Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic is weighing a maximum contract extension from Sacramento or entering free agency after the season.

Bogdanovic told The Sacramento Bee on Tuesday that he has received a four-year, $51.4 million extension offer but has not decided whether he will sign it.

"They did, but we will wait to see," Bogdanovic told the newspaper of the offer. "Maybe we will sign tomorrow. Maybe we sign in a month. Who knows? We will see."

Bogdanovic, who averaged 14.1 points, 3.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Kings last season, will play 2019-20 on the final season of a three-year, $27 million contract.

The 27-year-old told the Bee that he wants to stay in Sacramento but would not rush into signing a deal.

Bogdanovic would be a restricted free agent in the 2020 offseason.

HE IS PREPARING to launch his 20,361st field goal attempt, but he has no idea it might well be his last. It's Nov. 8, 2018, and with 8:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, his Houston Rockets down 86-64 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Carmelo Anthony had secured an offensive rebound. Two seconds later, he eyes a rim that sits 23 feet away, from a most ironic spot for him.

The corner.

For a volume midrange shooter -- a man considered the antithesis of the analytics movement that has revolutionized the NBA -- Anthony is about to take what that very movement has roundly declared to be basketball's most efficient and valuable shot: a corner 3-pointer.

Up to this point in the game, all 10 of Anthony's attempts have failed to reach the bottom of the net; his last resulted in a basket only because of a favorable goaltending call. Five of those shots were from beyond the arc. Also present in Oklahoma City, where his team now trails by 22 points, is Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who in some 24 hours will meet with Anthony in a hotel room in San Antonio. Morey will tell Anthony -- who was expecting to play the next day against the Spurs -- that the Rockets, after just 10 games, no longer need his services.

After that, Anthony will spend the rest of the season on the sidelines as NBA players profess their love for him on social media and in interviews, all but demanding that Anthony, who turned 35 in May, belongs among the 450 players in the league. This cycle will continue into the summer, a chorus growing louder as the future Hall of Famer -- a 10-time All-Star -- remains untethered to any team. Other reclamation projects -- including enigmatic center Dwight Howard and 38-year-old wing Joe Johnson -- are expected to make NBA rosters. Anthony will even go on national television -- on ESPN -- and campaign for a different ending.

"I feel like I still can play," Anthony tells Stephen A. Smith. "I know I still can play."

In this moment, though, that is all in Carmelo Anthony's future. On this day, he is still 34, still in the league, still in a game, with the ball in his hands. As he's done 20,360 times before, he lets it fly. He has taken many shots that now measure as poor, because he came up playing a style that his heroes did before him, but this shot is quantifiably defensible. Ironic, then, that this one caroms off the back of the rim, giving him two points on 1-of-11 shooting while a national television audience looks on. A timeout is called two seconds later. He checks out of the game. He does not come back in.

After a 98-80 loss drops Houston to 4-6 on the season, Anthony boards the Rockets' charter plane. It lifts into the chilly Oklahoma City sky toward south Texas as a waxing crescent moon hangs above. Several staffers aboard have no idea that they just witnessed Anthony's last game. He has no idea he's just played in it. There is tomorrow, another game. Anthony doesn't know that it's over.

AFTER THE TIMEOUT is called but before he checks out of the game, Anthony lingers on the court at Chesapeake Energy Arena, giving a long look to the Thunder's bench. One season earlier, on the late-September 2017 day that the Thunder had introduced Anthony, he had been asked about coming off that very bench after starting every game in his career. Sitting in his introductory news conference, he'd worn a hoodie, his arms crossed. He'd leaned forward into the microphone, a smile breaking across his face.

"Who, me?"

That sound bite would be amplified when, in his exit interviews after a disappointing season in Oklahoma City, Anthony was asked a similar question. "Yeah, I'm not sacrificing no bench role, so you can -- that's out of the question." And so the narrative went: an aging star who couldn't let go of the stature he had enjoyed, undone by his unwillingness to let go of what was ultimately holding him back.

Anthony declined to participate for this story, and his representatives directed comment to previous interviews. But many people close to him and inside and around the organizations where he has played were willing to discuss his swift demise. "His name is a blessing and a curse," says one source close to Anthony.

"And it's more of a curse right now."

Anthony's headlong dive into basketball exile is partly the story of the game's dramatic evolution that placed him on the wrong side of history. But it's also partly the story about the pratfalls of greatness -- and how stars often decline as steeply as they rise to dominance.

"When you're one of the top 10 players in our league for 10 years, you think it's going to be there forever," says one of Anthony's former NBA coaches.

"They're always the last ones to know."

THE WARNING SIGNS first arrive in southwest Louisiana, where the Rockets have gathered for training camp at a complex in Lake Charles. It's late September of 2018, and after years of fawning over Carmelo Anthony, the Rockets finally have him. Team officials believe that his offensive punch will compensate for the loss of long-range shooter Ryan Anderson, whom they traded the month before. They believe that Anthony, with a fresh start, can bounce back from a poor season in Oklahoma City.

Which is not to say there aren't concerns. There's concern among some coaching staff members and others in the organization about the dynamic between Anthony and Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni; the two had had a fractured history during their time together with the Knicks a few years earlier. There's concern that Anthony, a midrange jump-shooter, will struggle within the Rockets' analytically driven offense, one predicated on 3-pointers, free throws and shots around the rim.

But the Rockets are ultimately confident in D'Antoni's system. They believe that it can accentuate the positives and minimize the negatives from a player's skill set -- not just Anthony's but any player's. The approach is risky. But under Morey, the Rockets are nothing if not aggressive. They're trying to hit a home run.

As one team source says: "We needed scoring."

In talks with Anthony, team sources say, his role was explained: He would be coming off the bench. Those sources also say Anthony embraced this role, was nothing if not professional and understood his fit on a roster that featured reigning MVP James Harden and Chris Paul and had ambitions of a deep playoff run after winning 65 games the season before and falling one win shy of the NBA Finals.

