WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Athletics traded talented base-stealer and outfielder Esteury Ruiz to the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday for minor league right-hander Carlos Duran.
Ruiz, who led the American League with 67 stolen bases in 2023 for an AL rookie record, was designated for assignment by the A’s on Sunday. He is headed to join Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The A’s announced the move ahead of their series finale Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs at Sutter Health Park.
Ruiz topped Kenny Lofton’s then-record of 66 stolen bases set with Cleveland in 1992. The 26-year-old Ruiz was hindered by wrist and knee injuries last year, when he played in only 29 games and then underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in late September. He batted .254 with five home runs, 24 doubles, a triple and 47 RBIs in his only full major league season.
The Dodgers transferred right-hander Kyle Hurt to the 60-day injured list to clear room for Ruiz on the 40-man roster.
The NBA is investigating Ja Morant — who has been suspended multiple times by the NBA for waiving a gun on social media — for using a gun gesture toward the Golden State bench and in celebration of 3-pointers during the Grizzlies' loss to the Warriors Tuesday night, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
Morant made the gun gesture multiple times during the game, usually aimed at the nearest defender, and in celebration of one of his five 3-pointers. Late in the game when the Warriors were in complete control, Golden State's Buddy Hield mocked Morant by making the gun gesture back at him. Morant saw that and made the gesture back toward the Warriors bench, with some trash talk involved.
Ja Morant appeared to make a gun gesture at the Warriors' bench late in the game pic.twitter.com/fTvFA0wpit
Morant and Hield were given technical fouls for the exchange, and the league is also investigating Hield, according to the report.
Morant has used this celebration before on 3-pointers, and he is not the only player to use a gun gesture or something similar to celebrate a 3. The NBA has no rule explicitly banning a gesture, but it has fined players for things such as a throat-slashing gesture or the big balls celebration.
Because of Morant's history, the gun gesture takes on a different significance. Morant was suspended for eight games near the end of the 2022-23 season after he showed off a gun on Instagram Live while at a strip club in Colorado. Morant told NBA Commissioner Adam Silver at the time he had learned his lesson, however, that summer Morant was seen again on Instagram Live with a gun while riding in a friend's car. This time, the league suspended Morant 25 games at the start of the 2023-24 season.
If the NBA cracks down on gun gestures, it cannot just go after Morant, other players have used that celebration as well. The NBA also would be following in the footsteps of the NFL, which cracked down on finger gun celebrations (players have been fined).
Jeremiah Fears has declared for the NBA draft after one standout season at Oklahoma. Fears made the announcement on a social media post Wednesday. The 6-foot-4 guard is projected by many to be a lottery pick.
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, speaking with reporters after practice Wednesday in El Segundo, said of his occasional frustration with officials, "I gotta remember they're human too and gotta just focus on the game, focus on myself." (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
The stakes here in early April for the Lakers are easy to see, the trophies that sit in owner Jeanie Buss’ window overlooking the practice courts a constant reminder of what the goals are for the team, particularly at a time when the talent on the roster looks formidable.
But for a player like center Jaxson Hayes, there are other things at play, the free-agent-to-be in the most important role of his career on the best team for which he's played.
“I just view it as opportunity to make a name for myself, an opportunity to go win some games and win a ring,” Hayes said after the Lakers held a rare practice Wednesday. “And I just look at it as I gotta come in locked in every day and just try to make the most out of every day, be the best version of myself.”
The best version of Hayes has been fully optimized with Luka Doncic now on the Lakers, the trade doing more than leaving Hayes as the lone option to lead the frontcourt with Anthony Davis off to Dallas. It also paired Hayes with Doncic, a maestro when it comes to playing with athletic centers who he can find space for lobs near the rim.
Hayes is averaging nearly 9.0 points per game while shooting 76.9% from the field since the trade. And even when Hayes is not scoring easy baskets, his rim-running has forced defenses to suck into the paint and create more open shots on the perimeter.
“When teams do that, man, it's either Luka's gonna get a bucket or one of the shooters gonna get a bucket,” Hayes said.
It’s made him one of the most important Lakers, a player with a skill set the team can’t really replace when he’s not on the court. When he missed four games in early March, the Lakers lost all four.
