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All that Joe Maddon talk about Mike Trout playing in left field? Forget about it

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All that Joe Maddon talk about Mike Trout playing in left field? Forget about it

So, about that Mike Trout swap from middle area to left area?

By no means thoughts.

Sooner or later after supervisor Angels supervisor Joe Maddon floated the potential for shifting Trout off middle area to ease the stress on the three-time American League most useful participant’s physique, the concept was scrapped throughout a prolonged Monday morning assembly between Trout, Maddon and common supervisor Perry Minasian.

“We’re gonna put him in middle area,” Maddon stated earlier than the group’s first spring coaching exercise. “He feels actually good about it, very strongly about it. He looks like he’s in nice form, he’s misplaced weight. Every part is so as, so he’s going to play middle area.”

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And that’s that?

“That’s that,” Maddon stated.

Trout, within the fourth 12 months of a 12-year, $426.5-million contract, expects to maneuver to a nook spot sooner or later, and it appeared a proper calf pressure that sidelined him for many of 2021 would possibly expedite that transition. However Trout, 30, made it clear to his bosses Monday that the transfer could be untimely this spring.

“I like middle area,” Trout stated. “I’ve 9 years left on the contract, so I can see down the street presumably shifting to the nook. They inform me it’s much less in your physique and stuff. They’re simply making an attempt to maintain me on the market for 162 video games. However coming in, I wish to play middle area.”

Trout stated he spoke “briefly” with Maddon in regards to the concept on the bench throughout a recreation final season, however he didn’t know the Angels had been critically contemplating it this spring till he noticed it talked about on social media Sunday.

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“It was positively shocking, for positive,” Trout stated. “I heard about it when somebody tweeted it out. We had , prolonged dialog about it, and we’re on the identical web page. … I simply really feel snug [in center], pure.”

If there was any miscommunication, or lack of communication, between the Angels and Trout, blame the 99-day lockout, Maddon stated.

“We weren’t permitted to speak to folks, and I didn’t get to him in time, and it was only a dialog we had been having,” Maddon stated. “However the conclusion was, we all the time needed to discuss to Mike about it and see how he feels, and he feels actually good.”

Does Maddon remorse that Trout first discovered of the concept on Twitter?

“There’s no different solution to discover out something anymore, proper?” Maddon stated. “We talked about it. He’s advantageous.”

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Trout injured his calf final Might 17, suffered a setback in late-July and didn’t return. He stated he hasn’t felt tightness or discomfort within the calf since mid-October and was capable of full his regular winter exercise routine.

“I really feel nice,” stated Trout, who, at 6 ft 2 and 237 kilos, is about six kilos beneath his normal taking part in weight. “That is the most effective I’ve felt shortly. No points with the calf. Don’t really feel it in any respect. It was an amazing offseason, no setbacks, nothing.”

The Angels, derailed by far too many accidents to key gamers throughout their seven-year playoff drought, made a number of adjustments of their medical and coaching staffs this winter, hiring Mike Frostad from Atlanta as head athletic coach and Matt Tenney from Arizona as power andconditioning coach.

Mike Trout runs the bases throughout spring coaching exercises Monday.

(Matt York / Related Press)

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Trout plans to huddle early in camp with the brand new workers to plot applications that can assist maintain him on the sphere. If the Angels are going to contend in 2022, they’ll want Trout and third baseman Anthony Rendon, who had season-ending proper hip surgical procedure final August, in peak type.

“Mike is gonna throw some stuff at me,” Trout stated. “I’m positive we’ll have an amazing plan and go from there.”

Trout stated he “loved each minute” of his offseason in Millville, N.J., along with his 1½-year-old son, Beckham, who’s “working round, climbing on issues, speaking … catching fish, hitting golf balls, placing balls on the tee for me,” he stated. “Fatherhood is the most effective.”

However Trout was saddened by final month’s trial through which former Angels communications director Eric Kay was convicted of supplying the medication that led to the demise of pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019.

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“It was powerful for everyone, the baseball household normally,” Trout stated. “It’s a really unhappy scenario.”

