyone wants. We want to change the narrative of everything.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.