Matt Kemp has joined the Padres after San Diego and the Los Angeles finalized a five-player trade. The teams agreed to the trade last week during the winter meetings in San Diego. It was the first of three big deals by new Padres general manager A.J. Preller, who also has added outfielder Wil Myers, the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year, from Tampa Bay and All-Star catcher Derek Norris from Oakland.
The Padres, desperate to pump up the worst offense in the majors, also get $32 million from the Dodgers to help offset the $107 million remaining on Kemp's contract. The Padres' obligation of $75 million to Kemp over five years becomes the biggest deal in club history. Kemp twice made the All-Star team during his time in L.A., as well as winning two Gold Glove and two Silver Slugger awards. His 182 homers rank fourth in Los Angeles Dodgers history. Kemp weighed in on the deal via social media, penning a "goodbye to the city and the fans who have been there since the beginning of my career."
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Dallas Eakins was fired as coach of the Edmonton Oilers, who have lost 15 of 16 games and are well on the way to missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season. General manager Craig MacTavish will coach the team until the job is given to Todd Nelson, who is being promoted to interim head coach from Edmonton's American Hockey League affiliate in Oklahoma City. MacTavish did not say when he would return to the front office. MacTavish called Eakins an "excellent coach" but said something had to be done after the losses piled up. The general manager acknowledged his share of the blame, saying there was "blood all over my hands" because he "put the lineup together."
"I'm not here to absolve myself of accountability," MacTavish said at a news conference. The Oilers, once the jewel of the NHL, won five Stanley Cups between 1984 and 1990. Now, MacTavish said, all aspects of the organization, including him, remain under scrutiny. Edmonton has 19 points through 31 games, last in the Western Conference. The Oilers went 36-63-14 under Eakins in parts of two seasons, including 7-19-5 this year. Nelson is the Oilers' fifth head coach in seven years. The firing came just over a week after MacTavish gave Eakins a vote of confidence, saying then the coach still had command of the dressing room and it was up to the players to turn the season around.
"The losses have an emotional toll on everybody in the organization, at least they should, in particular the coaching staff," MacTavish said. "I think the fact we weren't able to get any traction at all after that, it led me to believe the time was right for a coaching change." The poor play has resulted in poor attendance for a team that has not made the post season since 2006. Rows of empty seats are common at Rexall Place and tickets can be had for fire sale prices. Hockey operations boss Kevin Lowe and owner Daryl Katz has not escaped criticism. Eakins, with a four-year deal, was seen as an X's and O's wunderkind, on the cutting edge of the new generation of coaches. It didn't translate to the ice. The Oilers finished with the third-fewest points in the NHL in 2013-14 with a record of 29-44-9 in the one full season under Eakins. They were 7-19-5 this year, but the nature of the losses was what rankled fans on social media and talk shows.
Suspended Los Angeles Kings’ defenseman Slava Voynov will stand trial on a felony charge of domestic violence after a judge deemed there to be sufficient evidence to move forward with the case. The 24-year-old Voynov, who was charged with a felony count of corporal injury to a spouse with great bodily injury last month, appeared in a Torrance, California, court for a preliminary hearing during which shocking details emerged.
According to reports of police testimony, an officer of the Redondo Beach Police Department told the court that Voynov had punched, kicked and choked his wife, Marta Varlamova, at the couple's home in October. Additionally, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office lead prosecutor, Frank Dunnick, said, "There's evidence to suggest prior domestic violence," according to the Los Angeles Times. Voynov, through his California-based lawyer Craig Renetzky, maintains his innocence, and Voynov's wife has also stated through her personal attorney that the incident was an accident and that she does not want her husband charged.
But from testimony heard, the incident sounded much different. The officer who gave testimony told the court about a bloody scene he discovered at the couple's home and that Varlamova said she was scared. According to reports out of the courtroom, Varlamova had a wound above her left eye, caused after Voynov pushed her into a flat-screen television, that required eight stitches to close. Voynov, who was arrested at the hospital after medical staffers called police, was immediately suspended by the NHL and has not played a game since Oct. 19. Earlier this month, the Kings were fined $100,000 for allowing Voynov to practice with the team, violating the terms of his suspension. Voynov is set to be arraigned Dec. 29.
Portland Trail Blazers’ starting center Robin Lopez will sit out a game for the first time in nearly three years after breaking his hand. Lopez, who according to Blazers coach Terry Stotts will "be out a while," injured his right hand early in the third quarter of the 108-95 victory after hitting his hand hard on Boris Diaw’s head and did not return. "It's a little frustrating," said Lopez, who said there might be two breaks in his hand and that it would be re-evaluated. "I've been pretty fortunate with injuries in my career." Lopez was averaging 9.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in 25 games for the Blazers, who stand fourth in the West at 19-6. He also had played in every game for Portland last season and for New Orleans in 2012-13. Lopez, drafted by Phoenix No. 15 overall in 2008 out of Stanford, last missed a game in January 2012 in his fourth season with the Suns.
Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Jacob Trouba will be out for at least six weeks with an upper-body injury. Trouba has been one of the team's top defensemen this season with 12 points, four goals and eight assists in 31 games. "He's had a kind of pre-existing condition that most players deal with," coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday. "And what you're hopeful for is that it heals, it gets better and progresses and he had the opposite experience. "Things started to get progressively a little bit worse on him and it just got to the point that the only and best way for us to get him back to 100 percent is we have to shut him down." Trouba had 29 points, 10 goals and 19 assists in 65 games last season. He was selected by the Jets with the ninth overall pick in the 2012 draft.
The Texas Rangers announced the signing of right-handed reliever Kyuji Fujikawa to a one-year deal with a club option for 2016. Fujikawa will receive a base salary of $1 million with the opportunity to earn incentives. The deal will become official once the Rangers clear a spot on their 40-man roster. Fujikawa, 34, spent two seasons with the Chicago Cubs, compiling a 5.04 ERA in 27 appearances. He underwent Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2013 and missed 14 months. He returned toward the end of the 2014 season and pitched in 15 games. He was signed by the Cubs as a hard-throwing reliever out of Japan. He spent 12 seasons with the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball Central League, where he saved 220 games. Fujikawa was expected to become the Cubs' closer, but that didn't happen mainly due to his injury. The Cubs had a team option for the 2015 season but declined to pick it up. With the Rangers, Fujikawa is expected to become a one-inning set up man.
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Milwaukee Bucks’ forward Jabari Parker is expected to miss the rest of his rookie season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee. Parker, 19, will have surgery after suffering a complete tear, not a sprain, as was initially diagnosed, in the third quarter of the Bucks' dramatic 96-94 win. Parker's knee buckled on a drive to the basket, he had to be carried off the court by teammates and underwent an MRI in Milwaukee that revealed the tear. Since being selected No. 2 overall in June by the Bucks, Parker had emerged as a top rookie of the year contender in Milwaukee's surprising 13-12 start, averaging 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes in 25 games. He started his career with double-doubles in two of his first three games and was named the Eastern Conference rookie of the month.
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The Padres have signed pitcher Brandon Marrow to a one-year contract worth $2.5 million. Morrow can earn an additional $5 million in bonuses for starting and $1 million for relieving. The 30-year-old Morrow has spent the last five seasons with the Blue Jays, who recently declined the right-hander's $10 million option for 2015. Morrow has battled various injuries in recent seasons, including a hand injury that limited him to just 13 games, six starts in 2014, when he went 1-3 with a 5.67 ERA. A former first-round draft selection, Morrow is 42-43 with a 4.28 ERA in parts of eight seasons with the Blue Jays and Mariners.
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The Kansas City Royals finalized a $17 million, two-year deal with the veteran slugger Tuesday. Kansas City made the postseason as a wild card this year and went all the way to the World Series before losing to San Francisco in Game 7. "At first I didn't think maybe they would make the playoffs, but they caught fire at the end and were playing really well," Morales said through a translator. "I think they started playing well, they kind of gained some confidence. They were playing well going into the playoffs and that was the most important part for them."
Two years ago, Morales hit .277 with 23 homers for Seattle. The Royals finished last in the major leagues in home runs but won the pennant with a distinctive style built on speed, defense and a sensational bullpen. It was a thrilling run for a team that hadn't been to the playoffs since 1985, but it remains to be seen if Kansas City's success is sustainable. This is, after all, a team that won only 89 games during the regular season, finishing a game behind AL Central champion Detroit. "We have to be able to drive the ball better, a lot of times we'd come up with bases loaded or first and second, we'd hit a single or what have you," general manager Dayton Moore said. "Kendrys we think is a necessary part of that, to produce more runs, as our lineup continues to gain more experience."
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Right-hander Gavin Floyd has agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians, giving him a chance to make a comeback from his latest elbow surgery. The deal, announced Tuesday, allows him to earn an additional $6 million in performance bonuses. The 31-year-old broke a bone in his elbow while throwing a curveball with Atlanta last June. He had surgery and couldn't resume throwing until after the season. That injury occurred during his ninth start since returning from Tommy John elbow-ligament replacement surgery. Floyd is 72-72 with a 4.40 ERA in 196 starts and 12 relief appearances with Philadelphia, the Chicago White Sox and the Braves. His best season was 2008, when he went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 33 starts for the White Sox.
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