“I've told him this a number of times over the last week or so, he's so important for us,” coach JJ Redick said before a win over Houston on Monday. “If we're wanting to win at the highest level, he's gotta be elite. And that's not to put pressure on him because he has guys that can take that pressure off of him. But we need him on the floor. We need him to stay out of foul trouble. We need him to lay off the referees. He's gotta be locked in.”
Hayes’ frustration with the officials has been an issue as his minutes have increased, and he acknowledged he’s trying to find more empathy during emotional moments of the game.
“It's been a very big topic of discussion, and it's something I'm trying to work on,” he said. “Obviously I play with a lot of passion and I'm a very passionate player and very energetic player. So sometimes I get on the refs when I feel like they miss 'em, but I gotta remember they're human too and gotta just focus on the game, focus on myself. So that's been a big point of emphasis for us and just leaving them alone and focus on myself.”
Playoff preview?
The Lakers host Golden State on Thursday, the first time the teams meet since both squads reconfigured their rosters.
Since acquiring Jimmy Butler from Miami, the Warriors (44-31) have rocketed up the standings and could be a first-round opponent for the Lakers (46-29).
Stephen Curry had 52 points, including 12 three-pointers, Tuesday in a win over Memphis.
“Jimmy's just such a competitor and everyone knows that,” Hayes said. “We see what he's done with Miami the past few years, so just changed the whole game. We gotta deal with him and Draymond [Green], two very big competitors. And obviously Steph is Steph.
“Yeah, it definitely brings a lot of differences and more energy to the game.”
Zack Wheeler took the mound Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park for his first home start of the season, where he dominated for seven innings, allowing one run on three hits.
The Phillies’ ace collected his first win in 2025 with a 5-1 feat over the Rockies and put a bow on the outing with his 26th-career double-digit strikeout game (10).
What, did you expect anything different?
Rob Thomson certainly knows it’s the standard at this point in Wheeler’s career.
“He was great,” the Phillies manager said after the win. “It seems like the same thing every night, you know?”
The only standout was Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman hitting a home run off of Phillies starting pitching in back-to-back games. The Rockies have two runs through two games in this series — and they both belong to him.
Now 4-1 on the young season, the Phillies secured back-to-back series wins to open their 2025 campaign. It marks the 20th time in franchise history.
Slowly — and emphasis on slowly — but surely, the offense is finding ways to score against opposing starting pitchers. Prior to Wednesday, 23 of the Phillies’ 25 runs came against bullpen arms.
The club added to that production against Rockies left-hander, Kyle Freeland, who came into the game with a 0.00 ERA after pitching six scoreless innings to open his season against the Rays.
After an Alec Bohm single a la torpedo bat in the fourth inning, Kyle Schwarber kept his early hot streak alive with an RBI double. It’s the first time the Phillies scored first through five games.
Schwarber crossed the plate shortly after, when J.T. Realmuto dribbled a knuckle curve a few feet out of the batter’s box.
Aggression at the plate, awareness on the base paths and complete consistency early on has shown it doesn’t matter where Schwarber’s name is penciled in the lineup — the designated hitter is going to produce.
He’s currently leading the club in runs batted in (7), home runs (3) and runs (5 — tied with Bryson Stott).
But at the moment, what is somehow more impressive, is the heater Edmundo Sosa is on.
Sosa made his first start at second base this season and collected a mere three hits and two RBI. He now has four consecutive multi-hit games and is leading the team in hits (9).
It’s a good, yet difficult situation to be in when a bench player is producing at this caliber. He started in place of Trea Turner for three games while the shortstop was dealing with a hip issue — he’s now back. He started in place of Bryson Stott today with the club facing off against a lefty — that won’t be the case for the next handful of games. What’s a manager to do?
“I’m going to call MLB and see if we can play 10,” Thomson jokingly replied when asked if he’s going to try to get Sosa in the lineup for Thursday’s series finale against the Rockies.
It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?
There is still cause for concern regarding the lineup and the inability to do more damage against opposing starters. In the fifth inning, they loaded the bases with no outs in the heart of the order — and left them stranded with three consecutive punch outs from Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm and Schwarber.