During training camp in Louisiana, though, another issue arises, one that some Rockets officials say they hadn't fully grasped until they saw Melo on the court: The 34-year-old is struggling in the team's defensive scheme, one that requires players to switch often on pick-and-roll action. (According to Second Spectrum data, the Rockets switched on 44% of screens last season, by far the highest in the NBA. The Warriors were second at 33%. No other team was above 25%.)

That Anthony was a subpar defender wasn't breaking news to anyone, but then the NBA's style of play changed -- in a big way.

When Anthony first entered the league in 2003-04, a total of 35,492 3-pointers were attempted leaguewide. By 2018-19, that number had jumped to 78,742, a 121% increase.

As teams, in response, began stocking up on long-range shooters, defending the perimeter became a top priority, especially with respect to switching pick-and-roll actions to deny those shooters open looks. According to Second Spectrum data, defenses switched on pick-and-rolls 7.2% of the time in 2013-14; that rate was 16.5% last season.

One rival front-office executive notes that the league's 3-point revolution makes it harder than ever to hide players who aren't strong defenders. He's talking about Carmelo Anthony -- someone, he says, "who can't defend, can't close out, his feet are slow and he gets blown by." More than ever, offensive teams will repeatedly target weak defenders in pick-and-roll actions, the executive adds.

And that very thing had played out in real time for Anthony during his Oklahoma City stint -- most notably during the Thunder's 2018 first-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz.

In that series, which the Thunder lost in six games, Anthony was the screen defender 157 times, per Second Spectrum; he was being targeted by a Jazz offense looking for switches. That figure was the second highest for a Thunder player in that series; only Steven Adams (186) had more. Then, in Game 5 of that series, Anthony was subbed out of the game in the third quarter with the Thunder trailing 71-52. With him on the bench, the Thunder roared back and took an 88-87 lead, further evidence of a trend that continued: The Thunder were minus-9.7 in that postseason with him on the court and plus-5.3 with him on the bench.

Although the Rockets knew of Anthony's defensive weaknesses before he joined, team sources say they didn't anticipate just how limited he would be in their aggressive switch-centric defense, which tasked him with running quicker players off the 3-point line. One team source speculates that, had they known he'd struggle so much in their defense, Anthony wouldn't have been brought aboard. "He really, really struggled with it," the source says.

But in the early going of the 2018-19 season, other factors would contribute to his ouster as well. For one: After losing their first game to New Orleans, the Rockets beat the Lakers in their second game -- Chris Paul is suspended two games for scuffling with Lakers guard Rajon Rondo. With Paul out, the Rockets drop their next four games; in that stretch, Harden strains his left hamstring. Anthony delivers games of 22 and 24 points during that losing streak, but at 1-5, the Rockets are already feeling desperation in the ultracompetitive Western Conference. "It was the perfect storm in those first 10 games," one Rockets source says.

Anthony turns in another vintage performance in their next game, tallying 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting in a Nov. 2 win in Brooklyn to help snap the losing streak. But the issue of Anthony's defense continues to fester. In the Rockets' first five losses, opponents shoot a whopping 54% when Anthony is the closest defender. "We just couldn't put him on the floor defensively," one team source says.

After starting every game of his career until this season, Anthony cooperates in his role, coming off the bench in eight of the 10 games in Houston. Still, the Rockets know they can't just take him out of the rotation; doing so would cause a media firestorm. "Because his name was Carmelo, we treated it differently," one team source says. And when getting two more wins brings the team to 4-5 with a game in Oklahoma City looming -- a reunion for Anthony against his former team -- it appears that things might be looking up for the Rockets.

But when Anthony struggles offensively in that 18-point loss to the Thunder, the central theme of internal conversations within the Rockets organization solidifies: The team is struggling, changes need to be made, there is no time to wait. The Rockets hope that parting ways with Anthony quickly might allow him to join another team. Morey delivers the news to Anthony in San Antonio the day before the Rockets are to play the Spurs -- though publicly, the team would say only that Anthony was out for the next three games because of an "illness."

In the days and weeks to come, rumors surface of Anthony potentially joining other franchises, and one source close to Anthony says he believes Melo will be joining the Lakers midseason. Multiple sources close to the situation note that the Miami Heat had also been interested in acquiring Anthony before he'd chosen Houston, but in the end, no option materializes.

IN HINDSIGHT, a question lingers: If the Rockets are such an analytically rigorous team and knew beforehand that an aging Anthony was a notoriously poor defender who might not fit in their switch-heavy scheme, why bring him aboard in the first place?

In 2018-19, Anthony had an offensive rating of 102.3 and a net rating of minus-9.9 -- both the worst of his career. "He just can't play NBA defense anymore," one Rockets source says, but the offensive woes ultimately calcified the Rockets' thought that they had gambled and lost. Still, there remains a measure of guilt among some in and near the organization and within Anthony's circle.

"I feel awful that it ended the way it did," says another Rockets source. "He would have been better off either going to Miami or just not playing. But those 10 games ... basically ruined him."

Three months after he last suited up, Anthony heads to Charlotte for a star-studded dinner at the All-Star Game to honor Heat star Dwyane Wade in the midst of a farewell tour in his 16th and final season. At the gathering, many NBA stars of past and present toast Wade, who sits in a throne-like chair. When it's his turn, Anthony references how they've known each other since college, how they're like family.

"One of the realest conversations that I had with you in 16 years was when you told me you were about to retire," Anthony says. "I said, 'Hell no.' I said, 'You can't go out like that.' Now look at you."

In this moment, Anthony is 34; Wade is 37. A league source present at the gathering said Anthony's words seemed genuine in showing love to a dear friend and in no way envious of the farewell tour that Wade is enjoying. Because, the source says, as everyone honored the 2006 Finals MVP, Anthony didn't yet believe his NBA career was over. He thought he'd still be picked up by a team -- soon.

