AP source: Jordy Mercer, Tigers agree to $5.25M, 1-year deal
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations says shortstop Jordy Mercer and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to a $5.25 million, one-year contract.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the agreement was subject to a successful physical.
Mercer had spent his entire seven-season big league career with Pittsburgh. The 32-year-old hit .251 with six homers and 39 RBIs, down from 14 homers and 58 RBIs in 2017.
His agreement was first reported by Fancred.
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AP source: Charlie Morton, Rays agree on $30M, 2-yr deal
By BEN WALKER, AP Baseball Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays are perfectly comfortable putting relief pitchers on the mound to begin games. But the chance to add an All-Star to their patchwork rotation, that was too good to pass up.
Coming off a career-high 30 starts, Charlie Morton reached a $30 million, two-year contract with the Rays, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been officially announced.
The 35-year-old Morton was a first-time All-Star last season when he went 15-3 with a 3.13 ERA for Houston.
Morton helped the Astros win their first championship in 2017. He started and won Game 7 of the AL Championship Series against the Yankees, then was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series against the Dodgers with four innings of relief.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “You never like to have good pitching come into the division, prefer they go somewhere else.”
Morton’s success with the Astros came after a career that had been beset by injuries and inconsistency. He’d undergone Tommy John surgery and was just 46-71 with Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia for going to Houston.
The right-hander joins a Rays staff led by AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
The Tampa Bay rotation was wrecked by injuries this year, and the team often used relief pitchers as starters in their “opener” strategy on the way to 90 wins.
The Rays’ approach became a trend in baseball, especially when teams saw how well it worked. Tampa Bay went 46-38 with traditional starters and was 44-34 when using relievers at the start.
Manager Kevin Cash said earlier this week at the winter meetings that the Rays will employ the strategy again this season.
“I think right now we’re discussing internally whether we do it two times through the rotation or three times through the rotation,” Cash said Monday. “But the nice thing is we’ve got all that information last year and we have a bunch of candidates that we can fill in as a traditional starter if need be.”
Two days later, the math became a little easier with Morton.
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Pitcher Ivan Nova acquired by White Sox from Pirates
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Right-hander Ivan Nova has been acquired by the Chicago White Sox from the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor league pitcher Yordi Rosario and $500,000 in international signing bonus pool allocation.
A 31-year-old right-hander, Nova was 9-9 with a 4.19 ERA in 29 starts this season, striking out 114 in 161 innings. He is 78-64 with a 4.26 ERA in nine seasons with the New York Yankees (2010-16) and Pirates (2016-18).
Nova has a $8.5 million base salary next year in the final season of a $26 million, three-year contract, then can become a free agent.
A 19-year-old right-hander, Rosario was 1-4 with a 2.57 ERA in 11 starts and three relief appearances last year in the Dominican Summer League and Arizona Rookie League. He struck out 70 in 56 innings.
The trade was announced Tuesday at the winter meetings.
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AP source: McCutchen, Phillies agree to $50M, 3-year deal
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a $50 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the agreement, which includes a club option for 2022, is subject to a successful physical.
The 32-year-old McCutchen was an All-Star each season from 2011-15, topping .300 in batting average from 2012-14. He was the NL MVP in 2013.
McCutchen nine years with Pittsburgh before he was traded to San Francisco last winter. He was dealt to the New York Yankees on Aug. 31 and hit .255 with 20 homers and 65 RBIs in 155 games overall this year.
McCutchen has 223 homers, a .287 average and 790 RBIs in 10 major league seasons.
Philadelphia remains interested in Bryce Harper, the top free agent on the market, but has a surplus of outfielders, including Odubel Herrera, Nick Williams, Aaron Altherr and Roman Quinn.
Rhys Hoskins is moving from left field to first base after the team traded Carlos Santana to Seattle for infielder Jean Segura last week.
Herrera, a former All-Star, is a trade candidate. He struggled in the second half last season and finished with career lows in batting average (.255) and on-base percentage (.310).
Philadelphia pursued Patrick Corbin and is still seeking a left-handed starter.
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AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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(Beaver County, PA) This past Saturday, the Aliquippa Quips won their third PIAA state high school football championship, under the leadership of head coach Mike Warfield, with a stunning 35-0 victory over Middletown. In all, Beaver County high school football teams have won 9 state championships since state wide competition began in 1988.
Hersheypark Stadium, the site of PIAA state Championship football games. Photos courtesy of Bob Barrickman.
Aliquippa’s, and Beaver County’s first state championship in high school football occurred in 1991 when the Quips topped Hanover Area 27-0 led by future N.F.L. star Ty Law and coached by Frank Marocco. The second title by the Quips came in 2003 when another player who would later on star in the pros, Darelle Revis, scored five times to power Aliquippa, coached by MIke Zmijanac that year, past Northern Lehigh by a score of 32-27.
Aliquippa was also the first area high school football team to ever play in a PIAA state state championship game when their nationally ranked team of 1988, led by Sean Gilbert and coached by Don Yanessa, was upset 13-0 by Berwick. That was the inaugural year for state wide playoffs in Pennsylvania for football. Berwick, that day, featured a quarterback who would go on to star at West Virginia, Jake Kelchner.
Middletown is no stranger to playing at Hersheypark Stadium and state championship games, and certainly no stranger to high school football teams from the Beaver County, PA area. Last year, the Blue Raiders of Middletown were defeated 41-24 by a neighboring school from just over the border in Allegheny County, Quaker Valley, who was coached by Jerry Veshio. The year before that, Beaver Falls topped the Blue Raiders in the state championship game in 2016 by a score of 30-13. Beaver Falls was coached by Ryan Matsook and led by star players Donovan Jeter , Malik Shepherd and Derrell Carter.
in 1998, two streaks of sorts began, the first was a string of years that saw Rochester win three titles over the next four years, and the second streak that began that year was the first of four years in a row that Southern Columbia high school would lose to a Beaver County team in the single A division final. Rochester, coached by Dan Matsook, beat southern Columbia 18-0 in 1998, followed by Rochester Ram victories over Southern Columbia by 22-14 in 2000 and 16-0 in 2001. The aforementioned Ryan Matsook, was an assistant under his uncle and head coach, Gene Matsook, at Rochester for the latter two championships. Another team of Rams, that being the South Side Rams, Coached By Glenn McDougal, handed Southern Columbia a loss in the title game of 1999 by a score of 27-21.
The county’s first class triple A high school football state championship happened in 2002 when the Hopewell Vikings, coached by Dave Vestal and led by former Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker, Paul Posluszny, defeated Strath Haven by a score of 21-10.
Beaver County Radio, 1230 WBVP and 1460 WMBA, will hold a special state championship celebration edition of Coaches Corner this Wednesday, December 12, from 7 until 8 P.M. with a live broadcast featuring Aliquippa Quips’ head coach, Mike Warfield, and his players on the sports patio at Robert’s Roadside Inn. Admission is free and it is open to the public. Complimentary PIzza from Pizza Joes In Beaver and wings from Robert’s Roadside Inn will be provided.
