BRIEFLY.

Dodgers sign pitcher Saito

Japanese pitcher Takashi Saito agreed Tuesday to a minor-league contract with the Dodgers and was invited to spring training.

The 35-year-old right-hander spent most of his 14-year career with Yokohama Baystars in Japan's Central League. He compiled a 87-78 record with 48 saves and was a four-time All-Star.

Saito becomes the fifth player from Japan signed by the Dodgers, following pitchers Hideo Nomo, Kazuhisa Ishii and Masao Kida as well as infielder Norihiro Nakamura.

--Mel Stottlemyre will be a spring training instructor for the New York Yankees after spending 10 seasons as their pitching coach.

TRACK AND FIELD: Victor Conte, the convicted ringleader in the BALCO doping scandal, settled a defamation lawsuit brought by track star Marion Jones over allegations that she used banned performance-enhancing drugs, a lawyer in the case said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MOTOR SPORTS: Flight crew errors probably caused a 2004 Hendrick Motorsports plane crash that killed 10 people with ties to one of NASCAR's top racing families, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

The crew improperly read instruments and missed a landing approach to Blue Ridge Airport in Martinsville, Va., the NTSB said in a report synopsis e-mailed to The Associated Press. The Beech King Air 200 crashed into fog-shrouded Bull Mountain in the foothills of the Appalachians on Oct. 24, 2004.

The crash killed the son, brother and two nieces of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.

BOXING: Chris Byrd will defend his IBF heavyweight title in Germany against Wladimir Klitschko on April 22, the marketing company Sportfive announced.

--Floyd Mayweather Jr. is aiming for his fourth title in four weight classes when he faces IBF welterweight champion Zab Judah on April 8 in Las Vegas. Promoters Bob Arum and Don King announced the fight at a press conference in Manhattan.

--Winky Wright refused to sign a contract to fight middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, then fired his promoter, Gary Shaw. Now Wright is negotiating with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions for his next fight - which may or may not be against Taylor.

-Robert Morales

HORSE RACING: Quarantines on two barns at Pimlico Race Course have been lifted after sensitive tests did not find any traces of the equine herpes virus that killed three horses at the home of the Preakness Stakes, state agriculture officials said. Two other Pimlico barns remain under state hold orders.

SOCCER: Major League Soccer insists Freddy Adu will play for D.C. United for the ``forseeable future,'' denying a Times of London report of a deal that would send the 16-year-old prodigy this year to English Premier League champion Chelsea.

The newspaper reported that the London club is in advanced stages of negotiations with MLS for a transfer fee of about $8.7 million.

--Host Egypt edged Senegal 2-1 and Ivory Coast toppled Nigeria 1-0 to advance to Friday's African Nations Cup title game. Substitute Amr Zaki 81st-minute goal was the winner for the Pharaohs. Chelsea's Didier Drogba scored in the 47th minute for Ivory Coast.

-Daily News Wire Services