"IT'S ABOUT THE right fit," Wade says. "The toughest part -- for GMs, presidents, owners and players -- is how to handle an aging superstar in this game. It has to all work perfectly. Everyone has to make the right sacrifices, has to be the right group and coach. It has to work perfectly when it's an aging star in this game."

It's a few weeks before last season's All-Star Game, and Wade is speaking to reporters in New York before the Heat play the Knicks. Sitting courtside is Anthony, who by now has been let go by the Rockets. A few months from now, Wade will play his final NBA game, this one in Brooklyn, and again Anthony, who remains unsigned, will be in attendance. At one point midway through the fourth quarter, the ball will bounce toward Anthony, sitting courtside in street clothes. He'll grab it and pretend as if he'll shoot it, but he doesn't. The crowd roars. The clip goes viral. After the game, Wade presents his jersey to Anthony, and the two longtime friends and members of the 2003 NBA draft class share a long embrace.

The end -- and the reckoning that comes with it -- is often brutal, all the more so because it plays out on a public stage. And so on many recent summer days in New York City, onlookers line up outside the tall glass windows peering down into a full-length basketball court near the corner of 11th Avenue and 42nd Street in Hell's Kitchen. They've told the front desk at the luxury apartment complex that they're considering a membership to the Lifetime Athletic Sky gym and just want to look around, but staffers know better. They know that the curious are really just there to watch the pickup games they've seen go viral on Instagram, featuring a who's-who of NBA superstars: Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, C.J. McCollum.

And it's here that these onlookers see Carmelo Anthony play.

They don't see the Carmelo Anthony they likely remember best, for that version could last be found a mile away and six years ago, during the 2012-13 season. Back then, Anthony was 28, a seven-time All-Star in his second full season with the Knicks. And that year, something unusual happened for the Knicks: They caught fire. But the reason they did so would speak to Anthony's impending struggle to fit into a changing league that would ultimately leave him behind.

Anthony, several members of those Knicks say now, had always envisioned himself as a small forward; he'd stubbornly preferred to play that position, even though members of the coaching staff and front office say they had long viewed him as a stretch power forward who could space the court with his shooting. But Knicks insiders say that ownership -- namely Jim Dolan -- wanted Anthony to play the small forward position while A'mare Stoudemire played power forward. This frustrated some members of the coaching staff, who viewed it as driven only by Dolan's desire to have star power on the court, according to sources on those Knicks teams. But in 2012-13, Stoudemire was sidelined for most of the season with knee trouble. To accommodate, Anthony agreed to change positions. "The injury that year forced everyone's hands -- Jim's and Carmelo's," one Knicks source says.

With Anthony in a power forward role and with the offensive scheme in place, the often-hapless Knicks thrived. In something of a preview of the 3-point revolution that would find its fullest form three years later with the Warriors, those Knicks attempted a league-high 2,371 3-pointers. They averaged 110.5 points per 100 possessions that season and had a net rating of plus-6.2 with Anthony on the court.

Anthony led the NBA in scoring that season -- 28.7 points per game. He made 37.9% of his 3-pointers, the second-best mark of his career, while attempting 6.2 per game, his most attempts per game in a full season.

The Knicks would go on to win 54 regular-season games, finish with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, win their first Atlantic Division title in almost two decades -- and win a playoff series for the first time in 13 years.

Says one Knicks source: "The only thing he had to worry about was scoring, so it was perfect."

But as quickly, or accidentally, as it came together, it fell apart. The reason? Staffers wanted to keep several of the veteran players, but Dolan, they say, didn't. "Every time we brought up veteran names, he's like, 'I don't want any of those guys back,'" one Knicks source says. And GM Glen Grunwald was fired just days before training camp began. "That threw everything for a loop," the Knicks source says. "That, I think, started the beginning of the end."

Stoudemire returned from injury, Anthony returned to the small forward position and the Knicks fell back to earth, posting a 37-45 record. They haven't returned to the playoffs since.

"It was a perfect fit for [Anthony]," one front-office executive said of the 2012-13 Knicks. "And they abandoned it."

SIX YEARS LATER, Anthony now largely plays before an audience of Instagram followers and onlookers gathering outside windows that peer into a gym in Hell's Kitchen. Those close to him have referred to the gym as a sanctuary for Anthony, a place where he can disappear into the game he loves and escape the growing doubts that he'll never play it again professionally.

Those in Anthony's innermost circle are deeply wary of any information or narratives that might affect his ability to play in the league again.

And while Anthony believes -- or so he said on ESPN -- that he'd be "at peace" if he never plays in the league again, he knows that this ending will haunt him, a former teammate over multiple seasons says: "He doesn't want to go out like this." Wade and Kobe Bryant received a farewell tour, both of them Anthony's close friends. LeBron James, another longtime friend, will likely receive one too. "[Anthony] wants to go out like that," his former teammate says.

The gym where Anthony so often plays isn't far from Madison Square Garden, which he helped electrify six years ago; it's only a few avenues to the east, maybe a 20-minute walk. But the distance from where he was then to where he is now is nothing shy of an eternity.

NEW YORK -- Astros manager AJ Hinch has heard the chatter -- that Rays starter Tyler Glasnow was offering a sneak peek on his off-speed deliveries, that Houston had a poker-worthy tell on Yankees hard throwers James Paxton and Luis Severino.

All that pitch-tipping paranoia?

"I think it's kind of funny,'' Hinch said.

A year after suspicions about sign stealing made headlines when a man associated with the Astros was caught pointing a cellphone into opposing dugouts, Houston is giving pitchers pause again, perhaps with nothing more than the naked eye.

There's no rule against noticing a tipped pitch, and Hinch stated plainly during this American League Championship Series who is at fault if Houston knows what's coming.

"If they don't want to tip their pitches,'' Hinch said, "then they should take consideration into doing the same thing over and over again.''

Batter's box espionage can take two forms -- pitch tipping or sign stealing. The first is totally legal, just a matter of good scouting. Hitters might get an idea from the angle of the pitcher's glove or the wiggle of his wrist.

