DENVER (AP) – Lefty Jorge De La Rosa has exercised his $11 million player option for 2013 with Colorado. This will be the final year of a three-year, $33 million contract. Elbow surgery sidelined him for much of the last two seasons, but De La Rosa is a big part of the Rockies’ plans to rebuild the worst rotation in team history. After winning 16 games in 2010, De La Rosa was the Rockies’ ace in 2011 before tearing an elbow ligament May 24.
MLB-RAYS
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Tampa Bay is bringing Don Zimmer back for the 2013 season as a senior adviser, marking his 10th with the Rays and 65th season in professional baseball. The 81-year old said in a statement that he couldn’t be happier. The Rays are one of 13 major league teams that Zimmer has been with. The upcoming season will be his 55th in the major leagues.
MIAMI (AP) – Mike Redmond has been hired as the new manager of the Miami Marlins. The move comes just a week after manager Ozzie Guillen (GEE’-ehn) was let go after just one year on the job. Redmond spent the past two years managing Class A teams in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system. He had not previously interviewed for a big league job. A .287 hitter over 13 seasons, Redmond played seven years for the Marlins and helped them win the World Series in 2003. Redmond becomes the Marlins’ fifth manager since early 2010.
SAN DIEGO (AP) – San Diego host Kansas City tonight in an NFL match up of teams on the skids. The 3-4 Chargers have dropped three in a row, while Kansa City is 1-6 after losing four straight. Still San Diego finds itself just a game back of first place Denver in the AFC West.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – New England has obtained cornerback Aqib Talib (uh-KEEB’ tuh-LEEB’) for their shaky secondary from Tampa Bay. He will be eligible to play in the Patriots’ next game on Nov. 11 after serving a four-game NFL suspension without pay for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The Patriots pick up the former first-round draft pick and a seventh-rounder next year for their fourth-round choice in 2013. New England (5-3) has allowed the fifth most yards passing in the NFL as it enters its bye week.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings has had surgery to repair the torn abdominal muscle that has sidelined him for much of the season. Jennings said on Twitter that “surgery went well” and posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed. No return date has been given, though Packers coach Mike McCarthy says it would probably be a minimum of a few weeks.