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LOS ANGELES -- The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Carlos Ruiz from Philadelphia in a trade of popular backup catchers Thursday, getting a player with a world of postseason experience.The Phillies also sent $1 million to the Dodgers for A.J. Ellis, minor league pitcher Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named or cash.The 37-year-old Ruiz was hitting .261 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 48 games, playing behind Cameron Rupp. Ruiz has done well lately, batting .340 (16 for 47) since the All-Star break.In terms of leadership ability, ability to call a game and run a pitching staff, Carlos rates extremely well in those things and has experience, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.What he brings to our lineup in terms of left-handed pitching, we felt was something that we were focused on for ways to improve, he said.Ruizs role will be as a backup catcher for the Dodgers. Hell arrive Friday, and manager Dave Roberts already said hell start in his first game against the Chicago Cubs.I know what he does, said reliever J.P. Howell, formerly with Tampa Bay. I lost a World Series to him. Hell come over here and help us.Ruiz was an All-Star in 2012 and Phillies fans loved to call out his nickname -- Chooch -- when he delivered big hits. He got many of them for Philadelphia, batting .353 with two homers and five RBI in 11 World Series games.Overall, Ruiz played 46 games in the postseason with the Phillies, helping them win five NL East crowns.It certainly was helpful, Friedman said.Those titles came alongside former Philadelphia star Chase Utley, and this trade reunites them on the Dodgers.Chooch, obviously Chase has played with him a long time, third baseman Justin Turner said. Great guy. Great teammate. Plays with a lot of energy. Whenever he gets here, well bring him in and embrace him and make him feel as comfortable as possible.The trade also leaves just aging slugger Ryan Howard in Philadelphia from the team that beat Tampa Bay to win the 2008 championship.The Dodgers now have more former Phillies players from that 2008 team (Utley, Ruiz and Joe Blanton) than they have from the Dodgers team that lost to the Phillies in the playoffs in 2008 (Clayton Kershaw and Andre Ethier, who are both are on the disabled list). Another former Phillies star from that club, Jimmy Rollins, played for the Dodgers last year.Ellis hit .194 with one homer and 13 RBI this season as a backup to Yasmani Grandal.The 35-year-old Ellis often caught Kershaw and was one of the Cy Young Award winners best friends. Ellis said he and ace cried together after learning about the trade.To know that, in all likelihood, Ill never get to catch him again, is without a doubt the most devastating thing Im feeling right now, Ellis said.Ellis was drafted by the Dodgers in 2003 and said he was proud to have spent his career with them.To have that gone now in the blink of an eye, without much time to feel finality to it, it rips your heart out, he said.Friedman said he wasnt concerned that there would be a disruption of chemistry in the clubhouse as the Dodgers pursue their first World Series title since 1988.All of our interests are perfectly aligned in terms of doing everything we can to bring a world championship back to Los Angeles, Friedman said.Ellis did a lot for the Dodgers in community, and went on a hospital visit Tuesday. Kershaw recently said the clubhouse chemistry on the Dodgers was the best hed seen on any of his teams.Asked about if the move would affect the team mix, closer Kenley Jansen said: The chemistry was great. Thats a tough question. All I can say is its a sad day today in the clubhouse, a guy like A.J. is leaving.Friedman said he did not consult any players before making the decision.Like Ruiz, Ellis excelled in October and was a career .365 hitter in 17 postseason games.Bergjans was 3-13 with a 4.98 ERA at Class A Rancho Cucamonga. The 23-year-old righty was an eighth-round draft pick in 2015 after playing for Haverford College in suburban Philadelphia. Custom Atletico Madrid Jerseys . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. 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NEW YORK -- College womens basketball is exploring ways to change the format of the NCAA tournament, including moving the Final Four back a week to avoid overlap with the end of the mens tournament.In a survey given to the conferences and obtained by The Associated Press, the womens basketball oversight committee laid out a few potential changes that wouldnt take place until 2019, at the earliest. The date change would put the womens Final Four on the same weekend as the Masters.The committee is asking the schools and conferences for feedback on several alterations, including having the opening round at 32 sites and having the second round and regionals played at the same location. Moving the Final Four back would add a bye week to the tournament schedule.The survey has a variety of implications, NCAA vice president for womens basketball Anucha Browne said in a phone interview with the AP on Tuesday. Its an opportunity to see if the current format is where we should stay or look into doing something different. We want to talk to the practitioners on campus -- the senior womens associates, the coaches, we hope there is some feedback from the student-athletes. Student-athlete input is pretty important.The surveys are due on Dec. 2, and oversight committee chair Jean Lenti Ponsetto, who is the athletic director at DePaul, said that it would take a while to digest the information.For sure, its going to take us a couple meetings to work through all the details without having a good idea what the results are going to look like, she said.Browne and Ponsetto both stressed that it would be nearly impossible for anything to change in the immediate future, because regional sites and Final Four locations are already locked in through 2018, including with a new Friday-Sunday setup for the Final Four beginning in 2017.I think there seems to be a perspective in membership that we need to do something in womens basketball. The championship isnt broken and womens basketball is in a good place, Browne said. We want to deliver a strong crowd, and going to a Friday-Sunday format this year will be an opportunity to see how that plays out.Shifting the entire tournament back to avoid a bye week wasnt discussed on the survey. Thats not a proposition that coaches would enjoy.I like playing the following weekend, Louisville coach Jeff Walz said of the current format. At the same time, I see what were trying to do. Whats best for womenns basketball for attendance? Thats my only issue with that move.ddddddddddddIts a big break. That would be the biggest break in the entire season, including Christmas. We dont have a break that long at any time when the season starts up. It would be something completely different.Expanding to 32 teams hosting in the first round would potentially help expand the womens basketball fan base by allowing more schools to have tournament games on campus.If youre right on that bubble line, thats a great opportunity to host games, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference commissioner Rich Ensor said. Thats a good way of growing the game.The downside of having 32 first-round sites would be the travel cost. Thats are a big reason why the womens NCAA tournament is operating at a deficit, according to Browne.Its the highest revenue-producing sport for women. If you take travel out of it, its doing extremely well, Browne said.The womens tournament travel party, including the band and cheerleaders, is the same size as that of the mens NCAA tournament. The NCAA is estimating on the survey that going to 32 first-round sites and the revised regional format would increase costs between $1.2 million and $1.4 million.ESPN, which broadcasts the NCAA tournament, was opposed to most of the changes in the survey because of costs and feasibility.Our research has shown that moving the NCAA womens Final Four to Masters weekend would negatively impact ratings and would cause a loss of the cross-promotional benefits of the mens Final Four, said Carol Stiff, ESPNs vice president of womens sports programming.According to the survey, ESPN estimates that viewership could drop 30 percent if the Final Four is moved back. The network, which has been the exclusive home to the championship since 1996, also was against the idea of having 32 first-round sites.With the bracket being released on selection Monday, we expressed to the NCAA that it would be extremely challenging, if not impossible, for us to secure all the necessary resources in such a short time frame if the first-round games were expanded to 32 sites, Stiff said.Most of the ideas were originally discussed in a White Paper put together by Big East commissioner Val Ackerman in 2013 on the state of womens basketball.The Associated Press contributed to this report.? ' ' '