Duke Snider, the longtime center fielder for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980, died on Sunday morning following an undisclosed illness, both the Dodgers and the Baseball Hall of Fame have announced. He was 84. Snider was the Dodgers' primary center fielder from 1947-62 and generally is considered one of the greatest among a long line of superb players who have worn the Dodgers uniform during the franchise's long, storied history, as reported by ESPN.com.

Donald Trump said Tuesday that Mets owner Fred Wilpon called him to set up a face-to-face meeting to talk about buying part of the club, The New York Times reported. Trump said he would want to be the boss. Faced with a lawsuit seeking up to $1 billion to repay victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, the Mets have explored selling 20 to 25 percent of the club to fund a settlement. Trump, like others, has shown interest in purchasing a majority share. "The Wilpons are friends of mine, and I really hope it works out great for them," Trump said, according to the newspaper. "But if anything doesn't work out for them, I'd be interested in the team."

A former White Sox scouting executive pleaded guilty on Friday in an alleged kickback scheme targeting players from impoverished parts of Latin America hungry to play in the United States. David Wilder, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud as part of a plea agreement, telling a federal judge in Chicago, "I understand what I have done." Prosecutors said he and two others were supposed to pay signing bonuses matching each player's skills but instead fraudulently inflated the amounts and took the additional money for themselves. In a statement, the White Sox said they were pleased Wilder "will face responsibility for his crimes."

Roger Clemens has issued a subpoena to the House committee that he's accused of lying to about using performance-enhancing drugs during his pitching career. He wants all interview summaries, notes and memoranda related to the hearing on steroid use in MLB held three years ago by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The subpoena covers communications between the committee and 20 people, including retired baseball players Jose Canseco, Chuck Knoblauch, C.J. Nitkowski and Andy Pettitte.

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo has been appointed as a mediator in trustee Irving Picard's lawsuit against Mets owners. The lawsuit seeks to recover $1 billion to disburse to victims of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Picard alleges the Wilpons made $300 million in "false profits" from certain accounts with Madoff. The other $700 million sought by Picard is principal, which the trustee alleges Mets ownership should forfeit as well because they knew, or should have known, about the Ponzi scheme.

The trustee seeking to recover funds for victims of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme wants $1 billion from the owners of the Mets, according to The New York Times. On Friday, U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge Burton R. Lifland unsealed a lawsuit originally filed in December naming Mets owners Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz as defendants. "What the trustee is looking for here is a payment in cash," attorney David Sheehan, who leads Irving Picard's legal team, told the Times. "So whether they utilize the Mets, [Wilpon-owned television network] SNY, [Wilpon-owned] Sterling properties or any other resource is of no moment to us. "What we're looking for is a billion dollars, and unless we settle for less than that, which we're not inclined to do, where they get the money is of no moment to us."

The trustee for victims of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme is trying to recover $300 million from the Mets. The funds are being referred to as fake profits. The lawyers for team owner Fred Wilpon countered that their accounts with Madoff went from $500 million to zero when the scheme was shut down. The trustee's demand is made in a complaint ordered unsealed Friday in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan.

A Pennsylvania man who worked as the mascot for a Yankees minor league team claims his former employer violated worker protection laws. Brian Bonner was laid off last month from his job as Champ. He's suing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, New York's Triple-A club, claiming they improperly classified him as a manager to avoid paying him overtime. The suit says his title was "marketing and community relations manager" but he performed no supervisory tasks besides his mascot and community relations duties.

Roger Clemens is due in federal court Wednesday to explain how they plan to handle star prosecution witness Andy Pettitte's testimony alleging Clemens admitted using performance-enhancing drugs. Pettitte admits using human growth hormone and has said Clemens admitted privately that he did as well.

Orioles reliever Alfredo Simon was denied bail Tuesday and will remain in jail on an involuntary manslaughter charge. Simon, 29, is expected to stay in jail while officials investigate a fatal shooting on New Year's Eve. The pitcher's lawyer has said he was firing celebratory shots in the air. A bullet killed 25-year-old Michel Castillo.