Former All-Star pitcher John Means says he tore an Achilles tendon this week just before he was to sign a 2026 contract.
“This is hard to put into words, but I’ll try,” he wrote Thursday on social media. “On Tuesday, while training, I ruptured my Achilles. It happened the same day I was supposed to sign with a team and be available on opening day for the first time in a long time.”
Mean's posting was accompanied by a photo of a person on a gurney, left foot covered. Means wrote he had surgery Wednesday.
“I was finally enjoying my first healthy offseason in four years and felt better than ever,” he wrote.
Means made his major league debut in 2018, was an All-Star the following year and spent his first seven seasons with Baltimore. He has a 23-26 record with a 3.68 ERA in 73 starts and five relief appearances.
The 32-year-old has pitched in eight big league games since mid-April 2022 due to Tommy John surgery that month and a second Tommy John operation in June 2024.
He signed a $1 million, one-year contract with Cleveland last February and made seven minor league rehab starts last August and September. The Guardians declined a $6 million option last month, allowing him to become a free agent.
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FILE - Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher John Means throws to the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel, File)
TORONTO (AP) — Canada and the U.S. will launch formal discussions to review their free trade agreement in mid-January, the office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
The prime minister confirmed to provincial leaders that Dominic LeBlanc, the country’s point person for U.S-Canada trade relations, “will meet with U.S. counterparts in mid-January to launch formal discussions," Carney’s office said in a statement late Thursday.
The United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact, or USMCA, is up for review in 2026. U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated the deal in his first term and included a clause to possibly renegotiate the deal in 2026.
Carney met with the leaders of Canada’s provinces on Thursday to give them an update on trade talks with the U.S.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and more than 75% of Canada’s exports go to the country's southern neighbor. But most exports to the U.S. are currently exempted by USMCA.
Trump cut off trade talks to reduce tariffs on certain sectors with Carney in October after the Ontario provincial government ran an anti-tariff advertisement in the U.S. That followed a spring of acrimony, since abated, over Trump’s insistence that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
Carney said earlier Thursday that Canada and the U.S. were close to an agreement at the time on sectoral tariff relief in multiple areas, including steel and aluminum. Tariffs are taking a toll on certain sectors of Canada's economy, particularly aluminum, steel, auto and lumber.
Carney also said trade irritants flagged this week by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are elements of a “much bigger discussion” about continental trade. Greer said a coming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal will hinge on resolving U.S. concerns about Canadian policies on dairy products, alcohol and digital services.
Carney and the provincial premiers agreed to meet in person in Ottawa early in the new year.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, as are 85% of U.S. electricity imports.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
Carney said U.S. access to Canada’s critical minerals is not a certainty.
“It’s a potential opportunity for the United States, but it’s not an assured opportunity for the United States. It’s part of a bigger discussion in terms of our trading relationship, because we have other partners around the world, in Europe for example, who are very interested in participating,” Carney said earlier Thursday.
FILE - Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney pumps his fist as he arrives to deliver remarks at the Liberal caucus holiday party in Ottawa, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