On sign stealing, legality can get blurrier. A runner on second base has a clear view of the catcher's signs, and there's no rule against taking a peek and discreetly relaying that info to the batter -- although the opposing battery might still take issue. That's a practice as old as Cracker Jack.

Smart devices and other fresh tech have opened another frontier for potential pilferers. Even before alarms were sounded in Cleveland and Boston last fall about the Astros' man with a phone, paranoia about cameras, Apple Watches and other devices had made intricate signaling a full-time practice.

Major League Baseball has instituted rules to crack down on digital spying. MLB said "a number of clubs'' called commissioner Rob Manfred to express concerns about video equipment being used to steal signs last season.

Although teams surely remain suspicious about the Astros and sign stealing, Houston's ability to recognize discrepancies in a pitcher's delivery has caused concern this month.

After getting tagged by Houston in the decisive fifth game of the AL Division Series last week, Glasnow noticed on video that he was broadcasting his breaking pitches.

"It was pretty obvious as far as the tips go,'' he said.

More suspicions were raised in Game 2 of the ALCS, when the Astros jumped on Paxton. Television cameras caught Alex Bregman saying "glove'' to Houston's dugout after drawing a walk, a moment many interpreted as Bregman sharing a tell on Paxton's delivery.

Bregman has denied using such info this postseason and expressed annoyance Tuesday at social media sleuths searching for hints of it. But Yankees fans have good reason to be suspicious. Paxton was informed by team adviser and former New York player Carlos Beltran after a start in April that Houston almost certainly knew what was coming.

Another former Yankee is sure Severino was tipping in Game 3, when he threw 36 pitches in a rocky first inning of a 4-1 defeat.

"If you look at Astros hitters' body language, this screams tipping,'' tweeted Alex Rodriguez, who is now a broadcaster with ESPN and Fox.

To recap Severino's first inning:

36 pitches
18 fastballs
18 secondary pitches
11 swings on fastballs
5 swings on off-speed pitches, no misses
No chases on off-speed pitches.

If you look at Astros' hitters body language, this screams tipping.

#postseason

— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) October 15, 2019

It may be that Houston is noticing a wayward glove waggle in the moment, but cameras can also help -- and legally, too.

The Yankees are cautious even about what TV cameras might see in the dugout -- after homering off Astros ace Justin Verlander in Game 2, Aaron Judge walked up and down the bench area whispering to teammates, using his batting helmet as a face shield. Whatever he knew, he didn't want Houston -- or the public -- finding out.

Judge's covert message didn't hinder Verlander, who pitched two-run ball for 6 2/3 innings.

Hinch wouldn't find Judge to be out of line if it did. He believes hunting for pitch tells is basic recon work in today's game. Does a guy turn his glove grabbing at a changeup? Tend to throw fastballs in 2-0 counts?

All of it, fair game.

"It shouldn't overshadow the quality of play or the players or what's going on on the field,'' Hinch said. "The paranoia is real, though. And it's real across 30 teams.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees has been postponed due to expected inclement weather in New York on Wednesday night.

First pitch for Game 4 will be 8:08 p.m. ET Thursday. Game 5 has been rescheduled for 7:08 p.m. ET Friday, which originally had been tabbed as a travel day, if necessary.

The Astros have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The winner will face the Washington Nationals in the World Series.

The move could affect pitching plans for both teams. The Astros could bring back Zack Greinke for Game 4 on regular rest, and the Yankees -- who were planning a bullpen day for Game 4 -- could instead go back to Masahiro Tanaka on regular rest.

Tanaka blanked the Astros over six innings in Game 1 on Saturday while throwing just 68 pitches to get through the Houston lineup twice.

Games 6 and 7, if necessary, are not affected by Wednesday's postponement and will be held in Houston on Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday's matchup is the first postseason game to be postponed since Game 4 of the National League Division Series between the Nationals and the Chicago Cubs in 2017, and the first LCS game to be called off since Game 3 of the Baltimore Orioles-Kansas City Royals series in 2014.

The Los Angeles Angels have reached an agreement with Joe Maddon to make him their next manager, the team announced Wednesday.

Maddon is expected to receive a three-year contract in the $12 million to $15 million range, a source told ESPN. He will be formally introduced by the team at a news conference next week.

"We are thrilled that Joe is coming back home and bringing an exciting brand of baseball to our fans," general manager Billy Eppler said. "Every stop he has made throughout his managerial career, he has built a culture that is focused on winning while also allowing his players to thrive. We believe Joe will be a great asset for our club and look forward to him leading the team to another World Series championship."

OFFICIAL: The Los Angeles Angels have agreed to terms with manager Joe Maddon. pic.twitter.com/PKZHBaljl8

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) October 16, 2019

Maddon, 65, is returning to the Angels organization -- with whom he spent the first three decades of his career -- after managing the Chicago Cubs for five seasons and leading the franchise to its first World Series title in 108 years in 2016.

The three-time Manager of the Year had been linked to the Angels job ever since the team fired Brad Ausmus on Sept. 30, a day after Maddon and the Cubs announced they were parting ways.

The Angels finished 72-90 during Ausmus' only season as manager, and the franchise has made the playoffs just once in the last 10 seasons -- getting swept by the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 ALDS.

Maddon signed with the Angels as an undrafted catcher in 1975, and he spent the next 31 years working at almost every level of the organization as a player, coach and manager. He served as a big league assistant coach under five managers, and he had two stints as the Angels' interim manager.

His last six seasons with the team was as Mike Scioscia's bench coach from 2000 to 2005, and he was the Angels' bench coach during their championship season in 2002. Maddon left to manage the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006 for nine mostly successful seasons, including the team's only World Series appearance in 2008.

Maddon signed a five-year, $25 million deal with the Cubs prior to the 2015 season, and the team finished above .500 in each of his five seasons. His .582 winning percentage ranks second all time in franchise history, behind only Frank Chance (768-389, .664, from 1905 to '12).

