The San Francisco Giants certainly have many things to celebrate this season. As they have learned from the past decade or so, two Brandons are better than one. In addition to honoring the career and contributions of former first baseman Brandon Belt in April, Brandon Crawford will be getting his own celebration a couple of weeks later.
Eagle-eyed fans may be confused, as Crawford received his own celebration game last season. But we’ve got another reason to celebrate Crawford this year, and that’s because he will be inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on May 14th!
Congratulations to @BayAreaSportHOF 2026 inductee, Brandon Crawford 👏 @bcraw35 will be enshrined into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on May 14!
This is certainly worth celebrating! Crawford was a Bay Area kid, who grew up rooting for the Giants and then got to play almost his entire career with them, winning two World Series and representing the team in the All Star Game three times.
But he’s not the only Hall of Famer being honored this season. Because they’ve also got a former player going into the regular Hall of Fame! That’s right, they will be honoring the newest member of the Hall of Fame, Jeff Kent, with a celebration and ceremony where his jersey number, No. 21, will be retired on August 29th!
The first 21,000 fans in attendance will receive a National Baseball Hall of Fame replica ring, so make sure you get your tickets early and plan to get there early.
If you haven’t been to a jersey retirement ceremony, I highly recommend it! The Giants go all out, and it’s truly an electric environment to be in with your fellow Giants fans as you celebrate beloved players. I attended Barry Bonds’ ceremony, and it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of.
So congratulations to Kent and Crawford! We look forward to seeing the festivities this season!
What they’ve accomplished so far: Adding Collins should help with production from the outfield, which was lacking last season. No matter the position out there, the Royals ranked near the bottom of the league in OPS. Strahm and Mears fit in the bullpen, as the team traded Angel Zerpa for Collins (and Mears) but lost oft-injured reliever Hunter Harvey to free agency.
What they still need to do: The Royals’ task hasn’t changed: attempting to find more offense to put around all-world player Bobby Witt Jr. It’s likely to come via a trade rather than any of the free agents left on the market. The team might still add to the bullpen, but there has been quite the roster churn for Kansas City so far. And remember, the Royals were active during trade season last July, so the roster will look very different on Opening Day this year as opposed to 2025.
A full season from Jac Caglianone gets him close to 30 home runs, but questions about chase and healthy contact continue to limit him some. Still, a 12% walk rate and .819 OPS would come pretty close to “as-advertised” for the 23-year-old slugger. Vinnie Pasquantino projects here to lead the team in home runs again, this time with 36. That’s four more than he finished with in 2025 and his .510 projected slugging percentage would be a career-high. Also of note, the projection sees Vinnie’s walk rate taking a step up in 2026, falling more in line with where he finished in his first two MLB seasons rather than the sub-8% numbers we saw in 2024 and 2025.
The NFL coaching carousel continues as Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott got the axe despite being an Admiral.
The Miami Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley to be their new head coach. Just don’t Google his coaching history.
The Chiefs are bringing back former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy to be the old-new Chiefs OC.
Today’s Off Topic: I bought a bike yesterday. I’ve never been a cyclist, but a rowing coach I’m using wants cycling of some kind included as cross training. Plus my wife and kids all have bikes; I’m the one who cannot ride with them until I buy a bike. So I bought a used one for super cheap. It’s an old, 1990s Raleigh C-30. It needs a new tube thing for the rear tire, but otherwise it looks very well cared for. New seat, new tires, chain in good shape. I’ll get it tuned up and get riding here soon. The guy owned a bike trainer for indoor riding too, and he included it. I’ll ride in my basement as soon as I get the bike fixed and figure out how the trainer thing works. This is really a validation experiment – invest minimal dollars to see if I’ll commit to it. If I do, then I’ll be willing to spend a bit more for something better.
Any cyclists here? What bike brands do you like? If you’re in the KC area, where are your favorite places to ride? Trolley trail, Indian Creek trail, etc etc?
Your song of the day is The Mars Volta with Blacklight Shine
Tonight, National Baseball Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch will step up to a podium in a live segment on MLB Network and reveal who the Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected to join Eras Committee selection Jeff Kent in the 2026 Hall of Fame class. Several former Yankees are on the ballot and under consideration, though as the latest public balloting results, only a few had a chance at realistic chance at meeting the 75-percent threshold to be inducted in July.
No one at Pinstripe Alley has an actual Hall of Fame vote (some at SB Nation do!), but every year, we play along with the exercise and submit our own ballots. I asked the staff to to consider the eligible candidates and vote for as many as 10 players, just like the BBWAA does. The former Yankees on the ballot are Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Andruw Jones, Bobby Abreu, Edwin Encarnación, and perhaps the most likely inductee from the BBWAA this year, Carlos Beltrán, who was on 70.3 percent of 2025 BBWAA ballots. Others in the mix are returning candidates Mark Buehrle, Félix Hernández, Torii Hunter, Dustin Pedroia, Francisco Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel, and David Wright, as well as new names Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun, Shin-Soo Choo, Gio González, Alex Gordon, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Nick Markakis, Daniel Murphy, Hunter Pence, and Rick Porcello.
