The Oakland Athletics remain hopeful of seeing Hei

[panxing18]

OAKLAND , Calif. (AP) — sman Trophy winner Kyler Murray in their uniform when spring training begins next month.While the Oklahoma quarterback declared for the NFL draft last week, the prized outfielder and 2018 first-round draft pick could report to A’s spring training in Mesa, Arizona. He has an invite to big league camp.“As we’re sitting here right now we expect him to be in spring training,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said Friday, a day before the club’s Fan Fest. “Now, look, he has opened up some doors for himself that the world is literally his oyster right now, and I will be for whatever he chooses to do. The football thing, you win the Heisman Trophy and you get drafted in the first round, how often does that happen? He is that type of athlete and he’s going to have a great career in whatever he chooses to do , and we will support whatever he chooses to do. But at this point in time we haven’t heard anything different and I’m expecting him to be in spring training. If something changes in the meantime then we deal with it.”On Jan. 13, representatives of the A’s and Major League Baseball met with Murrayl.“We’d love to have him. He’s invited to spring training. We’re hoping he’s there,” A’s general manager David Forst said. “He’s an incredible young man and would be a great asset for the A’s. We made it clear to Kyler how much we’d like to have him here and how great a baseball player we think he could be.”The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Murray’s Sooners lost in a college football playoff semifinal Dec. 29 to eventual runner-up Alabama.Drafted last June with the ninth overall pick, the outfielder signed with Oakland for a $4.66 million bonus, of which $1.5 million was paid last summer within 30 days of the deal’s approval by the commissioner’s office. The remaining $3.16 million is due on March 1.There was an agreement between the team and Murray that he would play football last year, then skip his senior season to begin his pro baseball career. Melvin as well as executive Billy Beane and Forst closely followed Oklahoma football in 2018.Murray showed off his skills taking batting practice at the Coliseum in an A’s uniform back in June, greeted by “WELCOME TO OAKLAND” on the big scoreboard with his photo.In football this past season, he completed 260 of 377 passes for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns with seven interceptions and a passer rating of 199.2. He also rushed for 1 ,001 yards and 12 TDs.“You’ve got to separate there. When he comes and plays baseball the football thing is good stories for the guys. It’s all about performing in baseball, that’s kind of where my focus will be,” Melvin said. “It’s a phenomenal athlete if you take a step back and look what he’s accomplished.” BOSTON (AP) — Free agent Nathan Eovaldi was the star of the Red Sox 2018 World Series highlight video, and he didn’t even have to attend the red carpet premiere.The erstwhile starter, who pitched six innings in relief in the team’s 18-inning, Game 3 loss, received a huge cheer whenever his name was mentioned by the dignitaries who shared the stage with the four World Series trophies the team has won since 2004. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was cheerfully heckled with shouts of “Bring him back!”Acquired at midseason to bolster the Red Sox rotation, Eovaldi was 3-3 with a 3.33 ERA down the stretch for Boston. He made just one start in the playoffs before helping out the battered bullpen in the Game 5 clincher of the AL Division Series against Houston.He pitched one inning of relief in each of the first two games of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And then, entering Game 3 in the 12th inning, he went the rest of the way to take the load off the rest of the Red Sox pitching staff.Boston clinched in five games.“Nobody’s going to remember who won that game. Everybody’s going to remember Nate Eovaldi ,” manager Alex Cora said. “That was the moment. When I went home I was like, ‘This is it. Now we go.'”Eovaldi is one of the few free agents from the championship team, giving the 108-win AL East champions a chance to repeat with virtually the same roster. World Series MVP Steve Pearce has already re-signed; Game 5 winner David Price opted in to the last four years of the contract he signed before the 2016 season; the team exercised its option on ace Chris Sale.“We did it with these guys last year. Why can’t we do it this year?” utilityman Brock Holt said after walking the red carpet. “We’re going to try to win 108 games again. I don’t know if we’re going to.”Holt said the video premiere was an opportunity to look back at the team’s successes before turning their attention to spring training and their attempt to win back-to-back.“You don’t want to turn the page, but you have to,” he said. “Now it’s like, ‘Hey, we won the World Series. Let’s do it again.’ That’s hard to do.”

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]