Hossa wants more active role with Blackhawks
CHICAGO — Marian Hossa isn’t exactly sure how he will feel when the Chicago Blackhawks retire his No. 81 jersey.
The Hockey Hall of Famer is certain he is going to watch some more numbers from his championship teams in Chicago go up to the United Center rafters some day.
“There’s so many names [that] deserve it to be up there,” Hossa said Wednesday night. “It’s not up to me, but I know I will be coming back for some others in the future.”
Hossa, 43, gets his moment before Sunday night’s game against Pittsburgh, another one of his five teams during his 19 NHL seasons. He becomes the eighth player to have his number retired by Chicago, joining an impressive list that also includes Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Denis Savard and Tony Esposito.
During his eight years in Chicago, Hossa scored 186 of his 525 career goals and collected 229 of his 609 assists while playing a 200-foot game that helped the development of the team’s young stars, sparking a remarkable run of success for the franchise.
“Everyone talks about his two-way game, but he had 500 goals, too,” Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said. “So he’s a pretty impressive offensive player, but brought a lot to our team.”
Hossa stepped away from the game after the 2016-17 season because of a progressive skin disorder. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a year ago.
Free from the grind of games and practices that irritated his skin condition, Hossa is feeling good these days. And he is hoping to take on a more active role with the Blackhawks.
“Definitely like to be a small part with the Blackhawks organization,” said Hossa, who also has a new book out on his hockey career. “I know it’s been a long time but try to make sure I’m going to make the right decision with what part I will take.”
Hossa played for Pittsburgh when it lost to Detroit in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final. Then he played for the Red Wings when they lost to the Penguins in the 2009 Stanley Cup championship.
In 2010, it finally worked out for the rugged winger.
After signing a 12-year, $63.3 million contract with Chicago in free agency, Hossa helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. With Hossa’s two-way game and the rise of a strong group of young players that included Kane and Jonathan Toews, Chicago won the championship again in 2013 and 2015.
Hossa’s commitment to defense left a lasting impression on Kane.
“Teams would be transitioning the other way and he would come from behind and pick the guy, and then all of a sudden you got an odd-man rush or 2-on-1 break the other way,” Kane said. “But you definitely see the effect that has on the team and the game, and you try to do that as well. And it gets you into the game when you do something like that.”
Hossa was known more for his offensive skill when he broke into the NHL with Ottawa in 1997. But he learned a lot about playing a more well-rounded game during his one season with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit.
“The break came when I joined the Detroit Red Wings, and that year gave me so much, even when we lost,” he said. “I learned from the best to play the right way, and I think when I came to Chicago I saw so much talent so I knew you don’t have to worry about scoring goals that much.”
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
The San Diego Padres have acquired second baseman Luis Arraez in a trade with the Miami Marlins for reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, the teams announced Saturday.
The Padres also received nearly $7.9 million in cash considerations, leaving them responsible only for the major league minimum salary for Arraez.
The transaction represents the first significant move for the Marlins since Peter Bendix took over as the team’s president of baseball operations in November after Kim Ng departed. It marks the beginning of the Marlins’ teardown of an underachieving roster that has produced the third-worst record in the majors at 9-25 with a minus-61 run differential after reaching the postseason in 2023.
On the other side, it’s another aggressive deal for A.J. Preller, the leader of the Padres’ front office since 2014. Arraez, one of the sport’s best contact hitters, will give the Padres a needed left-handed-hitting weapon after Juan Soto was sent to the New York Yankees in December. San Diego is 17-18 with a plus-6 run differential.
“It’s really amazing — that guy is a baller,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said about Arraez after the Padres’ win Friday night. “He’s probably the closest to Tony Gwynn right now, so looking forward to seeing him in our lineup. … The guy’s a pure hitter, and I can’t wait for him to help us.”
Miami is paying San Diego $7,898,602 of the $8,491,398 remaining for the final 149 days of Arraez’s $10.6 million salary. That left his cost to the Padres at $592,796 — exactly a prorated share of the $740,000 minimum.
Arraez, 27, was the Marlins’ best player, an All-Star and batting champion each of the past two seasons. This season, he is batting .299 with a .719 OPS in 33 games, all started at second base. He also has extensive experience at first base.
“When a guy like that is taken out of the lineup or potentially traded, you feel it, because he’s such a good kid and one of the leaders in that clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “so there’s definitely a shock value.”
Arraez is expected to start games as the Padres’ designated hitter, but the club plans to cycle through the DH spot. Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado could also get at-bats there. Bogaerts has been the club’s starting second baseman.
Go spent seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before signing a two-year deal with a mutual option worth $4.5 million guaranteed during the offseason. The 25-year-old right-hander appeared in 10 games for Double-A San Antonio, posting a 4.38 ERA across 12⅓ innings after failing to make the Padres’ bullpen out of spring training.
Head was the Padres’ first-round pick (25th overall) last year out of high school. The 19-year-old center fielder is batting .237 with a .683 OPS and three stolen bases in 21 games in low-Class A.
Martorella is batting .294 with an .820 OPS in 23 games in San Antonio. The Padres selected the 23-year-old first baseman in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. Marsee, a 22-year-old outfielder, has spent the season in San Antonio batting .185 with two home runs. He was a sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Central Michigan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday morning for the first time since being shut down in mid-March, checking off another box in his road back from an elbow injury.
Cole took the mound in the Yankees’ bullpen at 10:40 a.m., hours before New York took on the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. He said he threw 15 pitches, 13 for strikes and all fastballs. He said the pitches averaged 89 mph.
“It was exciting,” Cole said. “This was a good day for me. I was fired up.”
Cole, 33, started the season on the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema in his pitching elbow following one spring training outing. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is eligible to come off the injured list May 27, but the Yankees have declined to share a timetable for Cole’s return.
On a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 being game ready — Cole reported he is “somewhere between 1 and 5.” He said how his body responds over the next 48 hours will decide when he throws off a mound again.
Cole’s injury was a significant blow to a club with championship-or-bust aspirations, but the Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of the best in the majors and a primary reason for the team’s 21-13 start. The rotation’s 3.43 ERA through Friday ranked ninth in the majors. Its 183⅔ innings pitched ranked fourth.
Luis Gil, Cole’s rotation replacement, logged the best start of his young career Wednesday, holding the explosive Baltimore Orioles scoreless on two hits over a career-high 6⅓ innings. Gil, 25, has recorded a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings across six starts despite leading the American League with 20 walks.
Earlier this week, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said neither the team’s nor the rotation’s success will impact Cole’s timeline. Asked whether the overall success has made his absence more “palatable,” Cole was unsure.
“I don’t really have anything unpalatable to compare it to,” Cole said. “You know what I’m saying? So I’m just kind of like, just like everybody else, just glad we’re playing well.”
Also on Saturday, the Yankees reinstated infielder Jon Berti from the 10-day injured list and designated former first-round pick Taylor Trammell for assignment.
Berti, 34, has been out of the Yankees’ lineup since April 10 with a left groin strain. The Yankees had selected Trammell off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 18, and he collected 1 hit, 1 walk and 2 runs in five games with New York.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
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