On Sports: Ex-Pirates prospect Roansy Contreras starts for Angels; Canucks do deals with 2 ex-Penguins
Would a 24-year-old recent former top prospect with 30 career MLB starts be an adequate fit for addressing the Pittsburgh Pirates' depleted depth at starting pitcher?
Too bad the right-hander in question made his first start for the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Forty-one days after he was acquired — for basically nothing — from the Pirates.
Roansy Contreras allowed one run on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts during the Angels' 5-2 home victory against the Oakland Athletics.
As recently as 15 months ago, Contreras was still viewed as a cornerstone of the Pirates' future. The primary return in the 2021 Jameson Taillon trade to the New York Yankees, Contreras made 18 starts for the 2022 Pirates as a 22-year-old.
But Contreras struggled mightily over the first two months of last season, triggering — first — a demotion to the bullpen and then a month later a banishment not only to the minors but to Pirate City in Bradenton in an effort to work on his mechanics.
Contreras made it back to Triple-A last summer, and he made the Pirates out of spring training this season. But when the club needed to clear spots on the active and 40-man rosters May 11 for the promotion of Paul Skenes, Contreras was designated for assignment . He was sent to L.A. for "cash considerations " a few days later.
Counting nine relief appearances, Contreras has a 3.24 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and .203 batting average against for the Angels.
Enduring injuries to lefties Martin Perez (scheduled to make his return off the IL Friday), Marco Gonzales and Quinn Priester, the Pirates have had to use a handful of " bullpen games " in recent weeks and had been using only Skenes, fellow rookie Jared Jones and Bailey Falter as true starters. Luis Ortiz, though, did last six innings in getting the win in a start Wednesday .
Ex-Pens comings and stayings
Former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has made a habit of collecting former Penguins players, coaches and executives over his time as head of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks. Wednesday, Rutherford made notable transactions with two such players.
First, the team announced that bottom-six center Teddy Blueger had agreed to a two-year extension . Hours later, the Canucks sent Sam Lafferty (or, more accurately, his rights) to the Chicago Blackhawks as part of an effort to clear salary-cap space.
Blueger's deal carries an annual cap hit of $1.8 million. Lafferty was packaged with wing Ilya Mikheyev and a second-round pick in return for a fourth-round pick. Vancouver also is picking up a portion of Mikheyev's salary.
The inclusion of Lafferty, for all practical purposes, means only that the Blackhawks have exclusive negotiating rights with him for about 90 hours. He's a pending unrestricted free agent and July 1 is when UFAs are allowed to negotiate with any team.
A native of Hollidaysburg taken in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL draft (weeks after Rutherford took over as Penguins general manager), the speedy Lafferty appeared in 94 games over parts of three seasons with the Penguins. Aside from Vancouver he's since played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago — and might be suiting up for the Blackhawks yet again.
Blueger played parts of five seasons with the Penguins — who'd taken him the second round of the 2012 draft — primarily as their fourth-line center. He had 28 points in 68 games for the Canucks this past season.
Rule changes
Get ready for a two-minute 5-on-3 situation for the crime of... delay of game. It's bound to happen at some point over this upcoming NHL season thanks to a new league rule officially adopted Wednesday.
Coaches will now be allowed to challenge a minor penalty assessed when a player flips the puck over the glass and out of play. That has been a 2-minute penalty for several years now. But it was never eligible for review.
Now, coaches will be able to challenge the call. And while the penalty will be taken off the board if evidence is revealed that it was not warranted (the puck was deflected off a player, stick or the glass on its way out of play), if sufficient evidence lacks to overturn the call then the challenging team will be assessed another delay of game. Hence, a two-man advantage for what began as something of a victimless crime. A "double delay," if you will.
Three other minor NHL rule changes for 2024-25: the defensive team will not be allowed to change players for the faceoff after its goalie dislodges the net, each center will be given one warning at the faceoff circle for draws after an icing and each team will be given one warning for players sitting on the boards before it will assessed a bench minor for ensuing violations.
No HOF
CBS examined the Hall of Fame candidacy for a dozen active NFL players it deemed as on the proverbial fence when it comes to induction in Canton. Two current Steelers were on the list — and neither was classified as likely to get a Gold Jacket.
Of the nine CBSSports.com panelists, only four gave the nod to defensive tackle Cameron Heyward. Two said "yes" for new quarterback Russell Wilson.
If either retired today, that's probably accurate. But one more All Pro-level season from Heyward would very likely flip that. Wilson, likewise, could greatly enhance his résumé if he had a resurgence with the Steelers. Maybe a Pro Bowl regular season or playoff run would get him back into good graces after his forgettable two-season run in Denver.
Heyward and Wilson, though, are 35 years old.