Here’s how PSA voted! We have a three-man class with Beltrán, Abreu, and A-Rod, with Pettitte, Jones, Utley, and King Félix each falling one vote short.
Those are our ballots. Who would have made your cut for Cooperstown?
DePodesta was cagey when asked if he could confirm the move.
“That’s interesting timing while I’m on the zoom with all you folks,” he said. “No, I probably can’t comment on that. But as I said before, we’ve been in active conversations with other players, and we’re looking to continue to make additions to the team. So I’ll just leave it at that.”
The Rockies had been linked to Castro during and after the Winter Meetings as DePodesta worked to improve the moribund Rockies at the ground floor of a much-needed rebuild. These improvements would need to come from many possible directions, from improved player development to free agent signings and beyond.
DePodesta addressed this multi-faceted approach during his media availability.
“The way we’re looking at it is that every move compounds right on. So you know, we can just continue to get incrementally better. In the long run, it’ll make a significant impact. I also think there are two ways to make this team better. One is to add players that we think could help. The second is to make our existing players better.”
When it comes to players who might help, the new Rockies front office has focused on a few specific positions: the starting rotation, first and second base, and the need for a utility player. For starting pitching the Rockies have already signed the aforementioned Michael Lorenzen and are likely to sign at least one more before spring training. There has been little movement at first base since the team claimed Troy Johnson off of waivers from the Miami Marlins before DePodesta’s hiring was finalized.
For second base and utility, it would appear the Rockies have killed two birds with one stone by bringing in Willi Castro.
The 28-year-old Puerto Rican former All-Star started his career as a shortstop with the Detroit Tigers. However, he has since moved largely to a combination of second base and in the outfield. He can play all three outfield positions, as well as third base. Throughout his seven-year big league career he has logged at least 550 innings at every position but catcher and first base.
While Castro may end up the Rockies’ Opening Day second baseman—especially if Ryan Ritter or Adael Amador fail to impress this spring—his positional versatility will be a factor when it comes to day-to-day lineups.
“We’ve looked at different combinations of players and even thinking about our own players in different combinations,” DePodesta explained. “Right now we do have some players that are versatile on the infield. They they could fill in some different spots. So I think it affords us the opportunity to look at the puzzle a lot of different ways. I think it is safe to say that most of the guys we’re looking at now are primarily infielders, given where we are in the outfield, but we are looking at different spots. I think there are different ways of putting the puzzle together that could make sense, depending on who the players are.”
DePodesta also discussed the state of the outfield, where Castro spent the bulk of his playing time in 2025 with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs.
“One of the things I think I may have even talked about on my first day here and talking about Coors was the importance of both outfield defense and base running. There’s so much acreage out there defensively that you need to cover, but it also creates a real opportunity for people who are opportunistic base runners.”
Those factors are what led the Rockies to bringing in outfielder Jake McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this off-season. While Castro isn’t as strong of a defender as McCarthy and lacks the same range, he is a significantly better outfield defender than Mickey Moniak and Tyler Freeman were last season. His 28.8 feet per second sprint speed puts him behind only Brenton Doyle (29.5), Ryan Ritter (29.2), and Braxton Fulford (29.1) for players currently on the roster, while his 89.9 MPH average arm strength is above the 2025 league average for all positions save right field and ranks behind only Yanquiel Fernández (97.2), Doyle (94.2) and Tyler Freeman (92.3). He has also stolen double digit bases in each of his last three seasons, with a career high of 33 with the Twins in 2023.
“You have guys who can play multiple spots in the outfield. Some guys with power, some guys who can really run. I think it’s a nice mix for [manager Warren Schaeffer] and hopefully gives us an opportunity to put together a lineup on any given day that gives us a good chance based on what we’re facing from the opposition.”
There is a potentially unfortunate downside that comes with bringing in Castro, however. While DePodesta voiced both confidence and excitement in the Rockies’ new big league coaching staff and their ability to “effectuate” getting better play out of the club’s existing players, he also noted that prospects may still need to earn their spots on the Major League roster with more experienced depth putting pressure on them.
“If you look at those five outfielders now (Brenton Doyle, Mickey Moniak, Jordan Beck, Jake McCarthy, and Tyler Freeman), four of them are in their arbitration eligible stages, and then Jordan is just behind those guys in terms of service time,” DePodesta said. “So all still young, but now all having some relatively significant experience that’s kind of a nice blend there. I think the young guys are absolutely going to have to earn their way onto the team and into the lineup with those other guys there.”
The Rockies had 13 players make their Major League debuts in 2025, most of which were largely out of necessity with the team’s organizational depth being tested. While some promise was shown, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Castro is able to play the same positions as the Rockies’ three most prominent position player debuts in third baseman Kyle Karros, second baseman Ryan Ritter, and corner outfielder Yanquiel Fernández.
Karros, Ritter, and Fernández will likely be given every opportunity to earn a spot on the 26-man Opening Day roster this spring. However, the Rockies may want to send the trio back into the minor league system for additional development, something the team has started investing significant resources into this off-season.
