NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A MasterClass in how to stay on message, featuring Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider working hard to not lie about meeting with Shohei Ohtani at the team’s Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Fla.
Did the meeting happen?
“We meet with a lot of players. I’ll leave it at that,” the manager replied during his Winter Meetings availability Tuesday to the first query about a meeting, as reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic late Monday night. “It’s kept between the club.”
Were you at the meeting? You look tanned.
“I live in Florida,” he said to the second. “Who we meet with and where we meet with them, we keep to ourselves.”
When you did meet with him, did he give you an idea of when he’s making a decision and if the Blue Jays are under serious consideration?
“Again, we talk to a lot of different players,” Schneider answered to the third. “And I wouldn’t know anything like that, where he’s leaning or anything like that. But again, we deal with a lot of different players.”
‘I need to be better in those spots going forward’: Schneider on pulling Berrios
Did you come out of the meeting feeling good?
“Again, it’s a lot of players we’ve talked to over the course of this off-season,” he replied to the fourth. “I’ll keep that between me and the organization.”
Suffice to say, Ohtani met with the Blue Jays in Dunedin on Monday, because there’s no reason to work so hard to avoid saying yes if it didn’t happen, as a simple no would shut down the conversation in that case.
Now, whether all the evasiveness was necessary is another matter.
Dave Roberts, manager of a Los Angeles Dodgers team long considered the favourite to land for Ohtani, took a far different approach moments later when asked if he’s able to say whether they’d met with the two-way superstar.
“Am I able to say that? It’s a good possibility,” he started before shifting gears. “Yeah, we met with him. I would like to be honest, and so we met with Shohei and we talked and I think it went well. I think it went well. But at the end of the day, he’s his own man and he’s going to do what’s best for himself, where he feels most comfortable.”
The meeting, Roberts added, was at Dodger Stadium a couple days ago, the forthrightness negating the need for people to try and identify possible corresponding travel itineraries using online flight trackers, as one Blue Jays fan on Twitter did.
In that way, Roberts’ honesty was refreshing, especially after Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins treated his whereabouts like a national security risk Monday, amid a process so cloaked in secrecy that teams are fearful that the smallest of missteps might cost them with the 29-year-old.
Speaking in general terms, Schneider did offer the usual praise for Ohtani, pointing out that “what he does is obviously unique to the sport.”
“Pitching, hitting, he can run, dangerous in the box, obviously. You always know when he’s coming up in the order. A talent that the game hasn’t seen in quite some time, if ever,” Schneider continued. “So I think his entire game is what is driving all of the attention around him right now.”
And as for the hopes that the Blue Jays might land Ohtani, Schneider conceded that “you see and hear the buzz around you a little bit and I think it’s cool to have that go with an already really strong team, that’s really talented and wanting to take that next step. It’s nice for everyone to kind of hear some possibilities. There are a lot of good players on the market that are probably going to be available.”
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
