导出博客文章OXON HILL, Md. -- Reliever Joaquin Benoit and the Philadelphia Phillies
finalized a $7.5 million, one-year contract, part of the teams efforts to
rebuild its bullpen.Its important in a bullpen to have different styles of
pitchers, right? Philadelphia general manager Matt Klentak said Tuesday at the
winter meetings. Ideally, youd have some righties and some lefties and some more
experienced players blended with some younger players, and fastballs and sliders
and curveballs.Benoit, a 39-year-old right-hander, has had an ERA under 3.00 for
six of the past seven years. He was 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA last season, including a
0.38 ERA after the Toronto Blue Jays acquired him from Seattle in July for
reliever Drew Storen. Benoit averaged 9.75 strikeouts per nine innings.Over the
last seven seasons, Benoit has a 0.98 WHIP (walks and hits per inning), trailing
only Kenley Jansen (0.89) and Craig Kimbrel (0.95) around the majors in that
span. Benoit has 51 saves in 712 big league games.The deal comes about a month
after the Phillies acquired righty reliever Pat Neshek in a trade with the
Houston Astros and exercised a club option for $6.5 million in 2017 for him.The
36-year-old Neshek was 2-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 60 relief appearances with Houston
last season, holding right-handed hitters to a .172 average and compiling 43
strikeouts in 47 innings.We dont have a premier closer, which wed love to have.
But last year we didnt either. ... Somebody is going to be capable of doing
that, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. What we have now is a deeper bullpen,
with more experience, better pitchers.Last season, the Phillies were 14-3 in
one-run games as of May 15, then went only 14-20 the rest of the way in such
contests, along the way to finishing 71-91 and in fourth place in the NL East.I
feel now, with the addition of Benoit and Neshek, we got better for even the
fifth and the sixth, and if (Jeanmar) Gomez ends up closing, or hes down in the
fifth or sixth, depending on how it all ends up, were obviously deeper and
better because of that, Mackanin said. Were going to have a lot of flexibility
with that.Game notes Klentak called Tommy Joseph the teams everyday first
baseman as of now. Tommy showed pretty well for himself all year long and were
excited to see what he can do in more of a regular role this coming year,
Klentak said. Joseph hit .257 with 21 homers and 47 RBI in 315 at-bats last
season. ... Benoits deal was negotiated by agents Sam and Seth Levinson. ...
Philadelphia designated RHP Michael Mariot for assignment to open a roster spot
for Benoit.
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. Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit
a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their
hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday
night.
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The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg.
Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their
round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1.
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Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be
registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a
suspension or injury.NEW YORK -- Protective no more, baseball players are
downright disgusted these days with doping. Now they are demanding even stiffer
suspensions for those caught cheating. "Its a new generation of athletes that
are standing up," Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency,
said Tuesday. "The cultures been flipped on its head." When Ryan Braun accepted
a season-ending 65-game suspension Monday rather than fight Major League
Baseball over evidence he used performance-enhancing drugs, fellow players
appeared tired of those who cast shadows on the sport. "Theyre lying to the
fans," Los Angeles Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson said. "Theyre lying to their
teammates. Theyre lying to their GMs, their owners, and theyre going to get
caught." Skip Schumaker of the Los Angeles Dodgers said Braun, the 2011 NL MVP
for the Milwaukee Brewers, let him down. "Watching him talk right now makes me
sick," Schumaker said. "I have an autographed Braun jersey in my baseball room
that Ill be taking down. I dont want my son identifying what Ive worked so hard
to get to and work so hard to have -- I dont want him comparing Braun to me."
Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who finished second to Braun in the 2011
MVP vote, said the Milwaukee slugger should be stripped of the honour. "We had
conversations, and I considered him a friend," Kemp said. "I dont think anybody
likes to be lied to, and I feel like a lot of people have felt betrayed." Braun
tested positive for elevated testosterone in October 2011 but successfully
overturned a 50-game penalty when an arbitrator ruled the outfielders urine
sample was handled improperly. Braun loudly proclaimed his innocence then. "I
thought this whole thing has been despicable on his part," Detroit pitcher
Max Scherzer said. "When he did get caught, he never came clean. He tried to
question the ability of the collector when he was caught red-handed. So thats
why the whole Braun situation, there is so much player outrage toward him."
Arizona pitcher Brad Ziegler remembered back to the 2011 NL division series,
when the Brewers beat the Diamondbacks 3-2 in a best-of-five playoff as Braun
went 9 for 18 with a home run and four RBIs. "Obviously it affected the series,
because thats right when the positive test occurred. Thats when it was highest
in his system, and he torched us that series," Ziegler said. "We cant put it all
on that. Looking back on it, we walked away from that series knowing we should
have won it before we heard he tested positive. At least he didnt get away with
it now." New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Braun was guilty. "You dont
accept a deal unless youre guilty," he said. "Its another black eye for our
game. I know this game is very resilient, and theres been a lot of scandals over
the years, but you get tired of it," Girardi added. He may soon face his own
problemm with a star slugger.dddddddddddd More than a dozen players have been
targeted by MLB in its probe of the closed anti-aging clinic Biogenesis of
America, including three-time AL MVP Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees. The next
step will be for MLB to inform the union of additional players it intends to
penalize, which could happen as early as a meeting on Thursday, a person
familiar with the investigation said, speaking on condition of anonymity because
no statements were authorized. New York expects A-Rod could face a much harsher
penalty than the one Braun agreed to, a second person familiar with the case
said, also speaking on condition of anonymity because no statements were
authorized. The Yankees anticipate Rodriguez could be accused of using PEDs over
multiple seasons, of recruiting other athletes for the clinic, of attempting to
obstruct MLBs investigation, and of not being truthful with MLB in the past when
he discussed his relationship with Dr. Anthony Galea, who pleaded guilty two
years ago to a U.S. federal charge of bringing unapproved drugs from Canada into
the United States. Players have the right to have an arbitrator decide whether
discipline meets the "just cause" standard in baseballs drug agreement. Brauns
decision not to fight led others to conclude a grievance would have been futile.
"Obviously the evidence was overwhelming, and it must have been a mountain of
it," Tygart said. "I think it speaks volumes for the generation of athletes
today who dont want to be forced to make the same mistakes of the past
generation who felt compelled in order to compete to use these dangerous drugs,"
he said. "I think absolutely thats a huge sign that the culture has turned in a
huge direction from where it was in the late 90s and early 2000s." In the wake
of Brauns suspension, a chain of 300 convenience stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota
and Iowa cut ties with him. Gary Gonczy, director of marketing and advertising
for Kwik Trip, Inc., said in an email Tuesday that the company will no longer
use Braun as a spokesman. Despite Brauns ban, Kemp has no shot at claiming the
MVP trophy. The Baseball Writers Association of America has said repeatedly that
it will not revisit any of its award votes. "The decision was already made. He
won it," said Jack OConnell, the BBWAAs secretary-treasurer. Commissioner Bud
Selig said in March he wants even stiffer drug penalties, and union head Michael
Weiner said players will consider toughened rules for 2014. While Brauns 65-game
penalty is 15 games longer than the current standard for a first offence,
Scherzer thinks its insufficient. "The Brewers are unlikely to make the
playoffs. He misses 2013, and they are set for 2014," he said. "For someone that
cheated the game as badly as he did, it just doesnt seem right." ------ AP
Sports Writer Andrew Seligman in Chicago and AP freelance writers Jonathan
Dalton in Phoenix and Ian Harrison in Toronto contributed to this report. ' ' '
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