Worldwide Sports News
England have the squad depth, but France have a returning hero and hosting duties for the potentially decisive finale
What are you most looking forward to? Let’s hope it stops raining at some stage. Because if Matthieu Jalibert, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Henry Arundell, Manny Feyi-Waboso, Louis Rees-Zammit et al have a licence to thrill with a dry ball this could be an eye-catching championship.
Continue reading...‘My motivation to win is exactly the same,’ says champion
McLaren driver admires rival Verstappen’s killer instinct
Lando Norris insists he enters the new Formula One season highly motivated to retain the world championship he won for the first time last year. The McLaren driver believes his maiden triumph has only given him greater confidence in his ability to defend the title.
Norris won the championship after an intense competition that went to the wire. After a three-way fight with his teammate, Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Norris sealed the title by just two points at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Continue reading...Free agent pitcher Framber Valdez and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to a $115 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
Valdez became one of baseball’s most durable starters with the Houston Astros. Now, the left-hander is set to join a Tigers rotation anchored by two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.
Skubal went to a record-setting salary arbitration hearing Wednesday, with the left-hander asking for $32 million and the Tigers offering $19 million.
Valdez is a two-time All-Star and 2022 World Series champion. He was Houston’s ace last season with a 13-11 record and 3.66 ERA, and became a free agent for the first time.
He struck out 187 and walked 68 in 192 innings, and had a major league-high 12 wild pitches while making $18 million on a deal reached last offseason that avoided salary arbitration. He started Houston’s last four season openers.
Since making his major league debut in 2018 with the Astros, he is 81-52 with a 3.36 ERA. The 32-year-old Dominican averaged more than 191 innings the past four seasons, joining Giants right-hander Logan Webb as the only two pitchers to throw at least 175 innings each of those years.
Valdez was 15-7 with a 2.91 ERA over 28 games in 2024 and threw a no-hitter in 2023, when he was an All-Star for a second straight season. He is 8-4 with a 4.34 ERA in 17 postseason games, including 16 starts.
Valdez pitched in two World Series for the Astros, and was the winning pitcher in the clinching Game 6 that secured their 2022 championship against Philadelphia.
In the 2022 Series, he was 2-0 in two starts while allowing two runs over 12 1/3 innings (1.46 ERA) with 18 strikeouts. A year earlier, he gave up 10 runs and 12 hits over 4 2/3 innings (19.29 ERA) in two starts against Atlanta.
Valdez rejected a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from the Astros in November, so they would receive a compensatory pick after the fourth round of the 2026 amateur draft if he completes his deal with Detroit, which would forfeit its third-highest selection.
Valdez pitched a no-hitter against Cleveland on Aug. 1, 2023. He came close to another one just more than a year later against Texas, but that bid was broken up when Corey Seager homered with two outs in the ninth inning.
There was a strange moment last season when Valdez denied intentionally hitting his catcher in the chest with a pitch almost immediately after giving up a grand slam in a loss to the New York Yankees.
Two pitches after Trent Grisham’s slam in the Yankees’ 7-1 victory on Sept. 2, Valdez crossed up catcher César Salazar by throwing a 92.8 mph sinker to Anthony Volpe. Salazar moved his glove downward as the pitch approached the plate, an indication he was expecting a pitch with less velocity and more break. The ball hit him in his chest protector.
Just before the pitch Grisham sent over the fence, Salazar had motioned for Valdez to step off the mound. Valdez and Salazar both said after the game the pitch that hit the catcher wasn’t on purpose.
Astros manager Joe Espada insisted a day later the situation was “100%” resolved in his mind, and he wanted to “get past this and get back to baseball,” and he met with both players.
It was a good day for people interested in prospects, as our prospect team continues to roll out their best-in-industry Braves top 30 prospects list and we got Atlanta’s list of non-roster Spring Training invites. I will say that I was a bit disappointed at the absence of Cam Caminiti on the non-roster invites list, as I would love for him to be able to pick Chris Sale’s brain as a lefty with some similarities in pitch profile, but perhaps there will still be opportunities for that and Cam is obviously a ways away from the majors as of yet. That said, there are plenty of exciting prospects to watch, including JR Ritchie, Owen Murphy, Garrett Baumann, Alex Lodise, and John Gil.
Braves News
Our prospects team continues their top 30 prospects list with numbers 18-13.
