TORONTO - The Toronto Blue Jays have officially signed right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia to a two-year, US$15-million contract. The Blue Jays announced the deal Friday, two days after multiple media outlets reported the agreement. The 34-year-old Garcia was traded from Toronto to Seattle on July 26 for outfielder Jonatan Clase and catcher/outfielder Jacob Sharp. He had a 6.00 ERA in nine innings over 10 appearances for the Mariners. He was 3-0 with a 3.46 ERA and five saves overall this year in 39 games and 39 innings. Garcia is 22-29 with a 3.59 ERA and 26 saves over 10 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2014-19), Miami (2020-21), Houston (2021), Toronto (2022-24) and Seattle. He missed the 2017 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024.Gavin McKenna will suit up for Canada at the world junior hockey championship. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $14.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Gavin McKenna will suit up for Canada at the world junior hockey championship. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Gavin McKenna will suit up for Canada at the world junior hockey championship. Set to turn 17 next week, the star forward with the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers headlines the country’s 25-player roster for the annual tournament announced Friday. McKenna, who is projected as the potential top pick at the 2026 NHL draft, will be joined by a pair of fellow youngsters battling for the No. 1 selection spot in June — 18-year-old winger Porter Martone and 17-year-old defenceman Matthew Schaefer. Five of seven eligible returnees from last year’s squad that finished a disappointing fifth in Sweden are back, with forwards Easton Cowan, Brayden Yager and Carson Rehkopf getting the nod, while defencemen Oliver Bonk and Tanner Molendyk will anchor the blue line. The two players unable to hold onto their spots for the event set to run Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Ottawa are forward Matthew Wood and goaltender Scott Ratzlaff. Making up the rest of the group up front are Bradly Nadeau, Jett Luchanko, Luca Pinelli, Berkly Catton, Ethan Gauthier, Calum Ritchie, Tanner Howe, Cole Beaudoin and Mathieu Cataford. Nadeau didn’t attend selection camp in Ottawa this week, but was guaranteed a spot after being made available by the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes from their American Hockey League affiliate. Canada’s defence corps also includes Andrew Gibson, Sam Dickinson, Caden Price, Sawyer Mynio and Beau Akey. The hockey powerhouse’s three-headed crease contingent is made up of goaltenders Jack Ivankovic — another 17-year-old eligible for June’s NHL draft — Carter George and Carson Bjarnason. “We believe we have assembled a competitive and talented roster that will give us the best opportunity to win a gold medal on home ice,” Hockey Canada’s Peter Anholt, who leads the under-20 program’s management group, said in a statement. “We look forward to them wearing the Maple Leaf with pride.” The Canadians, who will be looking to add to a record 20 gold medals at the annual showcase, were ousted in last year’s quarterfinals thanks to a last-minute loss to Czechia. Among the other notable cuts Friday were Calgary Flames defence prospect Zayne Parekh and Beckett Sennecke, who was selected No. 3 overall by the Anaheim Ducks at the 2024 draft. Both players were late injury additions for selection camp and are eligible to try out again next year. Canada will now hold training camp in Petawawa, Ont., before pre-tournament games against Switzerland, Sweden and Czechia. The hosts open Group A at the Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, on Boxing Day against Finland. The defending champions United States, Latvia and Germany make up the rest of the field. Group B at TD Place, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s, includes Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Kazakhstan. Russia remains banned by the International Ice Hockey Federation due to that country’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Ottawa last hosted the world juniors in 2009 when Canada defeated Sweden to secure a record-tying fifth straight gold. Cameron, who guided the country atop the podium in 2022 after winning silver in 2011, was an assistant coach on the staff of the late Pat Quinn at that tournament 15 years ago in the nation’s capital. “This group of 25 players is excited for the opportunity to wear the Maple Leaf in front of Canadian fans in Ottawa, and to represent their country in our quest to win a gold medal,” he said in a statement. “This is a great accomplishment for these players and their families. “We know they will enjoy the world juniors experience while bringing the competitiveness needed for us to be successful and accomplish our goal.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement
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The Editorial Board: Historic preservation and improved affordable housing combine in West Village ApartmentsNEW YORK: With December so far delivering Scrooge-like returns in an otherwise stellar year for US stocks, investors hope the tail end of 2024 offers some holiday cheer, but warn of potential headwinds. The benchmark S&P 500 is up more than 23 percent for 2024, even after a major stumble this week, and Wall Street has historically often enjoyed a strong annual close. Since 1969, the last five trading days of the year combined with the first two of the following year have yielded an average S&P 500 gain of 1.3 percent, a period known as the “Santa Claus Rally,” according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac. But this year, there are signs Santa Claus may disappoint. The S&P 500 on Wednesday suffered its biggest one-day drop since August after the Federal Reserve caught investors off guard by signaling fewer-than-expected interest rate cuts in 2025. The market also looks less healthy beneath the surface: Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are in negative territory for December, while the equal-weight S&P 500, a proxy for the average index stock, is down 7 percent. Congress also dealt the markets a year-end curveball on Thursday evening, rejecting a package that would have averted a partial government shutdown that could affect a range of services. “I think investors are somewhat concerned about the potential for a government shutdown, particularly if one were to linger through the weekend,” said Anthony Saglimbene, Chief Market Strategist at Ameriprise Financial. Another worry for stocks as the year winds down is rising Treasury yields, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at asset manager Miller Tabak. Benchmark 10-year yields hit 4.55 percent on Thursday following the Fed meeting, their highest level in over six months. With the S&P 500 trading at 21.6 times forward earnings estimates, well above its 15.8 historical average, according to LSEG Datastream, that jump in yields will put more pressure on equity valuations. “We’re ending the year with people finally facing the reality that the stock market is extremely expensive and the Fed is not going to be as accommodative as they had been thinking,” Maley said. Still, this week’s pullback could be positive because it eliminated some of the frothy sentiment in equities, “setting up the market for a rebound,” said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services. “If there is further follow through on the downside, that could be a little bit more dangerous to the bullish trend.” The Santa Claus period, when combined with the following first five trading days of January and the performance of January overall, is a harbinger for the year: when those three indicators are positive, the year has ended higher more than 90 percent of the time in the past 50 years, according to the Almanac. But that seasonal strength may have come early this year, given the S&P 500 posted a blockbuster 5.7 percent return in November driven by Donald Trump’s Nov 5 presidential election victory, Carlson said. “It’s been a strong year for the market, and you can make an argument that we kind of got the year-end rally in November instead of December,” Carlson said. Signs that the market rally is increasingly narrow could also spoil any holiday cheer. A number of megacap stocks have performed well in December, including Tesla and Alphabet, which are up 26 percent and more than 12 percent respectively so far this month. Broadcom shares are up 35 percent for December after the company this month predicted booming demand for its custom artificial intelligence chips, pushing its market value over $1 trillion. But such gains are increasingly sparse. The number of S&P 500 components that declined outpaced those that advanced for 13 straight sessions as of Wednesday, the longest such losing streak in LSEG data that stretches back to 2012. In another worrisome sign, the percentage of S&P 500 stocks trading above their 200-day moving averages declined to 56 percent as of Wednesday, a low for the year, according to Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial. “We recommend waiting for support to be established and for momentum to improve before stepping up to buy the dip,” Turnquist said in a note following Wednesday’s selloff. — Reuters