LONDON (AP) — A heckler yelled “leave Greenland alone!” while Vanessa Williams sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before tipoff of an NBA game in London between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”
The heckler's outburst drew some scattered laughter and applause. Williams was unfazed and completed the song.
WASHINGTON — Right-hander Cade Cavalli and the Washington National avoided salary arbitration Sunday when they agreed to a one-year contract worth $870,000, a deal that includes a 2027 team option.
When the sides exchanged proposed arbitration salaries on Jan. 8, Cavalli asked for $900,000 and the Nationals offered $825,000. The $75,000 gap was the smallest among the 18 players who failed to reach agreements with their clubs on the swap day.
His agreement calls for an $862,500 salary this year, the midpoint between the filing numbers. The team option is for $4 million with a $7,500 buyout.
Cavalli, 27, was eligible for arbitration for the first time after going 3-1 with a 4.25 ERA in 10 starts in his first regular-season big league action since 2022. He had a $760,200 salary while in the major leagues and $370,100 while in the minors, earning $579,832.
Selected by Washington with the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft, he made his big league debut on Aug. 26, 2022, his lone appearance that year. He hurt his arm during a spring training game against the Mets on March 14, 2023, and had Tommy John surgery a week later.
He began a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment on May 20, 2024, but made just three outings totaling 8 1/3 innings.
Cavalli started 2025 at Class A Fredericksburg and was promoted to Double-A Harrisburg on April 24 and Triple-A Rochester five days later. He returned to the major leagues on Aug. 6 after going 4-17 with a 5.47 ERA in 17 minor league starts last year. Cavalli pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings against the Athletics in his return and got his first big league win on Aug. 16 against Philadelphia.
Seventeen players remain scheduled for hearings, to be held from Jan. 26 to Feb. 13 in Scottdale, Arizona.
In the most prominent case, two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal asked for a record $32 million, while the Detroit Tigers offered the left-hander $19 million.
It’s Sunday, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! It may be snowing in New York City this weekend, but in the sports world, the hot stove has been boiling. From the New York Giants’ hiring of John Harbaugh as their next head coach to the Dodgers’ signing Kyle Tucker (yawn), this week has been filled with big news. So what have the Yankees been up to in that time? Let’s find out!
Fernando Cruuuuuuuuz
Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz took to Instagram to celebrate his 15th wedding anniversary last week.
Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt posted an album on Instagram, filled with photos and videos from throughout the winter. The big news? Schmidt, who underwent Tommy John surgery over the summer, has already begun throwing! Hopefully, he remains on track for a midsummer return.
Speaking of training, a number of other Yankees players posted videos on their Instagram stories in the gym, on the ballfield, and in Cam Schlittler’s case, in downtown Tampa (so I assume he’s already at the Yankees’ spring training facility).
Professor Rodriguez
Former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez posted that he returned to Stanford as a guest instructor at the Graduate School of Business, teaching a Strategic Pivoting class. For a guy who has rewritten the story of his career, in both good and bad ways, several times, that’s one class he certainly seems qualified to teach.
Yankees radio voice Dave Simms was in Providence, Rhode Island, this past Tuesday to call Villanova University’s victory over Providence. The Wildcats increased their in-conference record to 5-1 with the win.
Legendary announcer Bob Uecker, the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers for over 50 years, passed away a year ago on Friday. Uecker was widely regarded as one of the greatest sports announcers ever. He also had a knack for sharing — and, through his actions, creating — funny, often self-deprecating stories.
In the spirit of keeping his memory alive, I wanted to compile a few of my favorites. If I missed one of your favorites, drop it in the comments.
The One (and Two) Liners:
On his playing career:
“In 1962, I was named Minor League Player of the Year. It was my second season in the bigs.”
“One time, I got pulled over at 4 a.m. I was fined $75 for being intoxicated and $400 for being with the Phillies.”
“I led the league in go get ’em next time.”
“I led the league in hit-by-pitches one year. That’s because I couldn’t get out of the way.”
“They told me to block the plate. I laid down. That seemed safest.”
“I was so bad, they once traded me for myself.”
“The only way I could make the team was because I knew where the beer was kept.”
“The highlight of my career was getting out of the bullpen without falling down.”
“Career highlights? I had two. I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax, and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.”
“If a guy hits .300 every year, what does he have to look forward to? I always tried to stay around .190, with three or four RBI. And I tried to get them all in September. That way I always had something to talk about during the winter.”
On his broadcasting career:
“I thought silence meant I was fired. Then I realized baseball already has enough pauses. I just filled the funny ones.”
On baseball cards:
“My baseball card had my picture on the front and my career statistics on the back. That way you could turn it over and laugh twice.”
