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The New York Knicks were not prepared to offer Kevin Durant the four-year, $164 million contract he eventually committed to with the Brooklyn Nets because of concerns about his recovery from his Achilles injury, league sources told ESPN.
Coming off such a catastrophic injury, Durant was interested in only maximum contract offers. With New York unwilling to take that risk, the Knicks front office instead flew to Los Angeles to meet with and secure a commitment from Julius Randle on a three-year, $63 million deal.
Durant had long been a focus for the Knicks, who made several trades this year to secure the requisite salary-cap space to sign him and another superstar. However, their thinking changed after Durant's injury, which is likely to keep him out all of next season.
The parties never discussed financial terms of a possible deal, but Durant wouldn't have considered an offer below the full max, which Brooklyn, the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers offered, league sources said.
Knicks president Steve Mills addressed fans in the aftermath of Durant's commitment to the Nets in a statement released Sunday night.
"While we understand that some Knicks fans could be disappointed with tonight's news, we continue to be upbeat and confident in our plans to rebuild the Knicks to compete for championships in the future, through both the draft and targeted free agents," Mills wrote.
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Sources: Heat finalizing sign-and-trade for Butler
Published in
Basketball
Sunday, 30 June 2019 20:07
The Miami Heat are finalizing a sign-and-trade deal with the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire star guard Jimmy Butler, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Miami is sending guard Josh Richardson to Philadelphia as part of the deal, sources said Sunday. The Heat will also move guard Goran Dragic to the Dallas Mavericks, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported.
It has been an eventful two years for Butler. The No. 30 pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls developed into a three-time All-Star in the Windy City -- only eventually to be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves and reunited with his former coach, Tom Thibodeau, two summers ago.
Then, after getting Minnesota to its first playoff appearance without Kevin Garnett on the roster, Butler requested a trade last fall. After a chaotic few weeks, he eventually landed in Philadelphia in exchange for forwards Robert Covington and Dario Saric in November. He was later joined by Tobias Harris, whom the Sixers acquired just before February's trade deadline, to create arguably the NBA's most star-studded lineup.
1:58
Heat find Wade's replacement in Butler
Ramona Shelburne reports that Jimmy Butler is going to the Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade with the 76ers, Rachel Nichols, Matt Barnes and Chiney Ogwumike discuss
Butler's time in Philadelphia was rocky but, ultimately, he proved exactly what the Sixers hoped he would be in the playoffs: the kind of closer the team believed it was lacking after a disappointing loss in five games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2018. Ultimately, though, Philadelphia fell just short of beating the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in the 2019 East semifinals thanks to Kawhi Leonard's insane four-bounce buzzer-beater in Game 7.
Butler, who turns 30 in September, averaged 18.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.9 steals in 65 combined games in Minnesota and Philadelphia this past season.
Information from ESPN's Tim Bontemps was used in this report.
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Free-agent All-NBA star Kevin Durant plans to sign a four-year, $164 million contract to play for the Brooklyn Nets, he confirmed Sunday.
Durant will join free agents Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, who also plan to sign with the franchise. Players can officially sign their contracts starting Saturday.
Irving will sign for four years and $141 million, league sources said, while Jordan has agreed to a four-year, $40 million deal, Excel Sports agent Jeff Schwartz told ESPN.
Veteran guard Garrett Temple has also agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal with Brooklyn, agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN.
The deals mark a remarkable chain of events for a franchise that general manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson found in disrepair less than four years ago.
Across town, the New York Knicks and owner Jim Dolan were not prepared to offer Durant a full max contract because of concerns over his recovery from the Achilles tendon injury that is likely to sideline him for all of next season, league sources told ESPN.
After ESPN reported the planned deals, Caesars Sportsbook shortened the Nets' odds to win the 2019-20 title to 18-1 from 25-1 on Sunday afternoon, following some bets on Brooklyn placed at the company's New Jersey shops, a sportsbook manager said.
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Perkins: Nets are the 'perfect situation' for KD
Kendrick Perkins reacts to Kevin Durant's decision to sign with the Brooklyn Nets alongside Kyrie Irving.
Kevin Durant
Durant declined his $31.5 million player option in June, officially setting him up for unrestricted free agency. He was eligible to remain with the Golden State Warriors on a five-year, $221 million deal, or sign a four-year, $164 million deal with another team.
Leading up to free agency, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman had been in New York, where they mulled the star forward's free-agency options. Durant had been considering a number of scenarios, including a return to Golden State, while the LA Clippers also were believed to be a consideration beyond Brooklyn and the Knicks, sources had told ESPN.