“This week has been a big week in terms of moving on some of that,” DePodesta mentioned when asked about the minor league coaching and development staff. “We’re actively interviewing for a number of different positions throughout the minor leagues, and hope to have some of those folks in place in short order. I think in an ideal world, maybe a couple of would be able to join us next week.”
While Willi Castro’s contract won’t be official until the Rockies make an announcement—and a corresponding move to clear space on the 40-man roster—its likely safe to assume that he will will suit up in purple pinstripes for the 2026 season. Once the move is made official, the role Castro will fill with the Rockies will become more and more clear the closer we get to Opening Day.
Mike Mazzeo of Sports Business Journal takes a look at the business side of the Rockies’ nascent rebuild as Dick Monfort cedes organizational power to his son Walker while he has focused on labor negotiations. With Walker at the helm, the Rockies have begun a push for innovation on both the field and in the front office with the goal of making the team more than just an afterthought in Colorado sports.
The Rockies recently acquired speedy outfielder Jake McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks, adding him to an already crowded outfield group. McCarthy had a down year in 2025, ultimately losing his spot to Alek Thomas. What can the Rockies do to get McCarthy back on track in 2026?
The Cubs Convention is over, the Bears’ fine season is, too, and only the Blackhawks remain standing in the playoff hunt. But there is hope for the 2026 Cubs squad, after a couple of major and quite a few minor signings, with only a couple of roster decisions to make unless something special happens.
The Pitch Lab is going to have plenty of experimental subjects.
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The @Cubs snagged another Pro Day arm! 💪 Congrats to Trent Thornton on signing with Chicago! Thornton threw 42.1 MLB innings in 2025 before tearing his Achilles last July. The Super Supinator is ahead of schedule with this rehab and ready to contribute. 📈
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Of all the things that went wrong for the 2025 Detroit Tigers from the All-Star break to the end of the regular season, the starting rotation felt like the biggest piece of the puzzle to many fans. Injuries to Jackson Jobe and then Reese Olson left that group vulnerable, and the front office failed utterly to find competent help behind Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, and Casey Mize. Even so the club still graded out among the best rotations in the American League by year’s end, and in the postseason that backend mattered little and the struggles of the offense took center stage in their heartbreaking Game 5 ALDS loss to the Mariners. Have they done enough this offseason to keep the rotation near the top of the league?
Obviously they haven’t done a lot, but they didn’t really need that much to begin with. Jack Flaherty decided to use his option to return, again solidifying a good top three, though Skubal is obviously doing the heavy lifting for that trio and is projected for 5.9 fWAR, while Flaherty and Mize remain modestly above average with projections of 2.6 and 2.3 fWAR, respectively. Reese Olson is probably their second most effective starter, but he’s currently in the fourth position at 2.1 fWAR, as until he proves otherwise, the Tigers can’t depend on him to hold up to a full year’s work. Then the Tigers signed one of the top KBO names coming back stateside in the form of right-hander Drew Anderson, projected for 1.2 fWAR. After a really good year overseas, he’ll be in the mix competing with Troy Melton (1.2 fWAR) for the fifth spot, with Keider Montero (0.5 fWAR) and Sawyer Gipson-Long (0.5 fWAR) on the outside of that battle.
Beyond them they have relievers like Brant Hurter and Tyler Holton who can spot start, a decent Triple-A starter in Troy Watson, maybe a bit of help from Ty Madden for a spot start or two, and a pair of interesting but fringy lefty prospects in Jake Miller and Andrew Sears who may be able to chip in later on over the course of the season. Jackson Jobe isn’t really expected to return until August, so it’s hard to guess how much help he might be late in the year.
It would certainly have helped to add a top name in this free agent class like lefties Ranger Suarez or Framber Valdez. The latter is still available and has AJ Hinch ties, but as Valdez is the last man standing among really good dependable starters, competition will be fierce. I can’t imagine the Tigers would be involved anyway, but it’s even less likely that Valdez will be available 2-3 weeks down the road once the Tigers have clarity on Skubal’s 2026 salary, and perhaps a better idea of how their broadcast rights situation will play out.
The Tigers may have a small move left ahead of them, probably a cheap backend starter or bullpen arm who will simply get a chance to compete for a job in spring camp, but they’re basically done barring something unforeseen, like trading Skubal, or one of their starters getting injured before we even get to camp.
That should be enough to remain near the top of the American League, as the Tigers currently have the third ranked starting rotation, including depth pieces, in the major leagues according to Steamer projections. Signings of Valdez and other remaining free agents will alter these projections, but basically this is how it lines up with free agency winding down.
Based on Steamer’s WAR projections, the answer is quite obviously yes. I admit I prefer the ZIPS projections, but the differences aren’t usually too striking.