“I knew when my career was over. In 1965, my baseball card came out with no picture.”
On his favorite aspect of playing professional baseball:
“It was the free food. I hit .200 but ate like an All-Star.”
On getting older:
“I used to get sore after games. Now I get sore watching them.”
“I have no recollection of what year this was, where the Brewers were playing, or any other context. All I remember is that we’re returning from the commercial break, Uecker is welcoming us back into the booth saying something like ‘Welcome back to [Whatever Stadium we’re in] the score is [Whatever].‘ Then, apropos of nothing, ‘Man! I hope that guy puts his shirt back on.’
To be clear: Uecker had not mentioned this shirtless buffoon before in the broadcast, or brought him up afterward. He just was annoyed by a guy, and he wanted us all to know about it.
So he told us.”
The Uniform Malfunction:
“You know, everybody remembers their first game in the major leagues. For me it was in Milwaukee. My hometown, born and raised there, and I can remember walking out on the field and Birdie Tebbetts was our manager at that time. And my family was there: my mother and dad, and all my relatives. And as I’m standing on the field, everybody’s pointing at me and waving and laughing, and I’m pointing back. And Tebbetts came up and asked me if I was nervous or uptight about the game. And I said, ‘I’m not. I’ve been waiting five years to get here. I’m ready to go.’
He said, ‘Well, we’re gonna start you today. I didn’t want to tell you earlier. I didn’t want you to get too fired up.’
I said, ‘Look, I’m ready to go.’
He said, ‘Well, great, you’re in there. And oh, by the by, the rest of us up here wear that supporter on the inside.’ That was the first game my folks walked out on, too.”
Raspberry Sherbert Bratwurst:
From Brewers broadcaster Lane Grindle:
“Usinger’s Famous Sausage is a big sponsor on the radio and another sponsor is Cedar Crest Ice Cream. A lot of our messaging combines the two of them. They deliver a lot of their products to the booth. One night on the air, Ueck was talking about how we had some sherbet that we had had out, and we were trying it earlier in the day. And then he says, ‘You know, as a matter of fact, I think it’s so good you could put it on a sausage and it would be good.’ It kind of devolved into, like, well, let’s all try this … Let’s actually put sherbet on a brat and eat it tonight, taste test it and then report on air how it is. It was raspberry sherbet, and we used it like it was mustard or ketchup. Honestly, it wasn’t bad. We all kind of liked it.”
Jean Jacques Smythe:
From former Brewers broadcaster Jim Powell:
“This would never happen with any other partner that I would ever have.
We would just get on the bus to go to the stadium, you know, 3:30 in the afternoon, for a 7 p.m. game. We were in Montreal to play the Expos. I don’t know why he saw that as like a clean palette on which he could go to town, but he did. So on the bus ride, he would start reading the billboards, you know as the bus was passing along, and he sort of developed a character, just goofing off on the bus rides. This happened over multiple years. After a while, it became pretty refined. Like, he was really funny with this character. So I had to do a pregame interview for every game. And I asked him, ‘Hey, what do you think about if I interview you on the pregame show, and you’re in that character? ’And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, I’m not doing it for that.’ I said, ‘That’s fine; it doesn’t have to go on the air. What if we just do an interview just for us to laugh at?’ Under that circumstance, he was fine with it.
So we did this interview, and out of nowhere, I just plucked what I thought was a French Canadian type of name, Jean Jacques Smythe. So I do this interview with Jean Jacques Smythe, who was, as I labeled him in the interview, a renowned French Canadian journalist, highly esteemed, blah, blah, blah. When we start, he did something he had never done on the bus. He became completely hostile. He started ripping me. He was ripping the commissioner of baseball, (former Brewers owner) Bud Selig. Anybody he could think of. He was anti-everything. For whatever reason, that’s the way he took the character in this interview. Of course, the best part was he began to rip himself. And it was absolutely hysterical.”
You can find (one of) the Jean Jacques Smythe interviews here.
“OK, See You Tomorrow!”
From broadcaster Pat Hughes:
“After each game, I would be doing the postgame show on radio. He would be packing up his suitcase and preparing to leave the booth. His big goal was to try to get me to laugh out loud, on the air, while I am doing out-of-town scores or recapping, playing highlights from the Brewers game we just did. And it was absolutely hysterical the things he would do. He would, for example, stand right behind me, and make a sound. Like a wounded seal or a wounded dog. He would bark. Ar roof. Ar roof. Ar roof.
Sometimes he would use props. I’m live on the air broadcasting, and I’m trying to maintain my composure and be a professional. One time, he said, ‘Hey, Pat, look over here.’ And I knew it was going to be something bizarre. I turned around and there’s pretzels sticking out of both of his ears.