In 2016, Maddon guided Chicago to 103 regular-season wins and then a long-awaited World Series title that postseason. He was credited with changing the culture and creating a loose atmosphere for his players during a pressure-filled time when they were picked by many to win it all.

Only Bill McKechnie (Reds, Pirates and Cardinals) and Dick Williams (Red Sox, Athletics and Padres) have led three different franchises to World Series appearances.

Maddon inherits a franchise in turmoil following an Outside the Lines report that team employees allegedly were aware of Tyler Skaggs' opioid use prior to his July 1 death and didn't inform the commissioner's office. The Angels could face significant sanctions from Major League Baseball if it finds the allegations were true.

ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

With the Washington Nationals' stunning sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series complete, the ALCS is the only game in town -- and even that isn't a sure thing Wednesday, thanks to Mother Nature.

What's on tap

Wednesday's schedule

8:08 p.m. ET: Astros at Yankees, ALCS Game 4

The most important thing of the day: The weather forecast for New York. With heavy rain likely and the Nationals finishing off the Cardinals on Tuesday, we might have an unexpected postseason day off.

The view from inside the ballpark

NEW YORK -- Will there be a Game 4 tonight? Not if you believe local meteorologist Joe "Joestradamus" Cioffi, who told ESPN.com, "My guess is yes they will cancel. Rain develops by 5 p.m. then heavy rain [Wednesday] night." Who are we to argue with Joestradamus? -- Matt Marrone

A stat to impress your friends: On May 31, the Tigers and Nationals both had 33 losses. The Tigers finished the season 47-114; the Nationals are going to the World Series.

Predictions

Astros-Yankees

For this exercise, let's argue with Joestradamus. If Game 4 isn't postponed -- which, just to be clear, it almost certainly will be -- it's a bullpen day for the Yankees. They really need this one, so we'll give them the edge. Yankees 6, Astros 5 -- Marrone

If the game is played, both sides are planning for a bullpen game, which should give the Yankees the edge. After being embarrassed Tuesday night, the Yankees' offense is bound to wake up against the Astros' bullpen, which despite its recent success, gave up 11 hits and 10 earned runs over 16 innings (5.63 ERA) against Tampa Bay in the division series. Yankees 8, Astros 5 -- Marly Rivera

About last night

Stud of the night: How about studs? You've got to hand it to the Nationals for going from a 19-31 start to an NLCS sweep and the first World Series appearance for a franchise that goes back to the days of the Montreal Expos. Bon travail, Nats!

Dud of the night: Dakota Hudson had a fine season for the Cardinals, but the 25-year-old right-hander was overwhelmed Tuesday, recording only one out as the Nationals scored seven first-inning runs en route to their sweep-capping win.

Highlight of the night:

Off the diamond

Social media says:

Juan Soto cumple sus 21 años el próximo 25 de octubre, así que celebró con JUGO DE UVA. ?? pic.twitter.com/JKSiveL5vt

— LasMayores (@LasMayores) October 16, 2019

Quote of note: "I don't know if it was the ball or if it was the wind. It was a little chilly tonight. I'm not quite sure exactly how this park plays; I've only pitched here one other time. But it's baseball. Did Jeter's ball really go out or did the guy reach over and pull it out?" -- Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole on the warning-track fly balls in Game 3 and whether the balls in the postseason aren't sailing the way they did in the regular season

Best of the playoffs so far ...

Our running postseason MVP: How good is Gerrit Cole right now? Everyone agrees he was a little off in Game 3 of the ALCS, yet he nonetheless shut out the Yankees over seven innings for a huge Astros win. For the postseason, Cole is 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA and 32 strikeouts, giving up one run, 10 hits and eight walks in 22⅔ innings. Needless to say, he's on track for one of the best postseasons ever for a starting pitcher.

The play of this October: We're going to cheat and make this plays: the back-to-back home runs by the Nationals' Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto off the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the National League Division Series. Kershaw in the wake of Soto's tying bomb could end up as the lasting image of these playoffs.

Game of the postseason so far: Nationals-Dodgers, Game 5 of the NLDS. The Dodgers ambushing Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg settling down and keeping the Nats in it, Walker Buehler's mastery, Kershaw's big strikeout before his eighth-inning implosion, Howie Kendrick's 10th-inning grand slam, questions for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. There's a lot to unpack here, and this was a true postseason classic.

NEW YORK -- Game 3 of the ALCS began under a clear, azure, late-afternoon sky on Tuesday in the Bronx. It ended under a clear, darkened sky on a crisp evening with a mostly full moon shining high above Yankee Stadium.

But the weatherman had bad news, and Wednesday's Game 4 was postponed to Thursday. So, who benefits more: the Houston Astros and their power-trio rotation, or the New York Yankees and their deep but heavily used bullpen?

Neither side offered much on Tuesday in terms of concrete plans should Game 4 get bagged.

"I think that would be possible," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said when asked if he thought MLB would make an early decision.

Boone also hinted at the only other concrete part of the scenario, saying, "Tanaka would be in play."

Boone's Game 1 starter, Masahiro Tanaka, blanked the Astros over six innings Saturday while throwing just 68 pitches to get through the Houston lineup exactly two times. With Wednesday's game postponed, Tanaka could take the mound Thursday working on a normal four days' rest.

"Good chance of that," Boone said. "That's something we'll talk through also. But a good chance of that, yes."

Boone's counterpart, Houston manager AJ Hinch, was more circumspect when asked about weather scenarios, saying that his focus was on Game 3. He was not quizzed on the topic again after the 4-1 win that put Houston up 2-1 in the series Tuesday.

Both managers on Monday announced plans to go with bullpen days for Game 4 in lieu of a reliable No. 4 starter for either club. That bullpen day might no longer be necessary.

"I don't know," Boone said before Game 3. "It potentially moves our starters up a little bit. But we'll have to evaluate it after the fact."

As for the players, hey, sometimes it rains, and the life of the ballplayer is to show up for work and play when they tell you to.

