LA Angels don’t make qualifying offer to Torii Hunter, talks can continue.
BASEBALL
Angels deny Hunter’s offer
The Los Angeles Angels did not make a $13.3 million qualifying offer to outfielder Torii Hunter (Pine Bluff ) by Friday’s 4 p.m. Central deadline. The Angels can continue to negotiate with Hunter along with the other 29 major league teams. Hunter, 37, batted .313 with 16 home runs and 92 RBI last season for Los Angeles, which finished in third place in the American League West behind the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers. His five-year, $90 million contract expired after this season. If he signs elsewhere, the Angels will not receive draft-pick compensation for him. “There’s no sour taste in my mouth,” Hunter told the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve had nothing but fun in the Angels organization. The fans have been supportive. Everybody knows where I want to be, but as long as I can play baseball and get a chance to win, it doesn’t matter where I am.” Hunter also told the Times in July that if he doesn’t return to the Angels, he would consider playing for only three teams: the New York Yankees, the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Chicago Cubs told closer Carlos Marmol the proposed trade to send him to the Los Angeles Angels for pitcher Dan Haren fell apart, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke Friday night on condition of anonymity because the trade did not get completed. Marmol’s contract gives him the right to submit a list of up to five teams he can’t be traded to without his consent. The person said Marmol told the Cubs he would consent to the trade, but would not say whether the reliever provided his written consent. The deal was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. The Angels had until 11 p.m. Central on Friday to exercise Haren’s $15.5 million option for next season. He had a $3.5 million buyout. The 32-year-old right-hander went 12-13 with a career-worst 4.33 ERA in 30 starts this year and was on the disabled list for the first time. Marmol, 30, an All-Star in 2008, was 3-3 with a 3.42 ERA in 61 appearances this year. He had 20 saves in 23 chances
1 but walked 45 in 55 ⁄ innings.
3 The Texas Rangers have made a $13.3 million qualifying offer to Josh Hamilton, ensuring them draft-pick compensation if the slugger signs with another team. Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said Friday that the team isn’t making the same offer to Mike Napoli, though there is mutual interest for the catcher to return to the Rangers. Napoli made $9.4 million this season. Hamilton, the 2010 AL MVP, hit a career-high 43 home runs and drove in 128 runs for the Rangers this season. Daniels, speaking shortly before the deadline for offers, said the team knows there’s no chance of Hamilton accepting that offer. That doesn’t change Hamilton’s plans of exploring free agency or the Rangers discussing a new deal with him.
The Boston Red Sox and designated hitter David Ortiz have agreed to a two-year deal worth $26 million. A baseball official with knowledge of the negotiations said Friday night that the deal, with incentive bonuses, could bring Ortiz as much as $30 million in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been signed.
FOOTBALL
Dwyer doubtful
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jonathan Dwyer might not get a chance at a third consecutive 100-yard game Sunday against the New York Giants. Dwyer is listed as doubtful, thanks to a right quad strain that prevented him from practicing Friday. Dwyer said “it’s looking good right now” and called taking the day off a precaution. Running back Rashard Mendenhall is also doubtful while he deals with a right Achilles injury, leaving Isaac Redman as the healthiest feature back remaining. Redman, who started the first three games of the season, said his sore ankles are feeling better and that he’ll be ready to play. The Steelers will be without safety Troy Polamalu (right calf) and right tackle Marcus Gilbert (ankle). Linebacker LaMarr Woodley and safety Ryan Clark are probable.
Chicago Bears safety Chris Conte has been fined $21,000 by the NFL for striking Carolina Panthers receiver Brandon LaFell in the head and neck area when LaFell was defenseless. Conte made the hit in Chicago’s 23-22 victory over Carolina last Sunday. The league announced the fine Friday, and Conte has appealed. Fined $15,750 were Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Richard Seymour, New York Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty, New York Jets linebacker Marcus Dowtin and Tennessee Titans rookie defensive tackle Mike Martin.
GOLF
Oosthuizen shoots 63
Louis Oosthuizen took advantage of the par 5s at Mission Hills in Shenzhen, China, shooting a 9under-par 63 in the HSBC Champions to build a five-shot lead and break a World Golf Championships record that previously belonged to
Tiger Woods. Along with opening a five-shot lead over Ernie Els — his South African mentor — Oosthuizen reached 16-under 128. That’s the lowest score to par through 36 holes in any World Golf Championships event since they began in 1999. Woods had a 15-under 125 at Firestone in 2000, and he was at 15-under 127 at The Grove outside London in 2006 at the American Express Championship. Woods went on to win those events by 11 shots and eight shots, respectively. Els, who skipped the PGA Grand Slam of Golf early last week because of a minor ankle injury, played nearly as well as Oosthuizen. He also had a 63 that vaulted him from 19th place into a tie for second with Adam Scott of Australia, who had a 68. Shane Lowry of Ireland (68) and Jason Dufner (66) were another shot behind. Phil Mickelson, a two-time HSBC Champions winner, made double bogey on his last hole for a 69 that left him seven shots behind going into the weekend.
South Korea’s Jiyai Shin and Japan’s Ayako Uehara shot 4-underpar 68 to share the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s Mizuno Classic in Shima, Japan. Shin won the event at Kintetsu Kashikojima 2008 and in 2010. She won the Kingsmill Championship and Women’s British Open in consecutive starts in September. Defending champion
Momoko Ueda of Japan was a stroke back along with American
Angela Stanford, Japan’s Maiko Wakabayashi, China’s Shanshan Feng, South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi and Spain’s Beatriz Recari. Topranked Yani Tseng shot a 71. Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) also shot a 71.
Jay Haas matched the Champions Tour record with a 10-under-par 60 to open a five-stroke lead in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz. Haas, 58, made a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th after hitting his second shot into a greenside bunker and leaving his eagle blast short. He is 14 under for the tournament. Haas became the eighth player in the history of the tour to shoot 60 and broke the course record on Desert Mountain’s Cochise layout. Tom Lehman was second after a 63, moving into position to win the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race. Bernhard Langer, 211 points ahead of secondplace Lehman, was tied for fifth at 6 under after a 65. Fred Couples, paired with Haas, was third at 8 under after a 66.
TENNIS
Arvidsson moves on
Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden secured victory without finishing the first set as Zheng Jie of China retired at 5-1 in the season-ending Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria. On the last day of the event’s group stage, Arvidsson replaced Maria Kirilenko, who pulled out of the competition on Thursday with an upper respiratory illness. Arvidsson and Zheng had no chance of advancing to the semifinals. In the second group match, Russia’s Nadia Petrova rallied from a game down to beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 — a victory that earned her first place in the Sredets Group. In Group Serdika, Taiwan’s Hsieh Suwei defeated Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 in the last match of the day. Hsieh, who arrived in Sofia with a career-best ranking at No. 25 after finishing 2011 at No. 172, avenged her loss to the Slovak in the PTT Pattaya Open semifinals in Thailand in February. Neither player could advance after Caroline Wozniacki and Italy’s Roberta Vinci secured the group’s two semifinal berths. The top-seeded Wozniacki will play Pironkova today, while Petrova will face Vinci.
Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz kept his great run going at the Paris Masters, advancing to the semifinals when a dizzy and fatigued Janko Tipsarevic stopped playing. Fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain moved closer to his first Masters title after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-2, 7-5. Ferrer’s semifinal opponent will be Frenchman Michael Llodra, who beat American Sam Querrey 7-6 (4), 63. The 69th-ranked Janowicz faces Gilles Simon in the semifinals. The Frenchman beat fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 64, 6-4.