After the Los Angeles Dodgers signing of former Los Angeles Angels player Shohei Ohtani, left, his image still adorns the Angels’ Tempe Diablo Stadium, sharing the prominent spot with pitcher Patrick Sandoval, second from left, infielder Anthony Rendon, second from right, and outfielder Mike Trout, right, at the spring training home of the Angels, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. The Angels have already removed the Ohtani photo banner at the Angels regular season stadium. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Shohei Ohtani decided to move 30 miles up the I-5 freeway to the Dodgers, he left several massive holes in the Los Angeles Angels.
In the heart of their lineup. At the top of their starting rotation. And in the coffers of a franchise that reaped huge financial benefits from their two-way star’s international acclaim.
But the Angels have no choice but to move on after the two-time AL MVP left owner Arte Moreno’s Orange County club this week for the Los Angeles metroplex’s much more successful baseball team, agreeing to a 10-year deal worth $700 million.
“It’s somebody that I have a huge amount of respect for personally, the organization loved having,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Friday. “He’s one of the best players that’s ever played for this organization, and we understand that, but life goes on. We’re going to take the rest of the offseason and work as hard as we can to put a really competitive team on the field.”
Minasian repeatedly declined to say anything of substance about the negotiations that ended with Ohtani choosing the Dodgers over the Angels, Giants and every other interested club. Minasian, who wasn’t in charge when Ohtani chose the Angels six years ago, also refused to comment on multiple reports that the Halos were given the chance to match the Dodgers’ massive offer, but declined.
“I’m not going to get into specifics,” Minasian said. “I understand the question. I just, when it comes to negotiations, it’s not something we make public, I make public. I’ve got a great relationship with Nez, a great relationship with Sho. The organization has a great relationship with both, and we congratulate him on his deal and we wish him nothing but the best.”
Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, said Thursday that the Angels “are special to Shohei” and “a place that he really loved to play. He loved the people there, everything. The Angels had every opportunity.”
Whether the Angels might have kept Ohtani with even a $700 million offer remains quite uncertain, largely because they were never a winner with him. Ohtani cited his desire to win as the biggest factor in his decision to leave the Angels, who are on major league-worst streaks of eight consecutive losing seasons and nine straight non-playoff seasons.
A few hours after Ohtani announced his decision last Saturday, the Angels quickly pulled down the towering mural of Ohtani that filled a prominent position near the main gate of Angel Stadium. Across the same plaza is the team store where the Angels have sold untold millions of dollars in Ohtani-related merchandise to fans arriving from all across North America and Asia to witness the talents of a singular athlete.
Ohtani’s decision is even more painful to the Angels and their fans because the team decided not to trade him this year at the deadline despite knowing there was a significant chance they would lose him for no more than a compensatory draft pick.
The Halos were 65-61 at the trade deadline, and Moreno authorized Minasian to make several acquisitions in a desperate bid to end their playoff drought — and then they promptly lost seven straight games and went into an 8-25 skid, eventually finishing their second straight season at 73-89.
“We were playing really good baseball, (and) we definitely had a chance to compete the rest of the way,” Minasian said. “It didn’t work out. There’s zero regrets. We felt like we had a really good team. It just didn’t work. From an injury standpoint, we didn’t have guys return that we thought we would. We didn’t perform like we thought we would. That being said, we took a chance on trying to win and I have no regrets.”
Minasian said he intends to add players to the Angels’ middling roster, and Moreno has given him the financial ability to do it.
Along with the craters created by Ohtani’s departure, the Angels need to upgrade a pitching staff that struggled in 2023 while deciding what to do with the designated hitter spot that Ohtani occupied for six years.
Minasian said the Angels haven’t decided whether to sign a regular DH or to rotate other hitters through the spot, particularly giving defensive rest to oft-injured veterans Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon.
“This is a group that wants to win,” Minasian said of Moreno. “Financially, what ownership has committed over the years, I think it says that. We’re going to make this team better in the offseason. It’s still early in the sense of from a market standpoint and what’s available.”
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