Durant and Kleiman met with Warriors general manager Bob Myers on Sunday in New York and delivered him the news on the decision to leave Golden State, league sources told ESPN. The other teams were informed later in the day.
The Nets and all the teams who were in the Durant sweepstakes knew they likely would be without his services for the entire 2019-20 season. Durant ruptured his right Achilles on June 10, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, a devastating injury that changed the entire dynamic of the NBA offseason. He underwent surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on June 12.
The Achilles tear, suffered as he tried to drive past Toronto Raptors big man Serge Ibaka in the second quarter of Game 5 in Toronto, came after Durant had missed a month-plus of the playoffs with a right calf injury suffered May 8 against the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. The Raptors game had marked his return to the court, but it proved short-lived, and Toronto won the Finals in Game 6 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
Durant, who turns 31 in September, finished the postseason averaging 32.3 points per game on 51% shooting from the field, 44% shooting from 3-point range and 90% shooting from the free throw line. He's the first player in NBA history to average 30 points per game on 50-40-90 shooting in a single postseason (minimum five games).
The second overall pick in the 2007 draft, Durant spent his first nine NBA seasons with Seattle/Oklahoma City, then signed with the Warriors in 2016 to give them a superteam that included fellow All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Durant helped lead Golden State to NBA titles in 2017 and '18, winning Finals MVP both times. He's a 10-time All-Star (and was named All-Star Game MVP in 2012 and '19) and six-time first-team All-NBA honoree, and also won Rookie of the Year in 2007-08 and league MVP in 2013-14. He has led the NBA in scoring four times, and his current 27 points per game average ranks sixth all time.
Durant is one of five players to win at least one Rookie of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star Game MVP and scoring title, joining LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
Kyrie Irving
A year ago, it seemed as though Irving would be in Boston for the long term.
In a season-ticket holder meeting in October, he declared: "If you'll have me, I'll re-sign." Around the same time, he made a commercial with his father, Drederick, inside an empty TD Garden, and spoke of ensuring no one else ever would wear No. 11 for the Celtics.
After a disappointing season for the Celtics, though, things are much different now. Individually, Irving had one of the best seasons of his career, and was a deserving second-team All-NBA selection. Boston, however, was not nearly as good as the lofty preseason expectations for the franchise, and flamed out in five games in the second round of the playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks -- with Irving going a combined 21-for-65 in the final three games of that series (all losses).
Along the way, he got into repeated public back-and-forths with the team's younger players, and also announced after a victory over the Raptors in January that he'd made up with James -- a relationship that wasn't in a good place when Irving requested a trade away from the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017. And his free agency officially became a hot-button topic Feb. 1 at Madison Square Garden, when he announced, "Ask me July 1," when asked whether he'd stay in Boston, later adding, "I don't owe anybody s---."
In 67 games last season for Boston, Irving, 27, averaged 23.8 points, along with career highs of 5.0 rebounds and 6.9 assists.
DeAndre Jordan
After 10 seasons with the Clippers, Jordan signed a one-year, $22.9 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks last offseason. The center made 50 starts for Dallas, averaging 11.0 points and 13.7 rebounds before being dealt to the Knicks in late January as part of the Kristaps Porzingis blockbuster.
New York convinced Jordan not to seek a buyout after the trade, hoping he could mentor some of the team's younger big men, notably Mitchell Robinson. Jordan saw his playing time dwindle as the Knicks went with younger lineups, and he was a DNP-coach's decision in the team's final seven games.
Jordan, who turns 31 on July 21, acknowledged it was "strange" not to be a regular but called the decision mutual. And while New York endured another playoff-less season, going a league-worst 17-65, the unrestricted free agent said he liked the franchise's direction.
"I love it here," Jordan told the New York Post late in the season. "I love what [first-year coach David Fizdale] is doing here. Obviously there's a lot of things that these guys want to do to get better, to better the organization. We'll see what happens."
An 11-year veteran and three-time All-NBA player, Jordan holds career averages of 9.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. His 66.9 field goal percentage ranks first in the NBA among active players.
Information from ESPN's Tim Bontemps was used in this report.
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NBA free agents: Team-by-team lists for 2019 and 2020
Published in
Basketball
Sunday, 30 June 2019 16:48
Who are the free agents this year and next year? We have the lists.
