Mariners’ Greg Halman is fatally stabbed

Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death early Monday in the Netherlands, and his brother was arrested as a suspect, Dutch police said.

Rotterdam Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels said police were called to a home in the port city in the early hours of the morning and found the 24-year-old Dutch player bleeding from a stab wound.

The officers and ambulance paramedics were unable to resuscitate Halman.

Wessels said the officers arrested Halman’s 22-year-old brother. She declined to give his name, in line with Dutch privacy rules.

No charges have been filed in the case.

Halman batted .230 in 35 games and made starts at all three outfield positions for the Mariners in 2011 before being optioned to triple-A Tacoma.

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The mediator who brokered peace between Frank McCourt and Bud Selig got another assignment on Monday: Negotiate a truce between McCourt and Fox Sports.

The Dodgers and Fox agreed to try mediation, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross wrote in an order issued Monday. Gross appointed the same mediator who shepherded the agreement for McCourt to sell the Dodgers, retired U.S. District Judge Joseph Farnan.

The mediation is set to start next Monday. However, Gross also ordered that a Nov. 30 hearing would proceed as scheduled, subject to his discretion. Gross has expressed his interest in resolving the Dodgers case as soon as possible so the team can best prepare for next season.

The Dodgers have asked for permission to market their television rights as part of the team sale, in the hope of netting McCourt a higher sale price. Fox has asked the court to dismiss the Dodgers from bankruptcy, claiming the team can repay its creditors with revenue from the sale without disrupting a television rights contract two years from expiration.

Separately, the Dodgers have sued Fox and Fox has sued the Dodgers. Gross ordered both suits put on hold “pending the conclusion of the mediation.”

—Bill Shaikin

The Angels’ pursuit of free-agent pitcher C.J. Wilson continued Monday night when Manager Mike Scioscia and General Manager Jerry Dipoto had dinner with the veteran left-hander in Los Angeles.

The meeting was confirmed by a person who was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation because of the sensitive nature of talks. Dipoto and Wilson’s agent, Bob Garber, had a three-hour dinner last week during the GM meetings in Milwaukee.

As many as 13 teams are reportedly interested in Wilson, but the 31-year-old is narrowing the field.

—Mike DiGiovanna

Joe Nathan and the Texas Rangers agreed to a two-year contract with a club option for 2014, a move that means closer Neftali Feliz will shift to the starting rotation.

COLLEGES

Penn State hires former FBI director

Former FBI director Louis Freeh, tapped to lead Penn State’s investigation into the child sex abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, said his inquiry will go as far back as 1975, a much longer period than a grand jury report issued this month.

Freeh was named Monday to oversee the university board of trustees’ internal investigation into the abuse allegations that ultimately led to the ouster of longtime football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier.