GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Todd Golden’s third raise in as many years will make him the second-highest paid basketball coach in the Southeastern Conference.
The 40-year-old Florida coach signed a one-year extension earlier this month that increased the total value of his deal to $49.5 million. It averages $8.25 million annually and keeps him under contract through the 2031-32 season.
Golden’s salary for next season jumps from $6 million to $7.5 million. He’s due a $300,000 raise annually, with the contract culminating at $9 million in its final year. Only Kansas’ Bill Self, UConn’s Dan Hurley and Arkansas’ John Calipari are slated to make more than Golden next season. New North Carolina coach Michael Malone also will make $7.5 million this season.
Golden’s deal is nearly fully guaranteed. Florida would owe him 85% of the remaining value if the school fired him without cause at any point.
Golden’s buyout to leave Gainesville starts at $16 million next season and drops annually: $13 million in 2027-28; $5 million in 2028-29; $3 million in 2029-30; $2 million in 2030-31; and $1 million in 2031-32.
However, Golden can leave for the NBA at a much lower price. His NBA buyout begins at $3 million next season and drops to $2 million (2027-29) and then $1 million in 2029-30.
Included in Golden’s annual compensation is a $500,000 annual longevity incentive and a $100,000 annual expense account. In addition to that, he gets 30 hours of free use of the university athletic association’s jet and other fringe benefits (cars, tickets, travel, etc.) valued at $62,000.
He would earn a $100,000 bonus for winning the SEC regular-season championship, a $50,000 bonus for winning the SEC Tournament, a $100,000 bonus for making the NCAA Tournament and a $50,000 bonus for every NCAA Tournament victory.
He also would get an additional $100,000 if his team’s academic progress rate reaches 965.
The Gators made it clear in May that they wanted to get another deal done with their brightest coaching star, and the sides had most of the details worked out months ago. The finishing touches were finalized this month, weeks before the start of fall practice.
Golden’s raise also makes him the highest-paid coach on Florida’s campus; first-year Florida football coach Jon Sumrall’s six-year contract averages $7.45 million annually.
Golden has done plenty to earn his latest payday. He is 103-41 (.715) in four seasons in Gainesville, including a 36-4 mark in 2024-25 while leading the Gators to the program’s third national title.
And Florida is the betting favorite to win it all again this season. Golden returns nearly 82% of his team’s scoring from last season, most notably front-line stars Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh.
Golden joined Florida in 2022 after three seasons at San Francisco. He got his first contract extension after Year 2, signing a deal that bumped his annual salary to $4.1 million. He signed another one last year that raised his salary to $6 million.
New Hearts striker JJ Williams says he was ready to "run through a wall" for his new team-mates after watching them secure Conference League football until Christmas in dramatic fashion.
The American watched Wednesday's penalty shootout victory over Rapid Vienna from his hotel room after completing his move to the Tynecastle club from Rhode Island.
The 25-year-old was particularly impressed by goalkeeper Beau Reus and Calvin Miller, who battled through cramp before scoring his penalty in the shootout.
"I watched it in my hotel room and you talk about, I felt like a kid again because I was jumping on the bed," Williams said.
"The saves that Beau made at the end, but the performance and the absolute shift that the guys put in. Calvin was cramping everywhere possible and he was still running at 120 minutes and then steps up and smashes a penalty in the back of the net.
"You talk about a performance to watch for the first game, seeing as a signed player, I was ready to run through a wall for those guys, so it was good."
Williams has been on Hearts' radar for more than a year and arrives after playing in the United States. He will go straight into the squad for Saturday's Scottish Premiership meeting with St Johnstone and is relishing the prospect of playing in front of a packed Tynecastle.
"It was giving me goosebumps while I was there in an empty stadium," he said. "So, I can't even imagine whenever it's packed. I'm super excited.
"There are ups and downs along the way. It wasn't a straight path for me to get here.
"But I can tell you, because of all those ups and downs, you want it so much more now that I've landed in this spot."
After landing in sixth place on the top-20 defensemen in the NHL right now list, the Montreal Canadiens defenseman has made another NHL top-15 assists list for the last season. The puck-moving defenseman lands at number eight with a play that goes beyond the counter-attacking pass he made to sniper Cole Caufield.
This superb stretch pass from Lane Hutson clocks in at No. 8 on our list of the top assists of the season! 🍎 pic.twitter.com/Cd9gWpzgmv
In a home game against the Nashville Predators in which the Habs were trailing 2-1, coach Martin St-Louis had pulled his netminder Jakub Dobes for an extra attacker. Jonathan Marchessault had an empty net to shoot at, but Hutson made the save, and for a split second, it looked like he thought, “Ouch, that hurts,” but then his mind instantly shifted to attacking mode. It’s a perfect example of how Hutson will do anything to help his team win. If you need him to defend, he will; if you need him to make a save or a good first pass, he can do it too; and if he needs to do it all at the same time, he will.
He spotted Caufield racing his way to the Preds' territory, fed him the puck, and the winger came down the wing at full speed, beating Juuse Saros with a wrist shot down low to tie the game. The sniper would go on to score the game-winning goal in overtime at 4:57, showing just how clutch he can be.
That game-tying goal certainly won’t be the last one we see Caufield and Hutson score and orchestrate; both players will be with the Canadiens for a long time and play important roles for the organization. And one day, sooner or later, the American pair will make their way onto Team USA. The Americans might have won gold at the Milano Cortina Olympics, but had it not been for Connor Hellebuyck’s clutch performance, the result could have been very different. At the end of the day, goals are needed to win a hockey game, not just grit.
In a press release Monday, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate unveiled its full 50-game season for 2026-27.
Long Island starts its season on Friday, November. 6 against the Greensboro Swarm, and plays two more games on the road before its home opener on Friday, November 13 against the College Park Skyhawks.
The official schedule also confirms that LI will head back to Canada for the third straight season, as Vice President of Business Operations Morgan Taylor first told us exclusively.
Long Island will play a total of four “home” games at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec. Their first slate will be against cross-country rivals, the Raptors 905 on Janiary. 8 and 9 before returning in March against the Noblesville Boom, the Pacers affiliate, on March 4 and 7.
