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Kenley Jansen explains why he signed with the Braves instead of the Dodgers

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For the primary time in 17 years, after spending half of his life within the Dodgers group, Kenley Jansen reported to work Sunday for an additional Main League Baseball membership.

He walked into the expansive clubhouse at CoolToday Park, spring coaching residence of the Atlanta Braves a dozen miles from Florida’s Gulf Coast, simply after 9 a.m. He discovered his locker sandwiched between a minor leaguer’s stall and an unoccupied area — prime actual property reserved for an achieved veteran. A makeshift nameplate was slapped overhead. Jansen was scribbled in black marker. His signature quantity, 74, was in crimson.

The 34-year-old nearer placed on a Braves T-shirt and a blue true spring coaching hat and spent the subsequent two hours working up a sweat. It was each a jarring sight and a dream fulfilled.

Jansen spent his first 12 main league seasons with the Dodgers, however he grew up rooting for the Braves in Curaçao. His favourite participant was Fred McGriff. Andruw Jones, MLB’s first Curaçaoan star, grew to become an idol. When his brother, Ardley, signed with the group in 1999, he would go to Braves spring coaching yearly.

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“That’s the place this love began, man,” Jansen stated.

And but Jansen would have finally most well-liked a return to the Dodgers. The 2 events have been engaged in the course of the offseason, earlier than the lockout and after. Minutes after the lockout was lifted, Jansen recalled, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts despatched him a textual content message with a easy query: “Are you coming again?”

Jansen, the Dodgers’ all-time chief in saves with 350, sought a three-year contract all winter, in response to folks with data of the scenario. He didn’t discover any takers.

The Dodgers have been one of some golf equipment prepared to commit to 2 years. However the scenario was difficult after they agreed to a six-year, $162-million take care of former Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman final Wednesday. The event produced a brand new wrinkle: To maintain their payroll beneath $290 million and keep away from the ensuing 80% tax fee, the Dodgers needed Jansen to attend till they shed payroll earlier than signing.

“I began to really feel that the Dodgers needed to make stuff occur,” Jansen stated. “And, on the similar time, you bought to take care of the fact of what’s finest for you and your loved ones.”

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Kenley Jansen pitches for the Dodgers towards the Rockies in July.

(David Zalubowski / Related Press)

“They tried to deliver me again, however sadly I needed to decide and I selected to be with the Braves.”

Kenley Jansen, on selecting the Braves over the Dodgers

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In the meantime, the Braves, in response to an individual with data of the scenario, reached out to Jansen’s illustration two days later with a proposal for one 12 months and $16 million. The crew gave him just a few hours to resolve. They have been ready to maneuver on if he didn’t settle for by the deadline.

Jansen was intrigued by the thought of taking part in for a World Sequence contender and the crew he liked rising up. He weighed the provide versus the chance of ready for the Dodgers, realizing the possibilities of touchdown a three-year contract this late have been slim to none. He opted for the Braves’ assure.

“They made the strikes over there,” Jansen stated of the Dodgers. “They tried to deliver me again, however sadly I needed to decide and I selected to be with the Braves.”

Jansen on Saturday spoke on the cellphone with Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations. He described the dialog as “emotional.” He insisted there aren’t any exhausting emotions.

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“I used to be a younger child from Curaçao once I signed there,” Jansen stated. “And so they taught me to be a person and be a father and be an amazing husband to my spouse and that’s what stands out from that group. And, additionally, I can say I’m a champion and it’s superior.”

Jansen’s transfer added one other chapter to an unexpected rivalry between Nationwide League powers on reverse coasts.

The Dodgers and Braves have met within the postseason three of the final 4 years. The Dodgers beat Atlanta within the 2019 NLDS and once more within the 2020 NLCS, getting back from a 3-1 deficit on their method to successful the World Sequence. Final season, the Braves toppled the Dodgers as heavy underdogs in an NLCS rematch and beat the Houston Astros within the World Sequence.