These assessments shouldn’t be so surprising. As bad as our recent memories of the August and September Tigers may be, and despite the natural myopia in a fanbase that leads us to think that other teams are stronger than they are, it doesn’t erase the first three and a half months of the season when the Tigers were steamrolling everyone. No doubt the Tigers rotation situation feels precarious, because if Skubal is hurt for any long period of time they’re in big trouble and at best a middle of the pack rotation. But other than maybe the Red Sox and Dodgers, that’s true of everyone at the top. The Pirates rotation without Paul Skenes is going nowhere, for example.
The American League’s best
If we break it down to just the American League, the Red Sox have the best rotation with Garrett Crochet leading the way and the signing of Ranger Suarez putting them over the top. Of course, they also have several other above average starters in Brayan Bello, Sonny Gray, and Kutter Crawford should he get return in good form from knee issues and the wrist surgery that cost him the 2025 season. It’s not exactly the 2013 Tigers rotation, but it’s very good and they have plenty of depth as well.
We can also find some rotations that aren’t as good at the top, but are certainly deeper in good starters than the Tigers. The Seattle Mariners for example, have Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Luis Castillo, all of whom project to be above average starting pitchers. There’s no one who’ll knock your socks off over the course of a full season, but the first three at least are a little better than any of Olson, Flaherty, or Mize. They also have a better crop of pitching prospects than the Tigers by far right now. Right-handers Ryan Sloan and Jurrangelo Cjintje, along with 2025 first round lefty Kade Anderson, aren’t on the cusp on the major leagues yet and may not be ready in 2026, but all three are comfortably top 100 pitching prospects who will likely all start the year in Double-A. I’d be willing to bet that one of them goes off in 2026 and is at least an average major league starter by the second half.
The Blue Jays are in a similar boat after signing Dylan Cease. Cease should give them strong frontline starter production to lead the way. Trey Yesavage could be every bit as good even if the projections don’t love him due to an inability to handle a pro caliber workload. Kevin Gausman is still a quality starting pitcher though clearly not the guy he was a few years ago. Shane Bieber is a nice bounceback candidate to be an average or better starter again if he’s put Tommy John in the rearview mirror. And while the Tigers signed Drew Anderson from the KBO, the guy above him was Cody Ponce, who signed with the Blue Jays back in December. Finally, Jose Berrios and Eric Lauer are depth guys, but should be able to handle plenty of innings for them.
The Blue Jays also seem like a team who might get into the hunt for Framber Valdez or Chris Bassitt after losing out on both Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette. Pivoting to improving their rotation a little more would have them looking like a repeat appearance in the World Series is a good possibility.
The Yankees rotation is reasonably good, but nothing to write home about as things stand. Max Fried is really good, and Carlos Rodon, Will Warren, and Cam Schittler are above average. They’re in the Mariners camp with a lot of well above average starters, though their depth isn’t very good. Warren and Schlittler are young and have a solid chance to break out further this season, and the Yankees will be hoping Garrett Cole returns to form quickly sometime in the summer months as he tries to return from last March’s Tommy John surgery, but the notion that he’ll look like Garrett Cole again before 2027 is a bet with pretty long odds.
Both the Mariners and Yankees rotations do look like they could hold up to losing their top arm better than the Tigers’ can, but that’s probably not worth worrying about. If Skubal gets hurt for more than a month, the Tigers season is presumably going right down the drain. The concern is more losing one or more of their 2-4 arms and having to replace them with a backend type.
Best of the AL Central
Within the division, the Royals look like the Tigers closest competition in terms of starting rotations. Cole Ragans gives them a very good top starter assuming the rotator cuff issue is behind him. Of course he’s been pretty injury prone in general in his career. Kris Bubic is pretty good, and Michael Wacha is an average starter with proven durability. In different ways, they’re both very comparable to Flaherty, Olson, and Mize. Meanwhile, Seth Lugo looks pretty well washed up after his 2024 resurgence, but may still have another good season left in the tank. They don’t have much in the way of depth or top shelf prospects behind that group, however.
The Guardians rotation looks quite average on paper. They don’t have a single pitcher projected to be worth more than 2.5 fWAR. However, they do have several more quality starting pitching prospects nearing the major leagues to provide reinforcements. Lefty Parker Messick should be about ready to give them average production, at least. At the top, they have Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee, who are both 26-year-old quality mid-rotation starters. Williams certainly has the stuff to become a frontline guy this year. The Guardians starting pitching has rarely graded out that well in recent years, but they play great defense and game plan well, typically outperforming their FIP metrics by quite a bit. With right fielder Chase DeLauter and infield masher Travis Bazzana closing in on the big leagues, they may finally have some serious help for Jose Ramirez on the other side of the ball as well. No doubt they’ll be back to go toe-to-toe with the Tigers yet again, even if it’s a mediocre group on paper.
At this point I wouldn’t expect any significant moves throughout the division. Maybe the Royals smell an opportunity and pick up Bassitt or Lucas Giolito. That would get them closer to the Tigers and give them better insurance considering the lack of impact pitching prospects. Trading for pitching at this time of year is nearly impossible, at least in terms of good, established pitchers or top pitching prospects, so beyond those last few good starters available, the field is pretty well set until the trade deadline in July.
No doubt we’ll end up revisiting this topic in more depth with a focus on the AL Central in March, once rosters are closer to being finalized in the runup to Opening Day.
