Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Phoenix
Suns guard
Brandon
Knight
shoots in
front of
Portland
Trail Blaz-
ers forward
Mason
Plumlee
during the
second half
of an NBA
basketball
game in
Portland,
Ore., Tues-
day, Nov. 8,
2016.
MLB trade talks begin
By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Detroit
Tigers ace Justin Verlander and slugger
Miguel Cabrera could be available for the
right price. The Chicago White Sox might
be prepared to deal Chris Sale, too.
Not even a week has passed since the
Chicago Cubs won their first World Series
title in more than a century, and teams
already are involved in trade talk as they
position themselves for 2017 and beyond.
“The conversations this year with GMs
started earlier and had more substance to
them than I recall in the past,” Philadel-
phia general manager Matt Klentak said
Tuesday on the first full day of the GMs’
annual meeting.
A weak free-agent market at many
positions has driven deal dialogue. Frus-
trated they have not won the World Series
since 1984 despite a payroll that is among
baseball’s highest, the Tigers sound ready
to embark on a rebuild.
“We have an open mind to listen on any
player on our roster,” general manager Al
Avila said. “We’re going to try to make this
organization good for the long run, not the
short run. We’re looking at it as all-in for
the long haul. And so the transition, that
first step, might be a little bit tough here.”
A six-time All-Star right-hander who
turns 34 in February, Verlander went 16-9
with a 3.04 ERA this year in his best season
since 2012. He is owed $28 million in each
of the next three seasons.
Cabrera, an 11-time All-Star who plays
mostly first base these days, turns 34 in
April. He will be paid $28 million next
year, $30 million in each of the following
four seasons and $32 million annually in
2022 and ‘23.
Detroit’s payroll was about $199 million
this year, trailing only the Los Angeles
Dodgers, New York Yankees and Boston,
and the Tigers likely will pay a luxury tax
of just under $4 million. An 86-75 record,
eight games behind AL Central champion
Cleveland, prompted Detroit to reconsider
its methods.
“If anybody thinks that you just can
continue to add and add, where does the
payroll get to?” Avila said.
On the South Side of Chicago, the
White Sox sprinted to a 23-10 start,
creating visions of a Windy City World
Series against the Cubs, then sank to a
78-84 record. After winning the 2005 title,
the White Sox have not even reached the
playoffs since 2008.
Sale, a left-hander who turns 27 in
March, was an All-Star in each of the last
five seasons and has a contract that pays
him $12 million next year and includes
club options at $12.5 million for 2018 and
$15 million for 2019.
White Sox GM Rick Hahn said other
teams ask him about Sale, but Hahn also
discusses the future with owner Jerry
Reinsdorf and executive vice president
Kenny Williams.
“I think our goal is to put ourselves in
a position to win on a sustainable basis,”
Hahn said. “We’ve been focused on a
short-term benefit. We’ve gotten to the
point when we have had our conversations
internally with Jerry and Kenny where we
realize a better position for the long term is
a more prudent path.”
Given the tendency of baseball exec-
utives to follow the leader, they seek to
mimic the Cubs. Seeking its first title since
1908, Chicago hired Theo Epstein as pres-
ident of baseball operations and Jed Hoyer
as GM after the team went 71-91 in 2011.
As they overhauled the roster, the Cubs
lost 101 games the following year, 96 in 2013
and 89 in 2014. As top draft picks reached
the major league team, the Cubs added free
agents during the past two offseasons and
won 97 games in 2015 and a big league-high
103 this year, when they beat Cleveland in a
seven-game World Series.
“Any time you’re trading away really
good veterans like that, you’re setting
yourself up for some really long summers,”
Hoyer cautioned. “The messaging in
your clubhouse is really difficult. The
messaging to your fan base is really
difficult. Fans grow to like players on their
team, and when you trade away the guy
whose jersey they just got for Christmas or
you trade away a guy’s friend and mentor
in the clubhouse, whoever that might be,
that’s hard messaging.”
Going young, building a core group
and then adding veterans in order to peak
with a title is the goal. But making the right
decisions on draft picks and swaps is the
hard part.
“The idea that you rip the Band-Aid off,
be bad for a couple of years, make some
trades and always end up on the positive
side, I don’t think that’s realistic,” Hoyer
said.
AP Photo/Craig
Mitchelldyer
BLAZERS: Head south to
face first-place Clippers tonight
Continued from 1B
Devin Booker made a
3-pointer that pulled the Suns
within 122-121 but Lillard
again hit two free throws with
3.7 seconds left and Booker
missed from some 25 feet has
time ran out.