"I don't know how it's going to work, but we're going to show up ready to play tomorrow," Astros third baseman Alex Bregman said, likely speaking for all 50 players on both ALCS rosters. "If we're rained out, we'll get ready for the next day."

Even though every weather app seems to agree that it's going to rain all afternoon Wednesday and into Thursday morning, no one can take anything for granted -- at least not until the right person in the MLB office says, "Bag it."

When and if that happens, Game 4 will move to Thursday, and Game 5 will be played Friday at Yankee Stadium. Unless Houston wins both of those games, the series will return to Minute Maid Park for Game 6 on Saturday. Then, if a Game 7 is necessary, the Astros will host that series-decider on Sunday.

That means that although the weather might provide a temporary reprieve for the pitchers on Wednesday, the consequences later in the series might impact both teams as they try to traverse a possible four-games-in-four-days-in-two-cities scenario to decide the American League champion.

Are there other possible consequences from a rainout? Barring a player going berserk with his night off and ending up in the slammer, it would seem that it's all about the pitching staffs. Having an unplanned day off could benefit the Yankees by giving outfielder Giancarlo Stanton an extra day to rest his ailing quad.

But, really, it's the pitching designs that would most be impacted by Mother Nature. Given that the teams aren't saying much, they leave it to us to game this thing out.

The easy part seems to be that if Wednesday is washed out, both managers will come back with their Game 1 starters on Thursday, Tanaka for New York and Zack Greinke for Houston. Both would be going on normal rest, and both teams would enter the game with rested bullpens. Only New York's Luis Cessa, who threw 35 pitches in relief in Game 3, would likely be affected by his usage Tuesday. But Cessa is the second-lowest-leveraged reliever in Boone's 10-man ALCS bullpen, based on regular-season numbers.

In a Game 5 on Friday, things could get somewhat more interesting. Both managers would almost certainly bring back their Game 2 starters, Justin Verlander for Houston and James Paxton for New York. Both would be on normal rest. Without the rainout, Greinke and Tanaka would likely have been slotted for Game 5, with Verlander and Paxton going in Game 6.

This is also a fairly simple scenario except that with the previously scheduled travel day lost, the managers might have to monitor their bullpens a little more carefully. But the mantra in the playoffs is always "win today," so reliever fatigue is a consequence both managers might have to live with. Obviously, given New York's greater reliance on its bullpen, that would favor the Astros.

The ideal scenario for Houston in the wake of a rainout is this: Greinke beats Tanaka in the rescheduled Game 4, and Verlander beats Paxton on Friday. The Astros would then return to Houston -- but not to face the Yankees. They'd be getting ready for the Washington Nationals and the start of the World Series.

Beyond finishing the series quickly and lining up his rotation for a rested Nationals pitching staff, Hinch would also be sidestepping a difficult decision for a potential Game 6: Whether to bring Cole back on short rest (three days between Tuesday and Saturday) to either save Houston's season or clinch the pennant, depending on how the next two games go. Without a rainout, the Astros would have Verlander lined up for Game 6, as mentioned, and a fully rested Cole to go in Game 7. Cole has never started a game on short rest in his big league career.

If Hinch wants to avoid using Cole on three days' rest, he will be back to where he would've been Wednesday if not for the rain: a bullpen day. Whether he'd be willing to go that route with Houston trailing 3-2 is hard to say, but most likely, he'd take his chances with Cole. You can't leave him on the shelf for a tomorrow that might never come with the season on the line.

But what if Houston is up 3-2? Does Hinch go for the kill and roll the dice with a possibly-fatigued Cole, who threw 112 pitches on Tuesday? Or does he view Cole as a fail-safe option for Game 7, knowing that if he has to win one game at home to go to the World Series, there is no one anyone in baseball would rather see take the mound for their team?

One final option for Hinch: Stick with his plan to make Game 4 a bullpen day despite the day off. Then have Greinke, Verlander and Cole lined up for the last three games. That might work in theory, but in practice you don't want to assume a Game 7 and risk not getting a second outing from Cole.

As for New York, the starter scenarios seem less urgent. Boone has pieced together a successful campaign all season by leveraging one of the game's best bullpens and getting what he can from the starters. The big questions here are whether he can keep his high-leverage relievers sharp for four games in four days and what kind of effect might come from Houston's hitters seeing the relievers multiple times in a short span.

This is all good stuff! Rain stinks when it comes to playoff baseball, but it also adds intrigue. If Mother Nature has her say on Wednesday, it will be a quiet day before a stormy few days between New York and Houston. And that storm will have nothing to do with the weather.

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA -- Ned Colletti might be the only person in professional sports history to have traded for Manny Ramirez and scouted the Columbus Blue Jackets' power play.

Managerial cross-pollination between professional leagues is rare. While general managers and coaches trade notes and use each other for advice, the actual hiring of an executive from one sport to work in another just doesn't happen. Which is why the San Jose Sharks hiring Colletti, a longtime Major League Baseball executive who served as GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2005 to 2014, made ripples through the industry.

"I must have gotten 30 phone calls," said Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, who formally added Colletti to his staff in September. "But he knows the game. I kid him that he's a hockey guy that's masqueraded as a baseball guy all these years."

Colletti, who grew up a fan of hockey and worked as an NHL beat writer in the 1980s, wasn't yearning for a job in the sport while working in MLB. "But I remained interested in it," he told ESPN. "When the GM thing ended in [Los Angeles], it opened my eyes. How do I want to spend the rest of my days?"

His days will be spent scouting the Metropolitan Division, plus the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. Life on the West Coast means he can catch three games per night, in theory. He'll also hit the road each month. He'll fill out and file scouting reports on those teams and their minor league affiliates, offering insight and evaluation.

"I'm on the scouting system as everyone else. The same requirements. The same responsibilities," Colletti said.

He actually had other opportunities to make the leap to hockey, as his affinity for the sport was well known to other executives. But his 30-plus-year relationship with Wilson made him leap at the chance to become a scout with San Jose, a gig that started on a part-time basis last December.