Final week, a plot twist added some drama. On Wednesday, Freeman, a Braves icon, signed with the Dodgers after negotiations with the Braves ended they usually acquired Matt Olson to switch him. Like Jansen, Freeman spent 12 seasons with the crew to start his main league profession. In contrast to Jansen, his departure was messy.

“There’s nothing however nice issues I can say concerning the Dodgers,” Jansen stated. “First-class group.”

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The Braves’ bullpen helped carry the membership to the championship in October, however Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos decided it was too left-handed-heavy at the beginning of the offseason. He prioritized including right-handed relievers.

Anthopoulos stated he first reached out to Will Smith, the crew’s nearer, to gauge whether or not the veteran can be open to relinquishing the ninth-inning position. Smith gave the inexperienced gentle. Subsequent was determining which relievers have been attainable. Jansen and Mark Melancon have been atop the free-agent record. Closers Raisel Iglesias and Craig Kimbrel, the one energetic participant with extra saves than Jansen, have been out there through commerce.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts watches Kenley Jansen warm up before Game 3 of NLCS against the Atlanta Braves in October.

Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts watches Kenley Jansen heat up earlier than Sport 3 of NLCS towards the Atlanta Braves in October.

(Jae Hong / Related Press)

The Braves have been discussing a commerce with the Chicago White Sox for Kimbrel, who can even make $16 million this season earlier than hitting free company subsequent offseason, earlier than touchdown Jansen. Re-signing outfielder Jorge Soler was an alternative choice if Jansen didn’t say sure.

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Anthopoulos is accustomed to Jansen. He spent two seasons in Friedman’s entrance workplace earlier than shifting to Atlanta. These two years — 2016 and 2017 — have been the very best of Jansen’s profession. He was probably the most dominant reliever within the majors, stifling hitters together with his signature cutter.

However Anthopoulos stated he was most impressed by Jansen’s willingness to imagine a much bigger workload within the 2016 playoffs weeks earlier than changing into a free agent for the primary time. He accomplished the trouble with three good innings in Sport 6 of the NLCS towards the Chicago Cubs. That winter, he signed a five-year, $80-million contract to remain in Los Angeles.

“He’s only a whole crew man,” Anthopoulos stated. “He didn’t have $80 million within the financial institution, and he didn’t even bat an eye fixed. It wasn’t like he needed to be satisfied. He didn’t even flinch. What’s that let you know about him?”

Jansen doesn’t reside on that lights-out stage anymore. His velocity has diminished. His stroll fee has climbed and his strikeout fee has dipped. Final season, nonetheless, he rebounded to put up a 2.22 ERA in 69 outings by mixing in additional sinkers and sliders.

“I feel we’re getting a extremely good reliever,” Anthopoulos stated. “I don’t need to put expectations on him. Look, I feel the contract displays we imagine in him, you recognize?”

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When Jansen accepted that contract, he known as Jones to thank him for paving the best way for ballplayers from their small island within the Atlantic. He reached out to former teammates and coaches. Roberts advised him he’d at all times be a part of his household. Jansen known as his brother, Ardley, the previous Braves minor leaguer.

“Hey, that is for you,” he advised him.

It’s a dream come true for a child from Curaçao. However the door isn’t shut on the Dodgers. The contract is, in any case, for only one 12 months and Jansen’s household will stay in Los Angeles year-round.

For now, not less than, he’ll stroll out to “Welcome to Atlanta” at Truist Park after a decade of “California Love” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Needed.” The ninth inning at Dodger Stadium received’t be the identical.

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WNBA great rips media outlets over Angel Reese coverage after flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark: 'Nasty work'

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WNBA great rips media outlets over Angel Reese coverage after flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark: 'Nasty work'

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Swin Cash, a three-time WNBA champion and four-time WNBA All-Star, called out the media for its coverage of Angel Reese’s flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark during their matchup Sunday.

Cash wrote that some outlets were doing “nasty work” by only showing the Reese foul, despite it being the major talking point of the Indiana Fever’s win over the Chicago Sky.

