MAJOR LEAGUES
The Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners traded headaches, with mercurial outfielder Milton Bradley heading to Seattle for underperforming pitcher Carlos Silva on Friday.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry had been trying to deal Bradley since the team suspended him for the final two weeks of last season, shortly after he criticized the atmosphere surrounding a club that hasn’t won a World Series since 1908.
Bradley had signed a US$30 million, three-year deal with the Cubs last off-season.
Silva was 5-18 with a 6.81 ERA in two seasons with Seattle after leaving Minnesota to sign a US$48 million, four-year contract with Seattle. Chicago receives US$9 million from the Mariners as part of the swap — Silva has US$25 million remaining on his contract and Bradley has US$22 million left on his deal.
Seattle, which already had added pitcher Cliff Lee and third baseman Chone Figgins, was seeking more run production.
“It’s a new day, new way for this guy,” Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “What we know is that he is a good person, that he is a very intelligent guy, that he has a strong desire to win.”
With just a few days remaining before many teams go on holiday break, Nick Johnson reached a preliminary agreement on a US$5.5 million, one-year contract with the New York Yankees. Johnson, who played for the Yankees from 2001 to 2003, will likely replace World Series MVP Hideki Matsui, and end Johnny Damon’s time in New York after four seasons.
Damon became a free agent after completing a US$52 million, four-year contract. While he was popular with teammates and fans, the Yankees were concerned about his age (36). The sides also were far apart on money.
The Baltimore Orioles finalized a US$12 million, two-year contract with reliever Mike Gonzalez, who will get a chance to become their closer.
In a move that required little thought, the Philadelphia Phillies exercised their US$8.5 million option for 2011 on shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the 2007 National League MVP. Left-hander Javier Lopez, who had been with Boston, agreed to a US$775,000, one-year contract with Pittsburgh.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but