The Nets have played to sellout crowds in the Montreal suburb six times in the past two years. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment is unabashed about building a fanbase in French-speaking Canada and Long Island’s new head coach, Shawn Swords is a French-speaking Canadian.
So far, Long Island has filled few roster spots for the season. Their training camp opens at the end of October. Brooklyn has so far filled two of three two-way packages with forwards Chaney Johnson and Tyler Bilodeau, the UCLA product they took with the 43rd pick.
They also signed Nick Pringle, a 6’9” Arkansas forward-center to an Exibit 10 deal, meaning he too will be spending time in Uniondale. In addition, there was a report overnight in Chinese media that Grant Nelson, who played for Brooklyn and Long Island last year, has agreed to a training camp contract but there is no commitment beyond that to the 24-year-old 7-footer who’s been troubled by patellar tendonitis aka shooter’s knee. Attempts at confirming the report with the Nets failed.
Long Island also took Tidjiane Dioumassi, a 6’4” shooting guard in the G League’s international draft earlier this month.
Overall, the Nets will play 20 of their 24 home games at Nassau Coliseum, with the remaining 24 on the road, including two contests at the annual NBA G League Winter Showcase in Orlando during early December.
Once again, Long Island will have multiple season-long promotions. Headlining the promotions is “Nets Value Nights” every Monday, Wednesday and Friday home game, which accounts for 10 of the team’s 20 games at the Coliseum and features $5 concession specials.
Furthermore, students can also purchase $10 tickets in Section 19 of the Coliseum through the team’s Student Section program, which is available to all college students and fans with a valid .edu email address.
The full 2026-27 schedule can be found at longislandnets.com. Tickets for all Long Island Nets home games at Nassau Coliseum are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
In its press release, the organization notes more information about ticket memberships and group experiences, contact info@longislandnets.com, call 934.948.2546, or visit longislandnets.com.
The Indiana Fever look to complete the season sweep of the Connecticut Sun when the teams meet for the third and final time of 2026 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, Aug. 28.
Connecticut’s “Sunset Season” has been one to forget, and Caitlin Clark will take full advantage of the visiting team’s poor defense as the Fever win in blowout fashion.
Read on in my free WNBA picks & Sun vs. Fever predictions to see why I’m taking Clark and Co. to cover a massive spread and why I’m climbing the ladder on a plus-money combo line for the superstar guard.
Sun vs Fever prediction
Sun vs Fever best bet: Caitlin Clark to Record a Double-Double +121
Caitlin Clark has been more productive at Gainbridge Fieldhouse than any other location this season, averaging 23.9 points, 9.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds at home compared to 20.4 points, 7.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds on the road.
Clark has 12 double-doubles, reaching that milestone in eight of 17 home games but just four of 18 road games.
Clark’s 31 double-doubles are the 9th-most in the WNBA since she joined the league in 2024.
I price this one at +110, making it a profitable value at +121.
COVERS INTEL:Improved production at home isn’t a new trend for Clark. She’s recorded a double-double in 35.2% of her 88 career games, reaching that mark in 42% of home games but just 27.9% of road games.
Sun vs Fever same-game parlay
This is a monster spread, but the team disparity warrants it. The Indiana Fever lead the league with 96.6 ppg, while the Connecticut Sun are dead last at 78.8. Connecticut is 3-8 ATS as a double-digit dog, and the Fever won the last meeting 123-88 at home. Play to 19.5.
Indiana sports the league’s best Offensive Rating at home (116.9), and Connecticut’s 10th-ranked defense will have a tough time getting stops. Blowouts offer a clear Under risk, but the Fever’s offense is so potent that it can propel this line to 179+ points. Play to 179.5.
The odds are long here for a great reason — triple-doubles are hard to come by in the WNBA. Only eight players in league history have recorded multiple, and only four players have recorded 4+.
Clark is a member of the elite second group, and she ranks third all time with four triple-doubles. She reached that mark in only 88 games, becoming the fastest player in history to do so.
Clark is a strong bet to record a double-double with points and assists, but rebounds will be the deciding factor. Over the last two games, Connecticut has surrendered the third-most boards to opposing guards, and with Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aliyah Boston banged up, more opportunities will be available on the glass.
Returning home after five games on the road and jockeying for playoff position, I expect Clark to be at her best, so I’ll take a shot on this lottery-ticket prop.
Zak Hanshew's 2026 Transparency Record
Best bet:31-36, -7.91 units
SGP:7-60, -23 units
Player prop:17-24, -9.05 units
Sun vs Fever odds
Spread: Sun +17.5 | Fever -17.5
Moneyline: Sun +1100 | Fever -2100
Over/Under: Over 178.5 | Under 178.5
Sun vs Fever trend
Indiana has won and covered in both matchups with Connecticut this season. Find more WNBA betting trends.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 26: Jake Cronenworth #9 of the San Diego Padres is tagged out at the home by Rafael Flores Jr. #43 of the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at Petco Park on August 26, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Diego Padres desperately needed a win to get back their momentum. After sweeping the Minnesota Twins, they were on the verge of being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates thanks to an uncharacteristically quiet offense. That offense returned just enough to edge out the Buccos and stave off the sweep.
What was more impressive was the pitching staff’s ability to navigate themselves out of some difficult jams. After starter Randy Vásquez pitched three perfect innings, he ran into trouble in the fourth, loading the bases on a single and two walks. With two outs, Vásquez struck out Nick Gonzales to end the trouble.
Then, in the sixth, Kyle Hart allowed the first two batters to reach before inducing a lineout from Bryan Reynolds. In almost any other world, Reynolds’ lineout would have been a hit. Instead, Jake Cronenworth dove and caught the ball, keeping the Pirates off the board. Hart got the final two outs to end the inning.
In the seventh, Griffin Canning walked the first batter and hit the next before striking out Rafael Flores Jr. Yuki Matsui took over and gave up a single to load the bases. He struck out the next two batters. In the eighth, Bradgley Rodriguez gave up back-to-back singles before striking out the next two batters and ending the inning on a forceout.
All in all, Pittsburgh went a ridiculous 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, but got blanked by the Friars. It was an incredible performance that (though quite long to regale here) deserves a full explanation in order to appreciate it.
Taking the mound
Shane McClanahan (TB) v. Casey Mize (SD)
McClanahan has stormed back into the league after his Tommy John surgery in 2023. When he was rehabbing his way back, he suffered a freak nerve injury that kept him out for the 2025 season as well. That pushed his return to this year, and he has been fabulous. McClanahan has been a major part of the Tampa Bay Rays’ stellar starting rotation.
The lefty has surged back, with a 3.10 ERA and 1.12 WHIP across 107 1/3 innings. It’s not otherworldly numbers, but for a guy who hasn’t pitched in two calendar years, it’s a fantastic comeback story. McClanahan has been even better lately, with a 2.67 ERA in his last seven starts. Hopefully the Friars will be able to turn their offense around and string some hits together.
Mize is expected to make his scheduled start after twisting his ankle on the dugout steps during his last outing. That forced him to exit his start early, but everyone in the organization felt confident that it wouldn’t affect him too much. That remains to be seen, but it seems like San Diego dodged a bullet on that front.
The righty has been fantastic this season, splitting time between the Detroit Tigers and the Padres. Since being traded to the Friars, Mize has looked electric. He’s one of the most consistent staters in the game and has looked just as good in the brown and gold. All eyes will be on Mize as he pitches his first outing since his ankle injury.
Batter up!
The lineup has been quiet lately, scoring just six runs against the Pirates after scoring 21 versus the Twins. They’ll need to regain their previous form in order to best Tampa Bay, who has been one of the best teams in baseball this season. Their rotation is lethal, and could easily sweep San Diego if the Padres aren’t careful.
Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Manny Machado, DH
Ty France, 1B
Jackson Merrill, CF
Luis Campusano, C
Luis Rengifo, 3B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Dustin Harris, LF
After a tough stretch. Merrill won the Friars the game on Wednesday afternoon. The center fielder went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and a walk. It was a resurgent performance it what has been a two-faced second half for the Padres’ young star. San Diego will need this version of Merrill in order to get where they want to go.
Relief corps
With the off day on Thursday, the Padres should have everybody available to pitch in the series opener against Tampa Bay. That said, they used plenty of arms in the series finale against Pittsburgh, so some will be used ahead of others. Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, David Morgan and Wandy Peralta will be readily available to pitch once Mize departs.
Morgan was just called up to San Diego on Wednesday to replace Jeremiah Estrada on the roster. Estrada was sent to the injured list for the third time this season as he continues to struggle through the year. Morgan hasn’t looked great in Triple-A (5.79 ERA, 18.2 IP), but he was fantastic in his most recent stretch with the team, authoring a 2.08 ERA in his last seven big-league appearances.
Jalon Daniels will start tonight’s preseason finale against Jacksonville and will play the first half and possibly into the third quarter, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Bucs are giving the undrafted rookie from Kansas a chance to win the backup job to Baker Mayfield.
Jake Browning and Connor Bazelak will follow Daniels tonight.
Daniels rallied the Bucs to come-from-behind wins against the Jets and Chiefs the past two weeks, and in two weeks, he is 19-of-20 for 182 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also has rushed for a score.
Daniels took the majority of reps during the Bucs' seven-on-seven period after Mayfield today, per Stroud.
After a long off-season, Vancouver Canucks hockey is almost back. Vancouver will kick off its 2026 training camp in a few weeks, once again hosted in Penticton. This year's event will take place from September 17-20 and will include the annual blue vs. white scrimmage.
Fans who want to attend training camp can buy tickets at
ValleyFirstTix.com. As per the Canucks press release, "tickets for Thursday, Friday and Sunday practices will be $10.00. Fans can purchase tickets for Super Saturday's scrimmage for $20.00. A select number of Full Training Camp Packages, featuring tickets to all four days through the event, will also be available for $30.00."
Vancouver's training camp will take place at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Doors are scheduled to open every day at 9:00 am PT. As per the press release, there will also be "a Q & A with select members of the team's leadership group."
Apr 14, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; The Vancouver Canucks celebrate their victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
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In the final part of this series, we’ll take a look at the very best of what the Anaheim Ducks prospect pool has to offer. This list features four players drafted in the first round of the last three NHL Entry Drafts, as well as the 2025-26 CHL Player of the Year.
These five players are not only expected to complement the Ducks’ current young core, which includes stars like Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, and Jackson LaCombe, but also to add to and stabilize it as the Ducks lean into their hopefully long competitive window.
These players all have top-of-the-lineup NHL potential, and if any number of them reach it, the Ducks will be in a position of luxury moving forward in their build.
Author’s Note: To qualify for this list, players must be rookie-eligible in 2026-27. Unfortunately, that disqualifies Tristan Luneau from this particular exercise.
In reverse order, let’s dive into the Anaheim Ducks’ top five prospects heading into the 2026-27 season:
5. Maxim Masse, 20, University of Massachusetts (NCAA)
RW, 6-foot-3, 198 pounds, 66th overall in 2024
Masse ended his junior career on an impressive note, leading the QMJHL in scoring with 102 points (51-51=102) in 63 regular season games and adding 24 (6-18=24) in 20 playoff games as his Chicoutimi Sagueneens won the QMJHL Championship. He was only able to add a goal in four Memorial Cup games, but he was the QMJHL Most Valuable Player and CHL Player of the Year for his performance in 2025-26.
Masse isn’t necessarily a playmaker or driver, but his off-puck skills are what will likely carry him as a college player next season and a professional in the future. He’s an effective straight-line skater and is an adept forechecker, affording him a versatile skill set. He possesses one of the better releases in the Ducks pipeline, and he finds his way to soft ice consistently to get it off.
Masse was able to manufacture more puck touches in his final junior season and will look to build on that in his first NCAA season at UMass. To thrive at the next level, he’ll need to round out his cycle game, but his knowledge of angles, lanes, and pressure raises his ceiling to that of a top-six forward.
NHL Arrival Prediction: 2027-28
4. Marcus Nordmark, 18, Djurgardens IF (SHL)
LW, 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, 28th in ’26
Nordmark is the epitome of “boom or bust” and was one of the most talented forwards in the 2026 Draft, based on pure skill. The Ducks even traded a fourth-round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights to move up a single spot in the first round to draft him. He was highly productive at the J20 level in Sweden during his draft year and signed his ELC with the Ducks this summer, but it’s likely he’ll head back to play in the SHL this autumn.