Bledsoe finished with 31
points and Booker had 23.
The Suns, who opened
the season with four straight
losses before winning two of
their last three, were without
Tyson Chandler because of
personal reasons. Chandler
has been in double-digit
rebounds in three of the last
four games for Phoenix.
Suns coach Earl Watson
started rookie Marquese
Chriss, who was making his
first career start. Chriss was a
first-round draft pick (eighth
overall) out of Washington
by the Sacramento Kings,
acquired by the Suns in a
draft-day trade.
Portland was hurt when
they lost starting forward
Al-Farouq Aminu to a left
calf strain early and he did not
return. Aminu is averaging
seven points and 7.9 rebounds
this season.
McCollum hit his first
six shots, including three
3-pointers, and the Blazers
jumped out to a 27-12 lead.
McCollum matched his
career high with 37 points in
Portland’s 100-94 victory at
Memphis on Sunday.
Booker had 39 points in
the Suns’ 119-108 loss at
the Lakers on Sunday, after
scoring 38 in a 112-111
overtime victory over New
Orleans on Friday, becoming
the youngest player in NBA
history to have back-to-back
games with at least 38 points.
Booker had 11 points in
an otherwise lackluster first
half for Phoenix, which trailed
63-55 at the break. McCollum
led all scorers with 23 points.
TIP-INS
Suns: The Suns beat the
Blazers 118-115 in overtime
last week in Phoenix. The teams
play four games this season.
Trail Blazers: Portland
made 12 of its first 13 field
goal attempts. ... It was the
second time in his career that
McCollum has had back-to-
back games with 30 or more
points.
MENTOR
AND
FRIEND: Watson played his
final NBA season with Port-
land and grew close to Lillard.
The summer before last, when
the Blazers lost four starters
and Lillard was the last
remaining starter on the roster,
Watson said the two talked
and he told Lillard he needed
to be a leader on and off the
court. Lillard responded by
organizing a team bonding
trip to San Diego and Port-
land went on to clinch the
Northwest Division before
advancing to the second round
of the playoffs.
“That is when you saw this
young group become some-
thing else,” Watson said.
UP NEXT
Suns: Host the Detroit
Pistons on Thursday night.
Trail Blazers: Visit the
Los Angeles Clippers on
Wednesday
night.
The
Clippers beat the Blazers in
Portland 114-106 on Oct. 27.
HELFRICH: Oregon’s offense held to a season-low 288 total yards vs USC
Continued from 1B
catch balls that are wide
open and make explosive
plays because that’s the big
momentum shift right there
is explosive plays.”
When asked if he was
surprised the Ducks don’t
know what they’re doing at
times nine games into a mess
of a season, Mundt clarified:
“To say that we don’t
know what we’re doing is
not the right thing. There’s
a pause where you’re not
completely confident in
what you’re doing,” Mundt
said. “We need to minimize
that pause, be confident in all
of our calls, all of our plays,
and play Oregon football.”
The offense, which is led
by a true freshman quar-
terback playing behind an
offensive line that includes
four redshirt freshmen, was
held to 288 total yards.
Justin Herbert was sacked
three times and recovered a
bad snap while completing
18-of-33 passes for 162
yards and a touchdown.
“They brought a lot of
stuff we weren’t prepared
for, different blitzes that we
haven’t seen yet,” Herbert
said of USC’s defense.
Redshirt
sophomore
running back Tony Brooks-
James made his first career
start ahead of classmate
Royce Freeman. The duo
combined for 63 net yards
on 18 carries.
Wide receiver Charles
Nelson produced the team’s
longest run, a 25-yard touch-
down on a misdirection play.
“They outplayed us up
front,” offensive coordinator
OFFICIATING:
Continued from 1B
Sherman from getting a piece
of the kick and crashing reck-
lessly into Carpenter’s legs.
“Whenever it comes to
player safety, we want to
look at these fouls,” Blandino
said. “It’s something that we
stress with our referees when
it comes to the quarterbacks
and the kickers with roughing
the kicker and roughing the
passer, so we certainly don’t
want to miss calls like that.”
The fact that no unnec-
essary roughness call was
made created a whole other
set of problems — including
an injury timeout against
Buffalo that forced Carpenter
off the field — that weren’t
handled well by Anderson’s
crew. Most damaging for
the Bills was the play clock
not being properly reset as
Carpenter lined up for a
second field goal attempt,
from 48 yards, and Buffalo
being called for delay of
game. After the 5-yard
penalty, Carpenter’s attempt
was wide right.