That was his big goal, to try to get me to laugh out loud. Once I laughed, then he’d say, ‘OK, see you tomorrow.’”
The Furry Convention
From former Brewers catcher and current announcer Bill Schroeder:
“This is an example of how Ueck can relate to just about anybody, I mean, presidents and pillars of industry and just a guy on the street. We would go to dinner in Pittsburgh and people would come up to him, and it was not easy being Ueck. Everybody expected him to be on his game, right? He had to be funny. But this one time after a game in Pittsburgh, Ueck was in the Fish Market, which was the bar at the hotel where we were staying at. It just so happened that the furries were in town. You know, the people that dressed up in these animal outfits? So I walk into the Fish Market and I see Bob Uecker sitting at the bar, and he’s having a conversation with a guy dressed up in a horse head. And the person next to him was in a cat suit. Ueck was like, talking to Trigger, and, you know, Felix the Cat is right next to him. He’s having a conversation with these guys like no big deal.
And that, it’s an image that I’ll never forget. It’s just an example of how Ueck could just take a situation and make it fun and not make it uncomfortable. And he did that for thousands and thousands of people, and that’s one thing I’m really going to miss about Ueck.”
BERLIN (AP) — Substitute Jeong Woo-yeong scored a late equalizer as Union Berlin snatched a point with a 1-1 draw at Stuttgart in the German league on Sunday.
Chris Führich had put the hosts ahead near the hour-mark before Jeong’s equalizer in the 83rd minute extended Union's unbeaten run to five matches.
Stuttgart missed the chance to move into the top three. Sebastian Hoeness’ team is fourth in the standings, level on points with third-placed Hoffenheim, which has one match in hand.
The hosts dominated early on — with Union threatening on the break — and took the lead when Ramon Hendriks set up Führich, who slotted home with right-footed strike.
Jeong came on in the 75th minute and the South Korea midfielder scored against his former club with a precise finish into the top corner.
Bayern Munich, which routed Leipzig 5-1 on Saturday, tops the standings with an 11-point lead. Second-placed Borussia Dortmund scraped past St. Pauli 3-2 on Saturday after letting a two-goal lead slip.
The NBA’s first-ever MLK Day quadruple header on NBC and Peacock concludes with arguably the day's top matchup, featuring a clash between the Boston Celtics and Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons at 8 PM ET. The high-octane bout between stars Jaylen Brown and Cade Cunningham will be the fourth and final game on NBC and Peacock's star-studded Martin Luther King Jr. Day slate, following Bucks-Hawks, Thunder-Cavaliers, and Mavericks-Knicks.
See below for the full 2026 MLK Day NBA schedule on NBC and Peacock, as well as how to follow all of the NBA action on NBCSN and Peacock this season.
The Celtics enter Monday night's clash with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games, fresh off a 132-106 demolition of the Hawks on Saturday. Second only to Detroit (30-10) in the Eastern Conference standings, Boston (26-15) will aim to even the season series at 2-2, having last beaten the Pistons on November 26. Each of the three meetings between Boston and Detroit this season has been decided by seven points or fewer. With Jayson Tatum lost for the year, the Celtics will once again lean on Jaylen Brown amid an excellent season as the team's de facto leader, just days after he dropped 41 on the Hawks in an easy 132-106 win.
Beyond the hardwood, the Celtics have ties to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Hall of Famer and Celtics legend Bill Russell marched with King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963, when Russell was already a four-time MVP. On MLK Day 2023, Jayson Tatum became just one of four players in NBA history to score 50+ points on MLK Day, dropping 51 in a 130-118 win over the Hornets.
Led by dynamic duo Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, the Pistons welcome the Celtics to Little Caesars Arena as winners of two straight, becoming the NBA's second team after Oklahoma City to reach 30 wins this season after blowing out the Pacers, 121-78. Cunningham has scored 25+ points in all three of his meetings with the Celtics this year, including 42 in a narrow 117-114 loss on November 26. Second only to Nikola Jokic (11.0) in assists per game, Cunningham (9.6) has cemented his status as one of the association's brightest emerging stars.
Detroit has long boasted connections to MLK Day, having hosted the Detroit Walk to Freedom on June 23, 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech to over 125,000 people in a precursor to what would become the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C.
Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones.
Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.
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NBA on NBC 2025-26 Schedule
Click here to see the full list of NBA games that will air on NBC and Peacock this season.
