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Archives for December 2023

A Dodgers Dynasty to Be

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto Signs with LA for $325m

LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After signing reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract earlier this month, the Dodgers have landed star Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a 12-year, $325 million deal Thursday, per multiple media reports.

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Yamamato’s deal would eclipse New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole’s deal by $1 million, making it the largest contract for a pitcher in major league history. The Dodgers will also pay $50.6 million in a posting fee for Yamamoto.

The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays also pursued Yamamoto.

Yamamoto spent the past six-plus seasons with the Orix Buffaloes, compiling a 70-29 record with one save and a 1.82 ERA in 172 games. He has struck out 922 batters over 897 innings.

In 23 games in 2023, he finished with a 16-6 record and 1.21 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. Those numbers helped him to his third straight Triple Crown in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball as he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

Only three pitchers in Major League Baseball have won the pitching Triple Crown three times — Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Yamamoto also has won the Eiji Sawamura Award, which equals the Cy Young Award, three times.

The 5-foot-10 Yamamoto won a gold medal with Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and another in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

–Field Level Media

NFL Week 16: Playoff Possibilities

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SANTA CLARA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The San Francisco 49ers’ Christmas gift could be the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Niners, the only 11-3 team in the NFC, have a straightforward path to clinching the top seed and a first-round bye in Week 16, according to the NFL’s official playoff scenarios.

If the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles all lose, the 49ers would lock up the No. 1 seed on Christmas night by beating the visiting Baltimore Ravens — who happen to be the only other 11-3 team in the league.

Detroit visits the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas takes on the host Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Christmas Eve. Then, the Eagles play the middle game of a Christmas Day tripleheader against the visiting New York Giants before the Ravens visit San Francisco in the nightcap.

The Lions (10-4) would clinch the NFC North title with a win or tie against Minnesota. If that doesn’t happen, they can still lock up a playoff bid if the Seattle Seahawks lose or tie. The Rams bettered their chances with a win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday. The Seahawks visit the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Over in the AFC, the Ravens — who have already punched their postseason ticket — can win the AFC North by beating the 49ers and having the Browns lose or tie against the Houston Texans, or if the Ravens tie and the Browns lose.

The Browns (9-5), for their part, have eight scenarios to clinch a playoff berth this week, all of which start with a win at Houston. The Browns are on the verge of their second playoff berth in 21 seasons.

If the Dolphins (10-4) beat the Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills lose or tie at the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, Miami would clinch the AFC East title. That would also be the result if Miami ties Dallas and Buffalo loses.

The Christmas Day tripleheader begins with the struggling Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs (9-5) can lock up their eighth straight AFC West title if they beat Las Vegas, or if they tie with the Raiders and the Denver Broncos lose to New England.

–Field Level Media

Filed Under: NFL Tagged With:

NFL: Rams Make a Stand

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INGLEWOOD – LA Rams QB Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and the surging Los Angeles Rams strengthened their playoff chances with a 30-22 victory against the visiting New Orleans Saints on Thursday night.

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Stafford passed for 328 yards and threw touchdowns to Puka Nacua, who had 164 receiving yards, and Demarcus Robinson as the Rams (8-7), who entered the game in possession of the final wild-card berth in the NFC, won for the fifth time in six games.

Derek Carr passed for 319 yards, including 123 to Chris Olave, and three touchdowns, but two of them came after the Saints (6-7) fell behind 30-7.

The Rams received the second-half kickoff and drove to the Saints 3 before stalling, and Lucas Havrisik kicked a 22-yard field goal that gave them a 20-7 lead.

Kyren Williams ran for 10 of his 104 yards and a touchdown that pushed the lead to 27-7 and Havrisik added a 32-yard field goal before Carr threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson.

Carr connected with A.T. Perry for a 35-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion to Olave to trim the lead to 30-22 with 3:53 left, but the Rams recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

Los Angeles started its first possession at its 5 and the 14th play of the drive was a 2-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Nacua on fourth-and-goal, giving the Rams a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Rams drove to Havrisik’s 20-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead, but missed an opportunity to increase the lead when Havrisik was wide left on a 47-yard field-goal attempt.

The Saints broke through when Carr connected with Rashid Shaheed for a 45-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 10-7.

New Orleans turned the ball over at the Rams 42 with 56 seconds left in the half when Carr threw an incompletion on fourth-and-5.

