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Continue reading...Mariners acquire Brendan Donovan from Cardinals in three-team trade
The Seattle Mariners, who have been trying to get St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Brendan Donovan since the World Series concluded, finally got their man Monday in a three-way trade that included the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Mariners’ price was steep, giving up two prospects and a draft pick to grab the man who they believe could be the missing piece for their first World Series appearance.
The Cardinals, who are in a massive rebuild, will receive prized pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfield prospect Tai Peete from Seattle; outfield prospect Colton Ledbetter from Tampa; and two Comp B draft picks — the 68th overall from Seattle and the 72nd overall from Tampa.
The Tampa Bays will receive young third baseman Ben Williamson from the Mariners.
Donovan, an All-Star last season and Gold Glove winner in 2022 as a utilityman, headlines the package. While scouts are divided about Donovan’s best position between second base and left field, he is expected to primarily play third base for the Mariners. The reality is that his best position is at the plate. He has a career .282 batting average with a .361 on-base percentage and .411 slugging percentage with 40 homers and 97 doubles with a .772 OPS. He struck out in just 13% of his plate appearances last season.
The acquisition of Donovan, 29, who will be a free agent after 2027, gives the Mariners five players at the top of the lineup who made the All Star team in the past two seasons, joining Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena.
For the Cardinals, Donovan represents the last major player to be sent packing in the Cardinals’ massive rebuild. They traded ace Sonny Gray and first baseman Willson Contreras earlier this winter in separate trades to the Boston Red Sox, and Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenando was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their payroll is expected to be the lowest in the NL Central, dropping below $100 million.
Cijntje, selected with the 15th pick in the 2024 draft, is the best prospect in the trade, ranking as baseball’s 91st-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. Cijntje actually throws right-handed and left-handed, but the Mariners were planning to have him pitch exclusively right-handed this spring. Peete was the No. 30 overall pick in the 2023 draft.
The Mariners, who are now AL West favorites, believe this could be the finishing touch to a season to remember.
The Cardinals, who have traded eight players off their major-league roster since last year’s trade deadline, are hoping they have the makings of a team that can be competitive again in a few years.
And for the Rays, they got the right-handed third baseman they’ve been seeking, trying to stay relatively competitive in the loaded AL East.
Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brendan Donovan goes to Mariners from Cardinals in three-team trade
Sports quiz of the week: Australian Open, Winter Olympics and Six Nations
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Continue reading...Giannis Antetokounmpo calls out ‘selfish’ Bucks teammates with trade talk swirling
It’s starting to sound like Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to rip off the band-aid.
After the Bucks were smashed, 122-102, by the dominant Thunder, Antetokounmpo called out his teammates with an ominous message that may say quite a bit about his future with the team.
“We’re not playing hard,” Antetokounmpo said postgame after Milwaukee fell to 18-25. “We’re not playing to win. We’re not playing together … Our chemistry isn’t there, guys are being selfish. We just don’t get it … and we don’t have enough time.”
It’s not clear exactly who Antetokounmpo is referring to or whether this is simply a blanket statement by the former league MVP, but the comments certainly aren’t what the team wants to hear, given he has flirted with the idea of demanding a trade multiple times over the past year.
Antetokounmpo added that some of his teammates were “trying to look for their own shots instead of looking for the right shot for the team.”
The Bucks shot 49 percent Wednesday, but turned the ball over 16 times compared to just eight for the Thunder.
Former Laker Kyle Kuzma went 4-12 and 0-5 from 3-point range in 28 minutes.
“At times, I feel like when we’re down 10, down 15, down 20, we try to make it up in one play, and it’s not going to work,” Antetokounmpo added.
It seems like the wheels are in motion for a potential divorce amid all the trade rumors, although he dismissed the idea of asking out earlier this month.
“There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment that I will come out and say, ‘I want a trade,’ ” Antetokounmpo told The Athletic. “That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?”
When trades were discussed previously involving Antetokounmpo, it became clear that he wanted to be a Knick.
Perhaps the team wishes they had made the deal to acquire Antetokounmpo given the team’s 3-9 record in its last 12 games and the still-present growing pains under new coach Mike Brown.
Star center Karl-Anthony Towns is in the middle of the worst season of his NBA career, where he is averaging 20.8 points per game, the lowest since his rookie year, and shooting just 46.9 percent from the field, by far the lowest percentage of his career.