The Braves released their non-roster invites list for Spring Training next week.
MLB News
The Tigers made a splash on the evening after Tarik Skubal’s arbitration hearing, signing Framber Valdez to a 3 year, $115 million deal with an opt-out after year two.
The Padres signed Miguel Andujar to a 1 year, $4 million deal.
The Red Sox signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a 1 year, $6 million deal to play second base for them.
The Pirates are reportedly interested in former Braves’ slugger Marcell Ozuna.
MLB.com | Brian Murphy: The Yankees have a very similar team to the one that they ran in 2025, meaning that they have to be confident that they’ll see improvement in at least a few key areas to get them over the hump. They’re got a few candidates to step up, including ones that began their ascent in status last year like Ben Rice. They’ve also got some more established names that have the potential to outperform their expectations still, and Murphy gets into how Ryan McMahon and Cody Bellinger fit that latter category.
CBS Sports | R.J. Anderson: The transition period from offseason to spring training is the perfect time to go over prospects, and now that the 2026 rankings are out for a bunch of publications the next step is to determine which players could take the big leaps that put them on said rankings by midseason or next year. The Yankees have a promising one in Bryce Cunningham, who had incredible results in 2025 but lost a lot of time to injuries.
MLB.com: The Yankees made another waiver claim on Wednesday, adding Yanquiel Fernández from the Colorado Rockies. A left-handed outfielder, Fernández hit .225 with four homers and 11 RBI in 52 games last year at the major-league level, but had respectable production across five years in the minors and further adds to the depth chart entering camp. In a corresponding move, the team designated right-handed pitcher Dom Hamel for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: Old friend Isiah Kiner-Falefa is on the move, and he’s staying in the division. The former Yankee and Blue Jay is joining the Red Sox on a one-year deal, and is likely to take over as their starting second baseman. It’s a far-cry from the more exciting deals that were floated like trading for Ketel Marte or Brendan Donovan or signing Bo Bichette, and while his defense likely will still carry some value I don’t think the Yankees’ staff will complain about having to face him in close games this season.
The Ringer | Bryan Curtis: You may have heard of the Washington Post’s massive layoffs yesterday, where a full third of the paper lost their jobs. That decision also completely axed the Post’s sports section, a monumental decision led by the paper’s inability to retain readers but more directly by management’s inability to give their writers a direction out of the spiral they were in. The general ineptitude displayed by leadership to treat the section as something worth saving creates yet another shockwave across the industry, as sports reporting is inarguably descending into one of the leanest periods of its history.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Andrej Stojakovic scored 17 points and No. 5 Illinois made 17 3-pointers in an 84-44 win over Northwestern on Wednesday night.
Keaton Wagler, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ben Humrichous each had 13 points for Illinois (20-3, 11-1 Big Ten), which won its 12th straight game. David Mirkovic had 12 points and Tomislav Ivisic had 12 rebounds.
Six players made 3s for Illinois, which shot 17 of 38 from behind the arc and had just two turnovers.
Wagler, whose 19th birthday was Tuesday, has scored in double figures in 15 straight games and 20 times this season.
He banked in a 3 from halfcourt with four seconds left the first half, giving Illinois a 47-19 lead at halftime.
Northwestern (10-13, 2-10), which shot 29% from the field including 4 of 25 on 3-pointers, did not have a player score in double figures.
Nick Martinelli, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, had just four points, 19 under his average. He was 2 of 10 from the field while playing 27 minutes. Tre Singleton led the Wildcats with eight points.
PORTLAND 87, NO. 6 GONZAGA 80
PORTLAND (AP) — Joel Foxwell scored 27 points and Portland upset Gonzaga, giving the Pilots their first victory over a top-10 team and snapping the Bulldogs’ 15-game winning streak.
The victory also ended a 20-game Gonzaga winning streak in the series. The Pilots had not defeated the Bulldogs since an 82-73 triumph in Portland on Jan. 9, 2014.
James O’Donnell added 16 points for the Pilots (11-14, 4-8 West Coast Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak. They were a 21 1/2-point underdog, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Graham Ike had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Gonzaga (22-2, 10-1), which had won 14 straight conference games. Gonzaga’s only previous loss this season came on Dec. 10 against then-No. 7 Michigan in Las Vegas.