What seemed to be a
chaotic mishandling by
officials at the time proved
critical in the final moments
of the fourth quarter when
Buffalo drove inside the
Seattle 10 and needed a
touchdown rather than just a
field goal.
“We’re disappointed we
didn’t pull it out at the end
there, but mistakes happen in
this league, there’s no ques-
tion about it,” Buffalo coach
Rex Ryan said Tuesday. “But
you know, I think everybody
saw what they want to see.
And I don’t know if I really
need to comment any further
on it.”
In hindsight, there seems
to be agreement that Sherman
should have been flagged
for unnecessary roughness.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll
said as much on Tuesday
morning during his weekly
radio show on KIRO-AM
in Seattle, while noting that
there appeared to be no
whistle blown and Sherman
was finishing off the play.
“He should avoid the
contact if he hears the
whistle,”
Carroll
said.
“Otherwise, play the play
out. Try and block the kick.”
But Anderson, the person
in charge of making that
call, determined Sherman’s
actions weren’t worthy of the
personal foul penalty. Ander-
son’s explanation was that it
didn’t appear that Sherman
had an opportunity to avoid
the contact from when the
play was “shut down.”
“One of the things we’re
just looking for is does the
player have a chance to
realize that we’re shutting the
play down from that stand-
point and whether or not he
has an opportunity to avoid
any type of contact once he
realizes that we’re getting the
play shut down,” Anderson
said. “I know it was loud out
there for everybody. That’s
probably what took us a little
bit of time to get everything
shut down. But that’s what
we’re looking at.”
Matt Lubick said. “They just
flat came out and beat us.”
The Ducks had averaged
40.5 points and 519.1 yards
per game before getting
outclassed by USC (6-3,
5-3), which has won five
consecutive games heading
into this Saturday’s show-
down at No. 4 Washington
(9-0, 6-0).
“When you play a good
football team it will expose
some things,” Lubick said.
“So us as coaches, we’ve
got to go back and first of
all build our own players’
confidence, correct what we
can correct and get ready
for next week. I know next
week is a good defensive
football team as well.”
Oregon opened as a 2
1/2-point underdog against
Stanford on Saturday at
Autzen Stadium (1 p.m.,
Pac-12 Networks).
Other
notes
from
Tuesday:
PRUKOP MOPS UP:
Dakota Prukop played
for the first time since the
Washington State game. The
former starting quarterback
was 2-for-4 passing for 41
yards and ran for a 15-yard
touchdown on the Ducks’
final drive of the fourth
game.
According to the coaches,
Prukop has handled the
staff’s decision to go with
Herbert well.
“His attitude has been
awesome,” Lubick said.
“One of the reasons Justin
is playing well is because of
Dakota’s leadership and the
way he treats him.
“It was neat to see him
come in and have some
success.”
When healthy last season,
Vernon Adams Jr. enjoyed
wild success, including a
six-touchdown performance
in a win over USC, after
transferring to Oregon from
the Big Sky Conference.
Prukop didn’t transfer
from Montana State to
back up the quarterback of
the future during his senior
season.
“He’s been very posi-
tive in a tough situation,”
Helfrich said of Prukop.
“That’s a hard situation
to manage, a guy that’s a
competitive guy, a prideful
guy. He has done a great
job of outwardly being
supportive and continuing to
compete.”
NOTABLE:
Brenden
Schooler has four a in
nine games, which ties the
Oregon freshman safety
for the most in the Pac-12.
Washington State senior
Shalom Luani has four in
eight games. … Freshman
linebacker Troy Dye, who
had 13 tackles against USC,
is second in the Pac-12 in
tackles per game (8.4). …
Tight end Pharaoh Brown,
who has a TD reception from
Herbert in three consecutive
games, leads the Ducks with
five scoring receptions. …
Oregon started the same
11 players on defense in
consecutive games for the
first time all season. Brady
Hoke’s unit ranks 125th
nationally in points allowed
(42.6) and 127th in yards
allowed (535.2) out of 128
teams.
SCOREBOARD
Local Slate
PREP FOOTBALL
Friday
#10 Santiam at #2 Stanfield (2A quarter-
finals), 6 p.m.
Saturday
#5 Grant Union at #4 Heppner (2A
quarterfinals), 1 p.m.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Saturday
Eastern Oregon at Carroll, 11 a.m.
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
Today
Blue Mountain at Yakima Valley, 6 p.m.
Friday
TBD at Eastern Oregon (CCC semifinals),
7 p.m.
