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After a near-month long search, the Calgary Flames did not have to go far to find a new general manager, with the club announcing Tuesday they promoted assistant general manager Craig Conroy.

Conroy, who spent the bulk of his NHL career with the Flames, replaces Brad Treliving after Treliving and the club mutually parted ways in mid-April.

Conroy retired from playing during the 2010-11 season and immediately joined the Flames front office. He served as the club’s special assistant to the GM for four seasons. He was then named the Flames’ assistant GM, a position he held for nine years prior to his promotion.

“Thank you to the Flames ownership group for the confidence and trust they have demonstrated by providing me with this opportunity,” Conroy said in a statement. “As, to John Bean and Don Maloney for the very detailed process that has brought us to this moment. Over the course of the past 12 years, I’ve put in the time in every aspect of our hockey operations to prepare myself for today. I’m ready to accept this challenge and promise our fans that our team will do the work required to make them proud on the journey to deliver a championship.”

Promoting Conroy to GM was one of a handful of personnel changes the Flames announced. The Flames also said they hired Dave Nonis as their senior vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager. Nonis, who was previously the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, has spent the last three years as the assistant GM for the Anaheim Ducks.

The Flames also announced added responsibilities for assistant GMs Brad Pascall and Chris Snow. Pascall was named vice president of hockey operations while Snow was named the vice president of data/analytics.

Even before Treliving and the Flames parted ways, there was a belief that this could be an offseason of change for the Flames.

They were coming off a 2021-22 season that saw them reach the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs .only to be forced to re-tool significant portions of their roster. They lost a pair of 100-point forwards last offseason when Johnny Gaudreau left in free agency to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Matthew Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers. Another 100-point forward in Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar came the other way.

The Flames also signed center Nazem Kadri in free agency after he finished with a career-high 87 points and played a significant role in helping the Colorado Avalanche win the third Stanley Cup title in franchise history.

Even with those additions, the Flames still struggled to score goals. They were 19th in goals per game in addition to facing other challenges such as having the second poorest team save percentage in 5-on-5 play, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Yet they still entered the final weeks of the regular season fighting for a playoff spot only to fall two points shy.

Conroy and his front office will have several items they must address prior to the start of the season. Finding a new coach is one of them, with the Flames announcing they fired Darryl Sutter just weeks after Treliving’s departure.

Then there’s the matter of how Conroy and his front-office staff will improve the Flames roster.

The Flames have several players in Rasmus Andersson, Blake Coleman, Andrew Mangiapane, Jacob Markstrom, Huberdeau, Kadri and Weegar with more than two years left on their current contracts. CapFriendly projects the Flames have $1.25 million in available cap space — a predicament facing several clubs in the current flat cap environment.

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Rays reinstate OF Lowe from the 10-day IL

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Rays reinstate OF Lowe from the 10-day IL

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays reinstated outfielder Josh Lowe from the 10-day injured list before Monday night’s game with the Chicago White Sox.

Lowe has been out since opening day due to a right oblique strain that occurred during spring training, and experienced right hamstring tightness in late April just before he was expected to rejoin the team.

Lowe hit .292 with 20 homers, 83 RBI and stole 32 bases last season.

Right-hander Edwin Uceta had his contract selected from Triple-A Durham, where he was 0-1 with a 7.00 ERA in 10 games. Uceta appeared in 25 games, going 0-3, in 2021-23 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets.

Tampa Bay used six relievers in Sunday’s 7-6, 10-inning win over the Mets after starter Ryan Pepiot was hit by a 107.5 mph liner on his left calf and exited the game.

X-rays taken Sunday on Pepiot were negative.

To make room on the 26-man roster, infielder Curtis Mead and reliever Jacob Lopez were optioned to Durham.

Infielder-outfielder Niko Goodrum was designated for release or assignment.

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Guardians’ hits leader Kwan on IL, Manzardo up

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Guardians' hits leader Kwan on IL, Manzardo up

CLEVELAND — The Guardians are losing their extraordinary leadoff hitter and adding one with power and potential.

Cleveland placed outfielder Steven Kwan, who leads the AL with a .353 average, on the 10-day injured list Monday with a strained hamstring he sustained while running down a fly ball over the weekend.

Kwan felt tightness in his hamstring and was pulled from Saturday’s win over the Angels as a precaution. An MRI revealed an acute strain and the Guardians said Kwan likely will be out for up to one month.

Kwan said he had hamstring issues while playing at Oregon State and in the minors.

His injury is a blow to the AL Central-leading Guardians, but it’s giving the team a chance to promote hard-hitting prospect Kyle Manzardo, who has been bashing minor league pitchers this season and will now join a Cleveland lineup that can use some middle muscle.

The Guardians have been one of the season’s early surprise teams — they’re 22-12 heading into their series opener against Detroit — with Kwan a big reason for the club’s fast start.

He seems to start or be in the middle of virtually every rally, and the 26-year-old continues to be one of the league’s best defensive outfielders. Last year, he won his second straight Gold Glove.

Manzardo’s reputation as a slugger preceded his arrival in Cleveland.

The 23-year-old was acquired at last year’s trade deadline from Tampa Bay for pitcher Aaron Civale. The Rays were reluctant to part with Manzardo but they needed pitching while the Guardians have been craving a big bat in the middle of their order.

Manzardo had a strong spring for the Guardians, who had him start the season at Triple-A Columbus to build confidence. He’s done just that, hitting .303 with nine homers, 10 doubles and 20 RBI in 29 games.

Cleveland fans have been clamoring for Manzardo, who will likely play some first base and be used as a DH by first-year manager Stephen Vogt.

Also, the Guardians activated left-hander Sam Hentges from the injured list. The reliever has been out since training camp with a middle finger issue.

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White Sox bring up RHP Clevinger from Triple-A

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White Sox bring up RHP Clevinger from Triple-A

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Right-hander Mike Clevinger was recalled by the Chicago White Sox from Triple-A Charlotte to start Monday night’s game at the Tampa Bay Rays.

Clevinger got a late start to the season after finalizing a $3 million, one-year contract on April 4.

The 33-year-old made two starts for Charlotte, allowing three runs and 10 hits, along with seven strikeouts over 7⅓ innings.

Clevinger can earn an additional $3 million in bonuses for starts and innings: $100,000 per start from 11-25 and $100,000 for 55 innings and each additional five through 125.

Clevinger went 9-9 with a 3.77 ERA and two complete games in 24 starts with the White Sox last season, then became a free agent.

He is 60-39 with a 3.45 ERA in 128 starts and 24 relief appearances in eight seasons with Cleveland (2016-20), San Diego (2020-22) and Chicago (2023). He missed the 2021 season after Tommy John surgery.

Chicago also placed right-hander Dominic Leone on the 15-day injured list with lower back tightness.

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