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Written by Canadian Press
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Just when the Chicago Cubs figured they were getting healthy, a freak accident landed right-hander Ryan Dempster on the disabled list with a fracture of his big right toe. He could be out for up to a month.
Dempster, a native of Gibsons, B.C., was hopping over the dugout railing to go on the field and celebrate Sunday's victory over the Milwaukee Brewers when he caught his back leg on the railing and landed hard, injuring his toe. An X-ray taken Tuesday revealed the non-displaced fracture.
"It's not pretty. It's pretty ugly right now," Dempster said.
Dempster had been scheduled to pitch Tuesday night against Atlanta and said he hoped he would only miss three starts, including one after the all-star break.
But manager Lou Piniella said that was an optimistic view and that after talking with trainer Mark O'Neal, Dempster could miss up to three weeks and maybe a month.
"I was coming out of the dugout, stepping over the top of the railing there, sitting up on the ledge, and caught my left foot on the rail as I was coming over and it spun me around and slammed me into the ground," Dempster said.
"When I did it, I thought I just ripped my nail back on my foot. ... My foot I guess just the way it hit came down straight into the ground."
Dempster had planned to numb up his toe and make the start Tuesday, but decided to get an X-ray to make sure everything was OK.
"You never want to do anything like this," said Dempster, a 17-game winner last season.
"It's a weird thing. Three days before that I took a ball off the shin and kick-saved one to myself. And I took a ball off my face in batting practice, off the cage, and I was just fine. And then something as simple as that happens and I put myself on the DL."
The Cubs recalled right-hander Kevin Hart from triple-A Iowa, one day after he'd been optioned back to the minors, and plan to put him in the rotation. He'll start Wednesday against the Braves.
Carlos Zambrano, on three days rest, made the start Tuesday night in Dempster's place.
"We were healthy for a day," Piniella said. On Monday, the Cubs had activated Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman off the disabled list. And now they've put one of their most reliable pitchers right back on.
"Dempster is sick about this and so am I," Pinella said. "It's something you never expect to happen. Just a freak thing."
Dempster is 5-5 with a 4.09 earned-run average in 17 starts for the Cubs this season. He made the switch back to starter last season after being the Cubs' closer for three years. He went 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA in 33 starts and was picked for the all-star team in 2008.
Now he's got to get treatment and stay in shape. He'll have another X-ray right after the all-star break.
"I was just going out to celebrate the win," he said. "It's unfortunate, but at the same time, it's a small little injury. Hopefully the time will be minimal and I'll be back and ready to go."
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Written by Associated Press
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The Detroit Pistons are close to ending their search for a new boss on the bench.
The Pistons and John Kuester were nearing an agreement Tuesday night to make him their coach, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was not done, said the contract could be completed as soon as Wednesday.
Kuester spent the past two seasons as a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant and was on Larry Brown's championship-winning staff in 2004 with the Pistons.
He was also an NBA assistant in Orlando, Philadelphia — under Brown — New Jersey and Boston. The North Carolina graduate was a head coach at George Washington from 1985-90.
"Nice man, don't know much about him as a coach," TNT analyst Doug Collins wrote in a text message to the AP. "Really quality guy/gentleman."
The Pistons spoke with Avery Johnson about replacing Michael Curry, but talks with the former Dallas Mavericks coach ended Tuesday.
Detroit also was considering bringing back Collins, a former Pistons coach, but he withdrew his name from consideration last week shortly after Curry was fired. Boston Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau was also a candidate.
The Pistons are clearly in a rebuilding mode, revamping their team from a veteran-laden one to a franchise counting on players in their mid-20s.
Detroit is expected to sign free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to five-year contracts Wednesday, essentially plugging them in for Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace.
Gordon is 26 and Villanueva turns 25 next month, potentially entering the prime of their careers, after Billups and Wallace were at their best when Detroit won the NBA title five years ago.
Detroit's fifth coach in nine seasons — following Curry, Flip Saunders, Larry Brown and Rick Carlisle — will have an interesting choice to make if the roster remains intact.
While the 6-foot-11 Villanueva can easily slip into the depleted frontcourt, the 6-3, 200-pound Gordon does not seem to have a spot because he's a natural shooting guard as is Richard Hamilton.
Gordon was voted the NBA's top reserve in 2005 and if he accepts that role again, the Pistons would have an intriguing three-guard rotation with him, Hamilton and 23-year-old Rodney Stuckey.
Gordon or Hamilton may have a problem with coming off the bench, though, and Detroit's next coach could have to deal with poor chemistry just as Curry did.
Before the Pistons endured misery last season, they won the 2004 NBA title under Brown and came within a win of repeating with him in the middle of a six-year streak of advancing to at least the Eastern Conference finals.
That impressive run began when Carlisle, who is now Dallas' coach, was put in charge of an NBA team for the first time and it looks as if president of basketball operations Joe Dumars' rebuilding plan includes going with another inexperienced head coach.
The 54-year-old Kuester played for the Dean Smith-led Tar Heels. He was drafted in the third round of the 1977 NBA draft by the Kansas City Kings and played for them, Denver and Indiana during his three-season career in the league.
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Written by Associated Press
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Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says he's willing to listen to offers for ace Roy Halladay. "I don't think anything has changed, I just think, 'You know what, why not listen? The worst we can say is no,'" Ricciardi told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.
"If someone wants Roy and they're willing to blow us away, we'd be willing to listen, that's all I'm saying. That doesn't mean we'd trade him, that doesn't mean we're looking to trade him. All it means is we'd be willing to listen."
Halladay is 10-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts. He'll be paid $14.25 million this year and his contract expires after the 2010 season, when he's set to earn $15.75 million.
"In the past we weren't willing to listen and we figured let's just see what someone's got out there and what someone is willing to offer," Ricciardi said.
The Blue Jays began Tuesday at 43-41, seven games back of Boston in the AL East and six out of the wild card — behind six other teams.
Ricciardi was vague when asked if salary would be a factor. The Blue Jays' payroll is just short of $81 million, 16th out of 30 big league teams.
"I'm not so sure payroll-wise where we're going to be able to be after 2010. I'm not so sure that the player wants to stay here beyond 2010. I'm not sure of those things," he said. "So those are all things we have to weigh out. He's under contract through next year and worst-case scenario, he does not sign back with us and we get two draft picks."
Interim CEO Paul Beeston declined to comment on dealing Halladay but did say the team's payroll for next season is still a work in progress. The Blue Jays have $82.45 million committed to Halladay and seven others next year.
"We will be getting into it over the next month," Beeston said. "We'll be looking at next year, we'll do a three-year plan and a five-year plan as best we can project it."
The only salary commitments the Blue Jays have between 2011-14 are to Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Aaron Hill worth about $40 million per season.
The 17th overall pick in 1995, Halladay has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays, amassing a career mark of 141-68 with a 3.47 ERA in 297 games, 271 of them starts. He won the Cy Young Award in 2003 and finished second to Cleveland's Cliff Lee last season.
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