Nordmark’s defining features include some of the most important attributes a scoring winger in the NHL can possess: quick, heavy release, vision, and hockey sense. His deficiencies include consistency, skating, and willingness to physically engage. If he’s not in a scoring role, he’s unlikely to succeed in the NHL. However, if the Ducks can refine his motor and tenacity, they’ll have a bona fide star on their hands. These are the kinds of gambles teams are asked to take by their fanbases in the late first round and into the middle rounds of the draft. He’ll either become a Kyle Connor-type offensive juggernaut or an Arthur Kaliyev-type inconsistent, one-dimensional player. There appears to be no in-between, but it was a good bet for the Ducks to make at that point in the draft, given the well-rounded nature of their current pipeline and young core.
NHL Arrival Prediction: 2028-29
3. Stian Solberg, 20, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
LHD, 6-foot-2, 207 pounds, 23rd in ’24
Playing for the Gulls in the AHL in 2025-26 was Solberg’s third straight season with a different team after he was drafted in 2024 from Valerenga of his native Norway’s top professional league and spent most of 2024-25 with Farjestad BK in the SHL. In his rookie AHL season, he notched 24 points (12-12=24) in 71 games and accumulated a substantial 102 PIMs.
Operating like a young, modern-day Jacob Trouba, Solberg’s signature trait is his physicality; he thrives in the tough areas of the ice while manufacturing a surprising number of goals by activating along the blueline and downhill into the high slot. He’s incredibly difficult to play against, and he forces opponents to earn inside ice in the defensive zone. He can fend off a forecheck and ignite a breakout with a crisp, accurate first pass, but he’ll need to iron out his gap control and angling to thrive as a shutdown defender at the NHL level. He’s currently firmly No. 4 on the Ducks organizational depth chart on the left side of their blueline, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s the first call-up among defensemen should Anaheim be in need.
NHL Arrival Prediction: 2026-27
2. Nikita Klepov, 18, Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
RW, 6-foot, 180 pounds, 15th in ’26
Significant pressure was placed on Klepov’s shoulders when, after he was selected with a pick acquired in exchange for Mason McTavish, general manager Pat Verbeek stated that had he been unavailable at 15th overall, the Ducks would not have made the trade.
Klepov was the OHL’s leading scorer in 2025-26, notching 97 points (37-90=97) in 67 games and adding five (1-4=5) in four playoff games. He was involved in a surprising turn of events following Ducks development camp, as he was originally committed to attend Michigan State University for the 2026-27 season to kick off his collegiate career, but the Ducks decided to ink him to his three-year ELC, rendering him ineligible for NCAA hockey. Now the options for the Ducks this season are to either keep him in the NHL or send him back to Saginaw to resume his junior career.
The Ducks also have the option to utilize the “Shane Wright Plan,” where he spends the first portion of the season in the NHL, perhaps joins the Gulls on a conditioning stint, plays in the World Junior Championship, and finishes the year in the OHL. Where he plays will ultimately be determined by how he arrives at and performs in Ducks rookie and training camps.
Klepov has an NHL-ready brain, motor, and skill set. He’s a cycle quarterback, always with the puck on his stick, working low in the zone, moving to the top of the circles, across the blueline, and initiating give-and-gos as a true offensive tactician. He consistently wins pucks back in the offensive zone and along the walls, but will need to increase his strength and add to his frame to carry that to the NHL level.
Klepov’s ceiling is that of a top-line, highly productive player who could see NHL minutes as early as Oct. 2.
Ducks director of amateur scouting and assistant general manager Martin Madden once said of Beckett Sennecke (before his rookie season) that he was one good summer of strength training away from becoming a full-time NHL player. Pat Verbeek said of Klepov that he could be on a fast track to the NHL. If the same logic applies and Klepov arrives at camp after a good summer of adding strength, there’s a real possibility he’s on the Ducks’ opening night roster. The team will certainly need a boost after a summer where they were unable to add significantly to their group, and with top-six forward Troy Terry expected to miss the first 2-3 months of the season.
NHL Arrival Prediction: Opening Night 2026-27
1. Roger McQueen, 19, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
C, 6-foot-5, 197 pounds, 10th in ’25
Of the Ducks prospects who haven’t “graduated” to the NHL, McQueen was selected the highest (10th overall) and had the talent to go top-five in the 2025 draft were it not for a back injury that cost him the majority of his draft year. It’s clear who the top two prospects in the Ducks system are, and it’s a coin flip on any given day who holds the title at the top. The reason McQueen edges out Klepov in this particular exercise is the premium position McQueen plays (center) vs. Klepov on the wing.
McQueen signed an ATO with the San Diego Gulls to finish his 2025-26 campaign, where he played his freshman season at Providence University and scored 27 points (11-26=27) in 36 games. The production wasn’t necessarily impressive, but given that he was coming off a significant injury, with significant development time lost, and played in a pro-style program in the NCAA, where he still finished third on his team in points (two points behind the leader), one would be hard-pressed to label his season as anything but a success.
Talent-wise, McQueen has it all. He’s long, powerful, has elite puck skills, a quick, heavy release, covers a lot of ice with his stride, and has the brain to make plays at high speeds or in tight spaces. Providence elevated his details and habits to the point where there wasn’t much of an adjustment period to the AHL when he made the jump to San Diego.
Like with the vast majority of prospects, adding strength will be necessary to play the style he’ll project to play at the NHL level, which is that of a player hard to defend due to his protection skills, IQ, and change-of-pace ability. In the flow of a game, he could stand to be stronger on his edges to drive more power through his lower half, as well as move his feet more consistently with the puck on his stick, dictating play to a higher degree.
Though Verbeek has mentioned his preference to give McQueen a long runway, if he proves to progress quickly in rookie camp, training camp, and/or the start of the season, he could fill an important, immediate need on the Ducks’ depth chart with Terry injured and the team’s previously relied-on secondary scoring (Chris Kreider, Alex Killorn, Frank Vatrano) either due for another subtraction or facing potential regression caused by advanced age.
The Buffalo Sabres could go a number of different ways as the NHL is in the midst of trade season following the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency on July 1. With the departure of winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram, GM Jarmo Kekalainen is expected to seek out offensive reinforcements to make up for the 44 goals lost by their departures.