"He's a street guy, going back to our Chicago days," Wilson said. "There's no filter with Ned. He's not going to tell you want you want to hear, he's going to tell you the truth."

The truth is that some hockey lifers, the ones who spend months sitting on frozen metal bleachers and inhaling Zamboni fumes, might not grasp the concept of the baseball guy transitioning to a career as a hockey scout.

"People were surprised by it. But the hockey people I knew understood my passion for it, and most of my buddies in baseball were excited for the opportunity," Colletti said. "You know the thing that I missed the most? The competition. I have enough to do in life. But there's a competitiveness in your DNA. When the opportunity to compete goes away, it's the toughest thing. This gives me the opportunity again to compete."

"Look, I'm on the back nine of life, right?" the 65-year-old continued. "I try to have a great day and maximize my day. This may sound cliché, but I'm so honored to have this opportunity. I know how much it takes, and I've taken on the chances I've had in my career. I never had a sponsor or someone who opened a door for me. I had people that saw my work and gave me an opportunity based on it. I'm so honored to do this, and have the opportunity that's in front of me."

Colletti grew up in an 900-square-foot brick house in Franklin Park, Illinois, about two miles away from O'Hare International Airport.

Chicago Blackhawks home games were infamously blacked out locally under owner Bill Wirtz, in a scheme to juice home attendance. Colletti's love for hockey came while watching the team's road games on a black and white television, in particular the WGN broadcasts on a Saturday night. Soon he was skating on frozen rivers around Chicago, as his family scraped together enough cash one year to get him a red Montreal Canadiens' Jean Beliveau sweater for Christmas, which he wore while his friends had their Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita duds.

He set out to be a sportswriter, moving to Philadelphia were he started off covering high schools and some Big 10 sports. Eventually he joined the Philadelphia Journal, which was a bit like the New York Post: tabloid, sensational but with a sizable sports section. Colletti was on the Flyers beat, covering players like Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke -- someone with whom he'd have a better relationship when both were team executives than as a reporter and an athlete.

He figured it was the best job he'd ever have. But a year and a half later, newspapers hit tough financial times. The Journal and the Philadelphia Bulletin went out of business about six weeks apart in late 1981 and early 1982. A four-newspaper town was down to two. Colletti decided to leave the beat, and return home to his father, who was in ill health. The elder Colletti had lung cancer, diagnosed in 1980 at 45 years old. He would die six years after that.

Back in Chicago, Colletti broke into Major League Baseball as a media relations exec with the Chicago Cubs in 1982, before moving out west to join the San Francisco Giants' front office in 1994 as director of baseball operations, and then became assistant general manager. The Dodgers hired him as a general manager in 2005, after Colletti's Giants finished ahead of Los Angeles for eight seasons. He was lauded as an effective communicator, shrewd contract negotiator and a great enabler of others' ideas.

That last attribute is what led him to befriend so many NHL team executives.

The first time Colletti met Brian Burke was when both were in California. One night for a Ducks game, Burke, the general manager in Anaheim at the time, left tickets at will call with a note for Colletti to meet him in his GM box. He went up, said hello and talked about mutual acquaintances. This was the start of a personal and professional friendship.

One morning while with the Dodgers, Colletti was having a managerial issue. He reached out to Burke for help, and Burke drove to Manhattan Beach to discuss it in person. "We spent an hour walking then sat down at Uncle Bill's pancake house. And I would do the same for him."

He used to meet Kings general manager Dean Lombardi in a "dank 10-by-10 office next to the locker room with a desk and a little TV." Darryl Sutter, the Kings' coach for their two Stanley Cups, used to live down the street from Colletti. Occasionally, he'd leave for work and see Sutter's garage door open. He'd then call the Kings to see if he should close it for him.

Colletti and Wilson were also close. "It's when you have a relationship with somebody and they walk the walk. You trust them. You're having a conversation with them and you're both saying things and they understand exactly what you're talking about. Not everyone else does," Colletti said. "I couldn't call another baseball GM. We were competing against each other. It would have been like, 'Hey, I have a managerial problem.' 'Well, good for you! I hope it never ends!'"

Colletti forged so many professional relationships on the hockey side that it became a running joke between him and former Kings assistant general manager Ron Hextall. For years, Hextall used to goof on Colletti, saying, "What, do you have a guy on every team? Must be nice to be you. Every year, you got a picture with a buddy with the Stanley Cup."

One year, Hextall handed Colletti a personalized Kings jersey, saying, "Here, now you have all 30 teams."

His note to Colletti after his gig with the Sharks was announced? "What are you going to do with all those jerseys now?" Hextall wrote. "You're going to have to burn them all, except for one."

Baseball and hockey might seem antithetical to each other, but Colletti and Wilson both see commonalities. Like, for example, about player development. How do you know when a young player is ready? "I think there are things that are very similar in other sports that you can learn from, whether it's sports or business," Wilson said.

According to Colletti, here is some of that common ground:

Can I trust the player?

One day, Colletti had an audience with former Atlanta Braves GM John Schuerholz. "I said, 'Tell me one thing. Tell me what's made John Schuerholz a Hall of Fame GM.' He said, 'I always ask myself whether I can trust a player.'"

So Colletti looks for the 200-foot players. He looks to call out the forwards that circle the blue line like a buzzard but can't be trusted to play a complete game. Players who can take a hit, and those who can't.

"I think last year, the reports I did showed them to what extent I'm marinated in the sport. Am I marinated in as much as somebody who spent 300 days in a rink during the year? No. That would be impossible. But am I marinated enough? Yeah," he said.

What's inside the jersey?

"There are some shared things there, but ultimately you're looking for who's inside the jersey. That is the most important piece," he said. "The health, the skill set, sure, but who's inside the jersey? And when are they going to be at their utmost: Only when it's going to be to their advantage? How do they play when they're behind or tied, or in the last minute or two of a close game?"

Colletti notes that in the postseason, we often see more out of a player than we do in the regular season. "You see who's who."

