Worldwide Sports News

Jurickson Profar is currently set to miss the entire 2026 season after reportedly failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs for the second time in as many seasons. This bombshell news has rocked the Atlanta Braves organization, it’s rocked Braves Country and it has also rocked Profar’s pockets as well. Assuming the suspension becomes official (more on that below), that’s now $21 million forfeited of the $42 million that Profar agreed to collect over the course of three seasons playing for the Braves. That’s a whole lot of money to be throwing away in such foolish fashion but (reportedly) here we are and there’s not much that the Braves can do at this point other than figure out a way to utilize the now $18 million (Profar’s $15 million plus luxury tax considerations as well) that just got freed up at the very last minute.

So now there are a few questions as to what the immediate future holds for the Braves and Profar. Here’s what comes to the top of my mind:

Will Jurickson Profar’s suspension get shortened or thrown out?

Shortly after the suspension was reported by Jeff Passan, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the MLBPA was going to challenge the suspension and also file a grievance on Profar’s behalf.

Is this going to go anywhere? I mean, sure it could but the odds are heavily tilted in the league’s favor that this suspension will be upheld. The obvious example here is when Alex Rodriguez appealed his initial 211-game suspension. That still ended up with A-Rod doing 162 games on the sidelines so it wasn’t like he took a decisive victory in order to return to the field.

Also, this isn’t the first time that this has been challenged. In the vast majority of PED suspension appeals, there’s one common thread amongst these suspensions: MLB has usually done a thorough job with their investigation and was able to prove intent to use PEDs instead of it being an accident. Considering this is Profar’s second go-around with PED usage, I’d imagine that it wouldn’t be too difficult for the league to find intent here.

I’d say that this is simply the Union standing behind one of their own in procedural fashion. Again, there’s a chance that the suspension could get cut down but I wouldn’t count on it and I also wouldn’t count on it being a substantial repeal as well. This is either going to be all-or-nothing and the odds of it being “all” are incredibly slim.

Will the Braves use that money immediately?

As I mentioned earlier, the Braves now have a little bit of extra money to play with since that money likely won’t be going into Profar’s bank account this year. The bad news is that it’s March 3, so good luck finding any sort of real impact player at this point. Sure, the Braves could go after an outfielder or a DH but when the most appealing options are guys like Max Kepler, Jesse Winker, Andrew McCutchen or even Jason Heyward, the Braves would clearly be doing the baseball equivalent of shopping in the clearance aisle.

Of course, they could very well just stick with what they’ve got when it comes to their hitters/fielders and go with a pitcher, instead. Lucas Giolito would be the obvious name but also we’d be assuming that the Braves actually want him and that they’re still dead serious about wanting to stick with their internal options going forward. If that’s the case then it seems more likely that the Braves could go after an outfielder or a DH option and continue to place faith in their internal pitching options.

It’s frustrating in my opinion but it is what it is — Alex Anthopoulos is on record saying that he feels like the offense improving would be a bigger key to the success than the rotation and it’s understandable considering that he’s likely banking on the entire rotation not going on the 60-Day IL for a second season in a row. Still, it’s also understandable that we’re all feeling very jumpy after the injury woes that the rotation has already had to deal with. I do not envy the position that the GM is in at the moment but hey, that’s why he’s the GM and I’m some random blogger. It’s his job to figure it out.

Then there’s also the possibility that the Braves could sit on this money for the time being and utilize it later on during the season at the trade deadline. That’s a lot of cash to have freed up to take on any potential contracts at the deadline and hopefully there would be far more appealing names once that time rolls around. There’s no telling who would be available and that would certainly be a risky strategy to play the waiting game that deep into the season since there’s also no guarantee that the Braves would be in a reasonable position to buy.

Sure, we all figure that the team will still be better (even with all of the current missing names in the field and on the mound) but if we have another season of struggling to simply stay in the Postseason race then not spending the money right now could be a decision that comes back to haunt the Braves. Again, I do not envy the position that AA is in at the moment.

Will Jurickson Profar play another game for the Braves?