Antetokounmpo hasn’t formally demanded a trade at any point, but reporter Brian Windhorst previously added some clarity on what a trade demand would look like.
“It’ll be Giannis instructing the Bucks where he wants to be traded and the Bucks trying to make the best possible deal with that team,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s “Get Up” in December.
Windhorst added that this past summer, Antetokounmpo basically said, “I want to be a Knick,” but it didn’t quite reach a trade demand.
The Bucks are currently the No. 11 seed in the NBA Eastern Conference and aim to right the ship before the season gets completely away from them.
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 5.
Sports quiz of the week: big climbs, unlikely comebacks and elite camels
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Continue reading...Victor Conte, architect of infamous sport steroids scandal, dies aged 75
Balco boss revealed Marion Jones used growth hormones
Conte served four months in prison over involvement
Victor Conte, the architect of a scheme to provide undetectable performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes including the baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and the Olympic track champion Marion Jones decades ago, has died. He was 75.
The federal government’s investigation into a company Conte founded, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), yielded the convictions of Jones, the elite sprint cyclist Tammy Thomas and the former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield, along with coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.
Continue reading...Sports quiz of the week: World Cup heroics, shock defeats and sumo
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Continue reading...Sports quiz of the week: Cole Palmer, Women’s Cricket World Cup and Cape Verde
Have you been following the big news in football, cricket, rugby, cycling, UFC, horse racing and the NFL?
Continue reading...Sports quiz of the week: Ryder Cup, Rugby World Cup final and a rebrand
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Continue reading...Eagles squeeze past Cowboys as Carter ejected for spitting on Prescott six seconds into season
The defending Super Bowl champions got their title defence off to a winning start as they beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-20 in the NFL season opener on Thursday night.
But the game may well be remembered for an incident before a play had even been made from scrimmage. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected after just six seconds after spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Related: NFL 2025 season predictions: will it be Mahomes, Jackson or Allen in the Super Bowl?
Carter, one of the Eagles’ best players, approached Prescott as the teams lined up after the kick-off. The pair exchanged words, and Carter then spat on his opponent. Prescott looked shocked as a gob of phlegm landed on his chest and Carter was immediately sent from the field. He shook his head and smiled as he walked to the tunnel but did not argue with the decision as Eagles fans booed.
“It was a mistake that happened on my side. It won’t happen again,” Carter, said after the game. “I feel bad for just my teammates and fans out there. I’m doing it for them. I’m doing it for my family, also. But the fans, they showed the most love.”
Replays that emerged later showed Prescott had spat in the general direction of Carter, but at the ground, before the confrontation. After the game, Prescott said he wasn’t trying to spit at Carter.
“One of the officials observed him spitting on an opponent,” referee Shawn Smith said. “It’s a disqualifiable foul in the game. It’s a non-football act.”
Here is Jalen Carter spitting on Dak Prescott: pic.twitter.com/4F5BjEDLHf
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 5, 2025
The effect on the Eagles was immediate: the Cowboys drove down the field and scored on their first possession to go 7-0 up. When Javonte Williams ran in the touchdown, the Eagles line was notably missing the disruptive Carter.
Indeed, the first eight possessions of the game resulted in points – but after a 65-minute lightning delay interrupted the third quarter, neither team could score again.
Jalen Hurts accounted for 214 yards (152 passing, 62 rushing) and Saquon Barkley rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles, who overcame self- inflicted mistakes along with a revamped Dallas defensive front that no longer stars Micah Parsons.
Carter’s ejection was the first of many undisciplined moments for the Eagles, who committed nine penalties for 110 yards.
“I think our discipline wasn’t in it early in the game,” Hurts said. “Great job by our defense being able to battle and respond. Guys stepped in and filled those roles. We came into this game talking about discipline and focus, and we’ll leave it saying the same things.”
Javonte Williams ran for 54 yards and a pair of one-yard touchdowns in his first game for the Cowboys, while Prescott was 21-for-34 passing for 188 yards. CeeDee Lamb led all receivers with seven catches and 110 yards.
