LDN - Sports

MLB notebook: Astros LHP Keuchel won't talk contract during season

[February 15, 2018] Dallas Keuchel started the pitch clock on the Houston Astros on Wednesday when he reported to West Palm Beach, Fla., for the start of spring training and opened a six-week window for contract negotiations before he begins the final year of his contract.

Keuchel, 30, hired Scott Boras as his agent after going 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 2017.

"If there is something, it's going to happen before the season," Keuchel said. "There's going to be no contractual negotiations during the regular season. I feel like that would be a negative light on some of the teammates while those guys are busting their butts. I don't want anything happening behind the scenes with me that would affect those guys. I want to play ball and see where that leads us."

Keuchel was 9-0 before the All-Star break last year, but missed nearly two months with a neck issue. He won the American League Cy Young in 2015. Keuchel will play this season under a one-year, $13.2 million contract.

--The microscope promises to remain focused on Shohei Ohtani throughout his first season in the major leagues. That was evident from the Japanese two-way player's first day of spring training in Tempe, Ariz., as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

Photographers followed his every move -- whether he was throwing lightly in the outfield or taking one of his 37 batting practice swings -- and he later faced questions at a press conference with more than 100 journalists.

But all the expectations and all the pressure matter little to the 23-year-old, who plans to be both a pitcher and outfielder for the Angels.

"Honestly, from my days in Japan, I haven't ever felt that pressure that everybody is talking about," Ohtani said through his interpreter. "I just want to go out there and do my job and help the team win. That's my No. 1 goal, to help the team win and make the fans happy by me playing my hardest and that's the best possible scenario."

--Orioles closer Zach Britton continues to recover from a torn Achilles and has targeted a May return, not to mention a greater goal: a new deal to stay in Baltimore beyond this season.

Britton ruptured his right Achilles tendon in December following a 2-1 record and 15 saves in 38 appearances in 2017. He is scheduled to throw in a boot for the first time this week. Meanwhile, Britton, 30, will be a free agent in November.

"I've been here since I was 18 years old. It would be really weird to be in another clubhouse in a different uniform," said Britton, who is the longest-tenured active Oriole. "I think my situation is the same as a lot of other guys. A lot of guys in here would like to be back, it's just about the opportunity. A lot of us haven't been presented with the opportunity to even consider coming back at this point. I'm sure there will be some talks at some point, and we'll go from there."

--Chicago White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia won his arbitration case and will earn the $6.7 million he sought in 2018.

A three-member arbitration panel ruled in Garcia's favor in a hearing held Tuesday in Phoenix. The White Sox were offering $5.85 million.

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Garcia, 26, was an All-Star for the first time in 2017, when he made $3 million while setting career highs with a .330 batting average, 18 home runs, 80 RBIs and an .885 OPS.

--New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge will not use his left shoulder injury as the reason for his midseason slump last year -- "I don't like making excuses" -- after admitting for the first time it started bothering him around the All-Star break.

The American League Rookie of the Year, who had arthroscopic shoulder surgery on Nov. 21, went into a slump after the All-Star break when he hit .179 with seven home runs over a 44-game stretch through the end of August.

"I felt it midway through the season last year," the 25-year-old Judge told reporters at spring training camp in Tampa, Fla., per ESPN, "but it came down to, 'Can you play?' And I could play. ... If I was able to play, I was going to go out there and be ready for my team."

The MVP runner-up had an historic season with a rookie-record 52 home runs in 2017. He hit .284 with 114 RBIs and led the American League in runs scored (128) and walks (127), while striking out 208 times.

--Tito Francona, the father of Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona and a veteran of 15 major league seasons, died late Tuesday night. He was 84.

The Indians confirmed the news Wednesday about the passing of "one of the Tribe's great players John Patsy 'Tito' Francona" at his home in New Brighton, Pa.

The Indians acquired Tito Francona from the Detroit Tigers on March 21, 1959, in exchange for future Hall of Famer Larry Doby. He spent six years with the Indians from 1959-64. In his first year with the Indians in 1959, the year Terry was born, Tito batted .363 and finished fifth in the American League MVP voting.

Over his career, Francona hit .272 with 125 home runs and 626 RBIs in 1,719 games. He played for nine different teams.

--The St. Louis Cardinals officially signed free agent right-hander Bud Norris to a one-year contract.

Norris, 32, appeared in a career single-season high 60 games (57 in relief) for the Los Angeles Angels last season. He led the team with 19 saves, ranking 10th among American League closers.

The veteran of nine major league seasons owns a career mark of 68-84 with a 4.49 ERA in 291 games (188 starts) with Houston (2009-13), Baltimore (2013-15), San Diego (2015), Atlanta (2016), Los Angeles Dodgers (2016) and the Angels (2017).

--Field Level Media

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