The Jays spend some money on international signings:
Juan Caricote is a Venezuelan catcher who signed for $1.96 million. He’s 17 and said to be a good defensive catcher. Baseball America has him as the 17th-best international FA. He’s a left-handed hitter. BA says he could develop into a 15-home run type. He joins Edward Duran as their top catching prospects right away.
Juan Sanchez is a shortstop from the Dominican Republic. He’s 18 and signed for $997,500 MLB Pipeline has put him at #18 on their top Jays prospect list. Baseball America #7. He’s played SS in the Dominican but will likely move to third in the Jays system. He’s 6’3” listed at 180 pounds but will likely add muscle to that as he moves up the ladder. Juan hit .341/.439/.565 with 8 home runs in the Dominican Summer Leagues. Baseball America tells us he hit a ball at 115.8 MPH this summer. BA also called him the number 5 prospect in the DSL. He isn’t fast and doesn’t have a lot of range at short, but will like be fine at third and has a strong arm. He’s a power hitter who strikes out a bit more than average.
Michael Mesa is a left-handed hitting outfielder from the Dominican Republic, who the Jays signed for $900,000. He’s 6’1”, 190, and he plays all three outfield spots, but likely will be a corner outfielder in the majors (presuming he gets there). The phrase ‘whippy” appears a lot with people talking about his swing. He should have decent power as he moves up the minors.
Aneudy Severino is a 5’9” outfielder from the Dominican. Baseball America mentions his ‘high-end exit velocity’. He’ll likely end up a corner outfielder. He’s 17. Listed as an above-average runner and muscular. He signed for $700,000.
Sebastian Casanova is a shortstop from Venezuela. His main tool is speed, and he would be expected to play up the middle, short or center or second. Right-handed, line drive hitter. His signing bonus wasn’t listed but is likely around $100,000.
Gabriel Porras is a 5’7” Venezuelan SS, just 5’7”, 160 pounds. BA says line drive hitter with gap power. He’d likely end up in the middle infield. He’s 16. Signed for $75,000.
Leonard missed Friday's four-point win in Toronto with a right ankle sprain, but NBA reporter Chris Haynes reported that the knee issue in his left leg is what's now causing the most concern. Haynes reported that Leonard is being sent home for treatment and he'll be evaluated once the team returns on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Leonard, 34, has been the driving force behind the Clippers' recent surge. The six-time All-Star has averaged 32.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists over his last 13 games, 11 of which resulted in Clipper wins.
With Leonard out, the Clippers defeated the Raptors in overtime 121-117 on Jan. 16, to improve their overall record to 18-23.
For the season, Leonard is averaging a career-high 28.2 points per game, while shooting 49.7% from the field and 94.1% from the free throw line.
In the fallout of the Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker to a huge free agency deal, there has been much discussion around the spending disparity in this sport. This is a complicated issue that is sure to take center stage when CBA negotiations take place next offseason in what seems assured to be another work stoppage. There is undisputedly a huge gap between the largest and smallest payrolls in MLB, with the Dodgers currently holding contract commitments worth more than the bottom five payrolls combined for 2026. Money is merely one of the factors that set teams apart, however, as organizational competence makes a huge difference. The Rays, Guardians, and Brewers stand as examples of consistently successful franchises in recent history that are perennially low spenders.
Baseball is a notoriously high variance sport in small samples, so it is difficult for a truly enduring competitive imbalance to exist for seasons on end beyond normal differences in team quality. The Dodgers are a unique beast, combining a unique capacity to sustainably spend more than any other team with elite organizational competence, with the added bonus of a desirable location for players to live that seems particularly appealing to players coming from East Asia due to relative proximity. An often-proposed solution is a salary cap and floor system, mirroring the other major sports in North America, but there are a host of reasons to doubt that such a system could be agreed upon between the owners and players such that it would create meaningful financial parity to solve the issue of both the extreme highs and lows of payrolls in MLB. It will be fascinating to see what path the sport moves forward with, as it seems like this issue may be coming to a head, particularly if the Dodgers are able to win yet another World Series this upcoming season.
Following their Dec. 29 win against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Knicks improved to 23-9 and looked like one of the few, true contenders in the wide open Eastern Conference.
But since then, New York has lost eight out of their last 10 games and are now 25-17. They are just a half game up on the Toronto Raptors (25-18) for the No. 3 seed in the East and only two games up on the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers (22-18), who would land in the NBA Play-In Tournament if the regular season ended today.
"A lot, a lot of frustration," Towns said. "That's all I got."
The big man went on to discuss his level of concern for the team after their third straight loss as they look to right the ship.
"I don't like losing any games, so of course for me, the concern is winning the next one," Towns said. "Just staying focused on the task at hand, winning games, and giving our fans something to cheer for."
