TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have traded outfielder Juan Rivera to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named or cash considerations.

The 33-year-old appeared in 70 games for the Blue Jays this season, batting .243 with six home runs and 27 RBI before being designated for assignment on July 3, the same day Travis Snider was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Rivera was acquired by Toronto on Jan. 21 along with catcher Mike Napoli from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for outfielder Vernon Wells.

Napoli was then dealt to the Texas Rangers for reliever Frank Francisco.

In 11 major league seasons with the Yankees, Expos, Angels and Blue Jays, Rivera has a .277 average with 118 home runs and 446 RBI.

“Juan will provide us with a right-handed hitting counterpart to Tony Gwynn Jr. and can also fill in for James Loney from time to time at first base,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement.

Rivera is scheduled to make $5.25 million this season.

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Toronto to receive player or cash for veteran outfielder

The Canadian Press

Posted:

Jul 12, 2011 2:38 PM ET

Last Updated:

Jul 12, 2011 3:37 PM ET

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw struck out nine in seven dominant innings and Matt Kemp scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by catcher Buster Posey in the sixth, sending the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 victory over the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants in their season opener Thursday night.

Kershaw (1-0) allowed four hits and walked one in his first opening-day start. The 23-year-old left-hander struck out three of the four batters he faced in the first, giving him 500 strikeouts in his career.

Jonathan Broxton, back in the closer’s role after losing it in the second half of last season, gave up a one-out homer to Pat Burrell in the ninth but hung on for the save after a scoreless eighth by Hong-Chih Kuo.

Former Yankees star Don Mattingly won his managerial debut for the Dodgers, making him the first rookie manager to beat the defending World Series champions on opening day since Lou Piniella debuted with the Yankees on April 8, 1986.

Frank McCourt watched from the owner’s box as his legal tussle with ex-wife Jamie McCourt over ownership of the Dodgers continues into a second season.

Tim Lincecum (0-1) gave up an unearned run and five hits in seven innings for San Francisco. The two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out five and walked three in his third consecutive opening-day start.

The right-hander was in control throughout, but his defense let him down in the sixth.

Kemp walked with one out and James Loney followed with a grounder to shortstop Miguel Tejada, who threw the ball away trying for the force, allowing Kemp to take third. Lincecum hit former teammate Juan Uribe in the hip with his next pitch to load the bases.

Posey, the NL Rookie of the Year last season, blocked a pitch in the dirt and tried to pick off Kemp, who took too big of a lead. The throw got past Pablo Sandoval, allowing Kemp to score.

The Dodgers added a run in the eighth on Loney’s RBI double off Santiago Casilla after Kemp walked and stole second.

The Giants had two other errors, in addition to Posey’s passed ball in the second, and they could have had a fourth. Center fielder Andres Torres would have been charged with an error for overrunning Uribe’s bloop single, but Uribe was thrown out trying to take the extra base in the second.

The game between the bitter rivals began in unseasonable 85-degree heat. Two planes towed banners over Dodger Stadium during batting practice featuring insults directed at each team. As if the Dodgers, who missed the postseason last year, and their fans needed a reminder, another banner read, “SF Giants 2010 Champs Beat LA.”

Four of the Giants’ five hits were singles, including a grounder behind first base by rookie Brandon Belt in his major league debut.

NOTES: Giants LHP Barry Zito wore a neck brace to the park after being involved in a car accident a night earlier. He was sent for more tests on his neck and back. Manager Bruce Bochy said he was optimistic Zito could make his scheduled start Sunday. … At 23 years and 12 days, Kershaw was the youngest opening-day starter for the Dodgers since Fernando Valenzuela, who was 22 when he opened in 1983. … Tenor Placido Domingo sang the national anthem. A moment of silence was observed for victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and Valenzuela threw out the first pitch. … Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully began his 62nd season with the Dodgers, while organist Nancy Bea Hefley opened her 24th.