But when you’re finding ways to win this early and often to start the season — a problem like this can get tossed to the wayside … for now.
The Vegas Golden Knights have signed Jackson Hallum to a two-year, entry-level contract.
The 22-year-old played three seasons at the University of Michigan, scoring 17 goals and 42 points in 84 games. His junior season saw him set a career-high in goals, scoring eight goals and 17 points in 36 games.
The Golden Knights selected Hallum in the third round (91st overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. Prior to joining the Wolverines, Hallum recorded 29 goals and 70 points in 62 games in his final season in the USHL.
Listed at 6'0, 170 lbs, Hallum is known for his speed and was considered one of the fastest skaters in his draft class. He's aggressive on the forecheck, willing to throw a big hit to earn the puck back.
The left-handed winger will join the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHL for their final eight games of the season. Hallum is the second NCAA prospect the Golden Knights have signed, the first being Trevor Connelly. The Silver Knights have struggled for quite some time and the Golden Knights organization looks to be beefing the roster up with prospects. Mathieu Cataford is another forward who is likely to join following the conclusion of his season.
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A superb goal from Sandro Tonali lit up the night, while Manchester City’s fans turned up late and their opponents didn’t turn up at all
Danny Mills, watching the Manchester City game, says he is “confused” by a Leicester side that is “almost waving a white flag”.
Ten minutes into the Manchester City game, and a load of fans are just coming in. The protest seems to have had decent numbers, even if the majority of supporters – certainly in the stand that runs along the side of the pitch opposite the TV cameras – were in their seats before kick-off.
One of the pure bucket getters the game has ever seen — whether he was winning an NCAA title, winning one of his three Olympic gold medals, or averaging 22.5 points a game in the NBA — there has been nobody like Carmelo Anthony.
Now he is deservingly going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer, which was expected but has been officially broken by Shams Charania of ESPN.
First ballot: Carmelo Anthony has been notified that he's been elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025, sources tell ESPN. Anthony made 10 All-Star appearances and six All-NBA teams in 19 seasons to go along with three Olympic gold medals for Team USA. pic.twitter.com/b079xHPqZB
Anthony averaged 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists over his 19-year career, which started with the Nuggets, moved on to the Knicks, and also included stops with the Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, and Lakers. 'Melo led the NBA in scoring in 2012-13, was a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA player, ranks 12th on the league's all-time points list, and was named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary team.
Tributes poured in for Anthony, but the best one came from the Atlanta Hawks.
(For those that don't remember, Anthony was traded from the Thunder to the Hawks in the summer of 2018, he was technically a member of the Atlanta franchise for five days before he was waived.)
The official announcement of the Neismith Basketbal Hall of Fame class of 2025 will come this weekend during the Final Four in San Antonio. Other locks to make the Hall of Fame out of this class include Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Dwight Howard, and the 2008 USA Basketball men's Olympic team — which included both Anthony and Howard.
The Yankees have entered the 2025 season banking on a young core to blossom without long stretches of growing pains. And while it's still far too early to draw conclusions on what these players will produce by the end of the 162-game marathon, the first week's worth of results are at least encouraging.
Call it a small sample size -- because it very much is -- but the Yankees' crop of homegrown talent is providing pop in the lineup that's not just connected to the torpedo bat craze. Between youngsters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, and Ben Rice are seven home runs in just 39 total at-bats, and top prospect Jasson Dominguez joined the party with his first blast of the year on Tuesday.
With ample help from captain Aaron Judge, the Yankees hit a league-record 18 homers through their first four games. The questions and doubts surrounding the team's ability to reach base consistently and deliver in the clutch still exist, but the youth movement is already embracing a rather tall order.
"It's four games, but certainly been encouraged by Austin, Volpe," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks. "Even before Dominguez had two hits and the homer yesterday, not a ton of results for him necessarily in the first few games, but I thought his at-bats were really good....
"I feel like those guys are all better hitters than they've been in the past, and continue to improve. We're relying on those guys heavily. We need them to be this and better. I've been encouraged by what we've seen from our younger players. They've kind of carried their spring training into the early days of the season so far."