Head coach Mike Brown also talked about the level of concern amid New York's recent skid, but downplayed the urgency, saying the team needs to "keep trying to fight."
"You don't want to lose games at all, but especially going 2-8 in the last 10. There's concern there, but not to the point to where we're going to overhaul everything," Brown said.
"We got to work. We got to look in the mirror and see how we can individually help the group, starting with me. And then we got to get in the gym, we got to work as much as we can. We got to keep trying to fight like we did tonight, and if we do, we're going to give ourselves a chance."
It's clear there is plenty of room for the Knicks to improve, whether that be on defense (bottom five in defensive rating since Dec. 1 and 19th overall in the NBA this season at 116.1) or finding consistency in their three-point shooting (35.1 percent over last 10 games, 15th in the NBA, per StatMuse).
"I think everything," OG Anunoby said when asked what the team can improve on. "You can always get better at everything. Even if we were winning games, we would still be trying to improve everything."
Luckily, with the Knicks needing to get back on track fast, their schedule gets a bit easier over the next week. They'll face the Dallas Mavericks on Monday and the Nets on Wednesday before a matchup with the feisty Sixers next Saturday.
The Lakers find themselves in a precarious situation.
This year’s roster needs upgrades. However, Indiana doesn’t have much in the way of sweeteners to make those improvements. Misses on Jalen Hood-Schifino and Dalton Knecht mean the young prospects aren’t there to put into trade packages and undoing the Russell Westbrook trade and making the deal for Luka Dončić depleted the team of their first round picks.
Simply put, the Lakers don’t have the means, as things stand, to make notable upgrades to this team.
The Suns traded an unprotected 2031 pick to Utah in exchange for first rounders in 2025, 2027 and 2029. Those picks were the least favorable of Cleveland, Minnesota and Utah’s in each year, to give a sense of the types of picks the Lakers could see come back in a similar trade.
In theory, it makes a lot of sense for the position the Lakers are in. What the team needs now is some flexibility and the ability to make moves now that Luka is on the team. Optionality is one of President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka’s favorite words and the Lakers don’t have a ton of it when it comes to trades.
The problem is finding a team willing to do this type of deal. The list of teams with a plethora of picks and a willingness to play ball is short. Incredible short. In fact, after doing a bit of research, it feels like there are only about a handful of teams on paper who could be willing to make that type of deal.
Oklahoma City Thunder
This is the most obvious choice and if Pelinka is serious about this, he should be calling the Thunder daily. There’s an absolute trove of picks OKC could be willing to trade as, over the next two years, they have eight first round draft picks.
The problem is that most of the picks they own from other teams are actually valuable. In 2026, they have the Clippers’ and Sixers’ picks. In 2027, they have a pick swap with the Clippers and potentially the Spurs’ pick.
They do, however, have Denver’s first rounders in 2027 and 2029 and with Nikola Jokic going nowhere, those are prime picks to target.
Would a deal sending out the Lakers’ 2032 first round pick for 2027 and 2029 Nuggets first rounders and an OKC first round in that span work?
Brooklyn Nets
After OKC, the options are much less obvious and much slimmer. Brooklyn has a host of firsts, but they’re also a team that is not competitive right now.
That being said, it’s hard to figure out what the Nets’ plan is right now either. Sure, it’s to tank and acquire picks, but their selections with those picks in the last draft were some head scratchers.
Would they be open to consolidating some firsts after making so many picks in the 2025 draft? They own three future Knicks picks in 2027, 2029 and 2031, all picks likely to be at the end of the draft. They also own a 2032 Denver pick as well as the worst pick from Dallas, Houston and Phoenix in 2029.
On top of that, if they do trade Michael Porter Jr. this season or in the summer, that will certainly net them at least another first.
While they don’t have their 2027 pick, the bevy of picks they have at the end of upcoming first rounds could make them willing to do this sort of deal.
San Antonio Spurs
The final two teams really likely only make sense if the Lakers are looking to get back two firsts and perhaps some seconds, of which they only have one as things stand.
The Spurs have a bunch of picks, but a lot of them are going to be valuable, like Atlanta’s in 2026 and 2027, the Clippers’ in 2029 and Sacramento’s in 2031.
But there are two picks that are interesting in Boston’s 2028 first and the better of Dallas and Minnesota’s first in 2030. The fact that it’s the more favorable of those two teams makes it a little more unclear if they would include that pick, but they also could be a team confident enough in what they’re building, so long as Victory Wembanyama is around, that they’d include their own pick.
Utah Jazz
Negotiating with Danny Ainge sounds like a punishment that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies, but despite being the team that did this type of deal recently, Utah still has enough picks to potentially do another version of it.