I’d imagine that if a lot of Braves fans had their way, the 2025 regular season finale would be the last time that we ever see Jurickson Profar put on the uniform and start for the Braves. There’s no getting around it: He’s let the team down for two straight seasons now due to making incredibly bad decisions with his judgment. There is no excuse at all for getting hit for using PEDs in this current era of baseball and it’s even more confounding when you consider that this has happened after he got paid in free agency. It would still be a bad idea but it’s one that’s understandable if you’re a hungry player looking to secure a big bag. Doing it now and throwing $21 million away is just plain foolish and it’s even worse since his absence leaves the team in a lurch.

I mentioned it in the initial article but it bears repeating: It made all the sense in the world to have Profar as the DH while Mike Yastrzemski hit against right-handed batters. Now, Yaz is going to be playing a whole lot more and the team’s depth (which they worked so hard on improving during the offseason) is already being strained due to losing Profar for the whole season and Ha-Seong Kim and Sean Murphy for a month or two. This was one of the last things that the Braves needed and for it to come from another PED suspension to Profar is just horrendous.

Depending on how the clubhouse and the rest of the organization feels, this could be one of those rare moments where the team just decides to eat the money and pay Profar the rest of his contract to stay home or play for whichever other team will take him. In all honesty, though, I could also see the Braves giving him a third chance for 2027.

As of right now, Profar would be the best currently-employed option to be the DH on the 2027 squad and assuming that they wouldn’t want to go out and find another expensive replacement, that would be an easy way to ensure stability heading into 2027. It would stink for all of us fans to think about and it would also require an astonishing amount of fence-mending on Profar’s part to smooth this over between now and 2027 but it is certainly a possibility.

Either way, the Braves now have a problem on their hands and it’s a crying shame. Jurickson Profar’s initial signing seemed like a perfect fit for a team that had been having a revolving door at left field for a long time. Now, the Braves are stuck wondering what they’re going to do since this relationship has been a very rocky one since the beginning.

Will the team stick with Profar now that he’s only getting $21 million of the $42 million that he signed on for? Will the Braves use that money immediately or wait until later on to utilize it? Will the suspension even be upheld? It’s a murky future and one that could’ve been avoided had Profar simply stayed clean. We’ll see what happens but this certainly isn’t a fun idea to think about.

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Jurickson Profar is facing a suspension for a possible second failed test for a performance-enhancing drug in less than a year, multiple media outlets are reporting.

He faces a 162-game suspension and will be ineligible for the postseason, according to ESPN, which was first to report the news. Profar, a Curaçao native, had been slated to represent the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic that begins Thursday, but is no longer eligible for that event, ESPN reports.

Profar intends to ask the players’ association to file a grievance to appeal any discipline to baseball’s independent arbitrator, Martin F. Scheinman, a person familiar with the process told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, because no announcement had been made.

Profar's agent, Dan Lozano, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP.

Read more:Shaikin: Will Klein isn't surprised he saved the Dodgers' World Series dynasty

Profar made his MLB debut with the Texas Rangers in 2012 and made the All-Star game for the only time in his career with the San Diego Padres in 2024. He has also played for the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies.

After signing a three-year deal with the Braves last offseason, Profar tested positive for Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in violation of the league’s joint drug-prevention and treatment program. He was suspended for 80 games without pay and was made ineligible for the postseason.

“It is because of my deep love and respect for this game that I would never knowingly do anything to cheat it," Profar said in a statement at the time. "I have been tested my entire career, including eight times last season alone, and have never tested positive. I would never willingly take a banned substance, but I take full responsibility and accept MLB’s decision.”

Profar played 80 games for the Braves last year, hitting .245 with 14 home runs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Time to play the World Champs again. Here’s the lineup:

CF Kwan
SS Rocchio
3B Ramirez
1B Manzardo
C Fry
DH Valera
RF Jones
2B Brito
LF Halpin

P Cantillo

The World Baseball Classic starts to loom, and in addition to the game here, fourteen other participant countries will also be playing exhibition games here or in Florida. Among the D-backs taking part, Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo are batting 2nd and 9th respectively, as the Dominican Republic take on the Tigers. Druw Jones is also hitting 9th for the Netherlands as they take on the Orioles. And Kristian Robinson is playing DH and hitting fifth for the British team [/sips tea], for their game against the Brewers in Maryvale. Meanwhile, here’s the D-backs’ line-up as they take on our southern neighbors this afternoon at Salt River Fields:

