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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2019)
SPORTS Saturday, November 2, 2019 East Oregonian B3 Cole, Rendon among 131 free agents on market options during the next few days. Among the pitchers avail- able are major league ERA leader Hyun-Jin Ryu, Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgar- ner, Rick Porcello, Cole Hamels, Jake Odorizzi and Dallas Keuchel, who went free after the 2018 season and waited until June to reach a one-year deal with Atlanta. Others eligible include shortstop Didi Gregorius, third baseman Josh Donald- son and outfi elders Yasiel Puig, Marcell Ozuna and José Abreu — the AL RBIs leader. Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman and Boston slug- ger J.D. Martinez also have the right to opt out, and catcher Yasmani Grandal has a mutual option with Milwaukee. Teams must decide by Monday whether to make $17.8 million qualifying offers to their former players who became free agents, Players are eligible for the offer if they were on the roster for the sea- son and never received a qual- ifying offer before. The price dropped for the fi rst time, by $100,000, following a second straight slow offseason for roster moves. Edwin Encarnación’s $25 million option was declined by the Yankees, triggering a $5 million buyout. By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK — Washing- ton third baseman Anthony Rendon became a free agent Thursday, a day after hom- ering to spark Washington’s seventh-inning comeback in Game 7 of the World Series. Houston pitcher Ger- rit Cole also went free after warming up in the bullpen but never getting into the sea- son fi nale. And Nationals pitcher Ste- phen Strasburg, the World Series MVP, could be join- ing them in the next few days. He has the right to opt out of his contract, which has $100 million over four years remaining. Baseball’s business season starts shortly after the fi nal out. “I think it’s hard to kind of fast-forward,” Astros man- ager AJ Hinch said. “Seasons end really fast. I don’t care if you get all the way to the seventh game of the World Series. It’s all of a sudden — boom! — it’s over.” Cole, Rendon and Stras- burg all are represented by Scott Boras, known for slow, methodical negotiations. Last winter, he reached outfi elder Bryce Harper’s $330 million, 13-year contract with Phila- delphia on Feb. 28. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky Houston Astros starting pitcher Gerrit Cole walks to the dugout after the third inning of Game 5 of the baseball World Series against the Washington Nationals on Oct. 27, 2019, in Washington. Cole, a 29-year-old right- hander who went 20-5 this year, is expected to get a record contract for a pitcher, topping David Price’s $217 million, seven-year deal with Boston before the 2016 sea- son and Justin Verlander’s $31.33 million average sal- ary under a three-year deal with the Astros that started in 2019. Cole tweeted a letter Thursday praising Houston fans. “Before I became an Astro I didn’t know much about Houston, but after just two years you have made it feel like home,” he wrote. “This is a relationship between a team and ... fans like no other that I know.” Strasburg, a 31-year-old right-hander, just fi nished the third season of a $175 million deal and at 18-6 also is com- ing off his best season. Ren- don led the major leagues with 126 RBIs while hitting .319 with 34 homers. A total of 131 players became free agents Thurs- day, and 53 more potentially are eligible pending decisions on team, player and mutual Seahawks claim wide receiver Josh Gordon off waivers By CURTIS CRABTREE Associated Press RENTON, Wash. — Wide receiver Josh Gor- don has joined the Seat- tle Seahawks a day after being released off injured reserve by the New England Patriots. Seattle claimed Gordon off waivers Friday. He joins a crowded receiver group in Seattle, which was already carrying seven receivers on its active roster. “He’s a unique talent,” coach Pete Carroll said after practice Friday. “Next week, we’ll take a look and see what he looks like. He’s done a lot of good stuff and made a lot of good plays. We’ll fi nd out more next week. Won’t have anything to do with this game.” Gordon was among New England’s leading receivers this season, with 20 catches for 287 yards and a touch- down through six games. But he was placed on injured reserve last week with knee and ankle injuries. His ten- ure with New England was over a week later. Gordon was reinstated by the NFL in August after having been suspended indefi nitely in December 2018, missing the fi nal three games of last season for vio- lations of the league’s sub- stance abuse policy. It ended what had been a strong year for Gordon, who had 40 catches for 720 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games. A 2012 second-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns, Gordon was also suspended for the fi rst two games of the 2013 season DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP TODAY! for a substance abuse policy violation but still caught 87 passes for nine touchdowns and a league-leading 1,646 yards and was named to the All-Pro team. “He’s a big play guy,” Carroll said. “He’s been able to really stretch the fi eld. Those that I know have worked with him and coached him, they rave about his talent and his play- making ability.” Seahawks cornerback Jamar Taylor was team- mates with Gordon in Cleveland for two seasons DON’T BE LATE! This deal expires soon SAVE $15 NOW Our new app offers access to the latest news as it happens with customizable features for mobile and tablet devices: $29.95 » 144-page hardcover book » Historic photos of Umatilla County » Ships Nov. 22, 2019 — a great holiday gift idea! • Personalize your news feed with the stories you want. • Receive breaking news alerts on • Explore photos, videos $44.95 plus tax & shipping | offer expires 11/17/19 • Scroll through the latest headlines while on-the-go. your phone. Gordon in Cleveland last year before Gordon was traded to the Patriots. “He’s going to do just fi ne here. He was cool, man. He’s a good dude,” he said. “I know how much of a tre- mendous athlete he is and what he can do for a team so the fact that we got him, it’s lit. It’s real lit.” The Seahawks waived defensive end Dekoda Wat- son to clear space for Gor- don. Watson had been signed Wednesday when safety Tedric Thompson was placed on injured reserve. in 2016 and 2017. Gordon only appeared in fi ve games over that stretch due to his struggles off the fi eld, but Taylor spoke highly of the teammate he saw over that span. “He tried to do every- thing right and the dude made plays for us,” Tay- lor said. “For anybody, this is one of the best organiza- tions I’ve been around from an upstairs standpoint and a coaches’ standpoint. I think he’ll fi t in perfect here.” Linebacker Mychal Ken- dricks also spent time with Pre-order online and save with flat-rate shipping Umatilla.PictorialBook.com and more. • Easily save articles for reading later. • Share articles with the tap of a finger. • Content can be viewed offline when out-of-service or in flight. • Customizable settings allow you to enlarge type and choose how often content refreshes. Pre-order by mail now (discount expires 11/17/19). Select an option: ☐ Ship my order to me ☐ I’ll pick up my order $29.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling per book. $29.95 per book. Order will be shipped to the address below Pick up order at the East Oregonian off ice after 11/22/19. (211 SE Byers Ave., Pendleton) after 11/18/19. Quantity: ___ x $36.90 = $______ total Quantity: ___ x $29.95 = $______ total Payment method: ☐ Check/Money Order Credit card orders can be placed online: Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Name Send form and payment to: East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or call 800-522-0255 Address To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or log on to www.eastoregonian.com/subscribe-now City State Phone E-mail Zip From the archives of the Athena Public Library, City of Echo, Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society, Pendleton Round-up, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute and Umatilla County Historical Society