We are continuing to look at potential options for the Sabres, now that veteran Patrick Kane has returned with Chicago. Some of the possibilities are not going to match Tuch’s stats, but any additions could provide some relief to the pressure that youngsters Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, or Noah Ostlund will be under to make up the deficit.
Kekalainen ideally is looking for someone who could make up as much of the 60-to-70 point production that he lost with Tuch, or someone who can fill the leadership gap and/or add some snarl and sandpaper to the middle-six, with the trade of Jordan Greenway to Chicago.
Where will Connor Hellebuyck end up?
Forward Rickard Rakell, similar to teammate Bryan Rust, was expected to be a trade commodity last season, but the Pittsburgh Penguins unexpected run to the playoffs nixed that plan. This season, many are expecting the Pens to compete for the playoffs again, but with veterans Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson another year older, GM Kyle Dubas could become a seller closer to the trade deadline if Pittsburgh falls behind in the playoff race.
Rakell was acquired as a deadline addition in 2022 from Anaheim, and except for a subpar season in 2023-24, has scored 20 or more goals each season in the Steel City. After scoring a career-high 35 goals in 2025, the 33-year-old Swede notched 48 points (24 goals, 24 assists) in just 60 games.
As with Rust, Rakell is an enticing option for Kekalainen since he would not be a rental (with two years left at $5 million AAV entering the season), but unlike his teammate, he has an eight-team no-trade clause for the rest of his contract. Dubas would likely be looking for young prospects in a trade since the Penguins are attempting to reset while keeping their aging veterans.
Buffalo has enough in their prospect pipeline to acquire Rakell, but his availability likely would not be until the All-Star break, when it is firmly ascertained whether the Pens are in the playoff mix or not.
Give team president Tim Connelly and the brain trust in Minnesota credit: They realized that the road they had gone down, a road that took them to consecutive Western Conference Finals, had reached a dead end. They made a U-turn and reshaped the roster this summer. Dramatically.
The Timberwolves that take the court in October will be radically overhauled in style and key personnel from just a season ago. Check out this likely starting five:
LaMelo Ball. Anthony Edwards. Jonathan Kuminga. Jaden McDaniels. Rudy Gobert.
It's a roster a lot of fans — not just in Minnesota — are excited about. LaMelo Ball next to an MVP-level two guard in Edwards could be dynamic. Fans believe in the potential of Jonathan Kuminga — and so do the Timberwolves, who struggled to slow him in a 2025 playoff series against the Warriors. Rudy Gobert is still a defensive force in the paint.
But are the Timberwolves really improved? Or just different?
Questions Minnesota must answer
That high-profile starting five comes with a lot of questions:
• Ball and Kuminga are immensely talented, and both have frustrated coaches and teammates in previous stops by not playing within the system and doing too much on their own.
• Kuminga took less money this season with a shorter deal so he could get back on the free agent market as soon as next season and get the payday he feels he deserves (which was not out there for him this summer). The Timberwolves need his athleticism at the four, but they also need him to play within the team system. Will he do that, or at times try to put up numbers at the expense of what is best for winning?
• LaMelo Ball is untested in the playoffs. In the play-in games last season, he scored 30 against Miami and hit the game-winner in overtime, but could/should have been ejected for taking Bam Adebayo's leg out, knocking him to the ground and out of the game. In the next play-in game, a loss to Orlando, Ball scored 23 points but on 7-of-17 shooting, had five assists and three turnovers, and was -9 (by far the best +/- of all the Hornet starters).
• With Gobert and Kuminga (and some questions about McDaniels' consistency), is there enough shooting?
• Ball is a defensive target for other teams. While he is surrounded by other quality defenders (and they can hide him some), can he step up more on that end?
• Edwards, Ball and Kuminga are all guys who prefer to operate with the ball in their hands, breaking guys down, then scoring or setting up the assist. At any moment, two of them have to play off the ball.
Overall, this is a Minnesota team that went from being huge, physical, and relying on defense, with hopefully just enough offense, to a much more dynamic offensive team but without the same depth and at least some questions about fit and defense.
Fans are excited about this team, but after talking to people in league circles over the past couple of months, there is plenty of skepticism. There is doubt Minnesota really improved after last season's 49 wins and second-round exit.
In the West, the Thunder and Spurs are the proven powerhouses we know will be elite. Then comes a group of four teams with a lot of potential but also a lot of questions: The Timberwolves, the Lakers, the Rockets and the Nuggets. Teams that are going to be good, but just how good? Can one of them break out and join the upper tier?
If the pieces fit...
Connelly and the Timberwolves front office gambled big on all those changes, but saw it as a bet worth making because more of the same wasn't going to work (and could have led to an increasingly frustrated Edwards, who is extension-eligible next summer).
Sometimes big bets pay off.
An Edwards and Ball backcourt has the potential to be one of the best in the league, a high-octane offensive engine that drives a lot of wins. Kuminga may thrive as an athletic four in the role Chris Finch and the Timberwolves lay out for him. Defense and shooting may be questions we wondered why we asked about in the first place.
If Connelly's bet pays off, if all the puzzle pieces fit together, this is at worst the third-best team in the West and one that is a threat to the existing powers in Oklahoma City and San Antonio. A return to the Western Conference Finals for the third time in four years would absolutely be on the table (and maybe more).
But there are a lot of questions to answer before we get to that point, and don't be surprised if this team stumbles out of the gate a little as everyone tries to settle into their roles.
Ultimately, the fans may be right — this team is going to produce highlights and should rack up a lot of wins. But are they contenders? Did they improve? Color me and a lot of people skeptical.
Either way, there may be no more must-watch team in the league this season than Minnesota.
SAN DIEGO, CA — After three portions completed, it’s come down to the final duo of this Los Angeles Kings series. It is timing that brings us to this point, as it’s the most convoluted and suspect aspect of this franchise going into the new season. It’s a massive reason why I saved it for last, and it’s going to be heavily scrutinized as the season moves along.
Who is the number one center? Easy.
