A Dominican court sentenced former Major League Baseball outfielder Raúl Mondesi to six years and nine months in Jail and fined $507,000 for corruption during his time as mayor of the city of San Cristobal. Prosecutors accused Mondesi of embezzling $5 million when he was mayor between 2010 and 2016. The sentence was passed after a deal with the prosecutors’ office. Mondesi, whose son Adalberto Mondesi was a big league shortstop, spent six years under house arrest, meaning his sentence has already been completed. While he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Raúl Mondesi won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1994 and competed in the All-Star Game one year later. He was in the MLB for 13 seasons and won two Gold Gloves. Mondesi’s MLB career also includes a session with the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves. He concluded his career with an average of .273, 217 home runs and 860 RBIs. After he left Major League Baseball, Mondesi began his political career in San Cristobal, where he was a lawmaker between 2006 and 2010. Following his service as mayor, he bid for the senate but lost. Dominican prosecutors levelled several charges against Raúl, such as falsification of documents, criminal association, and malfeasance.

Chris Patrick was named senior vice president and general manager of the Washington Capitals on Monday.  Meanwhile, Brian MacLellan, who was Washington GM for the past 10 seasons, will stay on as president of hockey operations, a title he got in 2023. MacLelland will keep overseeing every area of hockey operations and Patrick will report to him. Patrick is the seventh GM in Capitals history.  He recently completed his 16th season with the team and first as associate GM. “We are thrilled to announce Chris’ promotion to general manager,” Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said. “Chris is a dedicated and hard-working executive who is fully prepared for this next step in his career. His vision, extensive experience, hockey acumen and player evaluation make him the perfect leader to drive our team forward. We are confident that he will thrive in this new role.” Patrick first joined the Capitals in 2008 in a player development and scouting role and served as a pro scout, director of player personnel, assistant GM and associate GM. As associate general manager, he monitored Washington’s analytics department, player contract negotiations, hockey operations staff, player personnel and budget and team scheduling matters. Additionally, Patrick managed the Capitals’ professional scouting staff and worked closely with the Hershey Bears, Washington’s American Hockey League affiliate, which won the Calder Cup the past two campaigns. While overseeing Hershey, Patrick played a pivotal role in developing many Washington prospects to reach NHL level, He also employed two coaches, Spencer Carbery and Todd Nelson, who have won AHL Coach of the Year awards with Hershey. Carbery was named Capitals coach on May 30, 2023. In his past positions, Patrick handled scouting drafted players at the collegiate and junior levels. “With Dick Patrick as chairman, Brian as president and Chris as general manager, we believe we have a dynamic leadership team in place to continue to guide our hockey operations department forward,” Leonsis said. “Over the past decade, Brian has excelled as the head of our hockey operations department, helping bring the Stanley Cup to Washington and maintaining our team’s consistent competitiveness. Brian’s leadership, experience, and vision for our hockey team, combined with Chris’ impressive track record and successful tenure as an executive, talent evaluator and guardian of our minor league partnerships, position our hockey operations team for a successful future.” For MacLellan, this would be his 24th season with the Capitals, including stints as GM, assistant GM, director of player personnel and as a professional scout. He became GM on May 26, 2014 as George MchPhee’s replacement.

The 2024 MLB trade deadline is on Tuesday, July 30, and so far Luis Arraez and Aaron Civale have been transferred to other clubs. More trades are in the works. Below are the latest MLB trade deadline rumours. Mets concentrating on buying A month-long heater has seen the Mets win 18 of their last 25 matches and advance to within 1.5 games of a Wild Card spot. According to the New York Post, New York is concerned with buying at the trade deadline. Getting help for the Bullpen is important. A high-end starting pitcher with control beyond 2024 would be good too. Edwin Diaz recently missed 15 days with shoulder discomfort and is presently serving a 10-game sticky stuff suspension. Even when he was healthy, Diaz has not dominated in the past. Veterans Jake Diekman and Adam Ottavino have been outdone by journeyman types Reed Garrett and Dedniel Núñez who have been working hard lately. One or two bona fide late inning arms definitely make sense as a deadline target. Reds cannot decide on buying or selling The Reds will hope to complete a three-game sweep of the Yankees in New York. But, they enter the day 3.5 matches out of a wild-card spot with five teams ahead of them. General manager Brad Meador recently stated that the team is still undecided on its deadline approach. They could buy or sell. Cincinnati is 41-45 despite a plus-17 run differential. “We have to wait and see how we finish off this road trip and the homestand coming up, and then we’ll see,” Meador told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “We’re talking about it. We’d love to be able to add. But, realistically, we’ll probably just have to see how it goes.” Following the Yankees series, Cincinnati will play the Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, and Miami Marlins entering into the All-Star break. This is a favourable schedule and a chance to rack up the wins before the deadline. If they buy, bullpen help and an outfielder would be on their shopping list. If they sell, Frankie Montas, Lucas Sims, and Brent Suter would be traded. Angels monitoring  Estévez The Los Angeles Angels are listening to offers for closer Carlos Estévez, a report by FanSided says. Estévez has been exceptional this year, pitching to a 3.00 ERA with 27 strikeouts and three walks were intentional too. He is owed the balance of his $6.75 million salary, so he is cheap, and a bat-misser with high leverage experience. Los Angeles will find it easy to get a suitor and it is very possible that Estévez will be traded before the deadline.

Yordan Alvarez gave his Houston Astros manager a thumbs up, picked up his bat and got back to swinging. Things became scary in the first inning of the Astros’ 9-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night, when Alvarez twisted his left ankle after grounding a ball to short for the final out of the frame. Houston could not afford their sharpest hitter being absent. But after a quick meeting with manager Joe Espada at Rogers Centre, Alvarez announced that he was good to go. That was scary too, for the Blue Jays. “I’m holding my breath and I’m like, ‘Oh, jeez,’” said Espada. “And then all of a sudden he goes and has a stellar performance.” It has been all Yordan all the time in Toronto. The Astros’ slugger hit his third home run in as many games as part of a three-extra-base-hit, three RBI night that put the Astros in place for a series victory in Thursday’s finale. Alvarez carried the team with a “tight’’ ankle. Something he achieved in a day’s work. “It’s hard to believe everything he does on a daily basis,” Altuve said of Alvarez ahead of Wednesday’s win. “Just yesterday, he hit a 3-0 homer on a [low] changeup — not a lot of guys are able to do that. I’m happy for him. He’s very humble, he wants to win and help the team … so I’m happy for him.” The hitter has gone 6-for-11 with three homers and eight RBIs over the first three matches of the series. He facilitated last month’s breakout into July and helped the Astros (44-2) to gain ground in the AL standings. “We had a tough start to the season, but everyone knows what a great team we have here,” Alvarez said in Spanish. “And the time has come to show it.” The Astros are also playing without Kyler Tucker. Tucker is absent due to a shin injury. Someone needed to step up for the team. By making few adjustments and renewed commitment to his goals, Alvarez has answered the call. Therefore, it is only natural for Espada to get nervous after watching that awkward swing from Alvarez. “Right now, we’re grinding, and we’re trying to finish strong this first half,” said Espada. “Any time you see someone limping off the field … you start kind of holding your breath, but these guys are resilient, man. They’re just going to keep grinding.”