After Zac Gallen, pitchers may include RHP Dylan Ray, RHP Taylor Clarke, RHP Juan Morillo, RHP Grant Holman, RHP Joe Ross and RHP John Curtiss. Zac only threw one inning his first time out, since like Brandon Pfaadt, he is being slow-played. It was a scoreless inning with one hit and a pair of strikeouts, but I’d expect at least two and possibly three frames from him this afternoon. Also of note, scheduled to start for the Mexican side is former Diamondback, Taijuan Walker, while batting eighth will be current Diamondback, Alek Thomas. Should be an interesting game, although it doesn’t “count”, even in the Cactus League!

A couple of ways to follow this one. The game will be televised through dbacks.tv, with Steve Berthiaume, Bob Brenly & – be still my beating heart – Todd Walsh. But if you want to practice your Spanish, it will also be on La Campesina 101.9 FM and 860 AM, with Oscar Soria & Richard Saenz.

Is it on TV?

Kind of. This is the first night game of Spring Training and it conflicts with a Bruins game, so it’s been bumped to NESN+. First pitch is at 6:05 PM.

What’s the lineup?

What should we watch for?

Assuming you can watch it, it’ll be nice to get another look at Kristian Campbell in centerfield. Braiden Ward, meanwhile, has been the best base-stealer in all of baseball this spring so far, so that’s pretty neat. But the most intriguing player in the lineup today is probably the pitcher, Jake Bennett, who has a huge fan in fellow Jake Jacob Roy.

Are there any other interesting games featuring Red Sox players that are on TV?

Why yes! Team USA will play its first exhibition game ahead of the World Baseball Classic this afternoon against the Giants. Roman Anthony is playing left and hitting seventh. Catch it on ESPN, first pitch at 3:05 PM.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will travel to Goodyear Park to take on the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday.

Roki Sasaki looks to improve on his first outing of the season, in which he went 1.1 innings and allowed three hits and three runs, while walking two and striking out three. Joey Cantillo will start for the Guardians.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Guardians
• Ballpark: Goodyear Ballpark
• Time: 12:05 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: WTAM (Guardians broadcast)

After winning three games in the BRUCE BOLT College Classic in Houston over the weekend to remain undefeated, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns return to UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday for a matchup against the Houston Christian Huskies.

The Horns have won all 10 previous meetings between the two schools, including a 7-1 win over the Huskies in the Austin Regional last year. Houston Christian earned the automatic bid from the Southland Conference after making an unexpected tournament run.

Under third-year head coach Clay Vanderlaan, HCU is off to a 6-6 start this season, bouncing back from an 0-5 start to the season with series wins over Alcorn State and UIW and a midweek road win in extra innings over Rice in Houston. On Sunday, the Huskies notched an 11-10 walk-off win over the Cardinals after rallying from a 9-2 deficit over the final three innings.

Outfielder Jack Walker had a big week for Houston Christian, batting .500 with two home runs, four RBI, and eight runs scored to extend his hitting streak to seven games. First baseman Katcher Halligan has been hot at the plate, too, raising his average from .143 to .370 over an eight-game hitting streak. Walker and Halligan are two of the four batters hitting over .300 for the Huskies, led by catcher Levi Castilleja, an excellent contact hitter, at .409, and second baseman Anthony Avalos at .390.

The Huskies haven’t flashed much power this season with six home runs and a .425 slugging percentage, though they do have 29 doubles and a .301 team batting average.

Right-hander Kenan Elarton (0-0, 0.00 ERA), an Arizona transfer who played high school baseball with Texas junior catcher Carson Tinney at Valor Christian in the Denver metro, is expected to get the start for Houston Christian, his first of the season. Elarton has held opponents scoreless in his four innings pitched over three outings, striking out four while allowing four hits and three walks.

As a staff, the Huskies have struggled with a 7.30 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP as opponents have hit .298 with 12 home runs.

