A's swap former top prospects with Miami
With pitchers and catchers reporting just around the corner, the A's reportedly made a trade of former top draft picks.
Oakland acquired outfielder J.J. Bleday from the Marlins and sent left-handed pitcher A.J. Puk to
Miami in return, the team announced on Saturday.
Bleday, 25, was taken with the fourth overall pick by the Marlins in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt and was MLB's No. 20 overall prospect before 2021.
The left-handed hitting outfielder didn't make his MLB debut until last year, batting .167 in 238 plate appearances. He hit 10 doubles, two triples and five homers, but struck out 67 times.
Puk, 27, was the sixth overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the A's and was once considered one of the top prospects in baseball. But the 6-foot-7 lefty battled health issues for most of his time in Oakland ahead of 2022, only pitching in 24.2 big league innings before 2022.
Last year, Puk had his best season, pitching 66.1 innings across 62 appearances and tallying four saves, a 3.12 ERA and 76 strikeouts. He'll likely remain a top bullpen arm for Miami.
Puk will join fellow former top A's prospect Jesus Luzardo in Miami, who the A's traded for Starling Marte at the 2021 trade deadline.
— Alex Simon
Golf SCHEFFLER HOLDS WM PHOENIX OPEN LEAD IN BID TO REPEAT >>
Scottie Scheffler held onto the lead Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open in a bid to successfully defend his title and regain the No. 1 spot in the world.
The second-ranked Scheffler shot a 3-under 68 in front of some 200,000 fans at TPC Scottsdale to get to 13 under, two strokes ahead of thirdranked Jon Rahm and Nick Taylor.
Rahm also had a 68, holing a curling 40-footer for birdie on the stadium 16th for his third birdie in four holes. Taylor shot 67.
Scheffler would take the No. 1 spot from Rory McIlroy — tied for 28th at 3 under after a 70 — with a victory, as long as McIlroy finishes worse than solo third. Scheffler also could get to No. 1 by finishing solo second if McIlroy is 36th or worse and Rahm doesn't win.
Rahm, the former Arizona State star from Spain, would go to No. 1 with a victory if McIlroy finishes worse than a three-way tie for second, or by finishing solo second if McIlroy finishes worse than solo 47th and Scheffler doesn't win.
Men's college basketball
NEW MEXICO STATE SUSPENDS PROGRAM INDEFINITELY >> New Mexico State indefinitely suspended its men's basketball program Friday night in a seemingly unprecedented move that the university says is unrelated to a fatal shooting involving one of its players from November.
The school also placed first-year coach Greg Heiar and his staff on administrative leave for what it said were violations of university policy and separate from the Nov. 19 shooting of a student from rival University of New Mexico. Aggies power forward Mike Peake was suspended in early December while a third-party investigator looks into his involvement in the shooting in Albuquerque.
The shutdown of a Division I program in midseason for reasons other than a spate of injuries or, more recently, a COVID-19 outbreak, is virtually unheard of. SMU's football program canceled its 1988 season after the NCAA handed it the “death penalty” the year before, but that move was made before the season was underway.
New Mexico State's game against California Baptist on Saturday was canceled, and it is unknown how many more of the team's five remaining games, all in the Western Athletic Conference, will also be wiped out.