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Updated: Wednesday, 23 Mar 2011, 10:35 PM MDT
Published : Wednesday, 23 Mar 2011, 10:35 PM MDT

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Kim Ng, who has been the Los Angeles Dodgers’ assistant general manager since 2002 under three different general managers, is leaving the organization to accept a senior vice president’s position with Major League Baseball, the commissioner’s office announced on Tuesday morning.

Ng will report directly to former Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who retired from managing last September and was named executive vice president of operations for MLB last week. She will remain with the Dodgers through their March 31 season opener against the San Francisco Giants.

Ng

“We haven’t worked out all the details, but a lot of my focus will be on international operations, such as the Dominican Republic,” Ng said at the Dodgers’ spring-training complex. “I talked to Joe, and he described the job, and it was something of interest to me. It took a while to process and think about. I finally came to the conclusion this job was a fantastic opportunity that I couldn’t afford to let pass me by.”

Ng denied that her decision had anything to do with any instability within the Dodgers organization resulting from owner Frank McCourt’s divorce and the possibility that the team will have to be sold.

“This is really about the opportunity in front of me,” she said. “Like I said, I have a chance to help Joe help the commissioner in changing policy and having an impact on the game in a meaningful way. That [instability] really wasn’t a part of this. Frank has been very good to me, and [general manager] Ned [Colletti] has been very good to me. This was an extremely difficult decision for me. I have been with this organization for almost half my career, and that was a big factor.

“The people I have been around all this time — I just walked in the door with Sandy Koufax — those are some of the things I am going to miss.”

Ng is one of two people, along with Arizona Diamonbacks assistant GM Peter Woodfork, who are being named senior VPs in the baseball operations department.

Ng had seemed at times during her tenure to be on the verge of becoming baseball’s first female GM. She interviewed for the Dodgers GM job in the fall of 2005, but ultimately was passed over in favor of Colletti, then the San Francisco Giants assistant GM. Ng also interviewed for the Seattle Mariners GM vacancy in the fall of 2008 but was passed over in favor of Jack Zduriencik. She interviewed for the San Diego Padres GM vacancy in the fall of 2009, with that job ultimately going to Jed Hoyer.

Ng said she still has the goal of becoming a general manager.

“Obviously, I have a job to do in the commissioner’s office, and I am fully committed to that,” she said. “This is a chance for me to contribute in a meaningful way to the game. In terms of my long-term aspirations, they are still there. I think if anything, this will make me a more well-rounded candidate.”

McCourt issued a statement through the club.

“I’m excited for Kim because this is a huge step in her career, but I’m disappointed that we are losing such a tremendous talent,” McCourt’s statement read. “She has been a dedicated member of our organization for the last decade and has set herself apart with her integrity, her work ethic and her dedication to winning and always doing what is best for the Dodgers. I wish her all the best in her new role and will always consider her part of the Dodger family.”

Colletti said there are no immediate plans to replace Ng in the front office.

“We’ll see in time what we’re going to do,” he said. “It could be internal, it could be external, it could be half and half. This is a great shot for her and a great opportunity. I know her and Joe are close, and he picked a great person, somebody who knows what she is doing. She will be a good asset for him.”

Colletti said it’s possible Ng’s responsibilities will be dispersed to more than one other person and that he doesn’t necessarily feel the need to give someone the title if assistant GM. The Dodgers presently have two other individuals with that title — Logan White, who runs the amateur scouting department, and DeJon Watson, who heads up player development — but they both live in the Phoenix area and aren’t in the Dodger Stadium offices on a regular basis.

“She worked very hard to get that title,” Colletti said. “She put a lot of time and a lot of energy into that position.”

Colletti said Torre called him “a couple of weeks ago, around the start of camp” seeking permission to talk to Ng. Although Torre was officially named to his new position only last week, it is widely believed he accepted the position well in advance of that announcement. Torre told reporters at the quarterly owners meetings in January that he was deep into discussions with commissioner Bud Selig about the position he ultimately accepted.