Money can corrupt

In his book "The Big Chair," Colletti writes about Dodgers pitcher Odalis Perez, and how a big contract raise changed his commitment to the sport. It was a lesson in the kind of psychology general managers and scouts have to deal with in hockey and baseball.

"It's all about knowing who you're signing. On my GM tombstone, I have a list of guys that didn't pan out. Guys that are going to be in Cooperstown have got guys on their tombstone, too. It's all about trying to figure out what [a big contract is] going to do to somebody. Is it going to take away their hunger? Their desire to be as great as they can be? Sports are tough. Playing at that level is incredibly difficult," he said.

"The psychology of professional athletics is something I've thought about almost daily. You get somebody who worked their tail off to get from some small town in the Dominican Republic, living in some cinder block hut and not even knowing how to sign their name on a contract. Then 10 years later, they're making $50 million. How do you continue to motivate them?"

Colletti points to Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers' ace whose postseason struggles have temporarily overshadowed three Cy Young Awards and an NL MVP nod. "He would play for a nickel. He would compete like there's no tomorrow. But not everybody's like that," he said.

There's a reason bad signings happen

What's true in hockey and baseball: There's a lineup that needs to be filled out. Sometimes that means filling it with players who are necessary but not exactly desirable.

"There were some signings where I knew it was a mistake beforehand. But professional sports ... there are only so many people that can play them. You have to have big league players," Colletti explained. "You can't fool the season. If you're hurt, you have a bad attitude, you're not good enough. The season's going to expose you.

"But sometimes you need players. And you only have one choice left. And I don't want to sign this player, but I don't have anybody coming up that can play in the big leagues. I'm not sitting in the middle of the prairie. I'm sitting in San Francisco or Los Angeles."

Trust in analytics, in moderation

Colletti comes from a sport of "Moneyball" to a sport where "Moneypuck" has been a growing trend in the past decade.

"Look, I'm an analytical guy. But the moment you take out the humanism of anything, you've shut off half the information. And it's the most important information: Once you get past talent, it's about who's inside," he said. "An analytic evaluation can be used to determine if there's a shortcoming. To see where they are and where they need to be. I don't think I'd make a player decision based solely on analytics. But there are ways to use it to your advantage."

When he was a baseball executive, analytics would validate what he believed. "They rarely showed me something that I didn't know intrinsically. For me, there's different parts to analytics, like how and when you shift your defense, for example. That strategy stuff is powerful to me. The acquisition piece is a little less powerful. The improvement of a player's ability has some value to it. But rarely could an agent come to me and convince me [with analytics]."

Colletti says he believes, like many do, that baseball has become micromanaged due to advanced stats. "It's still in its evolutionary stage. But you still gotta win. Of all the analytics out there, the standings are really the only ones where people are going to tell you how well you're doing."

Championship-caliber isn't a championship

Colletti and Wilson have another bond between them, although it's one neither likes to highlight. Wilson was hired by the San Jose Sharks in 2003 and made the playoffs in all but one season. Colletti was the winningest GM in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2014, making the playoffs in five of nine seasons. The Sharks have never won the Stanley Cup. The Dodgers never won the World Series under Colletti.

He has had discussions with the Sharks GM about this through the years. "Not necessarily about us being in the same boat, but about what you do about what you did. For me, it's about keeping the process as strong as you can keep it, and making sure those around you understand it," he said. "He and I have been on the same page on that for years. So has everybody else I've spoken to in every sport. Does that guarantee anything? No. But without doing it, it's going to guarantee you're not going to get there."

To that end, Colletti remains content with how things worked out in Los Angeles.

"I'm at peace with the way we played. With the way it went. You couldn't control the end. You couldn't control the result. You can be prepared in every way, and it doesn't mean that somebody isn't going to hang a curveball an inch higher than it should have been, and someone is going to hit it out," he said.

"People say that teams are 'World Series or bust' or 'Stanley Cup or bust.' Well, it's not that easy to do that."

Marathon and race walks set to take place in Sapporo, 800km north of host city Tokyo

Plans for next year’s Olympic marathon and race walking events to be held in Sapporo, rather than the host city of Tokyo, have been announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The location change is said to be part of a wide range of measures being taken by Tokyo 2020 to mitigate the effects of the temperatures which may occur next summer.

Sapporo, which was the host city of the 1972 Winter Olympics, is 800km north of Tokyo, with the IOC saying the move would mean “significantly lower temperatures for the athletes”.

In Sapporo, temperatures during the Games period are set to be as much as 5-6C cooler during the day than in Tokyo, it is claimed.

The move is among the recommendations put forward by an IOC working group, which also advised that the 5000m and 10,000m track events should be scheduled for evening sessions and that the marathon and race walk events should be moved to earlier starting times.

“The IOC working group identified the marathon and race walk as the events that would put particular heat stress on the athletes,” said the IOC, adding that the implementation of the initiative to move the marathon and the race walks will be discussed with all the stakeholders concerned.

“We have been working closely with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 on the potential weather conditions at next year’s Olympic Games and will continue to work with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 on the proposal to move the road events to Sapporo,” said IAAF president Seb Coe.

“Giving athletes the best platform for their performances within the environment they are in is central to all major events, and we will work with the organisers to create the very best marathon and race walk courses for next year’s Olympic Games.”

IOC president Thomas Bach said: “Athletes’ health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns.

“A range of measures to protect the athletes have already been announced. The new far-reaching proposals to move the marathon and race walking events show how seriously we take such concerns.

“The Olympic Games are the platform where athletes can give ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ performances, and these measures ensure they have the conditions to give their best. I would like to thank World Athletics (IAAF), and we look forward to working with them on the implementation.”

At the recent IAAF World Championships in Doha, the road events were held at night to avoid the worst of the heat but athletes still struggled in the hot and humid conditions, with 28 of the 68-strong women’s field dropping out during the race. In the men’s event, a total of 55 athletes finished, with 18 dropping out.