Dodgers closer Jansen set for heart surgery soon

LOS ANGELES (AP) >> Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen will undergo heart surgery Nov. 26 and expects to be fully recovered by spring training.

The All-Star has twice experienced an atrial fibrillation episode, otherwise known as an irregular heartbeat, while the Dodgers were in the high altitude of Colorado. It most recently occurred in August, when his heart had to be shocked back into a regular rhythm. He didn’t travel with the team back to Colorado in September as a precaution.

Jansen underwent a heart procedure in 2012 to help the issue.

He said Friday while distributing holiday turkeys that if all goes well, he would be cleared in two weeks. But if doctors find anything abnormal, HOMESTEAD, FLA. (AP) >> Denny Hamlin will have a new crew chief next year.

Hamlin tweeted that Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be his last with crew chief Mike Wheeler.

“You were there for me in the beginning when I first started with JGR 14 years ago. It’s been a great ride,” Hamlin tweeted.

It was another good ride Friday. Hamlin won the pole in the No. 11 Toyota but declined to discuss the specifics of the breakup with Wheeler.

“The spot was always his. But obviously it’s a big performance business and even though if you compare us to other drivers that people think are having a great season, and we’re actually having a better season, it’s kind of unfair. Change is going to be made. That’s all I can really about it.”