miracle elsewhere

[jinshuiqian0713]

OXON HILL, Md. -- The champion Chicago Cubs filled their only real need, getting All-Star reliever Wade Davis. Hell take the spot of closer Aroldis Chapman, who locked down a spot by returning to the New York Yankees with a whopping $86 million deal.As for the Washington Nationals, well, they opened quite a debate Wednesday by trading not one, not two, but three talented, young pitchers for White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton.And as the winter meetings wound down, the Yankees struck just before midnight. They reached a five-year deal with Chapman, according to a person familiar with the contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract was still pending a physical -- it would be the richest deal ever for a reliever, shattering the $62 million, five-year pact Mark Melancon got from San Francisco just a couple days ago.Chapman was acquired by New York from the Cincinnati Reds last offseason, then missed the first 29 games of the season due to a domestic violence suspension from Major League Baseball. The Cuban was traded to the Chicago Cubs in late July and helped them win the World Series, becoming a free agent when it was over.Ian Desmond also wound up in a new spot, reaching a $70 million agreement with Colorado on the last full day of baseballs annual gathering. The session ends Thursday morning after the Rule 5 draft, mostly for players left off 40-man rosters.The free agent market and the trade markets have both been a little slow, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said earlier in the day. Things are picking up a little bit.Closer Kenley Jansen was still in play, and Pittsburgh didnt trade -- not yet, anyway -- outfielder Andrew McCutchen.As expected, the Cubs completed a deal for Davis. To get a closer whos been dominant for the last three years, the World Series champions sent outfielder Jorge Soler to Kansas City.Davis, who finished out the Royals win that clinched their 2015 title, moved right into the ninth-inning role Chapman held at Wrigley Field.Cubs manager Joe Maddon avoided any assessment of who was best. Instead, he offered: Theyre just different kind of pitchers.But the opinions werent so blurred after the NL East champion Nationals made their deal with the White Sox.A day after missing out on White Sox ace Chris Sale, Washington traded top prospect Lucas Giolito, strong-armed Reynaldo Lopez and 2016 first-round draft pick Dane Dunning to get Eaton from Chicago.Right away, Nats fans lit up Twitter, wondering why their team paid such a hefty price. Washington GM Mike Rizzo didnt blink at swapping the trio.We feel comfortable with the deal. Weve done a lot of deals. I like win-win deals, he said.I think the White Sox did a great job of acquiring good, potential upside players. We got ourselves a good, young skillful player that we can control at below-market values for five seasons. And, again, you got to give to get, he said.Eaton, who turned 28 on Tuesday, batted .284 with 14 home runs and 59 RBI, stealing 14 bases and hitting an AL-leading nine triples. He topped the majors with 18 outfield assists.We see the arrow still going up with him, Rizzo said.Praised Nationals manager Dusty Baker: Hes not afraid to get dirty and grimy, greasy, nasty -- do everything there is to beat you.The 22-year-old Giolito was the Nationals first-round pick in 2012. He made his big league debut in June and was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts in the majors.Lopez is also 22, and went 5-3 with a 4.91 ERA in 11 games last season. The 21-year-old Dunning was drafted out of Florida.We view all three of them, actually, as having the potential to become front-end-of-the-rotation pitchers, White Sox GM Rick Hahn said. Theres still a fair amount of development with each of them.In other deals, San Francisco traded pitcher Chris Heston to Seattle Mariners for a player to be named. Heston pitched a no-hitter in going 12-11 as a rookie in 2015, but spent most of this year in the minors.Also, the Marlins reached agreements with pitcher Jeff Locke and catcher A.J. Ellis. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. TORONTO -- When the United States filled out its roster for the World Cup of Hockey, it looked heavy on grit and physicality and light on skill and scoring.That became reality in the Americans stunning 3-0 loss to unheralded Team Europe on Saturday in the World Cup opener. With offensive defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and 30-goal scorer Kyle Palmieri scratched, the U.S. struggled to generate quality scoring chances and finds itself in trouble one game into the tournament.It was just tough to score, winger Zach Parise said. There are guys that have different roles and different jobs on the team. Guys that play with grit, play hard -- but it was just tough to score for us tonight.Jaroslav Halak stopped all 35 shots he faced to earn the shutout for Team Europe, a mix of players from Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Norway, Denmark, France and Slovenia. Marian Gaborik, Leon Draisaitl and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored on U.S. goaltender Jonathan Quick, who made 14 saves.Despite the lopsided shot total and the Americans dominant puck possession, Europe was in control for most of the game because of major mistakes. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh made an ill-advised pinch to set up a 2-on-1 rush that led to Gaboriks goal, and Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane turned the puck over to give Europe a 2-on-0 rush that led to Draisaitls goal.You saw on a couple of our mistakes -- turnovers, pinching, giving them odd-man breaks -- they were able to capitalize, Kane said. On that second goal, Ill definitely take the fault on that one. Thats a play that Ive made a million times in my career. Just kind of lost the puck, and the next thing you know they go down 2 on 0. Thats unacceptable from me.It was an unacceptable performance for the U.S., which now has been shut out in three consecutive major international tournament games dating to the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Leaving skilled players such as?Tyler Johnson and Kyle Okposo off the roster sparked plenty of second-guessing of the U.S. management team, and that criticism wont slow down after losing to Team Europe.Defenseman Ryan Suter called Sochi a setback, and the first game of the World Cup wasnt a step forward.If you go back nine (international) perioods where you dont get anything, its frustrating but weve had some looks along the way, captain Joe Pavelski said.dddddddddddd We had the power plays, we had some chances, we had a few looks. Weve got to strike when we get those.The U.S. had a power-play goal disallowed when James van Riemsdyk was ruled to have intentionally directed the puck in with his chest. Coach John Tortorella believed it should have been a goal because the puck went off Derek Stepans helmet, but the NHL explained it had no bearing and the goal should not count.Tortorella defended his decision to sit Byfuglien and Palmieri, saying this was what the coaching staff believed was the best lineup. The result didnt prove that, and the top offensive players accepted responsibility for not being sharp enough.Europe coach Ralph Krueger knew his team had to play a perfect game to beat the U.S. Captain Anze Kopitar called this a boring game, but it got the job done; Europe made good on Kruegers pledge that the team was ready to look America in the eyes.That belief extended to the locker room, even if beating the U.S. looked shocking from the outside.From the outside, we got stamped up as the underdog here, Draisaitl said. I think we all understand that, but at the same time, we have some really good players on our team as well. A lot of experience. A big win for us.For Europe, it was a long way from blowout losses to the 23-and-under Team North America in exhibition play. Krueger emphasized that the Europeans werent satisfied to play one strong game.We didnt see ourselves as just a sideshow, ever, Krueger said. Weve come here to play nine periods and like everybody else we want to play next weekend.To advance to play next weekend in the semifinals, the U.S. must either beat favored Canada on Tuesday or hope for a miracle elsewhere in Group A. With only three games of round-robin play, a regulation loss is a significant blow.Weve put ourselves in a spot now were chasing, Tortorella said. Were chasing the tournament. Its a spot we didnt want to be in. Its a very dangerous spot, but we are here. ' ' '