Key: Restricted = Restricted free agent; Player = Player option; Team = Team option; ETO = Early termination option
ATLANTA HAWKS
2019 free agents
Justin Anderson (Restricted)
Alex Poythress (Restricted)
Isaac Humphries (Restricted)
2020 free agents
DeAndre' Bembry (Restricted)
Jaylen Adams (Restricted)
BOSTON CELTICS
2019 free agents
Daniel Theis (Restricted)
Brad Wanamaker (Restricted)
PJ Dozier (Restricted)
Jonathan Gibson (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Jaylen Brown (Restricted)
Gordon Hayward (Player)
BROOKLYN NETS
2019 free agents
D'Angelo Russell (Restricted)
Theo Pinson (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Caris LeVert (Restricted)
Taurean Prince (Restricted)
CHARLOTTE HORNETS
2019 free agents
Joe Chealey (Restricted)
JP Macura (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Dwayne Bacon (Restricted)
Nicolas Batum (Player)
CHICAGO BULLS
2019 free agents
Ryan Arcidiacono (Restricted)
Rawle Alkins (Restricted)
Brandon Sampson (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Shaquille Harrison (Restricted)
Kris Dunn (Restricted)
Denzel Valentine (Restricted)
Antonio Blakeney (Restricted)
Otto Porter Jr. (Player)
Walter Lemon Jr. (Restricted)
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
2019 free agents
Jaron Blossomgame (Restricted)
Deng Adel (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Cedi Osman (Restricted)
DALLAS MAVERICKS
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Daryl Macon (Restricted)
Kostas Antetokounmpo (Restricted)
Tim Hardaway Jr. (Player)
DENVER NUGGETS
2019 free agents
Trey Lyles (Restricted)
Brandon Goodwin (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Jamal Murray (Restricted)
Juan Hernangomez (Restricted)
Torrey Craig (Restricted)
Malik Beasley (Restricted)
Thomas Welsh (Restricted)
DETROIT PISTONS
2019 free agents
Glenn Robinson II (Team)
Isaiah Whitehead (Restricted)
Kalin Lucas (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Andre Drummond (Player)
Thon Maker (Restricted)
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
2019 free agents
Quinn Cook (Restricted)
Jordan Bell (Restricted)
Damion Lee (Restricted)
Marcus Derrickson (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Damian Jones (Restricted)
Alfonzo McKinnie (Restricted)
HOUSTON ROCKETS
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
INDIANA PACERS
2019 free agents
Edmond Sumner (Restricted)
Davon Reed (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Domantas Sabonis (Restricted)
Alize Johnson (Restricted)
LA CLIPPERS
2019 free agents
Ivica Zubac (Restricted)
Rodney McGruder (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Sindarius Thornwell (Restricted)
Tyrone Wallace (Restricted)
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
2019 free agents
Alex Caruso (Restricted)
Johnathan Williams (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Anthony Davis (Player)
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Ivan Rabb (Restricted)
Dillon Brooks (Restricted)
Jevon Carter (Restricted)
Yuta Watanabe (Restricted)
Julian Washburn (Restricted)
MIAMI HEAT
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
James Johnson (Player)
Kelly Olynyk (Player)
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Sterling Brown (Restricted)
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
2019 free agents
Tyus Jones (Restricted)
Jared Terrell (Restricted)
C.J. Williams (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Dario Saric (Restricted)
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
2019 free agents
Stanley Johnson (Restricted)
Trevon Bluiett (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Brandon Ingram (Restricted)
Frank Jackson (Restricted)
Kenrich Williams (Restricted)
NEW YORK KNICKS
2019 free agents
Isaiah Hicks (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Damyean Dotson (Restricted)
Allonzo Trier (Restricted)
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Jerami Grant (Player)
Donte Grantham (Restricted)
ORLANDO MAGIC
2019 free agents
Khem Birch (Restricted)
Troy Caupain (Restricted)
Amile Jefferson (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Evan Fournier (Player)
Wesley Iwundu (Restricted)
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Ben Simmons (Restricted)
Shake Milton (Restricted)
PHOENIX SUNS
2019 free agents
Kelly Oubre Jr. (Restricted)
George King (Restricted)
Tyler Johnson (Player)
2020 free agents
De'Anthony Melton (Restricted)
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
2019 free agents
Jake Layman (Restricted)
2020 free agents
Mario Hezonja (Player)
Skal Labissiere (Restricted)
SACRAMENTO KINGS
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Bogdan Bogdanovic (Restricted)
Buddy Hield (Restricted)
Frank Mason III (Restricted)
Wenyen Gabriel (Restricted)
BJ Johnson (Restricted)
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
DeMar DeRozan (Player)
Jakob Poeltl (Restricted)
Dejounte Murray (Restricted)
Drew Eubanks (Restricted)
TORONTO RAPTORS
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Pascal Siakam (Restricted)
Jordan Loyd (Restricted)
Chris Boucher (Restricted)
Malcolm Miller (Restricted)
UTAH JAZZ
2019 free agents
2020 free agents
Royce O'Neale (Restricted)
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
2019 free agents
Tomas Satoransky (Restricted)
Jabari Parker (Team)
Bobby Portis (Restricted)
2020 free agents
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NEW YORK -- Atlanta Braves reliever Anthony Swarzak has been placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, a significant blow to the bullpen for the National League East leaders.