The new faces in pinstripes are also pulling their weight, as Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have combined to hit .310 with two homers. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is also off to a hot start with three round-trippers in his first March and April with the club. From top to bottom, the Yankees are barreling pitches.
New York's goal of defending its American League pennant and capturing that elusive championship is undoubtedly contingent upon the veterans living up to their career marks. But the 26-and-under group is bearing plenty of responsibility too. The Yankees' six true homegrown players in last week's Opening Day lineup were their most in five decades.
Aaron Boone on pulling Jasson Dominguez for defense late in games when he could come up to bat again
"My expectation is that [Dominguez] becomes an outstanding defensive left fielder. You can't guard for everything but I want his development to go as best as possible" pic.twitter.com/ENyjxJo9sW
If Newcastle’s rivals for a Champions League place had hoped Eddie Howe’s players might be partied out after ending that 70-year domestic trophy drought, they were destined for disappointment.
Howe’s team were not at their very best but, thanks to the most eye-catching of winning goals from Sandro Tonali they found a way to defuse Brentford’s ever-present threat.
Jack Grealish scored a first Premier League goal in 16 months then dedicated it to his brother Keelan on the 25th anniversary of his passing in an emotional post-victory tribute.
The forward’s strike came only 70 seconds in as Leicester were shredded by a Savinho dart down the right; the Brazilian found Grealish who beat Mads Hermansen to the goalkeeper’s right. Afterwards on Instagram, Grealish said: “With me always, especially this day – that was for you Keelan.”
England’s Jos Buttler hammered an unbeaten 73 to lead Gujarat Titans to a thumping eight-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Erik Brännström has played in North America
since 2018 but multiple Swedish
media sources are reporting that he will
return to Europe next season.
HockeyNews.se
is reporting that the 25-year-old Swedish defenseman is most
likely headed to Switzerland, where he would sign a long-term deal –
a scoop attributed to an Expressen.se article behind a
paywall.
The website further
notes that Genève-Servette and HC Lugano are two teams in
Switzerland’s National League who have room to add imports to their
rosters. Both teams that have generally not been afraid to pay well
for talent, particularly Genève, although both teams also struggled
and missed the playoffs this past season.
From 2019 to 2024,
Brännström’s career
was fairly stable – mostly playing in the NHL for Ottawa with
occasional assignments to the Belleville Senators, the team’s
nearby AHL farm team.
However,
this season has been quite chaotic for the diminutive, puck-moving
defenseman. He signed as a free-agent with the Colorado
Avalanche in the summer but was traded to the Vancouver
Canucks before the season began. After playing 28 games in
Vancouver, he was dealt to the New
York Rangers as part
of the J.T. Miller trade in late January and then traded again to
the Buffalo Sabres just prior to
the trade deadline. He has not played an NHL game for either of the
latter two teams.
Overall,
Brännström has
77 points and 162 penalty minutes in 294 NHL regular-season games.
If
he signs in Switzerland, it will be Brännström’s
second tour of duty there, although the first one only lasted 10
games with the SCL Tigers in the autumn of 2020 while the start of
the NHL season was delayed by pandemic-related restrictions.
Gabe Perreault is expected to wear the number 94 for the New York Rangers as he makes his NHL debut on Wednesday night and there’s some deep history behind that decision.
His father, Yanic Perreault repped the number 94 when he played in the NHL.
Gabe revealed that it was actually Yanic who suggested and inspired him to use that very same number.
“Growing up, I’ve always had a number with a 4 in it,” Gabe said. “When I talked to my Dad, I think he suggested it a little bit, so definitely because of him a little bit.”
Through Yanic’s 14 seasons in the NHL, he played for the Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks, and Phoenix Coyotes.
After two seasons at Boston College, Gabe signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Rangers on Monday and now he’s ready to carry on his father’s legacy in the NHL.
It’s people like Yanic who helped Gabe get to this point, so it’s only right he pays homage to him.
“I’ll be excited,” Gabe said about his NHL debut. “Obviously, a little bit nervous. But I know that's part of it. That's expected, but I'd be super grateful and really thankful for everyone that's helped me get to this point.”