In terms of Steamer’s projections specifically, you can certainly take some issue with using FIP based FanGraphs projections if you like, but I continue to find fWAR better at projecting the next season’s production. Baseball-Reference’s rWAR is more useful for looking back at what did happen last season, as opposed to what a pitcher’s strikeout, walk, and home run rates say should happen in a neutral context without defense involved.
The Tigers are set for now but the front office needs to be ready to adjust
Ultimately, the Tigers don’t need to be clogging up the works with another backend starter. If they aren’t going after Valdez or Bassitt, or perhaps one of Zac Gallen or Lucas Giolito, who could do reasonably well here too, it’s just not worth it. Adding another subpar pitcher on a flier, that they can’t option or easily cut loose should things go poorly, might do more harm than good.
Assuming they aren’t doing any of those things, Scott Harris needs to be better prepared to trade prospects for young pitchers with options as needed at midseason. He tried to avoid giving up anything of note in terms of prospects when the Tigers badly needed pitching help in 2025, and it went very poorly. That can’t happen again if the Tigers find their pitching depth badly stretched for any length of time.
You can’t necessarily stockpile against every contigency that might emerge during the regular season. The best defense is to have another top pitching prospect on the cusp of the major leagues. The Tigers don’t have that, they just have some fifth starter type depth and a few decent spot start candidates. What they need to combat problems that may emerge, is the willingness to adjust make an impactful trade as the need arises.
Inside the NBA’s push to launch a European league, the legal tension with EuroLeague, and why the fight for basketball’s future is heating up.
FIBA, basketball's global governing body, first introduced the EuroLeague in 1958 as the continent's premier competition. But over the last 25 years, FIBA has lost its grip on the operation. There was a split in 2000 with the Union of European Leagues of Basketball, where top clubs chose sides in competing operations, with ULEB ultimately gaining control.
EuroLeague is now a privately run company controlled by EuroLeague Commercial Assets, which has long held a stranglehold over Europe's second-most-popular sport. But over the last year, the NBA has signaled interest in forming a competing league of its own alongside FIBA to grow the sport in a region where 15% of the league's players now come, including some of the world's biggest modern superstars and nearly every league MVP this decade.
"We have been talking about this for decades at the NBA," Leah MacNab, the league's senior vice president, head of international strategy & operations, told Boardroom last week from Berlin, where the NBA was hosting a regular-season game between the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies. Brother Franz and Mo Wagner first played at hometown EuroLeague club Alba Berlin before starring for the Magic, and the NBA was playing its first-ever regular-season game in Germany before the two teams headed to London on Sunday. MacNab said a register-your-interest campaign on social media for the games received 450,000 responses.
Franz Wagner gets a ROARING ovation as he's introduced in Berlin 🔊
NBA Europe, the league's internal working title for the operation, was first seriously floated last year in partnership with FIBA and now has a projected start date of fall 2027. The league would have 10-12 permanent members and four to six rotating members who could qualify under some competitive format to be determined by FIBA, emulating the model of the EuroLeague, with 12 permanent members and six rotating spots. But the biggest reason why the NBA is trying its hand at a European league is a simple market inefficiency.
"We think that the current structure really doesn't take advantage of the commercial opportunities," MacNab said. "So, we wanted to put our hats in the ring, and we're really excited to take this to the next step."
The next steps are finding the right markets, teams, and ownership groups for permanent members. Meetings took place last week during the NBA's Eurotrip, with JP Morgan Chase and the Raine Group advising on the discussions. The membership will likely come from a combination of existing EuroLeague teams and top European soccer clubs looking to expand into hoops in markets where the league sees room for growth. And unlike the NBA, where sovereign wealth funds from Gulf states are limited in the stakes they can take in teams, MacNab said she expects NBA Europe to operate a little differently in that regard.
One particular meeting in London, per The Athletic, was attended by EuroLeague members Real Madrid, Barcelona, Olimpia Milano, Greek power Panathinaikos, Alba Berlin, and Lyon-area ASVEL, which is owned by NBA legend Tony Parker. The NBA also met up with representatives from soccer giants Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and AC Milan, as well as Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Blackstone, and Arctos. Qatar Sports Investments, which owns Paris Saint-Germain, has also been linked to the NBA Europe project, while the league reportedly additionally met up with EuroLeague member and Istanbul power Fenerbahce in Berlin.
The NBA has recently played regular-season games in Berlin, London, and Paris, and will hold its first-ever regular-season game in Manchester next year. In a press conference in Berlin on Thursday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he's very familiar with Alba Berlin's success. He confirmed discussions with Real Madrid and other Spanish clubs, and said Istanbul is a market he's looking at. Madrid, Fenerbahce, and ASVEL are reportedly three permanent EuroLeague members who have held off on signing long-term extensions to stay in the league. While MacNab said that there's no financial number the league is looking for right now for membership fees, a recent report claimed the league is targeting valuations of up to $1 billion.
