CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Donaldson’s rough season has taken a positive turn. The Indians are giving him a swing at October.The 2015 AL MVP was traded Friday night by Toronto to Cleveland http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-dale-murphy-jersey , which is hoping a healthy Donaldson can bolster its lineup and help the club get back to the World Series.“This is one of the most dynamic players in the game on both sides of the ball when he’s healthy,” Indians president Chris Antonetti said late Friday night. “We think there’s an opportunity for him to get to a point this month where he’ll be playing in games regularly and has a chance to impact us in the postseason.”The AL Central-leading Indians sent a player to be named to the Blue Jays for Donaldson, a three-time All-Star who has been limited to 36 games this season because of injuries. Toronto will send Cleveland $2,709,677 to cover most of the $3,709,677 remaining in Donaldon’s $23 million salary.The third baseman played in his first game since May 28 earlier this week during a rehab stint in Florida and the Indians are satisfied he’s worth taking on for the season’s final month and then the postseason.“We had to do our due diligence to make sure we were getting back a player that we felt had a chance to help us,” Antonetti said. “We know we’re taking on some risk with that. But we feel we’ve built that in appropriately with the structure of the deal and spent quite a bit of time talking with the Blue Jays on how we appropriately balance that risk.”It’s not immediately known how much of Donaldson’s 2018 contract Cleveland is inheriting.Antonetti said Donaldson will be in Cleveland on Saturday and a plan will be mapped out for him joining the club on a full-time basis. It’s possible Donaldson could be placed on the disabled list so he can play in minor league games while rehabbing a calf injury.Once Donaldson is ready, Indians manager Terry Francona will play him at third, which means the club will move All-Star Jose Ramirez to second and replace Jason Kipnis.Antonetti said the club had preliminary discussions with Ramirez and Kipnis, but will meet with them again before Saturday’s game.Antonetti is confident Ramirez and Kipnis will be willing to do whatever’s best for the Indians.“What we’ve seen repeatedly with our roster is we have guys that are first and foremost focused on winning, trying to get to the postseason and win a World Series,” he said. “We’ve seen repeated examples of guys willing to make either personally difficult decisions, or in some cases, sacrifices to help the team win. I think that is part of the culture that Tito (Francona) has continued to build here, and our players actively embrace.”In Cleveland Freddie Freeman Jersey , the right-handed hitting Donaldson will be reunited with Indians slugger Edwin Encarnacion, his former teammate in Toronto.“He’s great player, man,” Encarnacion said after the Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 and before the trade was official. “If it happens, everybody is going to be excited here. He’s a great guy.”The 32-year-old Donaldson was the league’s top player in 2015, when he batted .297 with 41 homers and 123 RBIs. Slowed by the calf injury, Donaldson batted .234 with five homers and 16 RBIs this year for the Blue Jays.Antonetti said the Indians scouted Donaldson in Florida this week and the team didn’t know if he would be available in a deal until 1 p.m. on Friday.Donaldson, who has 179 career homers, began his career with Oakland and played four seasons with the Athletics. DENVER (AP) — For once, the Colorado Rockies head into the offseason searching for more pop at the plate to go with excellent pitching, not the other way around.The Rockies lacked patience at the plate in getting swept by Milwaukee in the best-of-five NL Division Series with a 6-0 loss Sunday, their second straight shutout.They were outscored 13-2 as they hit .146 with three extra-base hits and no homers . They didn’t score in their last 19 innings and set an NL Division Series low for runs,So much for a return to the thin air of Coors Field to spark a dormant offense.“I don’t know what it is,” third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “It’s just a bad stretch at the wrong time.”Rockies fans have a long winter to lament that and manager Bud Black’s decision to start German Marquez in Game 3 rather than hometown hero Kyle Freeland, who was 17-7 and pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings in the 2-1 wild-card win at Wrigley Field last Tuesday.“Everyone wants to be the guy that takes the ball or has a big at-bat or makes a big play in the field,” Freeland said http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-bobby-cox-jersey , admitting he was “a little bummed. I mean, it would have been great to pitch in this atmosphere, in Denver, my hometown.”Carlos Gonzalez also lamented not seeing Freeland on the mound in this series.“I really like our chances with Kyle on the mound because he’s been our horse all year long,” Gonzalez said. “But we’re talking about a guy who has a brilliant future, and I’m sure he’s going to have plenty of opportunities to pitch in front of this home crowd in big games.”Until this week, Colorado was known for its hitting, for teams like the Blake Street Bombers who outscored opponents in games that resembled church softball leagues more than the major leagues.Then came the humidor and while Coors Field was no longer the slugger’s Shangri-La, its cavernous dimensions still made it a hitter’s dream and a pitcher’s nightmare.Not so much anymore.After losing the NL West tiebreaker 5-2 to the Dodgers in Los Angeles and flying to Chicago for the win over the Cubs, the Rockies seemed flat as they lost 3-2 in 10 innings at Miller Park and then 4-0 — their first postseason shutout in franchise history.And when they got back to Coors, they were still impatient at the plate, expanding their strike zones.“We were trying to get things going. You saw a lot of guys chasing bad pitches, including myself,” Gonzalez said. “I think we were anxious. But at the same time, they have a great staff there. Their bullpen did a tremendous job.”Arenado, eligible for free agency after the 2019 season http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-bob-uecker-jersey , issued a challenge to teammates and the organization in July, suggesting he wanted to play in meaningful autumn games.They did just that, but Arenado went 3 for 16 in the postseason, although he flashed the glove that could turn help him earn free-agent riches.Fellow All-Stars Charlie Blackmon (2 for 15) and Trevor Story (5 for 18) also failed to emulate their regular-season grooves at the plate, and Gonzalez went 2 for 12.“Our pitchers pitched great. They did exactly what we needed,” Arenado said. “It’s on the offense. We just couldn’t get anything going.”By the ninth inning, what was left of the sellout crowd was booing the bad at-bats, and Arenado didn’t take offense.“It was a bad loss. It was bad at-bats,” Arenado said. “It comes with the territory. It’s October. You’ve got to do something and we weren’t able to — I wasn’t able to.“This game teaches you something every year, and I’ve obviously learned a lot about myself and I’ve got to get better. That’s basically what this game is telling me, what October’s telling me.”Colorado won nine of its last 10 regular season games to force a one-game playoff with the Dodgers. The Rockies’ 91-72 record and .562 winning percentage was second-best in franchise history. They reached the playoffs for the second straight season, a franchise first.That isn’t enough anymore.Now they need some hitting to go with that young pitching.Freeland thinks all that is needed offensively is a change of fortune.“You know this lineup with the bats is going to have success. I know it didn’t show too much against the Brewers with this series. But we all know what they’re capable of one through nine,” he said.“So, knowing we have both pitching and hitting, it makes the future very exciting.”
