Rivera expected to announce retirement
On the same day he’s scheduled to pitch in his first game in nearly a year, Mariano Rivera is expected to announce his retirement.
The New York Yankees will hold a news conference Saturday where Rivera will announce he’s hanging up his cleats after the 2013 season, according to multiple reports.
The 43- year- old closer will leave Major League Baseball as the leader in career saves — he currently holds the record with 608. He enters this season with a career 2.21 earned- run average with 1,119 strikeouts in 1,219 2/3 innings.
A five- time World Series champion, the 12- time all-star was at his best during the postseason, pitching 141 innings and recording 42 saves in 47 opportunities with a 0.70 ERA.
Rivera last pitched on April 30, 2012. He suffered a torn ACL that ended his season three days later while fielding fly balls during batting practice.
Melvin gets stung
Injuries to MLB general managers are piling up.
Days after Yankees GM Brian Cashman broke his leg and ankle skydiving, Milwaukee Brewers boss Doug Melvin was hospitalized after he was stung by a scorpion Wednesday.
The Chatham, Ont., native said he spent three hours in a emergency room in Scottsdale, Ariz., after trying to dispose of what he thought was a harmless bug in his condo.
“It stung me right through the Kleenex,” Melvin told reporters. “My arm started swelling and then the numbness started going up my arm, like when you hit your funny bone. I was wondering if it might go all the way up my arm and go to my heart. I got nervous when it got up to my shoulder, so I went to the emergency room.”
Despite having numbness in his left arm, Melvin was back at work Thursday.
Furcal done for season
Rafael Furcal’s season ended before it got started.
The St. Louis Cardinals announced Thursday the shortstop will have Tommy John surgery to repair a partially- torn ulnar collateral ligament, an injury he suffered in August.
“You know for me, especially myself and my family, it’s very disappointing,” Furcal said, according to the team’s website. “I worked so hard in the off-season to get everything straight, I was working hard with the doctors and the trainers and doing anything I could do to be ready for spring training and be ready for the season. It’s tough for me to say that I’m going to lose the whole year. For me, I feel like I don’t know where my mind is right now. I can’t describe it. It’s a tough situation for me.”
Pete Kozma is in line to replace the 35-year-old veteran at shortstop for the Cardinals.
White sox, sale agree
The Chicago White Sox locked up young starter Chris Sale to a five-year, $32.5-milllion contract Thursday.
The backloaded deal will see Sale, who turns 24 on March 30, earn $ 850,000 in 2013, $3.5 million in 2014, $6 million in 2015, $ 9.15 million in 2016 and $ 12 million in 2017. The White Sox hold options for 2018 at $12.5 million and for 2019 at $13.5 million.
After thriving as a reliever in his first two MLB seasons from 201011, Sale joined Chicago’s starting rotation in 2012 and posted a 17-8 record with a 3.05 ERA.