Sports briefs 11/16/05

Baseball

• The Los Angeles Dodgers hired Ned Colletti as their general manager Tuesday to replace the fired Paul DePodesta.

Colletti has been an assistant GM with the rival San Francisco Giants since 1997. He beat out Dodgers assistant general manager Kim Ng, who was trying to become the first woman in major league history to be hired as a GM.

The Dodgers called a news conference for Wednesday to introduce Colletti in his new job.

Ng and Colletti were thought to be the only candidates to interview for the job. Former Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians GM John Hart withdrew Monday as a candidate.

Hockey

* The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired six-time All-Star center Sergei Fedorov on Tuesday from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for forward Tyler Wright, rookie defenseman Francois Beauchemin and a fifth-round pick in 2006.

The 35-year-old Fedorov had one assist in five games this season for Anaheim, his second with the Mighty Ducks after 13 seasons with Detroit. He recently returned from a groin injury that sidelined him for 13 games.

Fedorov has 431 goals and 589 assists in 15 seasons in the NHL. The speedy Russian had a career-high 56 goals for the Red Wings in 1993-94.

Motorsports

Nextel Cup champion driver Kurt Busch had a 0.017 blood-alcohol level on a preliminary sobriety test, far below the state's impairment limit, Maricopa County sheriff's office said Tuesday.

Busch was detained Friday on suspicion of drunken driving and cited for reckless driving after a confrontation with Maricopa County deputies. He was suspended by Roush Racing for the rest of the season.

Maricopa County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Paul Chagolla said the preliminary test is not admissible in court, but is designed to help indicate the presence of alcohol. The legal limit in Arizona is 0.08.