It would, again, be a lesser version, but Utah does own Cleveland’s first in 2028 and the better of Cleveland and Minnesota’s picks in 2029. Those picks are probably a bit too good to be included in this deal, but it also shows how few teams may be willing or able to do this kind of deal and the challenges Pelinka will face in completing it.
PARIS (AP) — Strasbourg new coach Gary O’Neil enjoyed a succesful Ligue 1 debut, guiding his team to a 2-1 win over local rival Metz in the French league on Sunday.
O'Neil, who started his tenure with a comfortable win at a fourth-tier club to reach the last 16 of the French Cup last weekend, was appointed earlier this month as a successor to Liam Rosenior, who left for Chelsea.
Strasbourg had failed to win its past five league matches and the win lifted O'Neil's side to seventh in the standings. Metz remained last, with just 12 points from 18 matches.
Diego Moreira put the hosts in front in the 12th minute but Strasbourg did not hold onto its lead for long as Gauthier Hein leveled from the spot. Forward Martial Godo headed home the winner just before the interval.
Rosenior’s departure has left fans opposed to the multi-club ownership model fuming, amid calls for the resignation of president Marc Keller. Strasbourg has been owned by Chelsea owner BlueCo since 2023. Some Strasbourg fans again protested the ownership setup on Sunday by deploying hostile banners in the stadium.
PSG warmed up for next week’s Champions League match at Sporting with a convincing 3-0 win over Lille on Friday. Third-place Marseille won at mid-table Angers 5-2 ahead of a Champions League showdown with Liverpool next week.
For today’s birthday boy, we have ourselves an interesting, injury-riddled, and often controversial character to dive into. Michael Pineda, once acquired by the Yankees in a fairly high-profile deal, looked to be a major part of the New York rotation through the early-mid 2010s.
It didn’t quite work out that way, as injuries and trouble both on and off the field got in the way more often than not for the big right-hander. He still had his moments in pinstripes and elsewhere, but his career certainly didn’t pan out the way he or his clubs likely hoped it would.
Michael Francisco Pineda Born: January 18, 1989 (Yaguate, Dominican Republic) Yankees Tenure: 2012-17
Born in the Dominican Republic and signing for $35,000 with the Seattle Mariners at just 16 years old, Pineda was an intimidating presence on the mound from the get-go. At 6-foot-7 and 280 pounds, the hurler signed his first contract late in 2005 and was loaded full of potential coming up through the ranks.
The man known as “Big Mike” made his MLB debut with Seattle in April 2011. He had just placed 16th on Baseball America’s preseason Top 100 Prospects list, with the outlet noting:
Pineda has the size, stuff and control to pitch at the top of a rotation. He throws a crisp fastball that sits at 93-97 mph and gets as high as 101 with explosive life and occasional heavy sink. He tightened and added more tilt to his quality slider this year, though he can still get under it occasionally, causing it to flatten out. He also did a better job of selling his upper-80s changeup with the same arm speed as his fastball, keeping it down and getting hitters to chase it. Pineda throws all three pitches from the same three-quarter arm slot. With his velocity, high-effort delivery and unusual arm action, it’s surprising how well he throws strikes.
Pineda pitched six frames of solid ball in his first outing, kicking off what was a very solid rookie campaign. That year, he tossed 171 innings across 28 starts with a more than respectable 3.74 ERA and 3.42 FIP. His first half was even better, as he completed at least six innings in 15 of his first 17 starts, managing a 2.58 ERA along the way. He was rewarded with an All-Star selection in his inaugural campaign, and received some down-ballot love with Rookie of the Year Award votes.
Expectations were high, and Pineda delivered a rookie season to warrant it.
While Pineda was doing his thing, the Yankees had a young catcher looking the part of a budding star as well. Jesús Montero was considered among MLB’s very best prospects, just behind the likes of Mike Trout and Bryce. Then in 18 games at the end of 2011, he notched a 163 OPS+, hit some big homers, and seemed to be a part of the team’s future. In the offseason following the 2011 campagin, the Yankees sent Montero and pitcher Hector Noesí to Seattle, with the primary return being Pineda. It was a potential-for-potential and youth-for-youth deal, a type of deal that isn’t all that common. It is safe to say that neither side played out the way the clubs likely anticipated in the end, but Pineda was officially a Yankee.
Unfortunately for the pitcher and his new club, the trouble started almost immediately. At the end of his first spring training with New York, Pineda complained of shoulder tightness, beginning what was a long road back to a big league mound. What began as a tendinitis diagnosis turned into a torn labrum and season-ending surgery for the Yankees’ new hurler.