Jake Elliott nailed a 58-yard field goal to make it 24-20 Eagles 6:30 into the second half. The Cowboys drove into the red zone and got a free set of downs when Reed Blankenship committed unnecessary roughness in the end zone on a third-down incompletion. However, Miles Sanders fumbled on the next play, Quinyon Mitchell recovered for the Eagles and the lightning delay immediately followed.
Both offenses seemed to be out of juice by the game’s 11.30pm resumption. The next five possessions ended in punts, and Dallas received the ball with three minutes to go. But after Dallas reached their 38-yard line, Lamb dropped passes on second and fourth downs.
Hurts didn’t target star receiver AJ Brown until after that turnover on downs, inside the two-minute warning. Brown made a key eight-yard catch and Hurts scrambled for a first down to ice the game.
Louis Rees-Zammit signs for Bristol to complete return to rugby from NFL
Winger left sport to go to US in January 2024
Player says Bristol was ‘the obvious choice’
Louis Rees-Zammit has sealed his return to rugby from American football after signing for Bristol. The 24-year-old, who has been capped 32 times by Wales, announced in January 2024 that he was quitting rugby to join the NFL’s international player pathway program. He signed for the Kansas City Chiefs and then the Jacksonville Jaguars, but failed to make a breakthrough and has opted to return to his roots.
Rees-Zammit said on the club website: “Bristol Bears was the obvious choice for me. I want to get fans out of their seats, create exciting moments and help people fall in love with the game. I’m excited to return to rugby at a club that demands those values.”
Continue reading...US sports lobby Home Office for travel exemption after golf caddie refused UK entry
Criminal conviction meant Eric Larson was barred
NFL teams play in UK and have been alerted to situation
Sports organisations in the US will press the Home Office to apply exemptions to new travel rules for American citizens entering the UK, after Harris English’s caddie missed out on around £130,000 by being denied access for the Scottish Open and the Open Championship.
The case of Eric Larson has alerted sport governing bodies such as the NFL and NBA, which stage games in London, that sportspeople or staff can be prohibited from entering the UK under electronic travel authorisation (ETA) rules if they have a criminal conviction. Larson was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 1995 for involvement in drug dealing and rebuilt his career as a caddie for several leading PGA Tour players after serving 10 years.
Continue reading...Rees-Zammit reveals ‘load of interest’ from clubs as he returns to rugby union
Former Wales player has ended pursuit of NFL career
Rees-Zammit aims to find new team ‘in next week or so’
Louis Rees-Zammit says he has had “unbelievable” interest from clubs following his decision to return to rugby union after 18 months in the NFL.
The former Wales winger spent 18 months in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, but did not feature for either franchise in a regular-season game.
“I can’t name teams, but I’ve had a load of interest, which is unbelievable. I’m very grateful for that,” Rees-Zammit told Sky Sports News. “The season starts pretty soon. So it’s about finding the right team for me in terms of location, in terms of how quick I’ve got to get into camp, and because the season’s right around the corner, so all of these things that are going to happen, are going to happen pretty sharpish.
Why Jameson Williams is no longer a boom-or-bust fantasy football option in 2025
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)
If you’re looking for contenders who could break through another glass ceiling in fantasy football this coming season, Jameson Williams’ name is likely floating around your draft board. But does the buzz match the reality for 2025? To answer that, let’s turn to the keen insights from Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski on the latest edition of the "Yahoo Fantasy Forecast," where they dove into Williams’ outlook with the kind of nuance and reality check this wideout deserves.
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Matt and Scott wasted no time calling out a key fantasy football narrative — the idea that Williams "might break out" in 2025 is already a little backward. In Harmon’s words:
“They’re talking about [Williams] again this year like they were last year ... People are being like, ‘Oh, yeah, they’re hyping up Jameson Williams for a breakout year.’ He had a breakout year last year. What are we talking about?"
That’s the crux of it: While many fantasy players and analysts are looking for Williams’ leap this season, Harmon’s view is that the leap already happened in 2024. After a slow start to his NFL career, Williams’ growth last season was more than just flashes — he became a genuine threat in Detroit’s offense.
That said, both Harmon and Pianowski do agree Williams is “a maddening player” — not because he’s unreliable, but because his multi-layered skill set gives Detroit so many options. He can “take the top off the defense” but also house any short throw. That level of weaponry means opposing defenses have to account for him at all times, as Pianowski said:
“He could also catch any pass behind the line of scrimmage or any short little dig and take it to the house ... Just to have a guy like that, it changes how teams have to defend you because they’re just petrified of him all the time.”