5 former Angels gamers — Matt Harvey, Blake Parker, Mike Morin, Cam Bedrosian and C.J. Cron — testified through the trial that in addition they used opioids whereas with the Angels.

Did Trout, in his eleventh full season, have any sense for what was occurring within the clubhouse on the time?

“I didn’t,” he stated. “I didn’t.”

Notes

Rendon and nearer Raisel Iglesias haven’t but reported to camp. Maddon stated each are coping with “household” points and are anticipated to reach quickly. … The Angels will open Cactus League play Friday in opposition to Oakland in Mesa, Ariz. They’ll play Arizona at residence on Saturday and Seattle in Peoria, Ariz., on Sunday. … Bally Sports activities West introduced it is going to televise all 18 of the Angels’ spring coaching video games.

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Ana Bărbosu, Romanian gymnast involved in Olympic bronze medal controversy, commits to Stanford

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Ana Bărbosu, Romanian gymnast involved in Olympic bronze medal controversy, commits to Stanford

Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu, who won a bronze on floor exercise at the 2024 Olympic Games after a controversial ruling that stripped the medal from American Jordan Chiles, will join Stanford’s gymnastics team in the fall. She announced her commitment via Instagram on Wednesday.

“Can’t wait to join this amazing family! Go Card,” she wrote.

Bărbosu, 18, was awarded the bronze medal six days after the floor exercise final after her team appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). During the Aug. 5 event, Chiles made the podium after her coach, Cecile Landi, successfully inquired to have Chiles’ score raised by 0.1, bumping her from fifth to third place. The court ruled that the judges presiding over the final should not have accepted the inquiry because Landi’s request came four seconds after the one-minute deadline to submit it. The International Olympic Committee reallocated Chiles’ bronze medal to Bărbosu, who received it at a ceremony in Bucharest, Romania’s capital.

Bărbosu’s elation and devastation was in the spotlight on the day of the floor exercise final. When Chiles, the last competitor in the event, initially scored a 13.666, Bărbosu — who scored 13.700 — began celebrating what she thought was a third-place finish. After Landi’s inquiry led to Chiles’ score change, Bărbosu’s dropped her Romanian flag out of shock and left the floor in tears.

Though Bărbosu is currently the official owner of the bronze, the medal is still tied up in appeals. Chiles’ attorneys filed a formal appeal with the Swiss Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s Supreme Court, to overturn the CAS ruling on Sept. 16 and added a second appeal brief on Sept. 24. USA Gymnastics also filed a separate appeal in conjunction with Chiles’ application. Chiles’ attorneys are arguing that CAS did not consider video evidence that “showed her inquiry was submitted on time.”

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IOC’s handling of the Jordan Chiles ruling is disturbing and shameful

While Bărbosu’s participation in the Paris Games has largely been clouded by the floor final controversy, she helped Romania to a seventh-place finish in the team final and earned a spot in the individual all-around final. In the 2026 NCAA gymnastics season, she’ll join a Stanford squad that went on a Cinderella run from a No. 52 ranking in Week 1 to the 2024 NCAA championship semifinal. It’s likely Bărbosu and Chiles will face off at the collegiate level next season, as Chiles will be completing her senior season with UCLA gymnastics and Bărbosu will make her NCAA debut. Former Pac-12 foes Stanford and UCLA are in different conferences now (the ACC and Big Ten, respectively), but the schools have a dual meet slated for March 9, indicating they will likely continue scheduling meets together in the future.

Another gymnast who competed for Romania at the 2024 Olympics will also enter the NCAA ranks soon, as Lilia Cosman committed to Michigan State.

Required reading

(Photo: Lionel Bonaventure / AFP via Getty Images)

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Notre Dame football team members dealing with flu ahead of semifinal vs Penn State: report

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Notre Dame football team members dealing with flu ahead of semifinal vs Penn State: report

Some members of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish may have to do their best Michael Jordan impression on Thursday.

The flu is reportedly going around the team, just hours before their College Football Playoff semifinal against Penn State.

On3 Sports reported that “those who have it have it bad, but it sounds like that’s mostly backups and special teams players.”