Saturday
CCC Finals, TBD (at La Grande), 3 p.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Saturday
Simpson (Calif.) at Eastern Oregon,
5:30 p.m.
Sunday
Simpson (Calif.) at Eastern Oregon, 1
p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Friday
Eastern Oregon at Johnson & Wales
(Fla.), 2 p.m.
Saturday
Eastern Oregon at Warner (Fla.), 1 p.m.
COLLEGE WRESTLING
Thursday
Eastern Oregon at Great Falls, TBA
Friday
Eastern Oregon at Montana State-North-
ern, TBA
Prep Scores
BOYS SOCCER
Semifinals
Class 6A
#1 McMinnville 3, #5 Wilson 1
#2 Lakeridge 3, #3 Jesuit 2
Class 5A
#2 Woodburn 1, #3 Summit 0 (PK 3-2)
#5 Wilsonville 1, #9 La Salle Prep 0
(PK 3-2)
Class 4A
#4 Madras 3, #8 Brookings-Harbor 0
#3 Newport 4, #10 Molalla 2
Class 3A/2A/1A
#1 Catlin Gabel 4, #4 Riverside 1
#2 Portland Adventist 2, #14 Delphian
1 (PK 4-2)
GIRLS SOCCER
Semifinals
Class 6A
#3 Sherwood 3, #10 West Linn 2
#5 Sunset 2, #1 Jesuit 1 (PK 4-3)
Class 5A
#1 La Salle Prep 2, #4 Crescent Valley 0
#11 Silverton 4, #2 Summit 3
Class 4A
#1 North Valley 5, #5 Gladstone
#2 Valley Catholic 2, #6 Molalla 1
Class 3A/2A/1A
#1 Catlin Gabel 3, #5 Pleasant Hill
#3 Oregon Episcopal 3, #2 Creswell 1
Football
NFL
Thursday’s Game
Cleveland at Baltimore, 5:25 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 13
Atlanta at Philadelphia, 10 a.m.
Denver at New Orleans, 10 a.m.
Houston at Jacksonville, 10 a.m.
Los Angeles at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m.
Kansas City at Carolina, 10 a.m.
Chicago at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m.
Minnesota at Washington, 10 a.m.
Green Bay at Tennessee, 10 a.m.
Miami at San Diego, 1:05 p.m.
San Francisco at Arizona, 1:25 p.m.
Dallas at Pittsburgh, 1:25 p.m.
Seattle at New England, 5:30 p.m.
Open: Detroit, Buffalo, Indianapolis,
Oakland
Monday, Nov. 14
Cincinnati at N.Y. Giants, 5:30 p.m.
NCAA
Top 25
Tuesday
#14 Western Michigan 37, Kent State 21
Thursday
#15 North Carolina at Duke, 4:30 p.m.
(ESPN)
#13 Utah at Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.
(FS1)
Friday
#20 Florida State vs. Boston College,
4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
PAC-12 Conference
North
Conf. Ovr.
Washington
6-0 9-0
Washington St. 6-0 7-2
Stanford
4-3 6-3
California
2-4 4-5
Oregon
1-5 3-6
Oregon St.
1-5 2-7
South
Conf. Ovr.
Colorado
5-1 7-2
Southern Cal
5-2 6-3
Utah
4-2 7-2
Arizona St.
2-4 5-4
UCLA
1-5 3-6
Arizona
0-6 2-7
———
Thursday
#16 Utah at Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.
(FS1)
Saturday
Stanford at Oregon, 1 p.m. (PAC12)
USC at #5 Washington, 4:30 p.m. (FOX)
Oregon State at UCLA, 6 p.m. (PAC12)
#15 Colorado at Arizona, 7 p.m. (FS1)
Cal at #25 Washington State, 7:30 p.m.
(ESPN)
NAIA
Frontier Conference
Saturday’s Games
Eastern Oregon at Carroll, 11 a.m.
College of Idaho at MSU-Northern, 11
a.m.
Montana Western at Rocky Mountain,
11 a.m.