Not surprisingly, the EuroLeague won't let potential key members leave without a fight. Amid a report last week that claimed the EuroLeague sent a letter to the NBA stating that it would take legal action if the league had discussions with teams signed to EuroLeague contracts, Silver told reporters, "I send the legal letters to my lawyers, so I'll let them handle that."
A source close to the NBA told Boardroom that the league hasn't engaged with anyone about an NBA Europe opportunity that they are not free to discuss. But there could be a pretty easy escape hatch for any interested party that has that particular conflict, as FC Barcelona is rumored to have. EuroLeague shareholders such as Barcelona, which recently signed a 10-year extension, reportedly have exit clauses of around €10 million, a relatively modest sum in what Silver has repeatedly described as a long-term play on the continent.
"I don't think by any means it's inevitable that there is a clash," Silver said when asked about the EuroLeague. "If I thought that the ceiling was the existing EuroLeague and their fan interest, we wouldn't be spending the kind of time and attention we are on this project."
MacNab told Boardroom she thinks NBA Europe and the EuroLeague can co-exist long term on the continent and believes that there's room for the two leagues to even compete against each other in the same markets. The NBA, in partnership with FIBA, has approached the EuroLeague several times but said it hasn't been able to reach a partnership that makes sense for either side.
“The NBA has been announcing and announcing things for a year, but still it’s nothing that you can grasp on,” EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas told the Associated Press over the weekend. "We've only heard the plan or the fireworks of how amazing it will be, how much potential there is. The ’27 start is already around the corner.”
While MacNab acknowledged that the NBA has a lot to sort out over the next 18-20 months, the league is confident in its plan and path forward.
"We think that there's enough interest both from fans and from investors," she said. "There's enough talent out there at a very top-tier level to make this a compelling product."
What's clear is that the war over the future of European basketball is only beginning, and likely won't be ending even if and when NBA Europe gets off the ground later next year.
The football and tennis writer, who has died aged 84, was a major force in changing the Guardian’s sports coverage, alongside long stints at the Daily Express and Independent
In my mind’s eye I remember it all. John Roberts, the Guardian’s northern-based football writer, had come down on a rare visit to the sports desk in London. I was a new boy on the subeditors’ desk. Everyone was pleased to see John: he was that kind of bloke.
While he was there, the chief sub wondered, could he perhaps look at a news agency story from his beat that had just come in. It could have been anything: the latest signing by Bob Paisley or Malcolm Allison or the latest misadventure of George Best. Instead of giving it the once-over or adding a sentence or two, he walked over to a quiet corner, picked up an office phone and started a long call. By the end he had the full story. There was an air of amazement in the room.
Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report. This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver’s most recent 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders.
The Canucks were the better team in this game from an analytics perspective. Vancouver held a 31-23 even-strength scoring chances advantage while winning the even-strength high-danger scoring chances battle 19-11. In the end, though, the Islanders were able to take advantage of their opportunities, which led to their victory.
As for the heatmap, the Canucks did a good job of crashing the crease. The issue was that New York also had no problems getting into Kevin Lankinen's crease. While there were positives offensively, Vancouver's defensive play was a problem on Monday.
Vancouver Canucks vs. New York Islanders, January 19, 2026, Natural Stat Trick
To wrap things up, the line of Jake DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser had a strong night. In 10:55 together, they won the shots battle 8-4 while holding a high-danger scoring chances advantage of 8-1. If the team is going to snap their losing streak, they need these three to get going and not just have strong analytical nights, but also contribute on the scoresheet.
Jan 19, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin (30) defends against Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson (40) in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Canucks continue their road trip on Wednesday against the Washington Capitals. This could be the last time Alex Ovechkin plays at Rogers Arena, as he is a free agent at the end of the season. Game time is set for 7:00 pm PT.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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Ottawa Senators -22-19-7 - 51 Points - 4-4-2 in the last 10 - Lost last 2 in OT- 8th in the Atlantic
Columbus Blue Jackets - 22-19-7 - 51 Points - 5-4-1 in the last 10 - Won 4 Straight - 6th in the Metro
Blue Jackets Stats
Power Play - 20.0% - 20th in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 74.8% - 29th in the NHL
Goals For - 143 - 20th in the NHL
Goals Against - 159 - 25th in the NHL
SenatorsStats
Power Play - 24.4% - 7th in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 71.5% - 31st in the NHL
Goals For - 156 - 11th in the NHL
Goals Against - 163 - 28th in the NHL
Series History vs. TheSenators
Columbus is 20-21-2-3 all-time, and 12-8-1-2 at home vs. Ottawa.
The Blue Jackets are 8-2-2 in the last 12 games against the Sens at home.
The CBJ are 1-1-0 against the Senators this season.
Who To Watch For TheSenators
Tim Stützle leads the Sens with 21 goals and 49 points.
Jake Sanderson leads Ottawa with 29 assists.
Goalie Leevi Meriläinen is 8-10-1 with a SV% of .860.
James Reimer 0-0-1 with an .882 SV%.
CBJ Player Notes vs.Senators
Zach Werenski has 21 points in 20 games against the Sens.
