maj Page 30 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The A’s are tearing down more than their team
It sure looks funny when the MLBPA claims that the establishment of a draft lottery is something of a win in the new CBA, in a bid to prevent tanking from teams, and on the very first day they can do so, the Oakland Athletics trade their best pitcher (Chris Bassitt) for one prospect and one minor le...

Familia latest Phillies’ free agent folly
The Phillies had a 4.60 bullpen ERA last season, sixth-worst in the major leagues. Philadelphia relievers’ 2.36 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranked 19th in the majors in 2021. And the Phillies’ bullpen corps served up 89 homers last year, tied for seventh-most in baseball....

Stream shows consciousness
When I told my mom about the reports of NBC’s impending $30 million deal to stream a dozen and a half Major League Baseball games on Peacock, she groaned. More streaming, more annoyance when all you want to do is just turn on the TV and see the ballgame....

He’s Joe Bucks now
Joe Buck, the longtime voice of Fox Sports, is bolting for the greener pastures of ESPN, signing a lucrative five-year deal in the $60-$75 million range, according to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand....

MLB free agency predictions - who will go where?
With over 200 names still facing free agency and less than one month to go before the start of the MLB season, we are in for an absolute flurry of moves. There are still dozens of big names on the table for any team looking to make a game-changing acquisition. Those teams that were right on the bord...

Devil’s Advocate: Banning the shift shows that MLB is moving in the right direction
I’ve never had too strong an opinion on whether or not Major League Baseball should ban the shift....

NFT hacks Jeff Passan at height of lockout negotiations, completely whiffs opportunity
You know, back in the day, when things made sense and air was fresh and all french fries were crispy, when you hacked someone’s Twitter or Facebook or email, you did it for entertaining reasons. Remember the days of “Wetbutt” breaking Cubs trades (“Days Of Wetbutt” was an underrated Cinderella album...

Will Wade’s LSU benefit scandal resurfaces in NIL era
For 50 years, NCAA Narcs were the equivalent of law enforcement locking up upstanding citizens for possession. Rather than actively fighting for the rights that they were forced to finally accept last year, their Infractions Committee doggedly pursued victimless crimes like Rick Majeris paying for p...

MLB Owners looking to expand draft to international players
The concept of an international draft has become a big one in the collective bargaining talks between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association, with the league reportedly trying to get a global entry system in place, in exchange for eliminating draft pick compensation for free agency....

For MLB players, streaming deal is rotten Apple
MLB’s new streaming deal with Apple is why the Major League Baseball Players Association needs to scrap its entire bargaining strategy and go for a salary cap....

Integrity is a funny word
The first rule for any professional sports athlete is that you can’t bet on the games. Technically it’s called Rule 21 and you can find it hanging in every Big League clubhouse. Pete Rose would walk past it every day for decades as a player and manager, paying it no mind, so his lifetime ban is the ...

Big Baby got caught on candid camera at the Celtics game today, and he deserved it for that lame shirt
We may not have this opportunity this year, but who hasn’t purchased a bleacher seat at a Major League Baseball game and then sometime after the third inning — or third beer, whichever comes first — tried to find a better view, or received some free concert tickets at their high school part-time job...

It’s happening to the Maple Leafs again
Even though we Chicagoans don’t get a spring — it’s winter until one day somewhere in May when it’s just suddenly summer and we’re all instantly drunk outside — that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize the signs of spring approaching elsewhere. Sure, we’ve been robbed of one of them in spring training. ...

Shades of 1994
As the MLB lockout turned from days to weeks to months with negative progress on the new CBA, it’s become abundantly clear that we’re not going to get the start to the MLB season anytime soon....

Pro golfers are just like us… sometimes
Ten inches — it was a putt that should have been nothing for the world’s current top golfer, Jon Rahm. But something just went wrong. He didn’t take a full stance, strolling up to the ball on the green to tap it in. The ball traveled about three inches before coming to a stop, turning what would hav...

So what happens if you have tickets to Opening Day?
So far, the Major League Baseball lockout is only really hitting home for 19 of the 30 franchises. That’s because, with only the first week of games canceled – so far – there still are 11 teams who don’t yet have to deal with the mess of rescheduling a home opener....

Strikes and Balks: A list of things ailing Major League Baseball
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire aren’t walking through that door....

Cain Velasquez allegedly shoots relative of man who allegedly molested his relative
Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Tuesday, after police ID’d him in a shooting that sent a man to a San Jose-area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He is being held without bail and an arraignment was set for Wednesday afternoon....

Joey Gallo: Will strike out for food
The Major League Baseball lockout isn’t ending anytime soon. There was some hope that the Jupiter meetings could lead to a new CBA, but those meetings proved as useless as Pat Light against anyone not named Mike Trout. Now, with Opening Day canceled along with the first two series of the season, som...

Hear me out: Derek Jeter for MLB Commissioner
We’re going to be without big league baseball for the foreseeable future, launching a sport that’s already been on the decline into what feels like its death throes....