Moreno: Ohtani staying with club while it contends
Arte Moreno just couldn’t do it. The Angels owner, who put the team up for sale in August, told Sports Illustrated he wasn’t ready to give up his team despite receiving three offers worth more than the record $2.42 billion Steve Cohen
purchased the New York Mets for in 2020.
“I had some big numbers,” Moreno said in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci.
“Yeah, it was above the Mets’ number. Well, it was considerably above the Mets’ number.
“I had one buyer come to [Angel Stadium] to close the deal,” he said, then recounted the exchange with the buyer. “When you got right down to it, I didn’t want to go.”
Moreno has not spoken to local reporters in three years. His interview with Verducci represented his first detailed comments about the Angels in at least two years.
He told SI that last year the Angels had five real trade offers for Shohei Ohtani and declared they would not trade him this year while they are contending for a playoff spot. Asked whether he would consider trading him if the Angels are not in playoff contention, Moreno replied:
“We expect to be a playoff contender. Everything in our plans putting this team together is about getting to the playoffs. So, I’m not going to sit here and wonder what happens in an outcome we’re not planning for. That would be like a fighter going into the ring and thinking, ‘What if I lose?’ If he does that, he will lose.”
— Sarah Valenzuela
Schwarber powers U.S. to WBC win
Kyle Schwarber launched a three-run homer,
Nolan Arenado had three hits and two RBIs, and the United States overcame a slow start to beat Britain 6-2 on Saturday night in the World Baseball Classic opener for both teams.
Trayce Thompson put Britain up 1-0 in the first inning with a homer off Adam Wainwright that just cleared the left-center wall. Thompson, who plays for the Dodgers, is one of the few players on Britain’s roster with big league experience.
Ohtani helps Japan advance in WBC
Ohtani had another RBI double, 21-year-old righthander Roki Sasaki reached 100 mph 21 times in 66 pitches and Japan beat the Czech Republic 10-2 on Saturday night to clinch a quarterfinal berth in the World Baseball Classic.
Ohtani went one for three with a walk before a crowd of 41,637 in the Tokyo Dome, leaving for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. He is five for 10 with three doubles, four RBIs and five walks for Japan (3-0), which has one more group game and will host a quarterfinal on Wednesday or Thursday. He also has pitched four scoreless innings.
In the opener, Australia routed China 12-2 in a game shortened to seven innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
In Group B, host Taiwan cruised to a 9-5 win over the Netherlands, and Panama won 2-0 over Italy. In Miami, Francisco Lindor scored twice and hit an RBI single as Puerto Rico beat Nicaragua 9-1 to win its WBC debut.
Etc.
St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Jordan Walker, one of the sensations of spring training, left the game against the Houston Astros with a strained right shoulder suffered on a slide. Manager Oliver Marmol said he was not “overly concerned. Day to day.”