MLB: A’s make play for stadium site

The Oakland Athletics have offered to take over paying $136 million in debt to take ownership of the Coliseum site, where they can build their long-needed, baseball-only stadium.

A’s President Dave Kaval recently made the offer to officials of Oakland and Alameda County, who operate the Coliseum, as the team seeks a site for a new stadium in Oakland after being turned down for its first choice downtown in December.

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The A’s also likely lost one of their top pitching prospects after left-hander A.J. Puk injured the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. Dr. James Andrews is recommending he have Tommy John surgery.

Puk was the sixth overall pick in the 2016 draft by Oakland out of the University of Florida. He struck out 184 batters in 125 innings split between Class A and Double-A last season, going 6-10 with a 4.03 ERA. Puk had a 3.38 ERA in four spring training appearances this season.

Another A’s pitching prospect, Jharel Cotton, who the A’s acquired in a trade with the Dodgers, had Tommy John surgery last Wednesday.

Rangers sign Colon again

Bartolo Colon has signed another minor league contract with the Texas Rangers, who anticipate that the 44-year-old right-hander will start the fifth game of the season. While there are no promises for Colon after the April 2 game at Oakland, he re-signed with the team Monday.

Colon went to spring training with a minor league contract and had a 3.00 ERA over 18 innings in his five starts. The Rangers said when they cut him Saturday that they were working to renegotiate a new deal. The initial deal would have paid him $1.75 million if he had been added to the 40-man roster.

Texas also signed infielder Trevor Plouffe to another minor league deal. Both Plouffe and Colon were assigned to Triple-A Round Rock’s roster.

Etc.

Infielder Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks finalized a $24-million, five-year contract. ...

Oft-injured New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird had surgery to remove a small broken spur on the outside of his right ankle and will be sidelined until late May. ...

Bird’s teammate Aaron Judge is switching his equipment supplier to Adidas from Under Armour. ...

Minnesota Twins right-hander Phil Hughes will start the season on the disabled list because of a strained left oblique. ...

The Washington Nationals put second baseman Daniel Murphy and right-handed reliever Joaquin Benoit on the 10-day disabled list. …

The Tampa Bay Rays have obtained infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder, a former University of Arizona star, from the Cleveland Indians for $90,000. ...

Former ace Yovani Gallardo has been released by the Milwaukee Brewers, who owe the 32-year-old right-hander $483,871 in termination pay rather than his $2 million salary.