The team hopes the right-hander will be ready to return July 12, immediately after the All-Star break.
The move was made Sunday, retroactive to Saturday. Right-hander Chad Sobotka was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett before Atlanta's series finale against the Mets.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Swarzak mentioned some discomfort when he came off the mound Friday night after escaping a bases-loaded jam to preserve a one-run lead in the seventh inning of a 6-2 victory over New York.
"It's nothing structural, nothing bad, so hopefully this little time off, he'll be good to go in San Diego after the break,'' Snitker said. "Just hope it's nothing more than what it is. But he checked out and everything and they don't feel like it's anything that's going to be a problem.''
The 33-year-old Swarzak, pitching for his eighth big league team, has provided a major boost to the Braves since arriving from Seattle in a May 20 trade. He has allowed only one run and eight hits in 17⅓ innings, striking out 21.
Swarzak has thrown 13 consecutive scoreless innings over his past 13 appearances, and his success earned him a late-inning role in high-leverage situations.
Sobotka had a 7.07 ERA in 14 relief outings with Atlanta this year. He had given up 13 hits, nine walks and three home runs in 14 innings.
In other injury news, second baseman Ozzie Albies was out of the starting lineup. Albies exited Saturday's game after getting hit by a pitch on the inside of his left elbow. He wore a protective sleeve on the elbow Sunday afternoon but was available off the bench, Snitker said.
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CINCINNATI -- The Chicago Cubs must feel like when it rains, it pours on them, especially on the road, as they saw everything go against them in an 8-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
Most damaging was a fan-interference call in the top of the third inning that turned a foul ball into the final out, while runners were standing on second and third base.
"You know what I would like you to do? Call New York," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said after the game, referencing Major League Baseball headquarters. "Because I'm tired of getting fined, quite frankly. I want my grandkids to go to college. Every time I make a comment on umpires, I get fined. I prefer that you call New York and ask them. Please do. Please do. Because I want to hear what they have to say. It was just way too ambiguous to be overturned for me."
With his team down 3-0, first baseman Anthony Rizzo hit a 1-0 pitch down the left field line, where Reds outfielder Phillip Ervin began tracking it. As he and the ball converged near the wall in foul territory, a young fan reached out to try to catch it.
The initial call was just a foul ball, but a video review determined the fan interfered and Rizzo was declared out. It was the fifth time a fan-interference call went to video replay this season, according to the league.
"The Replay Official definitively determined that the spectator reached over the field of play and interfered with the fielder's attempt to catch the ball," a league spokesperson said. "Because the spectator interference clearly prevented the fielder from catching the ball, the call was ruled spectator interference, it was overturned, and the batter was out."
Rizzo and Maddon immediately argued the reversal with the umpires, to no avail. Rizzo could be seen asking, "How do you know?" -- referencing the notion that there is no way to know if the ball would have been caught without the interference.
"In real time, the guy is going at a wall," Rizzo said later. "He could make the catch, right? Our left fielder just missed a routine fly ball, though. Could he have made the catch? Yes. Could he have run into the wall first? Real time, they call no fan interference. They go to replay, slow-motion replay, it gets overturned.
"It's a weird play and sucks."
The play contributed to the Cubs' 15th loss in June, marking the first time they've had a losing month since May 2017 -- and just the third losing month (excluding March and October) under Maddon since he took over in 2015. The Cubs were 14-15 in June.
"That's below .500," Sunday's losing pitcher, Jon Lester, said. "That's not good. That's not a high standard. We'll be better."
Maddon didn't disagree with his pitcher nor try to spin it. In fact, he said he thinks the Cubs were fortunate not to have lost more games in the month. As is, they dropped into a tie with the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central, with just 5½ games separating the top of the division from the bottom.
"It could have been a lot worse," Maddon said. "That's the kind of the team we've been the entire month. We've been a .500 team, so it's reflected in our record. We haven't played well enough to be better than that."
