Speedster Gordon returns to Marlins
It would be difficult for a team in the week leading up to baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline to make a more notable addition than a reigning batting and stolen-base champion.
The Miami Marlins will do that, without having to make a trade, when Dee Gordon returns Thursday from an 80-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing substances.
While indicating that Gordon won’t necessarily be playing every day, manager Don Mattingly left no doubt that he will be back in the leadoff spot for the first of four games against the St. Louis Cardinals at Marlins Park.
“It will be nice to get Dee back and get that guy that you know you have that continuity in your lineup. I kind of like that,” Mattingly said.
The Marlins will welcome the speed element and basestealing ability that Gordon will restore to the lineup. They rank 12th in the National League with 33 steals, six of them by Gordon before his suspension; he led the league with 58 in 2015.
Royals
Kansas City dropped to 4851, a season-low three games under .500 and the trade deadline looms less than six days way. Jarrod Dyson is not a leading voice inside the clubhouse. But in turbulent times he is often an unvarnished truth-teller. So as players brace for the possibility of their front office selling before the trade deadline, Dyson offered a blunt response: “We don’t give a [darn] about that. You can’t worry about deadline trades when you’re a player. It’s not in your control. So there’s no sense in worrying about it.” Rangers
Texas acquired righthander Lucas Harrell and left-hander Dario Alvarez from the Atlanta Braves for minor league infielder Travis Demeritte. Harrell is 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA in five starts for the Braves since getting called up earlier this month. Alvarez was 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 16 relief appearances for Atlanta. White Sox
Chicago placed second baseman Brett Lawrie on the 15-day disabled list and called up infielder Carlos Sanchez from Class AAA Charlotte. Lawrie has missed five games with a left hamstring injury. In 94 games he 12 homers, 36 RBIs.