Charlie Coyle has 19 points in 33 games. All of his points are assists.
Sean Monahan has 19 points in 32 games vs. Ottawa.
Injuries
Isac Lundeström - Lower Body - Missed 12 Games - IR - Week to week. Has been skating, but the timeline is unknown.
Brendan Smith - Lower Body - Missed 10 Games IR - Out for the rest of the regular season.
Miles Wood - Lower Body - Missed 9 Games - Week to week.
Mason Marchment - Upper Body - Missed 7 Games - Week to week.
Denton Mateychuk - Lower Body - Missed 3 Games - Day to day.
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 127
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About 90 minutes before Monday’s game, Josh Hart was answering questions from a couple of reporters. Someone asked him about the Knicks’ then 2-8 stretch.
“I think it’s a combination of stuff. Just gotta be better defensively, more physical, into the ball, more effort, more energy. That kind of stuff. I can’t say that I’m surprised because obviously January – middle of January especially – those are the kind of dog days of the season. So not too surprised,” Hart said. “You kind of see a few teams around kind of showing that fatigue. You know, it happens every year.”
Hart wasn’t excusing the Knicks’ poor play. But he didn’t sound too worried about it.
“We have to go out there with a sense of urgency,” Hart said. “At this point, (more than) 40 games in, normally you don’t put too much into struggles, because there’s highs and lows, but at this point we have to play desperate, because that’s (where) we are right now.”
Now, the Knicks have lost nine of their last 11 games. They have a bottom 5 defense in that span; New York may have hit rock bottom on that side of the ball Monday when Dallas put up 75 points in the first half.
It was one of the worst losses of the Jalen Brunson era. And one that led to a damning comparison between this year’s team and last year’s team, which reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
“I think last year no matter what we did, the effort was there. I haven’t seen this kind of effort that we had today, it was embarrassing,” Hart said.
He referenced a game last season when the Knicks leaned on effort and physicality to win.
“We didn’t shoot the ball, we couldn’t score, but we said, ‘We’re gonna lock in, and we’re gonna play defense, we’re gonna play physical, and we’re gonna make it tough.’ It’s the same group of guys, so how we’re playing right now is really inexcusable,” Hart said. “We all gotta look in the mirror and do some soul searching.”
How did the Knicks reach this point? How did a team that started the season 23-9 end up here?
In digging around on this, one theme has come up consistently over the past couple of weeks:
This group is not tied together in the way that their early season success would suggest. Players haven't fully bought into their roles under head coach Mike Brown. Those reasons are cited often when you talk to people about the Knicks’ flaws.
Now, these issues aren’t unique to this year’s team. They existed to a degree in the locker room last season. But the Knicks coaching change hasn't rooted them out.
The firing of Tom Thibodeau and hiring of Brown was never going to cure all that ailed the Knicks. But the move definitely raised the stakes for New York.
That was made clear earlier this month when owner James Dolan said in a WFAN interview that he expects the Knicks to reach – and win – the NBA Finals.
A few weeks ago, Dolan’s expectations seemed reasonable. The Knicks started the season 23-9; they won the NBA Cup in Las Vegas last month.
But things have fallen apart since then.
New York is 27th in opponent three-point percentage; the club has one of the NBA’s worst defenses over the past four weeks. Karl-Anthony Towns has struggled on both ends of the floor for much of the season.
It’s easy to point the finger at the new head coach. Certainly, Brown and his staff deserve criticism for the club’s freefall.
But what about the front office? Management’s three biggest acquisitions (Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby) haven’t played at a high level with any consistency this season. The 2025 free agent signings (Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson) haven’t provided the depth the Knicks were looking for.
So how does it all get turned around? The Knicks don't have much flexibility from here. They can use draft capital and/or Miles McBride to acquire a significant rotation player. It may be tough for the Knicks to recoup value in a Yabusele trade because of his 2026-27 player option.
Sure, Leon Rose & Co can execute a larger trade. But that would mean giving up on a core that they put together two summers ago.
Would Rose and his group make that kind of move? They probably don’t want to. But more losses like Monday’s may force their hand.
Sixers skipper Moises Henriques admits his side let a golden opportunity to host the BBL decider slip on Tuesday night after delivering one of the club’s worst-ever finals performances.
New Englanders know January can be a brutal month. The days are short and bitterly cold. Winter storm warnings seem to exist in perpetuity. All that holiday glee resides in the rearview mirror, and yet spring seems so far away.
January is a brutal month for NBA players, too. The body is feeling the effects of the first 41 games, but there’s still 41 more to go. There are trade rumors and a relentless game schedule. The All-Star break can’t arrive soon enough. Surviving the January doldrums feels like a legitimate chore.
And, if you’re Derrick White, January can’t seem to pass without a maddening shooting slump.
In his four full seasons since joining the Celtics, White has routinely slumped his way through January. It might have cost him an All-Star nod during the 2024 title season. On Monday night, in a showdown of Eastern Conference titans, White missed 10 of the 11 shots he hoisted against the Pistons and turned hesitant during the fourth-quarter moments where he typically thrives.