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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu is expected to start for the National League in the All-Star Game, manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday. Ryu has a league-best ERA of 1.83 and is second in wins with nine.
The news comes on the same day it was revealed that two other Dodgers starters -- Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler -- had been added to the All-Star squad. They join teammate Cody Bellinger, the MVP-candidate outfielder who was voted in as a starter.
It was the eighth All-Star selection for Kershaw, tied for most in this season's game with Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who was voted in to his eighth last week.
Three Houston pitchers -- Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and reliever Ryan Pressly -- were also added to the All-Star team Sunday, giving the Astros six All-Stars, the most in the majors. Houston third baseman Alex Bregman and outfielders George Springer and Michael Brantley had already been voted in as American League starters.
Manager Alex Cora's AL squad also added New York Yankees flamethrower Aroldis Chapman to the pitching staff, as well as starters Lucas Giolito of the Chicago White Sox and Jake Odorizzi of the Minnesota Twins, who are in a tie for the AL lead in wins with 10; and Mike Minor of the Texas Rangers and Charlie Morton of the Tampa Bay Rays, who are 1-2 in the league in ERA. The Toronto Blue Jays' Marcus Stroman, the Detroit Tigers' Shane Greene, the Cleveland Indians' Brad Hand and the Baltimore Orioles' John Means round out the pitchers.
Cora also gets two players from his Red Sox team, outfielder Mookie Betts and designated hitter J.D. Martinez, as well as Indians fan favorite Francisco Lindor. The game will be played at Cleveland's Progressive Field on July 9.
White Sox catcher James McCann and first baseman Jose Abreu were also named to the AL team, as were Rangers slugger Joey Gallo, Matt Chapman of the Oakland Athletics, Tommy La Stella of the Angels, Daniel Vogelbach of the Seattle Mariners, Austin Meadows of the Rays and Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals
In the National League, the Washington Nationals' Max Scherzer was named to his seventh All-Star team and the Arizona Diamondbacks' Zack Greinke to his sixth, but most of the rest of the pitching staff features players making their first All-Star appearances: Mike Soroka of the Atlanta Braves, Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins, Luis Castillo of the Cincinnati Reds, Will Smith of the San Francisco Giants and Kirby Yates of the San Diego Padres. The Mets' Jacob deGrom, making his third appearance, and the Milwaukee Brewers' Josh Hader, making his second, round out the NL pitchers.
Mets rookie Pete Alonso and Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Josh Bell -- who will both compete in the Home Run Derby -- were added to the NL squad, along with Alonso's teammate, outfielder Jeff McNeil, also making his first appearance on the team.
Roberts' team will have three catchers, with the Brewers' Yasmani Grandal and the Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto joining starter Willson Contreras of the Chicago Cubs.
Two Colorado sluggers, outfielders Charlie Blackmon and shortstop Trevor Story, were named to the NL squad along with teammate David Dahl. The Cubs' Kris Bryant, the St. Louis Cardinals' Paul DeJong, the Brewers' Mike Moustakas and the Nationals' Anthony Rendon round out the squad.
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Snubs, surprises and more: Breaking down the All-Star rosters
Published in
Baseball
Sunday, 30 June 2019 16:26
Bryce Harper signed a record-breaking $330 million contract with the Phillies as a free agent. Manny Machado signed a $300 million contract with the Padres as a free agent. Neither is a 2019 All-Star.
Tommy La Stella, traded in the offseason from the Cubs to the Angels for a player to be named later after hitting 10 career home runs in five major league seasons, is a 2019 All-Star. He's one of 31 first-time All-Stars -- almost half of the 64 players on the two rosters. La Stella will make $1.35 million this season -- or less than Harper will earn on average every 10 games over the life of his 13-year contract.
As they say: You can't predict baseball.
The reserves for the two All-Star squads were announced Sunday, and as always, there were some snubs, a couple of surprises and someone from every team, including the Orioles and Mariners. Let's go over the rosters and weigh where things went right and where things went wrong.
Remember the roster rules: The fans vote for the position player starters, the players vote for a backup at each position (including three outfielders) plus five starting pitchers and three relievers, the rosters consist of 20 position players and 12 pitchers, and -- as you know! -- every team must have a representative.
No Harper, no Machado. I wouldn't classify either one as a big snub, though I had named both to my personal All-Star team. In Machado's case, he was battling a crowded field at third base in the National League, and his recent surge at the plate -- he has hit .424 with 10 home runs since June 13 -- came too late to beat Anthony Rendon and Kris Bryant in the player vote. (Nolan Arenado is the NL starter at third base.)
