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Just days after it became public he wanted to leave, Patrik Laine is no longer a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets as the winger was traded on Monday to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris.

The Blue Jackets received a 2026 second-round pick in addition to Harris and will not retain any of Laine’s salary in the deal. Laine, 26, has two years left on his contract worth $8.7 million annually. Laine’s future with the Blue Jackets had been in question for quite some time. The speculation further intensified last week when Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell told TSN 1050 in Toronto that Laine was vocal about not wanting to play for the Blue Jackets anymore.

Waddell reiterated Laine’s desire to leave in a statement released at the time of the trade.

“We want players that want to be Blue Jackets and Patrik made it clear that he thought a change of scenery was best for him,” Waddell said. “We were able to acquire a good young player in Jordan Harris while maintaining financial flexibility in this deal which was very important to us. We wish Patrik all the best.”

Back in 2016, the Winnipeg Jets drafted Laine with the No. 2 pick and watched him score 80 goals in his first two seasons. He spent four full seasons with the Jets before he was traded to the Blue Jackets just one game into the 2020-21 season.

Laine’s arrival made him one of the crucial pieces of a Blue Jackets rebuild that was powered by free agent signing Johnny Gaudreau, established homegrown talents such as Zach Werenski and newer prospects such as Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko.

Laine, a hulking 6-foot-5 winger, had consecutive 20-goal seasons in 2021-22 and in 2022-23.

What ultimately became his final season in Columbus saw him miss nine games in October and November after being diagnosed with a concussion. He also missed three games in December before entering the NHL/NHL Players’ Association player assistance program in late January for an indefinite period.

Laine had six goals and nine points in 18 games before he was admitted into the player assistance program.

He now heads to Montreal, where he’s expected to play a major role in helping a young Canadiens roster that is seeking to take the next step in its evolution.

Ever since they lost the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, the Canadiens have been on a rebuild that has seen them miss the playoffs for three straight seasons but make strides under head coach and Hall of Fame winger Martin St. Louis.

St. Louis, who was hired in February 2022, has molded a young roster that went from 68 points in his first full season to finishing with 76 points in 2023-24, creating the belief that an 80-point season could be within reach.

Laine’s arrival could help with reaching that goal as he’ll give St. Louis another top-six option in a group that already included Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, captain Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, who was the No. 1 pick of the 2022 NHL draft.

While the Canadiens have built a strong group of young forwards, they’ve also drafted and developed defensemen. They’ve used homegrown talents such as Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj and Harris as part of their plans over the past few seasons with more talents such as former Boston University star Lane Hutson also joining the team.

Having a top-four defensive setup that features veterans Mike Matheson and David Savard along with Guhle and Hutson meant the Canadiens were able to move on from Harris, as they had other defensemen in the system who could challenge for a bottom-pairing role.

Now Harris joins a Blue Jackets defensive corps that includes Erik Gudbranson, David Jiricek, Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson and Werenski as the club seeks to improve on a 66-point season that saw it finish with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-fewest points in the NHL in 2023-24.

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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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