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Swin Cash participates in MLK Sports Legacy Award and a tour of the National Civil Rights Museum on Jan. 14, 2018 at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. (Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

“To have the only highlight of Angel be that foul is nasty work by these outlets,” Cash, who is currently an executive with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA, wrote on X. “U know what you’re doing while also questioning her intent is nonsense! They got it right, it was a flagrant 1 it was called by the refs & the players played on.”

Cash then offered her support for Reese and told the WNBA rookie to keep her head up.

“Smh Keep Pushin & Competing Angel,” the Basketball Hall of Famer added.

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Reese swung her arm and hit Clark in the face while trying to go for a block. The Indiana Fever star fell to the ground. The referees upgraded the foul from a common foul to a flagrant-1 after a review.

The play caused a firestorm on social media.

Angel Reese on the bench

Angel Reese, #5 of the Chicago Sky, reacts to a basket from the bench during the second half against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

ANGEL REESE STRIKES CAITLIN CLARK IN HEAD DURING LAYUP ATTEMPT, RECEIVES FLAGRANT FOUL IN FEVER-SKY REMATCH

“I can’t control the refs, and they affected the game, obviously, a lot tonight,” Reese said after the game. “Y’all are probably going to play that clip like 20 times before Monday.”

Reese finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. The Fever won the game, 91-83.

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“I think we went up really strong a lot of times and didn’t get a lot of calls,” Reese added. “Going back and looking, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made, I guess some people get a special whistle.”

Clark downplayed the incident after the game.

Angel Reese reacts during a WNBA game

Angel Reese, #5 of the Chicago Sky, reacts after fouling Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, during the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

“It is what it is, you know, she’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block,” said Clark, who finished with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. “I mean it happens and then those free throws when you have to shoot with nobody at the line are kind of hard. So I was just focusing on making those free throws.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Hernández: Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto injuries create a Dodgers trade deadline dilemma

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Hernández: Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto injuries create a Dodgers trade deadline dilemma

They were both learning to do something they’d never done before, Mookie Betts playing shortstop full-time and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching in the major leagues.

Their respective educations were suddenly paused on Sunday.

Betts broke his left hand when he was struck by a 98-mph fastball during the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Yamamoto was placed on the injured list with a strained rotator cuff.

Manager Dave Roberts said he expected the two players to return this season, but what he neglected to mention was how unlikely they were to come back as the players the Dodgers were hoping they would be.

How can the Dodgers count on Betts to play shortstop at a championship level in October after missing the next several weeks?

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How can they rely on Yamamoto to be their No. 2 starter in the playoffs after he broke down just two months into the season?

In both cases, they can’t.

This shouldn’t cost the Dodgers the National League West — they lead the division by eight games — but if they’re serious about contending for a World Series, they’ll have to strike a couple of deals between now and the July 30 trade deadline.

Here’s the problem: There might not be any deals for them to strike.

Willy Adames?

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The Brewers are in first place and are unlikely to trade their shortstop, even though he will be a free agent this winter.

Bo Bichette?

The two-time All-Star is having the worst season of his career and the Toronto Blue Jays might only want to move him if they have a fire sale.

The pitching market is equally, if not more, uninspiring.

Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease, the two best pitchers who were expected to be part of the market, were already traded. Burnes went from the Brewers to the Baltimore Orioles and Cease from the White Sox to the San Diego Padres.

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Luis Severino of the New York Mets and Tyler Anderson of the Angels figure to be moved in the coming months, but neither of them is considered better than the pitchers the Dodgers already have.

The Dodgers shouldn’t be looking for quantity, of which they already have plenty. They should be looking for quality.

Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws against the Royals on Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Their lack of high-end pitching cost them in recent postseasons, and the $500-plus million they invested in Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow was an indirect acknowledgment of that. Yamamoto and Glasnow, however, came with major risks.

Glasnow has never made more than 21 starts in a season or pitched more than 120 innings. He made his 15th start of the season when he pitched seven scoreless innings on Sunday, the most starts he’d ever made consecutively without sustaining an injury.