NO. 8 HOUSTON 79, UCF 55
HOUSTON (AP) — Kingston Flemings had 18 points and six assists, Chris Cenac Jr. added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Houston beat Central Florida.
Cenac and Flemings combined for 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting in the first half as Houston (20-2, 8-1 Big 12) took a 33-19 lead into halftime. The duo finished 15 of 25 from the field.
Milos Uzan scored 12 points for the Cougars, who shot 55% from the floor despite going 3 for 19 from 3-point range. Houston had a 40-29 advantage in rebounds and outscored the Knights 42-14 in the paint.
The Cougars won their 17th straight at home and have won 50 of their last 51 home games. Houston also won its 11th straight over UCF.
The victory gave the Cougars their 11th straight 20-win season under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Riley Kugel had nine points for UCF (17-5, 6-4), which had won three in a row. The Knights shot 31% and were 6 of 21 on 3-pointers.
MINNESOTA 76, NO. 10 MICHIGAN STATE 73
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jaylen Crocker-Johnson had 22 points and seven rebounds to help Minnesota fend off a late surge by Michigan State and secure a upset.
Cade Tyson scored 17 points and Langston Reynolds added 14 points and eight assists for the Gophers (11-12, 4-8 Big Ten), who broke a seven-game losing streak despite being outscored 22-9 over the final four minutes in a game in which they were 7 1/2 point underdogs according to MGM Sportsbook.
Coen Carr had 10 of his 16 points for the Spartans (19-4, 9-3) in the last three minutes, including a layup with 34 seconds left that cut the lead to 72-68, their closest margin since 7-3.
OKLAHOMA STATE 99, NO. 16 BYU 92
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Anthony Roy scored a season-high 30 points and Oklahoma State overcame a stellar performance by freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa to beat BYU.
Dybantsa showed why he’s expected to be one of the first players chosen in the 2026 NBA draft. The 6-foot-9 forward had 36 points and seven rebounds. He made five 3-pointers, but the scuffling Cougars lost their third consecutive game.
Jaylen Curry scored 18 points and Vyctorius Miller added 14 for the Cowboys (16-6, 4-5 Big 12), who won their second straight. Oklahoma State fans stormed the court after the victory.
It was a very different performance than the Cowboys’ previous home game against a ranked opponent, when they fell behind by 30 at halftime in an 84-71 loss to No. 9 Iowa State. BYU became the highest-ranked team Oklahoma State has beaten this season.
Richie Saunders had 20 points and eight rebounds for BYU (17-5, 5-4), which also lost to No. 1 Arizona and No. 14 Kansas recently. It was the Cougars’ first loss to an unranked team this season.
NO. 20 CLEMSON 66, STANFORD 64
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Nick Davidson made a pair of free throws with 24.9 seconds left to put his team ahead and had a team-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds as Clemson held off Stanford.
Both teams struggled to make key shots in the waning moments.
Tigers leading scorer RJ Godfrey missed a pair of free throws with 1:31 left that would have given Clemson a lead and then committed a foul on the other end. But Stanford’s Oskar Giltay missed the front end of a one-and-one at 1:17.
Clemson (19-4, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its 13th straight conference road game dating to 2024-25 — the fourth-longest streak in ACC history and tied for longest for the league in the last 25 years.
Aidan Cammann scored 19 points for Stanford while freshman Ebuka Okorie had 18.
No. 24 LOUISVILLE 76, NOTRE DAME 65
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Ryan Conwell scored 12 points, including seven during a 15-1 second-half surge, and Khani Rooths added 12 off the bench to help Louisville put away Notre Dame.
The Cardinals (16-6, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) overcame another cold start to lead 38-28 just before halftime but needed much of the second half to gain another double-digit cushion against the stubborn Fighting Irish.
Louisville made it 64-54 on Conwell’s steal and three-point play with six minutes remaining, and Rooths added five during the surge over 4:26 that Conwell capped with four more points.
Cole Certa scored 18 points with five 3s for Notre Dame (11-12, 2-8), which dropped its third in a row and ninth of 11 contests.
There’s still a lot that will take place between now and Opening Day on March 27. With just over a month to go, the San Diego Padres’ only meaningful pickups so far this offseason have been the re-signing of Michael King, the signing of KBO star Sung-Mun Song and the latest addition of free agent outfielder Miguel Andujar. While these are great moves, they need more to become a truly threatening force in the National League West.