Pineda wasn’t ready for the beginning of the 2013 season, but the Yankees were optimistic he’d be a part of their season. After an extensive rehab assignment in the minors, Pineda seemed close, before being pulled from a game with more shoulder tightness. Once again, it turned into another completely lost season for the big righty.
Finally, after spending two entire years on the shelf, Pineda appeared ready to go to begin the 2014 campaign. He won a spot in the rotation, and actually turned in some excellent work across 76.1 innings. He posted a 1.89 ERA (204 ERA+) in some of the best baseball of his career, but he couldn’t help but find himself in injury (and other) trouble. The drama began in a start against the Red Sox in April, his second against the storied rival. After suspicion in the first, Boston manager John Farrell alerted the umpiring crew of potential pine tar on Pineda. It was smeared on his neck — not the most subtle smudge in the world — and Pineda was promptly ejected from that game.
Over the next two seasons, Pineda was able to maintain his health to a much greater degree and remain in the rotation for longer stretches.
Between the 2015 and ‘16 seasons, the righty made 59 starts and worked over 330 total innings. He was far from a game-changing starter, but he was generally out there every fifth day as a roughly league-average arm — and at the very least, one who didn’t aggravate fans by walking the ballpark (his command might’ve been uneven at times, but his control never really wavered given his career 2.0 BB/9). And Pineda could still show flashes of his raw talent, like his May 2015 start against the Orioles, when he struck out 16 batters across seven innings of work. That tied a Yankees franchise record for the most in a single game by a righty pitcher, matching none other than ’90s ace David Cone:
Despite the high expectations Pineda established for himself headed into New York, there is still something to be said for someone who can pitch fine innings when it’s their turn. Pineda was able to do that for stretches at least, though the injuries and occasional trouble were clearly difficult for him to overcome throughout his career.
Pineda continued on roughly the same track in the 2017 season, providing solid value for the Yankees. But, in mid-July, it was discovered that the righty had a torn ligament in his elbow, and would require Tommy John surgery, as he’d once again be hitting the shelf for an extended period. This marked the end of his time in New York, but not for his MLB career.
After returning from elbow surgery in 2019, Pineda pitched some solid innings over the course of three seasons with the Twins (once interrupted by a PED suspension) though never pitching more than 146 frames in any of them. His final season came in 2022, when he tossed 46.2 underwhelming innings for the Tigers.
It was a rocky road at times for Pineda with the Yankees and elsewhere, in what was ultimately a disappointing career given how it started. That being said, he did have his moments of displaying tremendous talent, he just had plenty of trouble staying on the field one way or another.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
Randy Vasquez has seen a steady increase of work since he started his career with the New York Yankees in 2023. He appeared in 11 games as a rookie and made five starts for the Yankees and finished the season with a record of 2-2. Vasquez closed the season with a 2.87 ERA and allowed 18 walks to 33 strikeouts. The future appeared bright for the right-hander.
The numbers produced by Vasquez caught the eye of San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller and he was acquired via the Juan Soto trade along with pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito and Drew Thorpe and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
Vasquez was given an opportunity to start for the Padres in 2024 and had mixed results. He appeared and started in 20 games and finished with a 4-7 record. His innings pitched increased from 37.2 to 98.0 which also led to an increased ERA of 4.87. Vasquez gave up 56 runs with 53 of those being earned and recorded 62 strikeouts and allowed 29 walks.
The thought was that Vasquez would take another step forward in 2025, and he did in terms of overall numbers, but the win/loss record remained relatively the same as he finished 6-7. Vasquez appeared in 28 games and made 26 starts. He threw 133.2 innings and worked to a respectable 3.84 ERA. However, his runs and earned runs shot up and finished at 127 and 122 respectively. Unfortunately for the right-hander, and the Padres, he finished with 78 strikeouts and 52 walks.
Vasquez currently stands as the No. 4 starter in the Padres’ rotation. If he remains in that position as San Diego enters the season, he will be asked to take on a greater role and will have to find greater success. Wins and losses are not solely on the pitcher so it’s tough to judge how well Vasquez is performing on record alone, but walks are solely on the pitcher and Vasquez has complete control over throwing strikes. His fastball velocity increased at the end of last season and there is hope that his increased velocity will increase his confidence and he will challenge more hitters.
With growing numbers in games started and innings pitched, Vasquez has been able to steadily acclimate himself to pitching through a major league season over the past three years. Reports are that Vasquez has been working throughout the offseason and is in better shape at this point in the offseason than he was at this time a year ago. Maybe that is maturity and Vasquez becoming more of a professional or maybe he understands he will be leaned on heavily in 2026 and he is trying to show Preller, manager Craig Stammen and the Padres he is up to the challenge.