Montana Tech at Southern Oregon, Noon
Basketball
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
L Pct GB
Toronto
4
2 .667 —
Boston
3
3 .500
1
Brooklyn
3
4 .429 1½
New York
2
4 .333
2
Philadelphia
0
6 .000
4
Southeast Division
W
L Pct GB
Charlotte
5
1 .833 —
Atlanta
5
2 .714
½
Orlando
3
4 .429 2½
Miami
2
4 .333
3
Washington
1
5 .167
4
Central Division
W
L Pct GB
Cleveland
6
1 .857 —
Detroit
4
2 .667 1½
Chicago
4
3 .571
2
Milwaukee
4
3 .571
2
Indiana
3
4 .429
3
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W
L Pct GB
San Antonio
5
2 .714 —
Houston
4
3 .571
1
Memphis
4
4 .500 1½
Dallas
2
5 .286
3
New Orleans
0
7 .000
5
Northwest Division
W
L Pct GB
Oklahoma City
6
1 .857 —
Utah
5
3 .625 1½
Portland
5
3 .625 1½
Denver
3
4 .429
3
Minnesota
1
5 .167 4½
Pacific Division
W
L Pct GB
L.A. Clippers
5
1 .833 —
Golden State
4
2 .667
1
L.A. Lakers
4
4 .500
2
Sacramento
4
5 .444 2½
Phoenix
2
6 .250
4
———
Tuesday’s Games
Atlanta 110, Cleveland 106
Brooklyn 119, Minnesota 110
Memphis 108, Denver 107
Portland 124, Phoenix 121
Dallas 109, L.A. Lakers 97
Sacramento 102, New Orleans 94
Wednesday’s Games
Boston at Washington, 4 p.m.
Brooklyn at New York, 4 p.m.
Minnesota at Orlando, 4 p.m.
Philadelphia at Indiana, 4 p.m.
Utah at Charlotte, 4 p.m.
Chicago at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.
Toronto at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.
Detroit at Phoenix, 6 p.m.
Houston at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m.
Dallas at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.
Portland at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
Hockey
NHL
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Montreal
13 11 1 1 23 42 30
Tampa Bay 13 7 5 1 15 41 38
Detroit
14 7 6 1 15 38 37
Ottawa
12 7 5 0 14 30 31
Boston
13 7 6 0 14 32 35
Florida
13 6 6 1 13 35 33
Toronto
13 5 5 3 13 37 48
Buffalo
12 5 5 2 12 25 29
Metropolitan Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Pittsburgh
13 9 2 2 20 41 34
N.Y. Rangers 14 10 4 0 20 58 34
Washington 12 8 3 1 17 33 27
New Jersey 12 6 3 3 15 29 27
Philadelphia 14 6 6 2 14 49 51
Columbus
10 5 3 2 12 32 21
N.Y. Islanders 13 5 6 2 12 37 40
Carolina
12 3 5 4 10 31 41
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Chicago
13 9 3 1 19 47 33
St. Louis
13 7 4 2 16 31 34
Minnesota 11 6 4 1 13 33 22
Winnipeg
14 6 7 1 13 42 43
Nashville
12 4 5 3 11 31 36
Dallas
13 4 6 3 11 33 46
Colorado
12 5 7 0 10 24 37
Pacific Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Edmonton 14 9 4 1 19 43 35
San Jose
13 7 6 0 14 30 32
Los Angeles 13 7 6 0 14 35 32
Anaheim
13 6 5 2 14 35 30
Calgary
14 5 8 1 11 36 51
Vancouver 14 5 8 1 11 27 41
Arizona
12 5 7 0 10 35 44
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for
overtime loss.
———
Tuesday’s Games
San Jose 3, Washington 0
Pittsburgh 4, Edmonton 3
New Jersey 3, Carolina 2, SO
Detroit 3, Philadelphia 2, SO
Vancouver 5, N.Y. Rangers 3
Montreal 3, Boston 2
Los Angeles 7, Toronto 0
Nashville 3, Ottawa 1
Winnipeg 8, Dallas 2
Arizona 4, Colorado 2
Today’s Games
Anaheim at Columbus, 4 p.m.
Ottawa at Buffalo, 4:30 p.m.
Chicago at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Soccer
MLS Playoffs
Conference Championships
Eastern Conference
Tuesday, Nov. 22: Toronto FC at Montre-
al, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 30: Montreal at Toronto
FC, 4 p.m.
Western Conference
Tuesday, Nov. 22: Colorado vs. Seattle,
7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 27: Seattle vs. Colorado,
1 p.m.
Motorsports
NASCAR
Sprint Cup
Points Leaders
Through Nov. 6
1. Jimmie Johnson, 4074
2. Joey Logano, 4074
3. Kyle Busch, 4074
4. Matt Kenseth, 4073
5. Denny Hamlin, 4072
6. Kevin Harvick, 4056
7. Carl Edwards, 4049
8. Kurt Busch, 4040
Upcoming Schedule
Nov. 13 — Can-Am 500, Avondale, Ariz.