So what’s left for the Friars to do? For the purposes of this exercise, we will not include the bullpen (which is more or less set for San Diego). With that in mind, what should fans expect to see on Opening Day against the Detroit Tigers? Here’s a couple possibilities.
Starting Lineup
Starting Rotation
I get it. This looks unlikely (and slightly crazy). That’s why it’s the “everything goes right” possibility. Yu Darvish voids his contract, the team gets bought by a big spender before Spring Training ends, and someone like Jake Cronenworth gets traded in order to make some more room on the payroll.
This is the perfect scenario for the Padres. It gives them some thump from a bounceback candidate in Marcell Ozuna and a steady veteran presence in Paul Goldschmidt. Parker Messick slots into the rotation nicely as a rookie leftie, and Triston McKenzie performs well enough in Spring Training to earn his spot in the rotation.
Obviously, Messick would require a trade with the Cleveland Guardians that would include a decent price tag, but he would not become a free agent until 2032 (and would be incredibly inexpensive until then). With additions like that, San Diego’s lineup and rotation look elite, giving them a real shot at slaying the dragon up the freeway.
Starting Lineup
Starting Rotation
This is more of where I think the Padres will end up. Picking up Ozuna for some added power and allowing Gavin Sheets to get reps at first base to build on his stellar first season in San Diego.
The addition of Patrick Corbin brings in a serviceable left-hander who could help anchor the back half of the rotation. These moves still probably require a trade to free up payroll and they’re smaller additions, but they could go a long way in the Friars’ return to October baseball.
Starting Lineup
Starting Rotation
Without any additions, the current team looks something like this. And this isn’t terrible. Not by a long shot. You have Pivetta and King anchoring the front end of a rotation (with some question marks at the back), and a lineup with some great bats in it. The problem is this looks less like a team that could take the NL West by storm and more of one that is going to fall into the purgatory of mediocrity.
Whether the Padres have any moves left remains to be seen, but general manager A.J. Preller has shown in years past that he is more than capable of pulling off a last-minute deal (like the 2024 trade for Dylan Cease announced the day the team left for the season opener in South Korea). Preller has shown that he is one of the more creative executives in MLB so it wouldn’t be surprising to see one or two more moves. Until then, all we can do is wait and watch the clock tick down to March 27.
Baseball insider Jon Heyman has reported the San Diego Padres and outfielder Miguel Andujar have agreed on a one-year, $4 million deal. The 31-year-old can earn $2 million more if he reaches performance bonuses.
The move bolsters the Padres’ bench with a proven right-handed stick. Andujar joins the mix as a candidate for the right-handed designated hitter role. Also, he can provide much-needed depth at the corner outfield positions and third base.
He has played nine major league seasons with four teams (New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, The Athletics, and Cincinnati Reds). Andujar has a career .282 batting average with 53 HR and 223 RBI in 467 games.
Andujar made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2018. The third baseman had an outstanding season, as he batted .297 with 27 HR and 97 RBI in 149 games. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year award to Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani, who won by a landslide vote.
After struggling to match his rookie season production, Andujar had a resurgent 2025 campaign with the Athletics and Reds. He hit a combined .318 with 10 HR and 44 RBI in 94 games.
For the Friars, the acquisition is a low-risk, high-reward option.
Spring training is right around the corner, and the Rockies roster looks a lot different than it did at the end of the 2025 season that culminated in 119 losses and just 43 wins. There were numerous reasons the Rockies lost 119 games, as has been written about ad nauseam, but some of the biggest reasons were injuries and/or down years from many of their star players such as Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle, among others.
If they are going to take steps forward in 2026, they will need some guys to bounce back (see my list of candidates here).
So my question to you tonight is this: Which player do the Rockies need to improve most in 2026? One of those four, or someone else entirely? Let us know your thoughts!
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand scored in the fourth round of the shootout in his return to Florida's lineup after missing two games to give the Panthers a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins, his former team, on Wednesday night.
Anton Lundell had a goal and two assists for his second three-point game of the season, while Matthew Tkachuk and Uvis Balinskis had a goal and an assist each as the Panthers ended a four-game losing streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves.
