Angels add Claudio to new bullpen
New Angels general manager Perry Minasia announced Wednesday the signing of left- handed reliever Álex Claudio to a oneyear, $ 1.125- million contract.
Claudio isn’t a f ireballer like closer Raisel Iglesias, the f irst reliever Minasian acquired to stock a bullpen from which seven relievers have been purged since the end of the season. He isn’t a promising prospect like Rule 5 draft pick Jose Alberto Rivera, whose fastball has touched 102 mph. Claudio, 28, throws a changeup that sits around 73 mph, a pair of mid- 80s fastballs and a mid- 70s slider.
Claudio, a 27th- round draft pick out of Puerto Rico in 2010, appeared in 20 games for the Milwaukee Brewers last season.
— Maria Torres
The Tampa Bay Rays and catcher Mike Zunino agreed to a one- year contract that guarantees $ 3 million, a deal that includes a club option and could be worth $ 9 million over two seasons. ... Big league managers say Major League Baseball instructed them to prepare for spring training to start on time in mid- February despite uncertainty around the coronavirus.
The league is planning for fans in attendance at the Feb. 7 game, but has not said how many. — Sam Farmer
NFL teams won’t be allowed to create local bubbles during the postseason by mandating that players stay in a hotel, except for the night before a game.
A worker died Wednesday morning at the retail district under construction in the 298- acre development that includes SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
The man’s name wasn’t released pending the notif ication of family members. A spokesman for California’s Division of Occupational Health and Safety said the worker was “crushed in an accident involving a crane.”
— Nathan Fenno
Southern California’s main thoroughbred tracks had their f irst racing or training fatality in more than three months when an unraced 2- year- old f illy suffered life- ending injuries during morning training at
Santa Anita on Wednesday.
Penelope Rose had not run a race and was galloping on the main track when she fractured her right front humerus, the bone that joins the shoulder to the elbow, while galloping.
Radiographs showed that the injury was unrecoverable and she was euthanized.
It was the second training death this year for trainer Eddie Truman. Miss Romania, a 3- year- old f illy, died on Feb. 12, also of a fractured humerus.
— John Cherwa
Second- half substitute Kwadwo Opoku scored off a corner kick in the 71st minute to give LAFC a 2- 1 win over Mexico’s Cruz Azul in a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal played in Orlando, Fla. Originally scheduled as a two- leg playoff last March, the series was delayed by the COVID- 19 outbreak and shortened to one game.
Opoku’s score, the f irst for the Ghanaian teenager since joining LAFC in October, snapped a 1- 1 tie built on first- half penalty kicks from Cruz Azul’s Yoshimar Yotún and LAFC’s Carlos Vela.
LAFC will play Mexico’s Club América in Saturday’s semifinals. América lost to Atlanta United 1- 0 on Wednesday but advanced on aggregate goals, having won the first leg of the two- game playoff 3- 0 in March.
Stricken Florida forward Keyontae Johnson’s prognosis is “trending in the right direction, but we still have a lot of questions” athletic director Scott Stricklin said.
Kansas State paused all football activities and withdrew from bowl consideration after an outbreak of positive COVID- 19 tests. ... Georgia canceled its football game with Vanderbilt. ... The Duke women’s basketball team paused activities due to two positive tests and contact tracing within the program’s travel party.
The Australian Open is set to begin Feb. 8, three weeks later than planned, as part of a pandemic- altered 2021 tennis calendar.