Five plays later, Stafford threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Robinson that increased the lead to 17-7 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

Celtics: Kings for a Day

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 28 apiece and the Celtics bounced back from an overtime loss 24 hours earlier in San Francisco to thump the host Sacramento Kings 144-119 on Wednesday.

Playing without Jayson Tatum, who sprained his left ankle Tuesday at Golden State, and Al Horford, who got a night off in the second game of a back-to-back set, the Celtics overcame a 41-point Kings first quarter with improved defense over the final three periods.

Kristaps Porzingis returned to the Celtics’ lineup and scored 24 points. He was rested on Tuesday. Boston snapped a four-game road losing streak and won for the sixth time in seven games overall.

De’Aaron Fox produced a game-high 29 points for the Kings, whose three-game winning ended.

Getting three 3-pointers from Fox and two from Keegan Murray, the Kings sprinted out to a 23-11 lead in the game’s first 5:09.

The Celtics got within 41-38 by period’s end, then held Sacramento to 25 and 24 points, respectively, in the middle two periods while running out to a 113-90 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Despite shooting 47.3 percent overall and 47.7 percent on 3-point attempts, the Kings never posed a threat over the final 12 minutes, adding just 29 points to their total.

In accumulating its second-biggest point total of the season, Boston did the hosts better in both shooting categories, making 55.4 percent overall and 52.4 percent of its 3-point tries. The 22-for-42 night from beyond the arc came one night after the Celtics went just 17-for-58 (29.3 percent) from long distance against the Warriors.

White’s 28 points consisted mostly of 3-pointers, as he went 6-for-9. Payton Pritchard buried six of 11 3-point shots off the bench en route to 20 points, while Jrue Holiday went 4-for-6 from long range as part of a 21-point, 10-assist performance.

Porzingis was Boston’s leading rebounder with nine. He made seven of his 11 shots.

While the Celtics had five players score 20 or more points, the Kings had just Fox with his 29. He made six of his eight 3-point attempts, while his teammates were just 15-for-36 (41.7 percent).

Domantas Sabonis pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with 13 points and eight assists for Sacramento. Murray (13), Keon Ellis (12), Trey Lyles (11), Harrison Barnes (10) and Malik Monk (10) also scored in double figures.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Fit to Beat Kings

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics have the unenviable task of visiting the high-energy Sacramento Kings less than 24 hours after an overtime loss in San Francisco as they seek to end a road losing skid Wednesday night. Riding the momentum of a five-game winning streak, all at home, the Celtics appeared on their way to a rather comfortable road win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, running up a 17-point lead.

But Jayson Tatum, who had to leave the floor for almost an entire quarter after turning his left ankle, misfired on a potential winning shot at the end of regulation, leading to five more minutes of Celtics sweat that went for naught in a 132-126 defeat.

In the end, the Celtics wasted a 30-point night by Derrick White, who hit seven 3-pointers.

The loss was the fourth in a row on the road for Boston, which flew west for a four-game trip tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best record in the NBA.

Fourteen of the Celtics’ 20 wins, however, have come at home; and, when they take the floor in Sacramento, the Celtics will do so with just a 6-6 road record.

Even before watching all five of his starters go 36 or more minutes against the Warriors, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla indicated Al Horford was a “load management” candidate on the second night of the back-to-back.

At the same time, Mazzulla noted that Kristaps Porzingis, who was held out of Tuesday’s trip opener, was likely to return against the Kings.

“Just calf management, back-to-back, a little slow after (Sunday’s home win over Orlando),” Mazzulla said of Porzingis. “Just really trying to manage that and make sure both those guys stay healthy.”

As they attempt to sidestep what would be just their second set of back-to-back losses this season, the Celtics will be running into a Kings team that likewise has taken advantage of its home dates of late. Sacramento has opened a six-game homestand with wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, producing a 12-point average margin of victory in those wins.

The Kings were firing on all cylinders Monday in a 143-131 win over the Wizards, rolling to a season-high point total on the strength of balanced scoring, 53 percent shooting and 17 3-pointers.

De’Aaron Fox (30 points), Domantas Sabonis (28) and Keegan Murray (25) led the way with a total of 83 points on 30-for-52 shooting.

Kings coach Mike Brown is happy to see his team build up a little momentum at home with three tough opponents – the Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Timberwolves – completing the six-game homestand.