Michael Eyssimont scored twice for the Bruins, who have lost two straight games in Florida in a shootout, including Sunday’s NHL Stadium Series game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Mark Kastelic and Casey Mittelstadt also had goals and Joonas Korpisalo had 22 saves.
The Panthers trailed 2-1 after the first period despite taking the lead on a goal from Eetu Luostarinen at 4:22.
Eyssimont scored a pair of goals on breakaways — including one when he came racing out of the penalty box and got Bobrovsky to go down, leaving the net open enough for him to be able to tuck the puck in.
Florida scored three goals on special teams in the second, two on the power play and one short-handed.
Balinskis tied the score 30 seconds into the period. Tkachuk made it 3-2 at 2:22 on a power-play goal and the Panthers made it 4-2 with 1:27 remaining in the second, Sam Reinhart feeding Lundell off the rush while Florida was killing off a penalty.
Boston pulled within one at 4-3 in third on Kastelic's goal and tied it when Mittelstadt collected a rebound off a David Pastrnak shot and lifted the puck over Bobrovsky with 9:30 remaining while on the power play.
Boston went 1 for 7 on the power play.
Up nextBruins: Host Columbus on Feb. 26.
Panthers: Visit Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson each had a goal and two assists, Samuel Montembeault stopped 36 shots to earn his first win since Jan. 17 and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 on Wednesday night.
Rookie Oliver Kapanen, Lane Hutson and Phillip Danault, also scored for the Canadiens, who are 4-0-1 during a five-game points streak and 6-2-1 in their last nine.
Montembeault, who made his first start since Jan. 24, had given up three or more goals in five of his six previous starts.
Kyle Connor scored for the Jets and Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves.
Winnipeg took an early 1-0 lead when Connor scored his 25th goal on a one-timer during a power play at 6:07 of the first period.
Kapanen, who’s heading to the Olympics for Finland, got his 18th goal 10 minutes later when a rebound went off Jet Cole Perfetti’s stick right to him and he then flipped the puck past a sprawled Hellebuyck.
Montreal went ahead 3-1 at 6:44 of the second after goals 76 seconds apart by Anderson and Hutson.
The Jets missed a chance to pull closer then they hit a post and Montembeault later snagged a close-in shot by Dylan DeMelo. They were also stymied on four shots on goal during a power play early in the third.
Gallagher’s goal came with 3 seconds left on a power play at 10:57 of the third. Danault put the puck into an empty net with 14 seconds remaining to cap the scoring.
Up nextCanadiens: Host the New York Islanders on Feb. 26.
Jets: At Vancouver on Feb. 25.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Dai Dai Ames scored a career-high 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting and California blew a double-digit lead on Wednesday before the Golden Bears beat Georgia Tech 90-85.
John Camden had 15 points, Chris Bell scored 14 points, and Justin Pippen finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Cal (17-6, 5-5 ACC). Milos Ilic had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Akai Fleming led Georgia Tech (11-12, 2-8) with 19 points, 15 in the second half, and Chas Kelley III scored 15. Jaeden Mustaf and Kam Craft added 14 points apiece and Baye Ndongo had 10 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists. Georgia Tech has lost three in a row and six of seven. Ndongo suffered an apparent non-contact injury to his left leg moments before he fouled out 43 seconds left.
Fleming scored eight consecutive Georgia Tech points — which included two 3-pointers — to cut the deficit to 80-77 with 1:08 to play. The Bears then made 10 of 12 from the free-throw line in the final 48 seconds to seal it.
Ames made back-to-back baskets before Ilic converted a three-point play that made it 7-0 a little more than two minutes into the game. The Bears took a 43-29 lead into the intermission.
Ames hit a 3-pointer 42 seconds into the second half that gave the Bears a 15-point lead, their biggest of the game. Craft then scored eight consecutive Yellow Jackets points in a 20-3 run that game them their first lead when Fleming's layup with 14:37 to play made it 51-49.
Mouhamed Sylla (ankle) and Peyton Marshall (right thumb) did not play for Georgia Tech.
Up nextGeorgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets play Saturday at Stanford.
California: The Bears host Clemson on Saturday.
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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball.
We’re open for business here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. It’s so good to see you this evening. Come in out of the cold. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night I asked you which team is the “dark horse” candidate to win the National League Central? The projection systems say it’s Pittsburgh, but you still think it’s Cincinnati by a margin of 66 to 34 percent.
Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. The BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic is in the third round and getting close to the end, but you’re always welcome to join in. But you’re free to skip that if you choose. You won’t hurt my feelings.
We lost clarinetist and band leader Ken Peplowski on Monday at the age of 66. Peplowski died doing what he loved, as he was on a jazz cruise ship where he was scheduled to perform when he was found dead. No cause of death was revealed, although the obituary notes that he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2021.
Peplowski played all kinds of jazz, but he was most famous for his work at keeping the big band sound alive. Here’s he keeps that tradition by playing the jazz standard “Body and Soul” with a band, alongside fellow clarinet player Victor Gomes, pianist Dan Nimmer and drummer Marion Felder.
This is from 2018.
You voted in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic and 2001: A Space Odyssey advances to the Final Four with a win over Planet of the Apes. The Kubrick classic will take on Godzilla in the semifinals. Those early hominids are going to need a lot of bones to take down Godzilla.
Tonight we’re picking a third film to go on to the semifinals between Alien and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Alien (1979). Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Veronica Cartwright.
Here’s what I wrote about Alien last time.
Here’s a way that director Scott uses that Hitchcockian definition of suspense, where we the audience knows more than the characters on the screen and are left anticipating the action.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban.
Here’s what I wrote last time about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Here’s the scene leading up to William Shatner’s now-famous and much-memed line “Khaaaan!”
Both of these films spawned media empires. Yes, Star Trek existed before TWOK, but this film was expected to be the end to the series. Instead, it’s success led to 11 more feature films, nine live-action television series, two animated series and a whole mess of related other stuff. Alien led to eight more movies and now a TV series. What both of them did, which a standalone film isn’t expected to do, is create worlds for other people to play in. And it seems that the public can’t get enough of either one.
So now it’s time to vote.
You have until Monday to vote. Up next, the final third-round matchup between Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Back to the Future.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
The talk of most of last season was whether or not the Cubs would re-sign outfielder Kyle Tucker. Obviously the answer was no, as Tucker signed a four-year, $240 million deal with the Dodgers with an opt-out after two and three years. So basically far fewer years that most of us had expected, but for a lot more annual salary, although half of that $60 million a year is deferred. Even with the deferrals, the deal set a record of $57.1 million annual value as MLB calculates it.
Instead of making that deal, the Cubs pivoted and signed third baseman Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal. There are some deferrals in that deal as well, so that brings the “present day” value down to around $30.5 million a year. That’s still a record annual deal for the Cubs, even if the total value of the deal falls a bit short of what Jason Heyward got a decade ago.
Despite the differences in money, the latest Steamer projections from Fangraphs have almost no difference in total value between the two of them. Tucker is projected to be a 3.9 WAR player and Bregman is projected at 3.8. So did the Cubs make a clever move here?
Well, maybe, maybe not. For one, other projection systems figure their values differently and some of them have Tucker projected a bit higher than that. But what I’m more interested in is what David Adler wrote about in this article, that Bregman and Tucker reach that value in different ways.
Tucker is projected to be a top-ten hitter in the game with a wRC+ of 139, with 100 being average. Bregman’s projection of 121 wRC+ is quite good, but it’s not elite like Tucker’s is. However, Bregman makes up the difference with defense. Bregman is a third baseman and that’s a more important defensive position than right field. Secondly, Bregman is a very good defensive third baseman. Once upon a time Tucker was a good defensive right fielder, but anyone who saw him play right field last year knows that those days are gone. So Bregman makes up the difference in value with Tucker by playing better defense at a more demanding position.
So putting the terms of the contracts aside, which player would have given the Cubs a better chance to win a title in 2026? Did the Cubs need Tucker’s power and left-handed bat or Bregman’s steady bat and defense more?
There’s also the issue of roster construction to take into account, even if you accept that both players provide equal value. Signing Bregman sends incumbent third baseman Matt Shaw to a bench role where, presumably, he will get fewer at-bats than he did in 2025. There is some cost to that as Shaw was a pretty good hitter in the second half of last year, hitting .258/.317/.522 after the All-Star Break. So when figuring Bregman’s value to the team, you have to subtract the value of all those plate appearances that Shaw won’t be getting in 2026.
On the other hand, Shaw takes over the utility infield position from Vidal Bruján and Willi Castro. I don’t have to tell you that both of those players produced at below replacement level in 2025. You would assume that Shaw would be better than that.
