Rich Waltz, Jeff Conine, Preston Wilson dumped by Fox Sports Florida
BASEBALL: Former Tigers manager Brad Ausmus has joined the Angels as a special assistant to GM Billy Eppler . ... The Orioles acquired minor league RHP Konner Wade from the Rockies for $500,000 in international signing bonus pool allocation . ... The Phillies hired Pedro Guerrero as assistant hitting coach. Guerrero, 28, was a bench coach the last two seasons for the Ogden Raptors, the Dodgers’ rookie-level affiliate . ... Major League Baseball, its players’ union and the Japanese commissioner’s office agreed to a posting system that could allow P-OF Shohei Ohtani to be put up for bid next week. The agreement is not in writing and still must be ratified.
BASKETBALL: Russia withdrew a bid to host the 2023 World Cup, saying that international criticism of the country’s athletes was to blame for the decision. Russian Basketball Federation president and former NBA All-Star Andrei Kirilenko said the bid was pulled “taking into account the negative attitude of the world sports community.” Russia’s doping scandals across various sports have caused it to be stripped of numerous Olympic medals, though Kirilenko didn’t directly link the decision to doping.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Minnesota and coach P.J. Fleck agreed to a one-year contract extension through the 2022 season. Fleck signed a five-year, $18 million contract in January . ... Kent State coach Paul Haynes was fired after five losing seasons. Haynes’ team finished 2-10 this season, falling to rival Akron 24-14 on Tuesday night in the season finale. The former Kent State walk-on was 14-45 overall . ... Injured Florida QB Luke Del Rio decided to end his college career. Del Rio is a fifth-year senior who had been granted a sixth year of eligibility.
GYMNASTICS: A former doctor accused of molesting girls while working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexual assault and will face at least 25 years in prison. Larry Nassar, 54, admitted to abusing seven girls, mostly under the guise of treatment at his Lansing-area home and a campus clinic. All but one of his accusers was a gymnast. He faces similar charges in a neighboring county and lawsuits filed by more than 125 women and girls. Olympians Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Gabby Douglas are among the women who have publicly said they were among Nassar’s victims.
OLYMPICS: Two more Russian athletes were stripped of their Olympic medals from the 2014 Sochi Games, leaving the United States as the country with the most medals. Four Russians, all skeleton racers, were banned by the International Olympic Committee for doping, including men’s gold medalist Alexander Tretyakov and women’s bronze medalist Elena Nikitina.
SOCCER: Willian scored twice to help lead Chelsea into the knockout stage of the Champions League with a game to spare in a 4-0 victory over 10-man Qarabag in Baku, Zaerbaijan . ... Manchester United was beaten 1-0 by Basel in the Champions League, leaving all the qualification places open in Group A with one game remaining. ... French club Lille provisionally suspended coach Marcelo Bielsa after a string of poor results in the top tier.
The offseason changes for the Marlins are extending to the broadcast booth. Fox Sports Florida, which televises Marlins games, parted ways this week with playby-play man Rich Waltz, plus preand postgame analysts Jeff Conine and Preston Wilson.
“After a thorough review of our Marlins telecasts, we have decided to make changes with the broadcast talent for the coming season,” Fox Sports Florida said in a statement.
“We feel that this is the right time to make a change, and we’ve shared our decision with the team. We thank Rich, Jeff and Preston for the hard work and dedication they brought to the broadcast and wish them the very best.”
FSF told Waltz, Conine and Wilson of its decisions Tuesday. The station is in the early stages of searching for replacements.
Waltz had been the Marlins’ playby-play guy for the past 13 seasons. Conine had been a part of FSF’s telecasts for the past nine years, Wilson for six years. For Conine, nicknamed “Mr. Marlin,” this marks his complete removal from the Marlins franchise. Earlier this offseason, he declined CEO Derek Jeter’s offer of a lesser role and diminished salary after he had been a special assistant to former president David Samson.
Color commentator Todd Hollandsworth, onair reporter Jessica Blaylock and pre-game host/onair reporter Craig Minervini will return for 2018.
thealey@sunsentinel.com, @timbhealey