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LONDON — New York Mets owner Steve Cohen says his team can still turn around its season and fans “have been through worse.”

Cohen praised his front office and manager Carlos Mendoza during a news conference before Sunday’s finale in the two-game London Series, a day after Philadelphia won the opener 7-2.

The Mets entered Sunday’s game against their NL East rival nine games under .500, just over seven weeks from the trade deadline.

“I know everybody’s focused on the trade deadline. That’s all anybody wants to talk about,” Cohen said after posing for photos at the podium with shortstop Francisco Lindor. “We’ve got a lot of games to play. Let’s get focused on what’s happening now. We’ve got to chip away.”

Cohen, who bought the team ahead of the 2021 season, interacted with fans during the London trip.

“They came over here because they love the Mets, they care about the Mets,” said Cohen, wearing a Mets cap and blue vest. “They’re in good spirits. I was hanging out with them in the pub. We were having a blast. The fans have been through worse. We’re trying to break that history. They’re great and they’re certainly going to be there for the team.”

New York has won just two World Series titles, in 1969 and 1986. Cohen, who took over from the Wilpon and Katz families, said the Mets are improving institutionally and decision-making has become “a lot sharper.” David Stearns was hired as president of baseball operations in October after running the Milwaukee Brewers‘ baseball operations for seven years through 2022.

“I have a great deal of respect for David. He comes from a winning club, he’s demonstrated success in the past, well-respected in baseball,” Cohen said. “I like what I see, but unfortunately, it’s going to take time.”

Mendoza was hired in November to replace Buck Showalter after six seasons as a major league coach with the New York Yankees.

“I’m impressed by Carlos. He’s got incredible rapport with the team, he’s thoughtful. He’s very capable of relating to the players, delivering hard messages when he has to,” Cohen said. “I’m impressed by how he conducts himself.”

The Mets were an expensive flop in 2023, finishing fourth in the NL East after beginning the year with World Series aspirations following a 101-win season and a playoff appearance.

Ahead of last season’s trade deadline, the team traded star pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander and several other veterans for minor league prospects. The Mets said they were pointing toward 2025 while still looking to compete in 2024.

In March, Cohen said “the goal is to make the playoffs ” this season.

“I do think the team is starting to play better, starting to hit. I’m starting to see green shoots,” Cohen said Sunday.

It can be hard to pinpoint exactly why a team underperforms, Cohen suggested.

“It’s the variability of human performance. You can write it down on paper but then you’ve got to play the games. Frankly, we haven’t really put it all together for a consistent period of time,” he said. “I still think that can happen. There’s a lot of good ballplayers on this club. It’s just a question of getting a little confidence, getting on a run.

“We’ll see what it looks like four to six weeks from now. The locker room is good, the culture is good. So I’m hopeful.”

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.

The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.

Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.

Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.

It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.

Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.

Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.

The deal was first reported by Fansided.

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Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

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Ohtani's pitching return might be coming soon

Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.

Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.

Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.

If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.

“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”

Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.

Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.

“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.

“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

BOSTON — Aaron Judge blamed himself for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as the New York Yankees were swept in a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

“You got to swing at strikes,” Judge said after going 1-for-12 in the series, which Boston completed with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Judge struck out three or more times in three straight games for only the third time in his major league career.

“That usually helps any hitter when you swing at strikes,” Judge added. “Definitely some pitches off the edge or off the edge in, you know, taking some hacks just trying to make something happen.”

Judge had a tying solo homer in the opener Friday night but struck out nine times as the Yankees were swept in a series for the first time this season.

New York scored only four runs in the three games, matching its fewest in a three-game series at Fenway Park, on June 20-22, 1916 and on Sept. 28-30, 1922.

“It’s very hard,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of facing Judge. “He’s so good at what he does. We used our fastballs in the right spots, we got some swing and misses.”

“Throughout the years we’ve been aggressive with him,” Cora added. “Sometimes he gets us, sometimes we do a good job with that. It’s always fun to compete against the best, and, to me, he’s the best in the business right now.”

Judge’s major league-leading average dipped to .378.

“I don’t think much of it,” teammate Ben Rice said. “If I could have that guy hitting every single at-bat even if he’s not at his best, I would do it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’ll be all right.”

Judge faced Garrett Whitlock with two on in the eighth Sunday and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in the world,” Whitlock said. “It’s special to watch him play and everything. We tried to execute and had some execution this weekend.”

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