The Kansas City Royals signed six-time All-Star pitcher Zack Greinke to a $13 million contract for this season, reuniting the right-hander with the club that drafted him two decades ago. The 38-year-old Greinke was the sixth overall pick by the Royals in the 2002 amateur draft, and spent his first six seasons with the club, winning the 2009 AL Cy Young Award. He was traded to Milwaukee the following year.
The Royals also traded left-hander Mike Minor to the Cincinnati Reds for lefty reliever Amir Garrett. The 29-year-old Garrett was 0-4 with a 6.04 ERA and seven saves in 63 appearances last season. The 34-year-old Minor went 8-12 with a 5.50 ERA across 28 starts with the Royals, but was likely going to be pushed into a long relief role if he stuck with Kansas City this season.
All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the payroll-shredding Oakland Athletics for four players. A five-year veteran and three-time Gold Glove winner, Chapman hit .201 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs in 151 games for the A’s last season. He was a first-time All-Star in 2019. Chapman won Platinum Gloves as the best defensive player in the AL, regardless of position, in 2018 and 2019. He is the latest addition in a busy offseason for the Blue Jays, who went 91-71 last year but finished one game behind Boston and New York in the AL wild-card race.
Oakland received right-hander Gunnar Hoglund, Toronto’s top pick in the 2021 amateur draft, minor league left-hander Zach Logue, left-handed reliever Kirby Snead and infielder Kevin Smith.
All-Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres had surgery on his broken left wrist. General manager A.J. Preller said this week that the $340 million superstar is expected to miss three months. Tatis led the NL with 42 homers in 2021 and was third in NL MVP balloting. Kim Ha-seong is expected to replace Tatis at shortstop.
Paul Atkinson Jr.’s putback layup with 1.4 seconds left in the second overtime gave Notre Dame an 89-87 win over Rutgers in a wild First Four game Wednesday night.
Ron Harper Jr. tied it with a long 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in the second OT. Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley then missed a shot before Atkinson grabbed the rebound and put back the winner. Atkinson finished with 20 points, Nate Laszewski 18 and Cormac Ryan 16 to lead the Irish (23-10), who as the No. 11 seed advanced to face sixth-seeded Alabama in a a first-round game Friday in San Diego. Caleb McConnell had career-high 23 points, and Ron Harper Jr. 22 for the Scarlet Knights (18-11).
Tanner Holden had 37 points and 11 rebounds and Wright State beat Bryant for its first NCAA Tournament victory. Playing inside the University of Dayton Arena just 12 miles from its home court, Wright State (22-13) advanced to play top-seeded Arizona in San Diego on Friday in the West Region. Peter Kiss, the NCAA’s leading scorer, led Bryant (22-10) with 28 points.