A detail view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo is seen at the 50-yard line on the field in action during a football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sept. 23, 2023 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. (Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Other reports since indicate that the illness has subsided in recent days, but players are not out of the woods yet.

The Fighting Irish are riding high headed into Thursday’s Orange Bowl after taking down the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the quarterfinal last week.

Notre Dame earned the seventh seed in the bracket, which got them to host a home game against No. 10 Indiana. That was a rather easy victory, but Thursday may just be their toughest test yet.

Go Irish flags

Notre Dame Fighting Irish cheerleaders run down field bearing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo in action during a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Stanford Cardinals on Oct. 12, 2024 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. (Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

EX-NFL STAR, WITH TIES TO ELI MANNING TRADE, DISCUSSES CHANCES OF SHEDEUR SANDERS REFUSING TITANS FOR GIANTS

Penn State held Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty to just 104 rushing yards last week, his lowest of the season. That is not necessarily great news for the Irish, considering Riley Leonard had just 90 yards passing against the Bulldogs.

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The Nittany Lions are the sixth seed in the bracket. 

The Fighting Irish’s season seemed to be dead in the water after losing at home to Northern Illinois in the second week of the season, but they have since rattled off a dozen consecutive wins to find themselves just one victory away from their second national title game in the last 15 years.

However, if they can get by what seemed to be a program-altering loss at the time, a bug seems to be just a minor speed bump.

This is the third time the Fighting Irish are in the playoffs, having lost in the semifinals in both 2018 and 2020.

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Why the Dodgers finally traded once-coveted prospect Diego Cartaya

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Why the Dodgers finally traded once-coveted prospect Diego Cartaya

Two years ago, Diego Cartaya was the crown jewel of the Dodgers’ highly touted farm system.

On Thursday, he quietly departed the organization without ever coming close to reaching the majors.

A week after being designated for assignment by the club to clear a roster spot for the signing of South Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, Cartaya was traded to the Minnesota Twins for minor league pitcher Jose Vazquez, the team announced.

Vasquez, a 20-year-old right-hander, has a career 8.05 ERA in two seasons in the Dominican Summer League, coming to the Dodgers as little more than a long-shot flier.

Cartaya, once considered one of the best young talents in the sport after signing with the Dodgers out of Venezuela, was supposed to be destined for so much more.

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A 6-foot-3 catcher with a powerful right-handed swing, Cartaya was ranked as the Dodgers’ best prospect by MLB Pipeline in both 2022 and 2023. At one point, he was tabbed as a consensus top-20 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus.

Though Cartaya was annually a subject of trade rumors, the Dodgers never involved him in a blockbuster deal, maintaining hope in his potential as a key part of their long-term future.

Alas, injuries and poor performance derailed the 23-year-old’s rise through the minors, stalling his career as other young catchers like Dalton Rushing and Hunter Feducia passed him in the Dodgers’ organizational depth chart.

Cartaya’s best seasons in the club’s system came in 2021, when he batted .298 with 10 home runs and a 1.023 OPS in 31 games in single A, and 2022, when he hit .254 with 22 home runs and a .892 OPS in single A and high A, and appeared in the MLB Futures Game at Dodger Stadium.

Entering 2023, Cartaya didn’t seem far away from making Chavez Ravine his permanent home. Though he had battled back and hamstring injuries already, his power at the plate and big arm behind the dish made him look like a rising star. He opened that season in double A, and seemed primed to quickly climb the final rungs of the minor league ladder.

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But that year, Cartaya hit only .189 while splitting time between catcher and designated hitter. He hit 19 home runs, but also struck out 117 times.

Early last year, Cartaya’s numbers rebounded slightly, earning him a promotion to triple-A Oklahoma City. Once there, however, he batted just .208 with a .643 OPS in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

When the Dodgers needed a reserve catcher late in the season, they summoned Feducia — a lower-ranked prospect and former 12th-round pick — to their big league roster instead.

Between that and the emergence of Rushing, the club’s top draft pick in 2022 and current No. 1 rated prospect, Cartaya’s tenuous place within the organization was clear. And when the team needed to clear a roster spot last week, Cartaya became the easiest name for the team to move on from, his once tantalizing potential having never come to fruition.

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