Had the Cubs re-signed Tucker, that would have pushed Seiya Suzuki back into the DH role. That helps because while the defensive metrics did not like Tucker’s defense in right field at all last year, they thought Suzuki was even worse. So there’s a defensive downgrade going from Tucker to Suzuki in right field.
Moving Suzuki back to the DH spot also means that rookie Moisés Ballesteros either spends the season back in Iowa or gets traded to another team. And Steamer projects Ballesteros to put up a wRC+ of 107 this year. That’s almost the same as the 105 wRC+ that they predict for Matt Shaw. So one way or the other, one of these bats would be seeing less playing time.
There’s also the issue of their presence in the clubhouse, which I have no way of measuring. But the Cubs made a big deal about Bregman’s reputation as a positive teammate when they signed him.
So set the contracts aside. Tucker is younger, which is a big reason why he got more money than Bregman. But their respective ages are pretty irrelevant for who will produce more in 2026.
Also set aside what you think Tucker and Bregman will do in 2027 and 2028. Vote only on who makes the team better in 2026. Which player gives the Cubs a better chance to win this year?
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Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s tour of the American League East has reached Beantown.
The former Yankees infielder has agreed to a one-year deal with the Red Sox, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed on Wednesday night.
Kiner-Falefa’s deal, which was first reported by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, is worth $6 million.
The soon-to-be 31-year-old split last season between the Pirates and Blue Jays, serving as a versatile bench piece down the stretch for the AL champions.
Kiner-Falefa was involved in one of the most talked-about plays of the World Series after pinch-running for Bo Bichette in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7.
With a conservative secondary lead at third base, he was thrown out at home by Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas — who made a diving stop — on a ground ball hit by Daulton Varsho, coming inches away from scoring the winning run of the World Series. Toronto fell in extra innings.
“They told us to stay close to the base,” Kiner-Falefa told reporters after the instant classic. “They didn’t want us to get doubled off in that situation with a hard line drive. They wanted a smaller lead and a smaller secondary, so that’s what I did.”
Between Pittsburgh and Toronto, the 2020 AL Gold Glove winner at third base slashed .262/.297/.334 with two home runs and 40 RBIs in 138 games.
Kiner-Falefa, who has experience at every position outside of first base, gives Boston added flexibility after losing All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency to the Cubs.
He previously spent two uneven seasons with the Yankees from 2022-23 after being acquired alongside Josh Donaldson in a blockbuster trade with the Twins.
During his time in pinstripes, “IKF” — who began his tenure at the team’s starting shortstop — hit .253/.311/.333 with 10 home runs and 85 RBIs in 255 games.
Kinfer-Falefa departed The Bronx for a two-year, $15 million contract with Toronto ahead of the 2024 season, only to be traded to Pittsburgh at that year’s trade deadline.
After the Yankees toyed with the idea of a reunion at last year’s trade deadline, the Blue Jays were the ones to re-acquire Kiner-Falefa as a late-August waiver claim.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Tounde Yessoufou scored 27 points, and Baylor rolled to an 86-67 win over Colorado on Wednesday in Big 12 play.
Baylor (13-9, 3-7 Big 12) dominated the first half, jumping out to a 45-21 lead behind hot shooting and a barrage of early 3-pointers. Yessoufou went 10 of 16 from the field and added seven rebounds as the Bears shot 53% overall and 42% from behind the arc.
Cameron Carr and Obi Agbim each scored 19 points for the Bears, combining for six 3-pointers. Carr added eight rebounds and six assists, while Agbim finished with six assists. Baylor made 20 of 25 free throws and outrebounded the Buffaloes 32-26.
Colorado (13-10, 3-7) never cut the deficit to single digits in the second half despite a late push from its bench. Ian Inman scored 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Jalin Holland added 12. Barrington Hargress scored 11, and Isaiah Johnson finished with 10 points and four assists.
The Buffaloes shot 40% from the field and 41% from 3 but outscored the Bears 46-41 after halftime. Baylor answered every run, stretching the margin to 70-41 on a Carr jumper with 8:27 remaining and maintained control the rest of the way.
Up NextBaylor travels to No. 7 Iowa State on Saturday.
Colorado hosts Arizona State this Saturday.
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