Ng and Torre have a working relationship dating back to 1998, when Torre was the manager of the New York Yankees and Ng began a four-year stint as the team’s assistant GM. She left the Yankees after the 2001 season to join the staff of then-Dodgers GM Dan Evans.

Evans was fired just before the 2004 season when McCourt purchased the Dodgers from NewsCorp, at which point McCourt hired Paul DePodesta. DePodesta was fired after the 2005 season and replaced by Colletti. Ng survived both of those regime changes and has been an integral part of the Dodgers front office, handling all arbitration cases and most minor league free-agent signings as well as making sure that the club is in compliance with all of baseball’s complex and intricate rules for roster management and player eligibility.

“We’re going to miss her, obviously,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “But I’m sure this is something maybe better for her, and you always want something better for people.”

Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter. Follow him on Twitter.

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers and former Detroit Tigers outfielder Marcus Thames have agreed to a $1-million, one-year contract.

Thames had a .288 batting average and a .350 on-base percentage in 82 games, both career highs, with the New York Yankees last season.

The deal calls for Thames to receive $325,000 in bonuses based on plate appearances, including $25,000 for 200 appearances, and $50,000 each for 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 appearances.

Thames would receive $475,000 in bonuses based on innings in the field, including $25,000 each for 275 and 325 innings, $50,000 for 375 innings, and $75,000 apiece for 425, 475, 525, 575 and 625 innings.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti says Thames brings a power bat to the outfield, especially against left-handed pitching.

Thames has a .248 career batting average with 82 doubles, 113 home runs and 294 RBIs in 604 games over his nine major league seasons with the Yankees (2002, 2010), Texas Rangers (2003) and Tigers (2004-09).

He was on the 2006 AL champion Tigers and played in the World Series that season. Thames also appeared in eight postseason games last season with the Yankees.

Cody Ross sticks with Giants

Postseason star Cody Ross, another former Tiger, has avoided salary arbitration with the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, agreeing to terms on a $6.3-million, one-year contract.

The deal marks a nice raise for the former kid rodeo clown. Ross earned $4.45 million last season, when he joined the Giants on a waiver claim from Florida on Aug. 22.

Ross became one of the Giants’ most reliable players down the stretch and during an improbable title run. The 30-year-old quickly became a fan favorite in the Bay Area. He hit three of his five postseason home runs during the NL championship series against Philadelphia. He drove in 10 runs during the playoffs, two in San Francisco’s five-game World Series win over the Texas Rangers.

Son of a team roper and steer wrestler, Ross as a boy would dress up as a clown for weekend rodeo events with hopes of one day getting in the ring. But he discovered baseball first.

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers and outfielder Marcus Thames have agreed to a US$1-million, one-year contract.

Thames had a .288 batting average and a .350 on-base percentage in 82 games, both career highs, last season with the New York Yankees.

The deal calls for Thames to receive $325,000 in bonuses based on plate appearances, including $25,000 for 200 appearances, and $50,000 each for 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 appearances.

Thames would receive $475,000 in bonuses based on innings in the field, including $25,000 each for 275 and 325 innings, $50,000 for 375 innings, and $75,000 apiece for 425, 475, 525, 575 and 625 innings.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti says Thames brings a power bat to the outfield, especially against left-handed pitching.

Thames has a .248 career batting average with 82 doubles, 113 home runs and 294 RBI in 604 games over his nine major league seasons with the Yankees (2002, 2010), Texas Rangers (2003) and Detroit Tigers (2004-09).

He was on the 2006 AL champion Tigers and played in the World Series that season. Thames also appeared in eight post-season games last season with the Yankees.

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers and outfielder Marcus Thames have agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract.

Thames had a .288 batting average and a .350 on-base percentage in 82 games, both career highs, last season with the New York Yankees.

