Dodgers acquire Biggio in trade with Blue Jays
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired super-utility man Cavan Biggio in a trade with Toronto, adding the veteran after the Blue Jays designated him for assignment last week.
In the deal, the Blue Jays received right-handed reliever Braydon Fisher, who has split his time this season between Double-A and Triple-A.
Biggio was in the lineup for the Dodgers’ home game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, playing third base and batting ninth. He finished 1-for-3 and committed an error in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss.
“To have a team like the Dodgers come and pick me up after my time in Toronto, where I spent so many years with so many relationships there, and playing against this team about a month and a half ago, obviously very special and very fortunate and grateful to be here,” he said.
The Dodgers optioned outfielder Miguel Vargas to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He hit .250 with three doubles, one home run and four RBIs in eight games.
Biggio, 29, was taken off the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster last week after struggling over the first third of the season, hitting .200/.323/.291 with two home runs in 131 plate appearances for Toronto, which at 33-34 occupies third place in the American League East.
“A lot of emotions that I sat and went through and processed,” he said. “I put myself in a good position to make my next step forward being here so I’m excited about it.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said: “I think it’s good for Cavan. I was pretty sure he’d land on his feet. It’s tough to have him leave.”
Biggio has spent most of his career at second base but has played first, third and right field as well this season. Biggio will join a Dodgers team that owns a 7½-game lead in the National League West but has gotten minimal offensive production from Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux and Kiké Hernández and is missing third baseman Max Muncy, who’s on the injured list with a strained oblique.
“I just want to be a good piece for this team and you know, hopefully be the last team standing at the end of the year,” Biggio said.
Biggio debuted in 2019 and was one of three sons of longtime major leaguers, along with infielder Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and shortstop Bo Bichette, who was expected to serve as the core for an ascendant Blue Jays team. He hit 16 home runs in 100 games his rookie season and followed in the COVID-shortened 2020 year with a .375 on-base percentage, looking like a foundational element at second base.
Injuries limited Biggio in the years after, and he lost playing time this season to Davis Schneider and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. With the Blue Jays struggling offensively, they DFA’d him to make room for Spencer Horwitz, who has started all four games at second since his recall. Biggio has one season of club control beyond this year and will be eligible for free agency after 2025.
Biggio’s father, Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, had 3,060 hits in 20 seasons with the Houston Astros. The younger Biggio recalled one visit to Dodger Stadium with his dad.
“I don’t think I was allowed on the field, but I remember having a Dodger Dog or two,” he said. “The only thing I remember Shawn Green was on the team.”
In front of his father Wednesday night, the younger Biggio singled leading off the fifth for his first hit with the Dodgers.
He also showed his glove work early. He started a double play that got the first two outs of the first inning. He prevented a potential double down the line by Wyatt Langford in the second, making a long throw to first that Langford barely beat out. Biggio was charged with an error in the fifth when he bobbled a ball hit by Marcus Semien.
Fisher, 23, was a fourth-round pick in 2018 and has struck out 30 hitters and walked 15 in 19 innings while posting a 5.68 ERA this season. He has been with the Dodgers for five seasons, tossing a combined 228⅔ innings in 134 games (including 12 starts) and an 18-14 mark with a 4.53 ERA.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Connor McDavid continues setting records and moving up scoring lists.
McDavid had two goals and an assist in the Edmonton Oilers‘ 5-3 win against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night, passing Jari Kurri for second all time in points in Edmonton history. McDavid, a three-time Hart Trophy winner for league MVP and five-time scoring champion, now has 1,044 points in his 10-year career and trails only Wayne Gretzky on the franchise list.
Kurri had 1,043 points in his 10 years with the Oilers, playing on a line with Gretzky for much of it. Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, had 1,669 points in nine seasons in Edmonton.
“Quite a remarkable feat,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “For him to go up the scoring list as quickly as he has, and within an organization that has had so many significant players. I’ve seen so many remarkable things from him. He’s a tremendous player and great teammate. I said I wouldn’t be surprised anymore just because he surprises you so often over these years, but it’s a nice feat for him and the guys are very proud of him.”
McDavid’s second goal was of the highlight variety. He shot the puck from a tough angle, lifting it over Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson without much room.
McDavid didn’t speak to reporters after the game. He was involved in a collision with Minnesota forward Marcus Johansson in the second period in which McDavid’s elbow hit Johansson in the face. There was no penalty called, but it drew the ire of the Wild.
Washington Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren practiced with the team on Wednesday for the first time since his upper-body injury on Friday.
He will travel with the team to Ottawa but is still on injured reserve and isn’t eligible to play in Thursday’s game against the Senators. Lindgren, 31, can be activated on Saturday, when Washington hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“Not quite ready with being on the IR and that, but another positive step being on the ice today,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said.
Lindgren took a hit to the head and left the Capitals’ home game against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. In the first minute of the second period, he was struck in the side of the head by Montreal’s Nick Suzuki, who was checked into the goalie by Brandon Duhaime. The game resumed, but Lindgren was pulled approximately two minutes later, and the Canadiens went on to win 3-2 in overtime.
Lindgren is 10-8-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in 21 starts.
He has a career record of 63-47-14 with a .277 GAA and .907 save percentage in 131 regular-season games (123 starts) for the Montreal Canadiens (2015-20), St. Louis Blues (2021-22) and Capitals.
Washington forward Sonny Milano participated in his first full practice since sustaining an upper-body injury on Nov. 6 against the Nashville Predators. Milano, 28, wore a non-contact jersey as he continues his recovery. Milano has played in three games this season.
He has 137 career points (62 goals, 75 assists) in 313 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2015-20), Anaheim Ducks (2020-22) and Capitals.
WASHINGTON — A bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate on Wednesday.
The ongoing effort, which included the bill being first introduced in October, needed to be submitted for consideration again in the 119th Congress.
Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., reintroduced the Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act in the House along with co-sponsors Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., and Bill Keating, D-Mass. Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reintroduced it in the Senate.
USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher said he encourages fans to contact their congressional representatives to express their support for the bill’s passage. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league enthusiastically supports the legislation.
February marks the 45th anniversary of the Americans beating the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to the gold medal on home ice in Lake Placid, New York.
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