Texas is expected to give freshman right-hander Sam Cozart his second straight midweek start after two superlative outings. In relief of sophomore right-hander Jason Flores two weeks ago, the 6’6, 260-pounder allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts in four innings of the run-rule win over Lamar. Last week, in his first collegiate start, Cozart was dominant over four scoreless innings, holding UTRGV to one hit while striking out eight and walking three.

Expect Flores to see some action against Houston Christian, too.

“Need to get Jason Flores back out on the field. Jason’s really good and he threw awesome last Tuesday night,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said during his Monday appearance on the Around the Horns podcast.

Flores went one scoreless inning against the Vaqueros, working around two hits while striking out one.

At the plate, redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra is in the midst of the best power surge in his career. In Houston, the Stanford transfer went 4-for-8 with three home runs, seven runs scored, six RBI, 14 total bases, and a 2.365 OPS. The three home runs tied his career total entering the season.

First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.

After a late loss yesterday to San Francisco, lefty Sean Newcomb makes his second White Sox start since signing a one-year deal in December, looking to carry over the momentum he built in the Athletics’ bullpen in 2025. Newcomb primarily began his professional career as a starter before shifting into the bullpen for 32 games with the Atlanta Braves in 2021, while still making spot starts where needed.

With the A’s last season, Newcomb found his footing in the pen and propelled himself to one of the league’s top-five relievers after dominating 51 1/3 innings in 36 games while sustaining a 1.75 ERA and efficient 1.032 WHIP. The southpaw is expected to bolster himself as a cornerstone of the bullpen if he can maintain the progress that he built up and continue to avoid injuries. For a Chicago team that struggled so much late in games on the mound and experienced way too many one-run losses, coaches and fans are hopeful that Newcomb can promote stability into the relief staff.

On the bright side for Newcomb, the South Side offense has been raking this spring. They’ve so far ranked fourth overall in batting average, fifth in slugging percentage, and sixth in OPS, while also holding the top BA and SLG % in the American League. If you’d told me this a year ago, I’d probably have assumed you were crazy. Edgar Quero was steady last year, but he’s on fire now, slashing .529/.556/.824 (1.380 OPS) in five games (17 at-bats) and starting this afternoon behind the plate in the cleanup spot.

Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, and Miguel Vargas are holding down the top of the order, respectively. While Chase and Colson have had a slower start to Spring Training, this is definitely the time to work on their swings and shake off the rust before the season starts. Vargas has been solid, however, and holds the seventh-highest batting average on the team (.412) in 17 at-bats, including two doubles. LaMonte Wade Jr. will get some reps at first, while Austin Hays, Brooks Baldwin, and Dru Baker round out the outfield as manager Will Venable works to determine the best mix.

Here’s how the Good Guys are lining ‘em up today:

For the Padres, righthander Nick Pivetta will be taking the mound, also making his second start of the spring. His numbers are certainly not impressive in his tiny two-inning sample (three earned runs in two innings); however, it’s already well established that Pivetta’s consistency has propelled him as one of the stronger starting pitchers in the league. In 2025, he posted a 2.87 ERA and a 0.985 WHIP in 31 starts for the Friars (181 2/3 innings) and finished in the top 15 in strikeouts.

Prospects are making up the majority of the Padres lineup; however, 2024 All-Star Jackson Merrill is holding down the two-hole, while recently added DH Nick Castellanos will swing from the four-spot as he works to make a name for himself in San Diego.

Naturally, there doesn’t appear to be a broadcast; however, if you have an MLB.TV or MLB+ subscription, you can listen in via the Padres radio broadcast. Be sure to check back here later today for the full recap! Let’s get another spring W ahead of the World Baseball Classic.

There was a lot of noise surrounding Adam Fox’s comments last week regarding his future with the New York Rangers. 

Upon his return to the lineup last week on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, Fox was asked if he wants to stick around with the Rangers through a retool, and his noncommittal answer raised some eyebrows. 

“I'm just trying to focus on this year right now and play each game,” Fox said. “That's really all I could do right now. That’s a conversation for when we’re done playing.”

After the Rangers’ Monday night 5-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Fox was given the opportunity to clarify his previous statement about his future. 

However, he decided to go down a similar path, answering the question vaguely while giving no reassurances about where his head is at this season. 