There were also questions about the durability of Yamamoto, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and pitched only once a week in Japan. Yamamoto rarely threw his slider in his home country, as he believed it led to discomfort in his elbow. He didn’t throw a single slider in any of his first six starts with the Dodgers, but the higher level of competition forced him to adjust.

Yamamoto threw the pitch a season-high 13 times during a recent start against the New York Yankees in which he registered seven scoreless innings. He pushed back his next start by three days. When he finally returned to the mound on Saturday, his fastball velocity was down and he lasted only two innings.

Was the slider responsible for his injury?

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“That’s a fair question,” Roberts said.

Does he need the pitch to be effective at this level?

Considering Yamamoto relies heavily on a four-seam fastball, splitter and curveball, Roberts said, “to have something that’s hard and turns to the left, it’s certainly another weapon.”

“But there’s a balance of, if that’s something that causes discomfort, then you gotta think long and hard about it,” Roberts said.

Yamamoto will refrain from throwing for the next couple of weeks, according to Roberts.

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“We’ll kind of see where we go from there,” Roberts said.

The timeline for Betts’ return was also undefined, though Betts said he should have a better idea after a scheduled visit on Monday with hand specialist Steven Shin.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulls down his cap after Blake Treinen walks a Kansas City Royals batter.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulls down his cap after Blake Treinen walks a Kansas City Royals batter in a Dodgers loss on Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Shohei Ohtani said in Japanese of watching Betts crumple to the floor after he was struck by a heater delivered by Royals right-hander Dan Altavilla: “I think it was a tough moment for the team as a whole. I think he’s an indispensable player.”

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On offense, certainly.

However, on defense, Betts remains a below average shortstop. He last played the position regularly in high school and didn’t move there this year until shortly before opening day. Betts has tried to make up for his experience by taking grounders before almost every game.

Every game Betts misses will cost him a chance to make up the ground he lost while playing right field and second base during the previous 10 years of his major league career.

“While praying for his return,” Ohtani said, “I’d like for us to cover for him as a team.”

Ohtani didn’t say this, but the responsibility to do so isn’t exclusive to the players. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and the small army of assistants who make up the front office share the burden. They’ll have to find players in a down market.

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Phillies manager Rob Thomson's screaming match with umpire leads to ejection in bizarre scene

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Phillies manager Rob Thomson's screaming match with umpire leads to ejection in bizarre scene

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Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson and umpire Mike Estabrook got into a wild screaming match that resulted in an ejection on Father’s Day against the Baltimore Orioles. 

The Phillies weren’t doing well in the top of the sixth inning as the O’s held an 8-2 lead at their home, Camden Yards, and it didn’t help matters when Estabrook reversed a call initially ruled a hit-by-pitch on the Phillies’ Garrett Stubbs. He did so after conversing with his fellow umpires on the field.

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Before Estabrook reversed the call and brought Stubbs back to home plate, Thomson was already fuming about his strike zone behind home plate on the day. 

Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook ejects Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)

When Thomson emerged from the dugout and wanted an explanation from Estabrook, that’s when things got heated. The tipping point came when Thomson, who was clearly barking at Estabrook, pointed his finger at him and just missed poking him in the chest as he yelled. 

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That resulted in Estabrook turning around fast and tossing Thomson from the game, which sent the veteran manager into a frenzy. 

But what we normally see in these moments is the manager letting off steam and the umpire simply taking it. Estabrook thought differently as he started to give it right back to Thomson in a wild scene.

Mike Estabrook throws out Rob Thomson

Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook ejects Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)

Umpire Laz Diaz let the argument unfold a bit before stepping in and sending Thomson to the clubhouse.

After things settled down, the play was brought to a replay review, and Estabrook bringing Stubbs back to hit was the right call because the ball did not hit him.

The Phillies went on to lose, 8-3, which marked their fourth loss in the last six games.

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Rob Thomson and Mike Estabrook yell

Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook argues with Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)

Still, the Phillies own the best record in the National League even with the loss. They’re 47-24 on the season, though they’ve been worse on the road than at home, owning a 20-14 record in away games. 

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