Rendon: .311/.398/.630, 19 HRs, 58 RBIs, 3.2/2.6 WAR (FanGraphs/Baseball-Reference)
Bryant: .287/.398/.537, 16 HRs, 41 RBIs, 3.1/2.4 WAR
Machado: .279/.354/.519, 20 HRs, 56 RBIs, 2.4/2.5 WAR
Rendon deservedly makes his first All-Star team. In picking my team, I had Machado in a coin flip over Bryant for my final roster spot, but Bryant over Machado is perfectly reasonable, given that both players are proven stars.
Harper's case rested more on his making it as either the Phillies' lone pick or maybe squeezing in as a backup outfielder from a field that lacked any clear choices. J.T. Realmuto made it as the Phillies' rep as a third catcher behind starter Willson Contreras and Yasmani Grandal. The NL roster includes only the three outfielders the players voted in: Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl of the Rockies and Jeff McNeil of the Mets.
The numbers:
Blackmon: .337/.383/.653, 20 HRs, 56 RBIs, 2.1/1.8 WAR
Dahl: .317/.362/.552, 12 HRs, 51 RBIs, 1.4/1.4 WAR
McNeil: .348/.412/.5098, 6 HRs, 34 RBIs, 2.3/2.7 WAR
Harper: .250/.368/.471, 15 HRs, 59 RBIs, 1.8/0.8 WAR
Did Harper deserve to make it based on numbers? No, especially if you look at that Baseball-Reference WAR figure. Going with Realmuto over Harper (or Rhys Hoskins) is certainly reasonable.
Dahl is the surprise here, as the players apparently vastly underrated park effects in their voting. Why Dahl, for example, over Juan Soto (.297/.402/.534, 14 HRs, 52 RBIs)? Dahl has had some big, late-inning hits for the Rockies, but it's almost like the players just looked at batting average and ignored that Dahl plays for the Rockies.
The biggest NL snub: Max Muncy. Still, the NL roster is really good. Dahl is the only selection that stands as a surprise, and it's not like he's a bad choice. In fact, 18 of the top 21 NL position players in FanGraphs WAR made it on the roster, with the exceptions being Muncy (tied for sixth in WAR), Eduardo Escobar (17th) and Machado (19th).
Muncy ranks tied for fourth among NL position players in bWAR, which easily qualifies him as the biggest NL snub. But it's understandable that he just missed (unfortunately, he was also snubbed last season). He was considered a first baseman for the voting process, and Freddie Freeman won the fan vote, with Josh Bell and Pete Alonso as backups. Both are deserving selections, and Bell is the Pirates' lone rep. The other positions with two backups are catcher, third base and shortstop (Paul DeJong and Trevor Story). DeJong is the Cardinals' only rep. Story is currently on the injured list but is expected back this week, so there's no clear injury replacement path as of yet for Muncy.
Three Dodgers starting pitchers make it: Hyun-Jin Ryu was the easy choice and probably is the leading candidate to start the game, and Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler also made it. That makes the Dodgers just the fifth team in 20 years with three starting pitchers to make the All-Star Game:
2018 Astros (Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton)
2011 Phillies (Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee)
2011 Giants (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong)
2010 Yankees (CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes)
Good job, Dodgers!
The NL pitching staff works for me. I had 10 of the 12 picks on my roster, with the only differences being Caleb Smith over Sandy Alcantara as the Marlins' rep and Cole Hamels over Mike Soroka. Soroka, with his 9-1 record and 2.13 ERA, is having a terrific first half, so no argument there. Hamels landed on the IL after we ran our rosters on ESPN.com, so Soroka would have been my next choice.
Biggest AL snub: Xander Bogaerts. While 18 of the top 21 NL position players by FanGraphs WAR made the league's roster, in the AL, only 11 of the top 21 made it. This is mostly the result of two factors: position crunch (too many of the best players at the same positions) and needing a player from all those bad AL teams.
We end up with three DHs on the AL roster (Daniel Vogelbach is the Mariners' rep) and two backup second basemen (La Stella and Royals rep Whit Merrifield) but no Xander Bogaerts, who entered Sunday ranked second in FanGraphs WAR among AL position players and tied for 12th in Baseball-Reference WAR.
Francisco Lindor beat Bogaerts as the backup shortstop. Yes, Lindor missed time, but he's obviously one of the best players in the game, and considering that the All-Star Game is in Cleveland, I'm glad he made it. Bogaerts is having a better season than teammates Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, who made it as backups, but I'm fine with those two being on the team, given that they're having good seasons and are two of the biggest stars in the game.