“Kind of the same,” Fox said of whether he had anything to add to his previous comments about his future. “We’re just trying to focus on games, myself included. Like you said, there's a lot going on, the deadline and everything. But I think all anyone can do right now is just take it day by day and try to bring a good effort, trying to bring a good attitude and obviously, go from there.”

According to Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic, multiple meetings have taken place between Fox and Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury in recent weeks. 

Reasoning For Rangers Continuing To Hold Adam Edström Out Of The Lineup Will Adam Edström return to the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/">Rangers</a>' lineup soon?

Mercogliano reports that Fox wants to see how Drury handles the coming months and assess the state of the roster this summer before making a full-throated commitment to stick it out with the Blueshirts.

The 27-year-old defenseman holds a full no-movement clause through next season. Over the final two years of Fox’s contract, which expires in 2029, he’ll have a 16-team no-trade list. 

There has been no immediate speculation that the Rangers are looking to entertain offers for Fox before the March 6 NHL Trade Deadline. 

Unless I’m mistaken, today’s matchup against Team Brazil is the first time the ball club has ever competed against a World Baseball Classic team?? Can anyone fact check that? Google has really taken a dive and I’m having a difficult time locating any type of database that says otherwise. Although I want to say I remember there being an A’s vs Team Venezuela game back in 2017. Did I make that up? Classic case of the Mandela effect? Brent Rooker played the genie in Kazam!, right?

Making his A’s debut against Team Brazil is none other than Aaron Civale, who recently signed a one year deal worth about $6 million with the green and gold. Now I’d be lying to you if I said I was super pumped for the Civale era. Not very often does a pitcher with a 65.1 % flyball rate and a high 80s cutter get me all hot and bothered. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever been more of a turn off. That being said, his success is our success so I will gladly sit back and support.

Go Aaron!

I don’t see the righty going more than two innings today as it is his first outing. Still, it’ll be interesting to see him shake off the rust against Team Brazil’s trio of Nepo babies:

Lucas Ramirez (son of Manny Ramirez)

• Do you think he knows that his pops is an A’s spring training legend?

Joseph Contreras (son of Jose Contreras)

Dante Bichette Jr. (I won’t patronize you fine readers)

There’s something very “Straight-to-Video” about this Team Brazil squad. But that doesn’t mean we should expect them to roll over. No, in fact Civale and the A’s should be careful as, if American Pie: Band Camp has taught us anything, it’s that sometimes greatness comes from places you’d least expect. It’s been over ten years since the last time Team Brazil punched their ticket to the WBC, and manager Daniel Yuichi Matsumoto, who was captain of that squad back then as a player, will be damned if the club doesn’t walk away from this whole affair without at least one victory. Beating the A’s could either be the feather in their cap when it’s all said and done, or the very victory that propels them towards being a cinderella team (they play Team USA on Friday btw).

It is worth noting, not a single position player on their roster has Major League experience. Literally not a single soul with a bat. With all due respect to Team Brazil, I hope the A’s put up fifteen runs. Losing isn’t the end of the world (baseball classic 😉 here but it is still embarrassing. Especially knowing that Mark Kiger has seen more action in the bigs than every one of their position players combined.

(In Robert Stack’s voice) UPDATE: I looked a bit harder and found that the A’s actually squared off against Team Colombia back in 2023 and…lost :/ Final score 3-2. Freddy Tarnok got the L. Brent Rooker did, however, go 2-2 with a walk.

I turned back the clock a little further and discovered that in 2017 and 2013, the A’s took two wins away from Team Italy, and 2009 saw them beat Team South Africa. MLB.com lists their match up against Team South Africa in 2006 as a scoreless exhibition, but according to SFGATE – – the A’s dropped thirteen runs on their heads while only giving up one.

Combing through these games made me curious to how they map out who plays who. Like why have the A’s played Team South Africa and Team Italy twice? Why is Team USA playing the Rockies and Giants this year? If anyone knows the answer to this question, please feel free to word vomit in the comments. If not, I’m sure our amazing broadcast team will hit us with a little trivia throughout the game.

Checkout the lineup below as we get ready for a fun little day of baseball!