BASEBALL

BORAS: YANKEES COULD TALK TO A-ROD IF THEY WANT TO

Scott Boras says the Yankees could still negotiate with Alex Rodriguez if they wanted to.

Boras maintained yesterday that the Yankees should treat A-Rod the same way they deal with reliever Mariano Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada, who also are free agents.

“Why is it that Alex is the only Yankee who can’t become a free agent?” Boras said yesterday. “That question was not answered, and we think it’s a question that’s going to be asked for years to come.”

The Yankees had repeatedly said that they wouldn’t negotiate with Rodriguez if he opted out because they would lose the subsidy the Texas Rangers agreed to as part of the 2004 trade that sent A-Rod to New York. Rodriguez terminated his contract on Sunday.

REDS PICK UP 2008 OPTION ON DUNN

Adam Dunn became the Cincinnati Reds’ highest-paid player yesterday when the team picked up his contract option for $13 million next season.

The Reds answered their most expensive off-season question by keeping their top power hitter the only one in franchise history to have 40 homers in four consecutive seasons. Dunn wanted to stay with the team that drafted and developed him.

Owner Bob Castellini was consulted about the decision. Earlier this month, Castellini said he wanted Dunn to stay, even if it cost $13 million.

“Anytime you have a deal of this magnitude, ownership deserves to be part of the process,” general manager Wayne Krivsky said.

CARDINALS HIRE MOZELIAK AS GENERAL MANAGER

The St. Louis Cardinals hired John Mozeliak as their new general manager yesterday, promoting him to replace the fired Walt Jocketty.

The 38-year-old Mozeliak was the Cardinals’ assistant GM for the last five years. He got a three-year contract. Mozeliak has been with the organization more than a dozen years and served as interim GM after Jocketty was dismissed on October 3.

“I can tell you I was extremely impressed with what he got done,” team president Mark Lamping said. “We didn’t miss a step, we took a step forward.”

CAMERON SUSPENDED 25 GAMES FOR POSITIVE STIMULANT TEST

Mike Cameron always had a squeaky-clean image.

He was best-known for hitting four homers in a game in 2002 and for a frightening, face-to-face collision with a teammate in the outfield three seasons later. He was a family man, and his kids would hang out in the San Diego clubhouse when they visited from Atlanta. A month after the Padres’ season came to a stunning end, they got another shock Wednesday when Cameron, their Gold Glove center fielder, was suspended for the first 25 games of next season after testing positive a second time for a banned stimulant.

FOOTBALL

TESTAVERDE SITS OUT, CARR PRACTICES FOR PANTHERS

Panthers quarterback Vinny Testaverde missed practice yesterday, leaving David Carr the front-runner to start on Sunday at Tennessee.

The 43-year-old Testaverde aggravated a right Achilles’ tendon injury in the first half of Carolina’s loss to Indianapolis. He sat out the second half and has been receiving extensive treatment the past three days. Testaverde was seen riding to and from the practice field yesterday in a golf cart.

LIONS’ KITNA REGRETS ‘NAKED’ COACH COSTUME

Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna and his wife dressed up as a naked man and a fast-food drive-through attendant at a teammate’s Halloween party, depicting an embarrassing moment for one of the team’s assistant coaches.

Now Kitna is getting some flak on local TV and in a newspaper column. Kitna said he was just trying to have fun, but regrets the scrutiny the costumes created.

“If I would’ve known this, I wouldn’t have done it because I didn’t want to try to bring attention to it,” Kitna said yesterday while surrounded by reporters and television cameras.

Defensive line coach Joe Cullen pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and guilty to impaired driving after he was arrested twice last year, once in August 2006 after police said he was driving nude through a Wendy’s drive-through lane, and a week later when they said he was driving under the influence of alcohol.