White was field-goal-less when he stepped to the free throw line early in the fourth quarter to shoot a technical freebie. He missed that one, too — in a game the Celtics would lose by a point, 104-103.
The numbers confirm what’s been hiding in plain sight: January is White’s toughest month. In his four full seasons since joining Boston, White’s scoring plummets to his lowest output of the seven regular-season months. It’s the only month in that span that he’s shooting under 40 percent from the field overall, and his January 3-point percentage is the worst of the seven months as well.
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It’s fair to wonder if White is feeling the effects of Jayson Tatum’s absence. While he’s pushed back on the suggestion that scoring has become more difficult while elevating to the No. 2 option, his shooting woes suggest otherwise.
Of the 154 players averaging at least eight shots per game with at least 25 games played this season, White ranks 149th in field goal percentage at 39.1 percent. Of the 113 players in that same group who average at least four 3-pointers per game, White ranks 105th in 3-point percentage at 32.4 percent.
But January has still been his cruelest month. White, who has now failed to reach double digits in scoring in his last three games, is shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 24.7 percent on 3s in 10 games this month.
Wake White up when January ends.
The good news: History suggests White typically rebounds well in February. That has been both his highest scoring month and his best shooting month (by far) over the past four seasons. White is averaging 17.3 points per game over his last four Februarys, while shooting 49.6 percent overall and 43 percent beyond the arc.
It says something about White’s ability to impact the game in so many other ways that he has lingered in the All-Star conversation despite his obvious shooting woes.
On Monday night, White registered a team-high five assists to go along with nine rebounds (including five on the offensive glass) and two blocks. White was the closest defender on 24 of Detroit’s shot attempts, an insanely high number even by his All-Defense standards. He’ll get votes for Defensive Player of the Year.
The potential in-season return of Tatum could go a long way toward improving the shot quality White enjoys in the second half of the season. Some of the Celtics’ inconsistent ways in recent weeks could be alleviated by White simply getting himself back on track with his offensive output. That Boston is still second in the NBA in offensive rating despite White’s shooting woes is very impressive.
There are six more games to navigate in January. White has played in 40 of Boston’s 41 games this season and could be due for a night off along the way. The Celtics ought to change all the calendars in the Auerbach Center to February to see if they can accelerate White out of his January slump.
LeBron James missed out on starting selection as an NBA All-Star starter for first time in 22 years, but the Los Angeles Lakers star is still set to feature in February's event.
Last month, the NBA announced the 10 players voted as starters, including Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic, the Lakers' Luka Doncic and San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama.
Fans accounted for 50% of the vote to determine the 2026 starters, while current NBA players and a media panel each accounted for 25%.
The five players with the best score in each conference were named as starters across the three teams, with international players playing for the world team.
James, 41, was ranked ninth overall in the Western Conference by voters.
But after that initial snub, James was named among the reserves list, having been selected by a panel of NBA coaches to play as one of 14 additional players.
James was selected in 2025 but did not play in the event after picking up an injury.
Sidney Crosby climbed a couple of all-time NHL leaderboards while skating in his 1,400th career game Monday afternoon in Seattle.
Crosby recorded his second assist of Monday night on Rickard Rakell’s third-period goal to help lead the Penguins to a 6-3 road win over the Kraken with his 1,742nd career point.
The ranks third only behind Wayne Gretzky (2,772 points) and Marcel Dionne (1,771) for the most points at the milestone in NHL history, according to NHL Stats.
Including the playoffs, those two assists moved Crosby past Ron Francis for fifth place on the NHL’s all-time points leaderboard (1,943 regular-season and postseason points). Only Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jaromir Jagr and Gordie Howe have more.
Those aren’t the only milestones Crosby cleared in Monday night’s win. Per NHL Stats:
Monday night’s win marked the 512 multi-point game of Crosby’s career. That moved him past Gordie Howe (511 career multi-point games) for the fifth-most in NHL history. Two more multi-point games this season would allow him to leapfrog Messier and Dionne for third on the all-time leaderboard.
The outing also brought Crosby’s career points total on the road to 784 points in 700 away games, tying Mario Lemieux (784 points in 443 road games) for the eighth-most in NHL history. That will leave the Penguins captain 25 road points back of Alex Ovechkin for seventh on the list.
Crosby’s set-up on Rakell’s third-period goal also marked the 580th third-period point of his career (he’s scored 213 goals and 367 assists in the final 20 minutes of regulation, per NHL Stats). That moved him past Dionne and Francis for seventh among all third-period scorers in NHL history.
This might not be the last time Pens fans get to watch Crosby climb the NHL’s all-time leaderboards this season. After Monday’s victory, he’s just 12 points back of tying Steve Yzerman (1,755 career points) for the seventh-most career points in NHL history.
Crosby’s meanwhile still ranking among the best in the league this season. His 55 points (26 goals, 29 assists) currently ranks 13th in the NHL, and his 26 goals are tied for fifth.
The Penguins will hope Crosby is able to extend his streak of three straight multi-point games when the road trip continues Wednesday in Calgary.