Other AL snubs, based on FanGraphs WAR, include Marcus Semien (seventh), Rafael Devers (eighth), Max Kepler (11th), Gleyber Torres (13th), Byron Buxton (14th), Yoan Moncada (15th), Brandon Lowe (17th), Hunter Dozier (18th) and Tommy Pham (19th).
Pham versus Austin Meadows: Speaking of Pham ... this is interesting. Pham has been vocal about the All-Star selection process, perhaps aware that he might end up on the short end of things. A couple of weeks ago, he complained that the big-market teams have an advantage in the voting. That's true, though it's worth noting that no Red Sox made it this year as starters, and they're the defending World Series champs (Bogaerts wasn't even one of three finalists at his position). Also, players from the Twins, Rockies, Brewers and Diamondbacks got voted in as starters.
Pham later suggested that the rosters should be determined by a combination of games played, wRC+ (weighted runs created) and WAR. "Those three things should determine the position player All-Stars," he said. "wRC+ is an important stat offensively and neutralizes park factors. WAR is your overall contributions. I think those three things should be the determining factors which determine All-Stars."
Part of Pham's concern is that making an All-Star team can factor into the arbitration process. Pham had a good case as one of the three backup outfielders -- not as good as that of Betts or Joey Gallo, but I had him on my team. Instead, his teammate Meadows beat him in the player vote:
Meadows: .291/.366/.516, 12 HRs, 41 RBIs, 2.0/1.8 WAR
Pham: .284/.384/.468, 13 HRs, 35 RBIs, 2.2/2.5 WAR
Pham was the better choice, especially because Meadows had no track record heading into this season, other than as a prospect. It's pretty easy to see what happened: Meadows got off to that booming start, and that lingers in the mind more than a hot May or hot June. So Pham lost out (though Kepler probably has a better case than Pham anyway).
The new-look AL pitching staff. Blake Snell, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale and Trevor Bauer finished first, third, fourth and sixth in the 2018 Cy Young voting, but none of them made it, due to performance and/or injury (though Sale ranks second in FanGraphs WAR, thanks to excellent peripherals). No arguments about Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole or Mike Minor making it, and Lucas Giolito's emergence has been one of the best stories of the season. Marcus Stroman makes it as the Blue Jays' rep (and is having a solid season), and Shane Greene makes it as the Tigers' rep (he has an 0.87 ERA, though he has allowed five unearned runs in addition to three earned runs).
Lance Lynn leads AL pitchers in FanGraphs WAR and ranks third in Baseball-Reference WAR, but his ERA is 4.00, so the players overlooked him. I was also surprised that Jose Berrios didn't make it. He's 8-4 with a 2.89 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 112 innings. Twins teammate Jake Odorizzi made it instead. He's 10-3 with a 2.73 ERA but has thrown just 85 innings and was nowhere near as good as Berrios last season. (Again, this is probably more about the timing of when the players vote. Odorizzi had a 1.92 ERA on June 9.)
Orioles rookie John Means is probably the biggest "who is he?" All-Star in a long time. An 11th-round pick in 2014 out of West Virginia, he had one major league appearance last season and a 3.72 ERA in the minors. Baseball America did not include Means among the Orioles' top 30 prospects -- he turned 26 in April, old for a prospect, and he doesn't light up the radar gun -- and the Orioles don't have a great farm system.
He made the Baltimore roster out of spring training as a reliever but was soon moved into the rotation. Now he's 7-4 -- almost a third of Baltimore's 24 wins -- with a 2.50 ERA, and he ranks fifth among AL pitchers in Baseball-Reference WAR. I have no idea how the rest of his career will turn out. Maybe he just had the best two months he'll ever have.
But John Means will always be an All-Star.
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European 3000m record for Sifan Hassan at Pre Classic
Published in
Athletics
Sunday, 30 June 2019 15:42
Dutch athlete clocks 8:18.49 at Stanford on Sunday as Laura Weightman goes No.2 on UK all-time lists with 8:26.07
A high-quality women’s 3000m at the Pre Classic saw Sifan Hassan and Konstanze Klosterhalfen run inside Gabriela Szabo’s European record as Laura Weightman, in fifth, enjoyed a spectacular PB to go No.2 on the UK all-time rankings behind Paula Radcliffe.