This is the clearest, easiest piece of what is a convoluted puzzle heading into 2026-27. This has been a question despite having a top prospect whose ceiling has become suspect due to inconsistencies, a poor build around him, and a fleeting overarching plan the front office has failed to execute. Quinton Byfield, despite the negative superlatives regarding production, is the number one in Los Angeles. He’s had some ups and downs in LA but has found a floor, not a ceiling, a sign of hope from the franchise’s front office.
He’s broken through and flirted with 50 points over the last three seasons, breaking it twice, coming up short last season with 49. He’s now had two campaigns in the Kings system as a top-six center, boasting 45+ points, and has done so with limited talent on his flanks and a slogged-backed, defensive-grinding system to play under.
He will finally have elite capacity on both flanks, which at even strength will be a major boost to a player who has landed himself over the last season in the upper half of production amongst the league’s forwards (out of 204 forwards who logged 2,600+ minutes over the last three seasons, Byfield is 86th in goals, 55th in assists, 68th in points). Now he hasn’t broken into the top 30, a select group that rebrands itself as elite in even strength production, and for a player that a franchise desperately needs to break through that barrier, there’s cause for concern.
It will be a test that could sink or swim his ceiling moving forward, but his underlying relative analytics represent an excellent defensive player with higher offensive upside who could use new wingers (204 forward grouping, 29th in CF%, 24% in FF, 40th in SF%, 24th in GF%, 29th in SCF%, and 18th in HDGF%).
His production vs. on-ice relative rates suggest a coupling with elite wingers that could drastically boost his output.
What is killing Byfield’s overall production is the lack of points on special teams. He is rapidly heading towards stepping into a role he hasn’t fully been able to carry off yet, mostly spending time rotating between the first and second units, with the ladder being a unit he has anchored. Sinking him further is a sub-50% faceoff percentage that undermines his ability to retain possession on the man-advantage. While it is a niche skill that has its place in hockey and can sometimes be overlooked for certain players, it is absolutely needed on the man advantage and on the penalty kill.
On the penalty kill, he is excellent, with rates that are either elite or nipping away at elite (SA/60, xGA/60, SCA/60, HDCA/60), and some rates are a cause for concern (GA/60, HDGA/60). These last two (GA/60, HDGA/60) are heavily skewed based on the performance on the netminder, as Byfield’s individual relative rates of suppression are fringing upon an elite penalty killer.
Given his excellent baseline for defensive suppression, a clear tarmac for an increased arsenal of EVs offense, and ample opportunity for added production on the man advantage, there is certainly room for optimism for Byfield to firmly take hold of being the team’s number one center.
Now then, that’s the vision of the front office. If that 50-point production benchmark is the ceiling with these changes, then boy-oh-boy, the team’s outlook is rather dim. The retirement of franchise legend Anze Kopitar, the trade of Phillip Danault last season, and the wreckage caused by the Pierre Luc Dubois acquisition have left the center positioning in damage control mode. This assessment isn’t just a bird’s-eye view, but something plain and clear during the tenure of General Manager Ken Holland.
The center decisions of Holland sync rather nicely with the discussion of the other part of the ‘center duo’. His moves suggest a path that appears reactive rather than proactive, despite the greater likelihood of a timeframe of knowledge surrounding the decline of Kopitar’s brilliant career. Rob Blake tried to be proactive regarding this very aspect, the center roster column, and it backfired. For the roster under Holland’s reactive heel, it’s realistically a trio, not a duo, that has two insurance policies that carry the weight of unease.
Behind Byfield is a duo in itself and not the duo that comes knocking down any doors. Scott Laughton is a capable shutdown centerman who was acquired in a marginal push towards the playoffs last season, in the wake of the Kevin Fiala injury and Artemi Panarin's cancel-out moment.
Laughton re-upped in the offseason with the Kings and was joined by free agent Erik Haula. Laughton is a respectable defensive depth piece, and Haula, in his prime, was a respectable, speedy offensive depth piece.
Depth pieces. The team needed a top-six center and got depth pieces.
To be clear, there are quantifiable labels attached to each player, but Haula might actually be the better defensive player at this stage of his career, with excellent penalty-killing metrics that bode well for his projected partnership with Joel Armia. For Laughton, at this point, just like most of Laughton’s small tenure in the post-deadline world for the Kings, he is likely to be a faceoff specialist who can handle tough assignments. Both players are excellent in the dot. Out of 204 forwards who have logged 2,600+ minutes in the last three seasons, Laughton is the 37th-best, with Haula at 27th-best.
The fact that these two are holding center spots due to a major departure is entirely out of a Holland playbook, reusing the same play to some extent, filling the void left by Vladislav Gavrikov with Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci (Jordan Spence booted for more Brandt Clarke exposure). Now Kopitar retires, and the team does patch work with depth centermen while Byfield gets more exposure. The playbook is clear; it’s just a questionable one, and looking at the recent body of work, both centers under Byfield are not remotely shoe-ins for a 2C slot but rather platoon-type rotation depending on matchups.
The numbers will typically speak for themselves, and so will the actions and actionable words from the General Manager. These words, such as Adrian Kempe being discussed as playing some center, and actions like when the team dipped its toe into unknown waters by deploying Alex Laferriere at center. Both are options per Holland.
Is this patchwork a pivot towards something more grandiose? Because in the interim, this is quite the opposite. Taking the hit to pivot towards something else makes sense, but does the front office really think that way? With the acquisition of Panarin last season, I don’t think this team is in “take a hit to make a play mode”.
Haula may very well end up on the wing, allowing one of their works-in-progress-type centermen in Kempe or Laferriere to step in. But let’s full stop there: A contender isn’t figuring out who to deploy as a 2C. A pretender, maybe, as a platoon of depth players and two wingers-turned-centermen represent a team patching holes in their boat as they gradually sink.
The Kings do not have a center duo. They will rely on their biggest strength, at the wing, to either supplement the issue or at least saddle a Ford Focus with Ferraris on the wings. They have a project in a 1C; they are finally giving the full grace to either take off or fall flat. The Kings will field Kempe, Panarin, Fiala, Mats Zuccarello, Trevor Moore, Armia, Corey Perry, and Laferriere on the wing. That’s an impressive group, as we’ve covered in our wings’ duo series, but it will have a single point of failure anchoring it.
That center duo isn’t a thing in LA. What it is is a suspect trio of a team pretending to contend in the now.