Welp, this is attempt number three at writing this post. The first version was written on Thursday before the Dodgers had agreed to terms with Kyle Tucker. And the second version was written on Friday morning before Bo Bichette agree to terms with the Mets. Hopefully, I can get this version published before somebody signs Cody Bellinger or the Dodgers trade for Ketel Marte.
Phillies fans spent Friday afternoon in an absolute tizzy because Bo Bichette signed a free agent deal with the Mets.
Bo Bichette basically used #Phillies like Bobby Bonilla did back in the day as FA before signing with Mets to get what finally amounted to his famous $1M a year for 25 years every July 1st contract.
The Phillies missing out on Bichette to the Mets of all people is literally worst case scenario…
Not only that, but we’re going to run it back with the exact same team with worse pitching now that Ranger is in Boston. Just awesome. Really great offseason. Super happy about it.
When the offseason began, Bichette wasn’t really on the radar for most Phillies fans. Yes, he’s a good player, but seemed like an imperfect fit for the Phillies, and it felt much more likely that he would go elsewhere.
But then, the rumors started: The Phillies and Bichette were talking! The talks went well! The Phillies were the prohibitive favorites to sign him!
The Phillies are the overwhelming favorites to sign infielder Bo Bichette while the Yankees and Mets will now be in a bidding war for outfielder Cody Bellinger.
Bichette suddenly became a must have for Phillies fans. We were already penciling him into the lineup and figuring out where Alec Bohm could be shipped off to.
It seemed as if the Phillies had agreed to everything Bichette was asking for. And then…
The Phillies had agreed to Bo Bichette’s request for a 7-year, $200 million deal last night and believed they would sign him until the Mets swooped in with their 3-year, $126 million offer after losing out in in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes.
If they had basically agreed on everything, why wasn’t the contract signed? It’s possible that the Phillies dragged their feet. Or it’s possible that Bichette’s camp always wanted to see how the Tucker situation played out.
It didn’t play out well for the Phillies. The Dodgers decided they needed another stone for their gauntlet, and Kyle Tucker decided he’d be fine being the sixth best player on a super team. The Mets seemed to think they were going to be the one to sign Tucker, and when they lost him, they pivoted to Bichette, giving him a contract that even Mets fans are a little unsure about.
Mets agree to pay Bichette $40M+ per they lose International Pool Money + Draft Pick(s) and he's playing out of position. Simply put Bichette wasn't/isn't worth. Signing Bichette was an over reaction to losing out on Tucker.
Almost immediately after, the Phillies announce that they’re bringing back J.T. Realmuto, and let’s just say, the fan reaction has been a little different than when they re-signed him five years ago.
Most fans are unhappy that the team is basically “running it back” with mostly the same group that has fallen short the past four postseasons. The Phillies haven’t signed a big-name player in free agency since Trea Turner after 2022, so, I understand why people are unenthused about another season of the “same old” Phillies.
I do push back on this narrative that the past four years have been “failures.” Yes, they’ve seemingly had good opportunities to win the World Series, and they’ve disappointingly failed in that regard. But after watching the team miss the playoffs for a decade straight, I find it hard to turn my nose up at 95+ win division title-winning teams.
Since the ‘22 season, the Philadelphia Phillies (under the direction of Dave Dombrowski) have been one of the most disappointing and underwhelming teams in Philadelphia sports.
The ‘26 season isn’t worth investing a dime in or an ounce of our interest.
There are complaints that the team isn’t trying or were too cheap to match the Mets’ deal. (In reality, the offers were so different that it was almost like they were playing a different sport. Even though the Phillies offered more guaranteed money, the Mets are paying Bichette $42 in 2026, and he’ll have a chance to get a new deal next year when he might be the best free agent available.)
Looking beyond the disappointment at the Phillies not getting their shiny new toy, here’s the reality of the situation:
If the Phillies had signed Bichette, they would have been very likely to make the playoffs but still wouldn’t be the favorites because the Dodgers have an absolutely stacked roster.
Without Bichette, they are still likely to make the playoffs, but they won’t be the favorites because the Dodgers have an absolutely stacked roster.
It’s possible that the Phillies had a chance to match the Mets’ offer but simply refused because they did that calculus. Why spend a fortune in luxury tax money – as well as major penalties in amateur player acquisition – if you’re still going to be dependent on the Dodgers suffering some bad injury luck or having a bad week or so in October?
The Phillies could still make some moves to improve the team, and sadly it might not even matter. Because the way the baseball landscape currently exists, this is the Dodgers world, and the Phillies and 28 other teams are simply living in it.