The deal calls for Thames to receive $325,000 in bonuses based on plate appearances, including $25,000 for 200 appearances, and $50,000 each for 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 appearances.

Thames would receive $475,000 in bonuses based on innings in the field, including $25,000 each for 275 and 325 innings, $50,000 for 375 innings, and $75,000 apiece for 425, 475, 525, 575 and 625 innings.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti says Thames brings a power bat to the outfield, especially against left-handed pitching.

Thames has a .248 career batting average with 82 doubles, 113 home runs and 294 RBI in 604 games over his nine major-league seasons with the Yankees (2002, 2010), Texas Rangers (2003) and Detroit Tigers (2004-09).

He was on the 2006 AL champion Tigers and played in the World Series that season. Thames also appeared in eight postseason games last season with the Yankees.

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Former New York Yankee outfielder Marcus Thames signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Thames, selected by the Yankees in the 1996 draft, posted career highs with a .288 batting average and a .350 on-base percentage in 82 Major League Baseball games last season with New York.

“Marcus brings a power bat to our outfield options, particularly against left-handed pitching,” Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said in a statement. “His positive presence in the clubhouse is an added benefit and he also knows what it takes to play in the postseason.”

The 33-year-old right-hander hit home runs in five consecutive starts from Aug. 24-30 to become the first Yankee to accomplish the feat since Alex Rodriguez from Sept. 4-9, 2007. In 2008, he hit eight straight homers from June 7-17, the longest streak in baseball since Mark McGwire’s 11 home runs in 2001.

After hitting a career-high 26 home runs in his first full big league season in 2006, Thames has averaged a home run every 14.93 at-bat, the fourth best mark in the American League during that time.

During his nine major league seasons with the Yankees, the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers, Thames earned a .248 career batting average with 113 home runs and 294 runs batted in during 604 games.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

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Russell Martin says he knows why he has skidded from stardom to mediocrity in the prime of his career.

But beyond vague allusions to “frustrations” and “distractions,” he politely declines to explain.

“There’s some things that you keep for yourself,” Martin said. “Those distractions, they’re personal – personal issues in my life that not everybody needs to know about.”

So now Martin is heading for his baptismal season in New York, where a professional athlete’s personal distractions are exactly what the gossip-crazy media want to know about. Especially when that athlete is set to become the everyday catcher for the fabled New York Yankees.

Which means that the first time he slips into a slump, or lets a couple of A.J. Burnett curveballs bounce past him, somebody will dredge up those old web rumours about Russell Martin, L.A. party animal.

Back in his hometown of Toronto for Baseball Canada’s fund-raising banquet Saturday, Martin spoke frankly, if not fully, about his past two down years and the injuries that prompted the only team he had ever known, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to quit on him after five seasons.

After moving from the old Toronto borough of East York and growing up in Chelsea, Que., Martin always trained hard. His preparation became a point of pride when he joined the Dodgers and it helped make him an all-star in 2007 and 2008.

His performance faded during the past two seasons. By his standards, he says, he got lazy.

“I had some distractions that maybe led me not to have that same drive that I’ve had in the past,” he said. “Really, that’s all it is, honestly. I didn’t train quite as – I trained hard, but before, nobody trained as hard as I did.”

In his first three seasons as a Dodger, Martin batted .285, averaging 14 homers, 77 RBIs and an .806 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). Over his past two years, he averaged .249 with six homers, 40 RBIs and a .680 OPS.

Increasingly, the Dodgers hinted that he was destined to play third base. Compounding his anxiety, a hip fracture suffered during a freak play at the plate Aug. 2 ended his season – and his Dodgers career.

The hip has healed, although he continues to rehab after a recent (but minor) knee surgery that will force him to ease into his first spring training as a Yankee.

After the Dodgers forced him into free agency, Martin said his choice came down to the Yankees and his hometown Blue Jays. The Jays, he said, were willing to match the Yankees’ one-year, US$4-million offer.

