major league baseball News & notes

Marlins: The Kushner family, which has close ties to the White House, put the brakes on its negotiations to buy the Miami Marlins because of a report team owner Jeffrey Loria may be nominated by President Trump to become ambassador to France. Joshua Kushner, whose older brother is an adviser to the president, has a preliminary agreement to buy the Marlins. But in a statement released late Wednesday by Kushner’s brother-in-law, Joseph Meyer, the family expressed concern the sale might “complicate” the ambassadorship appointment. “Although the Kushners have made substantial progress in discussions for us to purchase the Marlins, recent reports suggest that Mr. Loria will soon be nominated by the president to be ambassador to France,” the statement said. “If that is true, we do not want this unrelated transaction to complicate that process and will not pursue it. The Kushners remain interested in purchasing a team and would love to buy the Marlins at another time.”

Nationals: Neither Max Scherzer nor Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker is certain the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner will be ready to pitch when opening day rolls around. That’s because Scherzer is dealing with pain from a broken knuckle on the ring finger of his throwing hand, an injury that arose late season but wasn’t diagnosed until December. Baker said he’s thinking about contingency plans just in case his ace can’t pitch when Washington starts the regular season April 3. “I’ve dealt with aches and pains and strains. This is a whole different ballgame,” Scherzer said Thursday. “When you start dealing with a fracture, rest is really your only option to make everything heal.” Thursday was the first day of official workouts for Washington’s pitchers and catchers at the team’s new spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. While others such as Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark or Gio Gonzalez stood atop a mound for a 10-minute bullpen session, Scherzer threw elsewhere.

Tigers: Following the death of owner Mike Ilitch, the Detroit Tigers are facing a bit of a transition, but they aren’t exactly in limbo. Back in May, Ilitch Holdings Inc. announced a succession plan in which Chris Ilitch, the son of Mike and Marian Ilitch, would eventually take over his parents’ roles. Mike Ilitch said then that their business, including the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, would remain family owned. So now the attention turns to Chris Ilitch, whose father became revered by many Tigers fans because of his willingness to invest huge amounts of money into the team. “He’s a very intelligent businessman,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said about Chris Ilitch, who has been president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings. “He’s very organized, very disciplined, he knows what he’s doing.”

Angels: When doctors found a partial tear in Garrett Richards’ elbow ligament early last season, the Los Angeles Angels’ ace immediately assumed he had lost two years of his pitching career. Richards grimly figured Tommy John surgery was inevitable. “When I came in that Monday, I walked into the training room and [said], ‘Hey, let’s schedule this thing as soon as possible, and that way I can get back as soon as possible,”’ Richards recalled Thursday. Instead, Richards threw his first bullpen session of spring training this week at Tempe Diablo Stadium. The right-hander is headed into the upcoming season with remarkable optimism about his return to full health without elbow ligament replacement surgery. Richards and the Angels believe a combination of stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma injections have healed his ligament enough to resume his career with minimal restrictions. Richards isn’t the first player to use either treatment, but he might be the highest-profile hurler to avoid the famed surgery that has saved hundreds of pitching arms. After apparently succeeding with this still-unusual treatment combination, Richards is hoping other pitchers with elbow problems will consider every possible path back to the mound. “If you can prevent being cut on and having surgery, that’s the No. 1 priority,” Richards said. “I hope guys don’t just jump right into Tommy John. I hope they at least explore this option. It’s only gotten better since it happened, so I’m a believer.”

Associated Press