Hassan produced a powerful last lap to clock 8:18.48 as the Romanian Szabo’s 2002 mark of 8:21.42 fell. But with 8:20.07 the US-based German Klosterhalfen also beat the old record, whereas third-placed Letsenbet Gidey also ran a fast time with 8:20.27 – the Ethiopian having earlier forced the pace in the closing stages before being overhauled by Sifan just before the bell.
Genzebe Dibaba, the world 1500m record-holder from Ethiopia, was fourth with a PB of 8:21.29. In fifth, Weightman improved her best from 8:43.46 to clock a huge PB of 8:26.07. It means she moves above Laura Muir, Zola Pieterse, Yvonne Murray, Jo Pavey, Eilish and Liz McColgan on the UK rankings, whereas only Radcliffe has run quicker with 8:22.20 set in the same race as Szabo in Monaco in 2002.
Weightman also took a number of big scalps. They included world cross country champion Hellen Obiri, the Kenyan finishing sixth in 8:27.27, while Almaz Ayana, the world 10,000m record-holder, finished last in her first race since 2017.
“I didn’t think I was going to run 8:18 – that’s a nice time,” said Hassan, who added that she only began her summer season in earnest a fortnight earlier.
The meeting was staged at Stanford, California, rather than its usual venue of Eugene due to the redevelopment of Hayward Field ahead of the 2021 IAAF World Championships. Fine, sunny conditions helped produce a series of good performances and these included the men’s 100m where Christian Coleman ran a world lead of 9.81 (-0.1) to beat Justin Gatlin (9.87) as Britain’s Zharnel Hughes equalled his season’s best of 9.97 in third.
⏱ 9️⃣.8️⃣1️⃣
"Boy, oh boy! That's the fastest time in the world this year!" ?♂️?@__coleman absolutely blitzed the 100m ?#StanfordDL #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/JKQoE0tIEe
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) June 30, 2019
British eyes were also on Laura Muir and Dina Asher-Smith but it was not quite their night as they lost their respective races.
Faith Kipyegon took the women’s 1500m in 3:59.04 from Muir (3:59.47) as Shelby Houlihan finished strongly for third place in her first race of the summer.
Asher-Smith, meanwhile, was beaten by an inspired Blessing Okagbare in the women’s 200m as the Nigerian stormed to a 22.05 (1.9) win as Olympic champion Elaine Thompson was second in (22.21) and Asher-Smith third in (22.42).
A lively meeting saw plenty of surprise results, too. Darlan Romani of Brazil was a shock winner of the men’s shot with 22.61m ahead of Ryan Crouser’s 22.17m while Tom Walsh was third.
Romani became the first non-American to win the shot at this meeting and his throw was also a Diamond League record.
A competitive Bowerman Mile was won by Timothy Cheruiyot in a world outdoor lead of 3:50.49 from Ayanleh Souleiman (3:51.22), Filip (3:51.28) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:51.30). Behind, Olympic champion Matt Centrowitz was fifth, world indoor record-holder Samuel Tefera eighth after clashing with Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the final bend and Yomif Kejelcha an underpar 13th.
World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech front-ran to a 3000m steeplechase victory in a world lead of 8:55.58 and there was drama behind as world champion Emma Coburn fell on a barrier entering the back straight mid-race before getting up to finish a fine second in 9:04.90.
Caster Semenya returned to racing with a commanding win in the women’s 800m in a meet record 1:55.70 ahead of Ajee Wilson.
⏱ 1:55:70 = Meet Record
'World-class' @caster800m eases to a superb victory in the 800m race ? #StanfordDL #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/Bla33SOWpm
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) June 30, 2019
Another high-quality performance came from Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles as he took the win in style in a world lead of 47.16, well clear of runner-up Kyron McMaster.
In the men’s pole vault, Mondo Duplantis beat Sam Kendricks in an enthralling clash with a best of 5.93m.
Marie-Josee Talou won the women’s 100m in 11.02 (0.3) as a strong field failed to put up a challenge, epitomised by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – the Jamaican sprints legend finishing eighth in 11.39.
Most exciting finish of the day, meanwhile, came in the men’s two miles when Joshua Cheptegei, the world cross-country champion from Uganda, held off the fast-finishing Paul Chelimo of the US to win in 8:07.50 as Selemon Barega of Ethiopia wound up a close third.
Elsewhere, Mariya Lasitskene was in imperious high jump form again with a 2.04m win, Orlando Ortega took the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.24 (0.3), Lijiao Gong of China won the women’s shot put with 19.79m and Mike Norman was the only man to break 45 seconds in the 400m as he clocked 44.62.
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Published in
Tennis
Sunday, 30 June 2019 10:33
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