The Lions are clearly aware of this. They’ve been vocal about Williams again this offseason, not as a hope-for breakout, but as a key piece they need playing at his best. It’s about keeping him “engaged,” as Harmon put it.
One of the overlooked angles from the Forecast’s discussion was a potential shift in the Lions’ playing style in 2025. Frank Ragnow’s retirement signals trouble for their previously dominant O-line, meaning Detroit might need to pass more simply to move the ball as efficiently as before.
Translation? More volume for Detroit’s pass-catchers, and that includes Williams.
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Williams isn’t just a deep threat or a boom-bust flex. He’s morphing into a true every-week piece, especially with the likely changes to Detroit’s offense after the departure of their All-Pro center.
So, if you’re looking for upside, don’t think of Williams as a guy with more to prove. He’s already proved it — now, he’s stepping into a bigger opportunity with a potentially higher target floor and established big-play upside. That’s a compelling package for a receiver currently being drafted as WR24.
Draft him for what he is, not what you hope he’ll become — because Williams is already living his breakout. The 2025 season might just be where the rest of the world catches up.
The fantasy football stars are aligning for Jayden Daniels in 2025
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)
If you're a fantasy football manager searching for some upside excitement in 2025, Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders are impossible to ignore. On the latest Yahoo Fantasy Forecast, Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski dived into potential “carnival offenses” for next season — teams with explosive, bankable playmakers and questionable defenses that force their QBs into shootout scenarios every week. In that landscape, Daniels’ fantasy profile has never looked brighter.
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Both Harmon and Pianowski are bullish on the Commanders’ ability to rack up points. As Matt says, Washington’s offense is “too big to fail” — a top-five or top-six unit is well within reach, especially given the creative influence of OC Kliff Kingsbury and the arrival of Daniels’ dual-threat abilities.
Daniels’ rookie campaign in 2024 already teased fantasy stardom thanks to his dynamic rushing — Pianowski even predicted Daniels could run for 1,000 yards. For fantasy, that’s a solid floor, especially when you consider how well Kingsbury managed to scheme up success for him late last season.
While Harmon wishes they’d added one more pass catcher alongside Terry McLaurin (who is entering his age-30 season) and Deebo Samuel Sr. (age-29, with many miles already run), he’s still buying the overall Washington package thanks to Daniels’ talent. The backfield could use another playmaker, but the existing setup — combined with Daniels’ rushing upside — still projects a ton of weekly fantasy value.
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There's some question about the pass-catcher depth for Daniels, but with Kingsbury’s ability to manufacture offense and a narrow concentration of targets, the Commanders should keep finding the end zone. Pianowski remarked, “They're going to try to outscore everybody ... there are going to be a lot of 30-27 games. Or they're going to be 40-37. I don’t know. But there’s going to be a lot of fun in D.C.”
What makes Daniels especially appealing for fantasy isn’t just the offensive weapons or scheme — it’s the Washington defense. Both Harmon and Pianowski agree the Commanders’ defense doesn’t offer much resistance. Harmon notes there’s “not nearly enough juice up front from a pass-rushing standpoint” and “the secondary is questionable.” In other words, shootouts and high-volume scenarios will be the norm.
This is exactly what you want for a fantasy QB: forced volume, plenty of chances to rack up both passing and rushing stats and consistent comeback or high-scoring game scripts.
While there’s plenty to love, both analysts wish the Commanders had added another playmaking receiver or running back to boost the ceiling further. They also note that while continuity at quarterback and coordinator helps, the receiver group’s age and durability raise some long-term questions. Still, this doesn’t really threaten Daniels’ weekly upside in 2025.
Based on Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski’s discussion, Jayden Daniels is shaping up as a premier fantasy asset for 2025. He offers elite weekly upside, a packed schedule of shootouts and clear trust from his play-callers. If you’re looking for a quarterback who can vault into the very top tiers, especially outside of the Allen/Jackson tier, Jayden Daniels should absolutely be on your shortlist.
If you want fun, volume and fantasy gold at quarterback for 2025, target Jayden Daniels and enjoy the ride. Just be ready for the fireworks (and keep one eye on that Washington defense, praying it stays as leaky as ever).