The Edmonton Oilers spent much of the summer putting together a roster with enough options to withstand the injuries that inevitably show up over an 82-game season. Of course, they're now dealing with it right now.
Matt Savoie, Mattias Janmark, Frederik Andersen and Alec Regula are all expected to miss training camp next month. Savoie and Andersen were injured during offseason training, while Janmark and Regula are still recovering from medical procedures. Edmonton hasn't provided return dates for any of them. General manager Stan Bowman has since said Savoie will miss some time without expecting his absence to approach half a season, while Andersen is expected to be out longer.
Four injuries before camp opens on Sept. 16 isn't exactly the start Mike Babcock had in mind. It does provide an early answer to one of the questions surrounding Edmonton's roster throughout the summer.
How deep are the Oilers?
We're about to get a decent look.
Savoie played all 82 games last season, finished with 18 goals and 37 points and had worked his way onto Connor McDavid's line late in the year. Over his final 24 regular-season games, Savoie scored nine goals and 19 points. He spent 203 five-on-five minutes with McDavid during that stretch, with Edmonton holding a 13-7 advantage in goals during those minutes.
His absence leaves an opening in the top six. Isaac Howard and Colton Dach, Kasperi Kapanen will be the ones up. Vasily Podkolzin is an established top-six player for this team, and Babcock will have plenty of time during camp to move players around McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Further down the lineup are more problems. Savoie logged more than 132 minutes shorthanded last season, leading Oilers forwards in penalty-killing usage, so Babcock enters camp missing two forwards, including Janmark, who were expected to contribute in that area. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jason Dickinson, Kapanen, Mathieu Joseph and Josh Samanski are among the other options to take up more minutes on the PK.
Samanski, too, now has a better chance of staying in Edmonton all season. The same applies to Howard and Quinn Hutson.
Bowman mentioned those three when discussing the injuries on Thursday with Mark Spector, along with Eduards Tralmaks and Aku Raty.
That's where the depth Edmonton assembled over the summer starts to matter.
Samanski provel reliable enough in the NHL last season. Howard was already expected to push to stay in the lineup. Dach is ready for a more established role. Mathieu Joseph is another experienced winger, and Jason Dickinson is another veteran who can play defensively and on the penalty kill.
There are actual players available when somebody gets hurt. Edmonton spent plenty of seasons without that luxury.
The concern is where those players are being asked to play. Replacing a fourth-line winger for a few weeks is manageable. Finding somebody to take Savoie's minutes beside McDavid carries different, particularly after the way Savoie finished last season.
It's probably going to be Howard could. He can score and is slightly familiar with it already. A strong camp could force Babcock to keep him around when Savoie returns. Dach has a similar opportunity after spending the summer talking about adding more of Zach Hyman's game to his own. Samanski has a path through the bottom six and penalty kill.
These are the situations teams talk about when they praise their organizational depth. Edmonton has spent time adding players who should be capable of moving into the lineup, and September should prove it that work has paid off.
Of course, goaltending is a little harder to sort out.
Andersen signed with Edmonton on July 1 and was expected to be part of a three-goalie tandem with Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi. His absence leaves the bulk of the training-camp workload in Jarry and Levi, and Bowman has indicated Andersen will be given time to recover rather than being pushed back too soon.
Levi's was supposed to give Edmonton another NHL option in goal. That option is already needed before the preseason has started.
Regula's absence won't have the same effect on the opening lineup, although it removes another defenceman from Babcock's camp. He appeared in 29 games for Edmonton last season and gives the organization another injury replacement on the blue line.
The Oilers have spent years looking for enough depth to survive stretches without regulars. Their best players have carried enormous workloads, their bottom six has gone through constant changes and injuries have occasionally exposed how quickly the options thin out once the lineup gets past the regular 12 forwards and six defencemen.
This year's group includes several players sitting outside the obvious opening-night lineup who have played in the NHL or have reasonable expectations of getting there soon. Howard, Samanski and Hutson have better roles available to them. Levi gets more work in goal. Dach should have room to move around the lineup.
Edmonton wanted enough depth to handle injuries without scrambling every time somebody went down. Four players are already unavailable, including a top-six winger and one of the goaltenders brought in this summer.
Training camp hasn't even started, and the depth chart is already moving.
Tarik Skubal returns to Detroit for the first time since being traded at the Deadline to the Dodgers when Los Angeles (80-54) takes on the Tigers (62-71).
While still comfortably in first place in the NL West, the Dodgers head to Motown following a dismal trip to Atlanta. Each game of the three-game series was decided by a single run with the Braves winning all three. They took the series finale 1-0. Chris Sale was brilliant pitching arguably the game of the season in major league baseball. Sale threw a complete game, five-hit shutout. The veteran did not allow a walk and struck out 11 Dodgers. While LA is battling for home field advantage in the playoffs, the Tigers are in a far more dire position following a lost series to the Rays earlier this week. Detroit sits 5.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot.
Friday marks an emotional homecoming for Skubal (8-7, 2.91 ERA), who won back-to-back Cy Young Awards with Detroit and became the face of the Tigers' rotation before being dealt to Los Angeles. Since joining the Dodgers, he has continued to pitch effectively but short of dominant, posting a 3.38 ERA in his first four starts with the club while striking out 30 batters in 24 innings. Drew Anderson (4-5, 4.09 ERA) gets the ball for the Tigers. The righthander has lasted five innings and given up three runs in each of his last two starts.
Lets dive further into today’s game and find a sweat or two.
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The Latest Odds: Dodgers vs. Tigers
The latest odds as of Friday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: LA Dodgers (-181), Detroit Tigers (+168)
Spread: Dodgers -1.5 (-107), Tigers +1.5 (-113)
Total: 7.5 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers – Dodgers vs. Tigers for August 28
Tigers: Drew Anderson Season Totals: 81.1 IP, 4-5, 4.09 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 91K, 30 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Dodgers vs. Tigers
Gleyber Torres is 3-10 in his career against Tarik Skubal
In his 4 starts with the Dodgers, Tarik Skubal has struck out 6, 6, 7, and 11 opposing hitters
Drew Anderson has struck out at least 4 hitters in each of his last 3 starts
Freddie Freeman has hit safely in 4 of his last 5 games (6-20)
Shohei Ohtani is 3-20 over his last 5 games
Kyle Tucker saw his 3-game hitting streak (3-11) snapped in his last game on Wednesday (0-5)
Max Muncy has 3 HRs and 8 RBI over his last 10 games
Kevin McGonigle is 3-20 over his last 5 games
Spencer Torkelson is just 3-31 over his last 11 games
Top Betting Trends & Insights: Dodgers vs. Tigers
The Dodgers are 54-79 on the Run Line this season
The Tigers are 72-61 on the Run Line this season
The OVER has cashed 57 times in Detroit’s 133 games this season (57-70-6)
The OVER has cashed 62 times in LA’s 134 games this season (62-71-1)
Expert picks & predictions: Dodgers vs. Tigers for August 28
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Dodgers and the Tigers:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Dodgers on the Run Line.
Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 7.5
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On this day 31 years ago, José DeLeón was traded from the White Sox for the second and final time. | Getty Images
1909 In the second inning of the opener of a doubleheader at South Side Park, Washington’s Dolly Gray set two major league records against the White Sox: He walked eight batters in the inning, and seven of them consecutive. Patsy Dougherty led off the inning with a single, and No. 5 hitter Frank Isbell either sacrificed Doughtery to second or made an out (game play-by-play isn’t available). And then, the parade of walks — from No. 6 hitter Lee Tannehill all the way back through the order to Doughtery — began. The White Sox scored six in the inning, all “driven in” with walks.
The second time Doughtery went to bat, with six straight walks already in the books, White Sox manager Billy Sullivan suggested Doughtery leave his bat in the dugout.
The White Sox won, 6-4, with only Doughtery’s single hit. Gray’s one-hitter came with 11 additional walks, so there was still a lot of traffic on the bases!
Interestingly, it marks the third time Doughtery has had the only hit for his team in a game, and it still will happen once more in his career.
The White Sox also won the nightcap, 2-1, walking just twice.
1936 With a 2-for-3 effort in a White Sox win over the Senators, 6-5, Luke Appling set the mark for longest franchise hitting streak, at 23 games. Appling had tapped out 30 hits in those 23 games, batting .337 with a .427 on-base and .888 OPS. The shortstop broke Eddie Collins’ previous mark of 22 games.
Appling would hit safely in four more games, and his 27-game hit streak would remain tops in team annals for 68 years, when Carlos Lee bettered him by one game and set the current team mark of 28.
1938 It was the most grueling stretch of baseball in major league history: A series of rainouts forced the White Sox to play six consecutive doubleheaders on six consecutive days from August 23-28. They played four games against the Yankees in two days, six games against the Red Sox in three days and two games against the Athletics. All were on the road.
For the month, the White Sox had to play 13 doubleheaders! Despite the daunting stretch of games, they finished the month with a record of 16-22 — not bad at all.
1955 In front of a Sunday crowd of 50,990 — 15th-biggest in White Sox/Comiskey Park/Chicago history — the White Sox split a twinbill with the Yankees, losing, 6-1, then triumphing, 3-2. The split kept the 77-51 White Sox a half-game behind the Yankees for first place in the AL, but by their next game, a 7-5 win over Boston on August 30, the South Siders (briefly) returned to first.
1960 Of all the crazy games and things that have happened when the Sox played at Baltimore, this one topped the list. The Sox started the day 2 ½ games behind the Yankees and trailed the O’s 3-0 going into the eighth inning. With two outs, Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox and Roy Sievers ripped consecutive singles, scoring a run and putting the tying runs on base. Manager Al Lopez called on Ted Kluszewski to pinch-hit.
Big Klu drilled a pitch from Milt Pappas into the right-field stands for an apparent three-run homer, except for one small thing …
Third base umpire Ed Hurley called time!
Nobody remembered seeing him do it, but he refused to change his call. Fox was ejected in the confrontation afterwards and Lopezplayed the game under protest. Hurley called time right before the pitch to tell Sox players Floyd Robinson and Earl Torgeson that they were warming up in the wrong area. The next day, Hurley was quoted in the newspapers as saying ”I wish to heck I hadn’t called it; I’d gladly take it back …”
The end result was the Sox lost, 3-1, and were now three games behind the Yankees. Kluszewskilater recalled that this game was the one that broke the team’s spirit that season.
1977 In if not the worst, then the shortest start of his career, Wilbur Wood was routed from an eventual 10-1 loss to the Brewers having recorded just one out while falling behind, 4-0. The big blow came on a Comiskey Park roof shot from Sal Bando.
It was the 21st and final “true” home run on the roof, coming before home plate was moved up eight feet, prior to the 1983 season. The final White Sox “true” roof shot had come on June 4, 1977, clubbed by Richie Zisk.
1983 Greg Luzinski completed his “downtown Triple Crown” by blasting a pitch from Boston’s Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd over the Comiskey Park roof in left-center field. It was Luzinski’s third roof shot in 1983, with the others coming against the Twins and Yankees. Greg would have four rooftop home runs in his White Sox career. The Sox took care of Boston on this afternoon, 6-2.
1990 Frank Thomas, who would become the White Sox all-time home run leader, belted his first big-league round tripper. Thomasconnected in the ninth inning of a game at the Metrodome, off of Minnesota’s Gary Wayne. The Sox lost that day, 12-6.
Thomas had 448 home runs in a Sox uniform.
1995 The White Sox swapped pitcher José DeLeón for a second time, on this occasion to the Montreal Expos for Jeff Shaw. Shaw did very little for the White Sox down the stretch, pitching in nine games to a 6.52 ERA and -0.1 WAR. The reliever signed with Cincinnati in the offseason and ended up an ancillary player in getting a franchise icon to the White Sox, as Shaw was swapped to Los Angeles in 1998 for a package including Paul Konerko, who four months later was flipped by the Reds to Chicago.
Unlike this deal, DeLeón had been a part of several big-name swaps in the past: Being acquired from Pittsburgh for Bobby Bonilla, getting traded to St. Louis for Lance Johnson and coming back to Chicago from Philadelphia for Bobby Thigpen.
1998 The White Sox and Rangers combined for 14 home runs in a doubleheader at Comiskey Park, tying the American League mark. The teams hit seven in the first game, seven in the second. Texas and the Sox split the two games on the day.
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