Kings show Criminals no mercy

Kofa High School’s varsity soccer team made quick work of crosstown rival Yuma High School Tuesday night at Irv Pallack Field, defeating the Criminals 8-0 in a game that was ended with the mercy rule in effect.

The Kings built a 5-9 lead in the first half, getting goals from Lucio Ramirez with an assist from Diego Contreras on corner kick; Tiernan Nicewander on a penalty kick; Nicewander again, with an assist from

Jovanni Villegas; Nolan Garcia on a 35 yard shot over the keeper; and another from Garcia with an assist from Nicewander.

In the second half, Nicewander scored with an assist from Diego Contreras; Garcia scored with an assist from Ramirez; and Aaron Sullivan closed out the scoring and the game with an assist from Nicewander.

“It’s nice to open the season on your home field with a win for the fans,” said Kofa Coach Jamie Nicewander.

“Yuma played hard the whole match and made us work for it.”

The Kings are now 5-0 on the season. Yuma is 0-2.

Sidewinders roll past Sunnyslope

PHOENIX – San Luis High School’s boys varsity soccer team pushed its season record to 3-0 with a 6-1 win over host Sunnyslope here Tuesday night.

The Sidewinders have now scored 16 goals on the season while giving up only three.

Luis Mario Medina was the player of the game Tuesday, said San

Luis Coach Jesus

Rojas, after Medina scored two goals and had two assists.

Also scoring for the Sidewinders were Luis Meneses, Misael Meza, Sebastian Noriega, Adair Ángulo.

Brawley blanks Shamrocks Yuma Catholic High School’s varsity boys soccer team had as many shots on goal as Brawley, but unlike the Wildcats, couldn’t get any of them in the net on the

opening behind the plate after Yadier Molina retired.

“This is a guy that loves to win, who wakes up thinking about it, goes to sleep thinking about it,” Marmol said of Contreras, who began his big league career with the Cubs. “And we’ve seen quite a bit across the way.”

Walker’s $72 million, four-year contract with Philadelphia was the team’s second major free agent deal at the winter meetings after it reeled in shortstop Trea Turner on Monday with a $300 million, 11-year contract.

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the Walker move to the AP on condition of anonymity because it was pending a physical.

The 30-year-old Walker went 12-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 29 starts this season for the New York Mets, one of Philadelphia’s NL East rivals. The Phillies made it to the World Series this year before losing to the Houston Astros.

Bell agreed to a $33 million, two-year contract with Cleveland, and Bellinger, another Boras client, reached a $17.5 million, one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs. Haniger got a $43.5 million, three-year deal with San Francisco.

Bell played for Washington and San Diego last season, batting .266 with 17 homers and 71 RBIS in 156 games.

Cleveland is coming off a surprising 2022 season, going 92-70 and winning the AL Central for the first time since 2018. The addition of Bell gives the Guardians more power for their lineup after they hit just 127 homers this year – the second-lowest total in the majors.

The switch-hitting Bell also is expected to benefit from restrictions on defensive positioning coming to the game next year.

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the Bell contract on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a review of medical records.

Bellinger, the 2019 NL MVP, was cut by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Nov. 18 after the 27-year-old outfielder hit .210 with 19 homers, 150 strikeouts and a .654 OPS in 144 games.

“Got a track record of a lot of success and dynamic defense,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I remember when he first got in the league – first base, smooth hands, dynamic center fielder, great outfielder. Hadn’t had the success he had early on, but definitely a lot of potential for a great player.”

Bellinger figures to play center for the Cubs, but could see some time at first. He had a $17 million contract this season and likely would have received a slight raise in arbitration.

The 31-year-old Haniger dipped to 11 home runs and 34 RBIS in 57 games for Seattle last season, a year after the former All-star outfielder had 39 homers and 100 RBIS for the Mariners.

“The interest was mutual, which is kind of what you need to make these deals,” said Farhan Zaidi, the president of baseball operations for San Francisco.

The 33-year-old Kahnle is going back to the New York Yankees on an $11.5 million, two-year contract, and the 31-year-old Heaney agreed to a $25 million, twoyear deal with the Texas Rangers.

Kahnle and Heaney each pitched for the Dodgers this year. Kahnle, who played for New York for 2 1/2 seasons beginning in 2017, posted a 2.84 ERA in 13 relief appearances. Heaney went 4-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 16 games, 14 starts.

A person familiar with the contracts for Kahnle and Heaney confirmed the deals on condition of anonymity because there was no immediate announcement of each move.

The Yankees are one of the teams waiting to hear from Judge, who set an American League record with 62 homers for the Bronx Bombers this season. He also tied for the major league lead with 131 RBIS and just missed a Triple Crown with a .311 batting average.

San Francisco also is in the mix, and there likely are more teams lurking on the periphery of the market for the 6-foot-7 outfielder.

“I’m probably not going to comment on that today,” Zaidi said. “Obviously, there’s been stuff out there. It’s really noisy.”

New York manager Aaron Boone said he was in the shower when he saw the report about Judge and the Giants.

“A lot of unknown right now . ... Yeah, we haven’t heard anything,” Boone said.