BASEBALL
Four members of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution Tuesday urging Major League Baseball not to follow through with its proposal to eliminate 42 current minor league teams.
MLB made the proposal last year to the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body of the minors, during negotiations for a Professional Baseball Agreement to replace the deal that expires after the 2020 season.
MLB wants to cut short-season leagues and reduce the number of farm teams each big league club affiliates with. It has proposed replacing the eliminated minor league teams with a not yet defined Dream League, somewhat similar to collegiate summer leagues.
The resolution was introduced by Reps. Lori Trahan, D-Mass.; David McKinley, R-W. Va.; Max Rose, D-N.Y.; and Mike Simpson, R- Idaho.
“Minor League Baseball teams have had a major impact on small communities. These teams provide an enormous cultural and economic benefit to the communities they call home,” McKinley said in a statement. “Doing away with 42 teams is not a reasonable solution.”
SKIING
MEN’S WORLD CUP: Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen hit a gate with his left arm and nearly skied out after a few seconds but recovered from the mishap and charged down the Planai course in an unmatched pace, beating his rivals Alexis Pinturault and Daniel Yule in the men’s World Cup night slalom on Tuesday at Schlamding, Austria, strengthening his lead in the overall and discipline standings
Pinturault was 0.34 behind in second, after the Frenchman failed to finish the previous two slaloms.
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin is skipping this weekend’s races in Russia in order to get some rest.
The U.S. ski team said Tuesday on Twitter that Shiffrin “is taking the week off to rest and get a solid training block in.” It’s the second straight year that Shiffrin has opted to skip a return to Sochi and the course used for the 2014 Olympics. Shiffrin is opting out of a downhill on Saturday and a super-G on Sunday despite being second and first, respectively, in the season-long discipline standings.
The 24-year-old American has carefully managed her schedule in building a clear lead in the overall standings. She padded her lead over Federica Brignone by winning twice in three speed races in Bulgaria last weekend.
HOCKEY
NHL: Marcus Pettersson and Pittsburgh agreed to a five-year contract extension on Tuesday that runs through the 2024-25 season. The 23-year-old defenseman will get an average annual value of just over $4 million.
Pittsburgh acquired Pettersson in a December 2018 trade that sent forward Daniel Sprong to Anaheim. Pettersson has become one of the steadiest players on the Penguins’ blue line over the last 13 months. He has one goal and 14 assists in 50 games this season with a plus-4 rating. He also ranks fourth on the team in hits (78) and blocked shots (57).
SOCCER
ENGLISH LEAGUE: Aston Villa scored in the third minute of stoppage time to clinch a 2-1 win over Leicester and reach the final of the English League Cup. Egypt midfielder Trezeguet volleyed in at the back post to earn Villa a 3-2 victory on aggregate and book his team a match against either Manchester City or Manchester United in the March 1 final.
Villa is a five-time winner of the League Cup, most recently in 1996, and will play in the competition’s 60th final. Leicester will count itself unlucky, with Villa having had four shots on target across the two legs and scoring three times.
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg’s season was ended by a serious right knee injury that needs surgery.
European champion Lyon said Tuesday that the Norwegian striker ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in a training session. An operation will be scheduled within days.
“This is a setback for me,” the 24-year-old Hegerberg wrote on her Twitter account, “but I’m going to work through this with all my heart and energy. The best is yet to come.”
Hegerberg’s goals have helped Lyon with four straight Women’s Champions League titles and five French league titles.
– News service report
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