The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to trade linebacker Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants for two draft
picks
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a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because NFL trades can’t be announced until March 14. ESPN first reported the deal.
Los Angeles gets the Giants’ fourth-round and sixth-round picks in the 2018 draft. The NFC West champion Rams also will send a seventh-round pick in 2019 to
the Giants along with Ogletree, their defensive captain and last season’s
leading tackler.
Ogletree has spent his entire five-year NFL career with the Rams, who drafted him out of Georgia in the first round in 2013. He led their defense in tackles
during four of his five seasons, only failing to do so in 2015 when he played in
just four games due to a broken leg.
He had 95 tackles and two sacks last season while moving into coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defensive scheme. He also provided leadership on the defense,
both during the Rams’ turbulent relocation season from St. Louis and again last
season, when they ended their 12-year playoff drought.
Ogletree signed a four-year, $42.7 million extension with the Rams just last October, getting $30 million in guaranteed money.
While Ogletree is a speedy linebacker who has been quite productive, he has been an inconsistent tackler at times, and he never appeared to be an ideal fit
in Phillips’ defense.
Ogletree also was a key player in the Rams’ spotty run defense. Los Angeles finished last season fifth-worst in the NFL at stopping the run, allowing 122.3
yards rushing per game and frequently struggling with stops between the tackles,
where Ogletree needed to shine.
Ogletree will fill the Giants’ need for quality veteran linebackers as they rebuild from their 3-13 season, arguably the worst in franchise history.
Starting linebackers Devon Kennard and defensive captain Jonathan Casillas could
leave as free agents.
The Giants had two fourth-round picks in the upcoming draft
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including a compensatory selection.
Despite their overall success last season under coach Sean McVay, the Rams clearly are reconfiguring their defense in Phillips’ preferred image while
clearing salary cap space. That room is likely to be used in part to sign AP
Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald to a lucrative long-term
extension.
Los Angeles already agreed to trade linebacker Robert Quinn to Miami last week, and starting linebacker Connor Barwin is a free agent.
The Rams agreed last month to acquire cornerback Marcus Peters in a trade with Kansas City, and Los Angeles also used its franchise tag on safety Lamarcus
Joyner. Those moves likely mean top cornerback Trumaine Johnson will leave as a
free agent.
The trade of Ogletree seemingly improves the chances for the Rams to keep fellow veteran linebacker Mark Barron, who carries a $28 million salary cap hit
over the next three seasons. He is due a $2 million roster bonus next week.
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Tyler Anderson got in a groove from the first inning and kept on going.
Anderson tossed a career-high eight scoreless innings, Pat Valaika, Nolan Arenado and Chris Iannetta homered, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Los
Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Friday night.
Anderson (5-3) struck out eight and walked one on 96 pitches. The left-hander retired his first 11 batters before giving up a two-out single to Justin Turner
in the fourth. Matt Kemp singled leading off the fifth and Yasiel Puig narrowly
beat out the throw on a two-out bunt in the same inning.
”It’s been a while since everything has really been on,” Anderson said. ”My last couple of starts were pretty close, I felt like my command was there I just
made a couple mistakes. Tonight I didn’t make those mistakes. It was a total mix
of all my pitches.”
Anderson retired five straight batters before allowing a single to Cody Bellinger in the seventh. Anderson improved to 4-0 on the road with a 3.48 ERA
while holding hitters to a .216 average. The Rockies have won seven of his last
nine starts away from home.
”He kept us off-balance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. ”He has a three, four-pitch mix that we couldn’t get any swings off of.”
Iannetta homered leading off the ninth, extending Colorado’s lead to 3-0.
Arenado hit his team-high 20th homer in the eighth and Valaika homered over the center-field fence for Colorado’s first run in the fifth.
Valaika homered for the first time since last Sept. 24 at San Diego. It was just his second homer ever at Dodger Stadium. His first long ball in the majors
came on Sept.
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”It felt good to put the barrel on the ball in a real game, a big league game,” Valaika said. ”It felt good to get the lead, too.”
The Rockies turned double plays behind Anderson in the fifth and eighth innings.
”Andy pitched great. He was spotting up everything, it was pretty easy to play defense,” Valaika said. ”I was thinking it was the third inning and I
hadn’t really fielded anything yet.”
Wade Davis worked the ninth to earn his 23rd save in 27 chances.
Rich Hill (1-3) pitched solidly in his third start since coming off the disabled list because of a finger blister. Only one of his six hits was for
extra bases, a double by Trevor Story in the sixth.
”The ball came out of my hand the way I wanted it to,” Hill said. ”Everything was really came together.”
Hill struck out a season-high 10 and didn’t walk anyone while allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings. His 110 pitches were a season high and the most he’s
thrown since May 13, 2016, at Tampa Bay.
But the Dodgers’ bullpen struggled for the second straight game. Scott Alexander gave up Arenado’s homer and Yimi Garcia allowed Iannetta’s shot.
A day earlier, Walker Buehler was rocked for five runs and five hits in one-plus innings of an 11-5 loss to the Cubs.
Turner’s two-out shot in the ninth gave the Dodgers a franchise-record and major league-leading 54 homers in June with one day left.
”This team has set the record for the most home runs in the month for them, so clearly they’re trying to put the ball in the
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Anderson said. ”Tonight when they did it they were just underneath a lot of
things.”
The Rockies began the month getting swept by the Dodgers in a three-game series, with Los Angeles scoring 33 runs in those games. Colorado improved to
5-2 against Los Angeles this season.
PITCHER CAN HIT
Anderson collected a career high-tying two hits with singles in the third and seventh. Hill had an 0-2 count against him in the third and appeared annoyed
when Anderson made contact. ”He’s a good hitting pitcher,” Hill said.
SLUMP BUSTED
Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp singled in the fifth, snapping an 0-for-15 skid. In his last 23 games against the Rockies since Sept. 20, 2015, Kemp has hit
.389.
UP NEXT
RHP German Marquez (5-8, 5.53 ERA) starts for Colorado, which has won four of his seven road starts this season. He has a 3.07 ERA away from home compared to
7.93 in Denver. RHP Kenta Maeda (5-4, 3.44) goes for the Dodgers. In eight
career games, including six starts, Maeda is 5-2 with a 2.11 ERA to go with 48
strikeouts and nine walks.
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