But Martin wanted to remain an everyday catcher. Over an average week, the Jays wanted him to catch four days, play “somewhere else” twice and take a day off, he said.

“The Yankees were just, ‘Hey, we want you to catch as much as possible. We want you to be our guy,’ ” Martin said.

But as he approached a one-year window in the American League East, the biggest attraction to New York was self-evident.

“In my mind, it was, ‘Where do I have a chance to win a World Series the most this next year?’ “

Not that anyone will be sending sympathy cards on this score, but Martin did take a million-dollar pay cut. He could make that back and more because his deal contains US$1.4-million in performance-based incentives.

Martin, who turns 28 next month, knows this is a critical season in a career that began with such promise. He gets one season in a pinstriped pressure-cooker to rebound and set himself up for a multiyear deal next fall.

Whatever those west-coast distractions were, he insists they are behind him. “I feel like I’m back where I need to be. Just mentally, I feel better.”

But he knows that everyone from sportswriters to gossip-mongers to paparazzi will be watching.

“I think I’ve got a lot to prove,” he said, “especially with the last couple years that I’ve had.”

jlott@nationalpost.com

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Recently retired Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre might not be unemployed for long. He is talking to baseball commissioner Bud Selig about a potential job with Major League Baseball, according to a New York Daily News report Saturday.

Torre left the Dodgers after the 2010 season and, according to the report, he and Selig have been discussing the possibility of Torre stepping into the MLB executive vice president of operations post vacated by Sandy Alderson, who was hired by the New York Mets as general manager.

Selig is thought to also be considering other options but wants an accomplished baseball veteran for the position, according to the report. Torre, 70, fits the bill in that regard, having played for 17 years in the majors for the Braves, Cardinals and Mets before a managing career that included stints with those three teams in addition to a stellar 12-year run with the Yankees and the past three seasons in Los Angeles.

Torre isn’t suffering from a dearth of job options, but he’s in no rush to make a decision.

“I have been putting it off every month,” Torre said in early December at the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., where he was one of four retiring managers honored by baseball commissioner Bud Selig at a news conference. “I have been saying, ‘I’ll do it after this, that or the other thing.’ As it turns out, I’m going to wait until after the first of the year and see what happens. … I have had some inquiries about broadcasting, which certainly is tempting because I did it for six years and I enjoyed it.”

Torre also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning to the Dodgers in some type of front-office capacity, an option he and Dodgers GM Ned Colletti have discussed.

“I thank Ned for just allowing me to take some time and for making a place for me if that is what I decide to do,” Torre said in early December.

ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Tony Jackson contributed to this report.

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Former New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre is in talks about joining Major League Baseball as vice president of operations, the New York Daily News reported on its website.

Torre, who stepped down as Dodgers skipper at the end of last season, has had discussions with Commissioner Bud Selig about the position, the Daily News said, citing unidentified people familiar with the talks. Selig is said to be talking with other candidates, and wants a baseball person of “high stature” to run the operation, the newspaper said.

Torre, 70, played 17 seasons in the major leagues and was a nine-time All-Star. He’s the fifth-winningest manager in MLB history with a 2,318-1,990 record in 29 seasons. He led the Yankees to four World Series titles.

If Torre accepted the position, he would be responsible for overseeing the department which deals with umpires and umpire- related issues as well as on-field discipline, the Daily News said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Bensch in London at bbensch@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to terms with veteran right-handed pitcher Tim Redding on a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training on Monday.

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) – The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to terms with veteran right-handed pitcher Tim Redding on a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training on Monday.

The soon-to-be 33-year-old last pitched at the major-league level in 2009 with the New York Mets and went 3-6 with a 5.10 earned run average over 30 games — 17 starts.

Redding had minor league stints with Colorado and the Yankees last season before getting released in August in order to play in Korea.

Over 179 career big league games, including 144 starts, Redding is 37-57 with a 4.95 ERA with Houston, Washington and the Mets.

© 2010 The Sports Network

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