“We’re doing good,” Brown said. “I think we have the best fans in the NBA and guys should be excited to play in this building. They should get energy from the fans. We have to take advantage of it when we are here.”

The Celtics have prevailed in each of their last two visits to Sacramento, including 132-109 last March behind 36 points from Tatum and 27 from Jaylen Brown.

–Field Level Media

Will Bill Belichick Be Charged-Up in LA?

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FOXBORO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – New England’s longtime head coach Bill Belichick is widely expected to part ways with the Patriots after this season. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Chargers got a head start on their search for a new head coach by dismissing Brandon Staley on Friday.

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Could the timing align for the two sides to become a fit?

Belichick, 71, has declined to address his future while focusing on the final four games of the 2023 season for the 3-10 Patriots. However, if he wants to continue coaching next season, there are already multiple openings where he is seen as a potential fit.

That includes Carolina, which fired Frank Reich earlier this season, and the Chargers. Other openings are likely to join the list in the coming weeks.

The Chargers are viewed as an appealing destination — and not just for Southern California’s weather. Franchise quarterback Justin Herbert leads a skill position group that also includes running back Austin Ekeler and wide receiver Keenan Allen.

The bigger issue — especially of late — is a defense that failed to hold leads, much less be dominant, under the defensive-minded Staley. That culminated in the Chargers allowing 63 points on Thursday night to a Las Vegas Raiders team that had been shut out just four days prior.

The 63 points allowed were a franchise record, and the tally also was the most the Chargers ever had given up. Los Angeles ranks 27th in opponents’ points scored per game with 24.6 and 29th in yards allowed with 375.3 per game.

Belichick is arguably the best defensive mind of his generation. Paired with a strong offensive coordinator, the Chargers could potentially make an immediate rebound to contender status in the loaded AFC.

SportsBetting.ag has installed Belichick as the 3/1 favorite to replace Staley. That is slightly ahead of the 4/1 odds placed on current Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith.

Ben Johnson, who oversees Detroit’s offense and has been viewed as a rising coaching candidate the past two years, is next at 7/1.

In all, the book is offering odds on 14 potential candidates, ranging from the most likely candidates all the way down to University of Colorado’s first-year coach Deion Sanders.

Chargers Next Head Coach Odds
Bill Belichick (3/1)
Frank Smith (4/1)
Kellen Moore (4/1)
Ben Johnson (7/1)
Bobby Slowik (8/1)
Brian Flores (9/1)
Jim Harbaugh (9/1)
Eric Bieniemy (10/1)
Dan Quinn (14/1)
Jerod Mayo (14/1)
Lincoln Riley (14/1)
Brian Johnson (16/1)
Raheem Morris (20/1)
Deion Sanders (40/1)

Fired along with Staley on Friday was Chargers general manager Tom Telesco. The move came less than a day after the team’s lopsided 63-21 loss to the Raiders.

“These decisions are never easy, nor are they something I take lightly — especially when you consider the number of people they impact,” Chargers owner and chairman Dean Spanos said. “We are clearly not where we expect to be, however, and we need a new vision.”

Spanos said the franchise and its fans need to take the next step.

“Doing nothing in the name of continuity was not a risk I was willing to take. Our fans have stood strong through so many ups and downs and close games. They deserve more. Frankly, they’ve earned more. Building and maintaining a championship-caliber program remains our ultimate goal. And reimagining how we achieve that goal begins today.”

Telesco, 51, was named general manager of the Chargers in 2013 after 15 years in the Indianapolis Colts organization.

(Odds are provided for entertainment purposes only. SportsBetting.ag is not a regulated sportsbook in the United States).

–Field Level Media

Boston Wins 14th Straight at TD Garden

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Celtics Handle Orlando for Second Win of Weekend

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jaylen Brown heated up late to polish off a 31-point performance as the Boston Celtics continued to inch toward history with a 114-97 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday. Boston has won its first 14 home games of the season, becoming just the second team in franchise history to accomplish the feat. The 1957-58 Celtics got off to the best start in front of a home crowd, going 18-0.

Brown scored 17 of his points in the fourth quarter and went 12-for-20 from the field for the game.

Jayson Tatum added 23 points and eight rebounds for Boston, which also got 15 points and 10 boards from Kristaps Porzingis.

Paolo Banchero poured in a game-high 36 points to go along with 10 rebounds as Orlando fell to the Celtics for the second time in three days. Boston beat the Magic 128-111 on Friday.

Jalen Suggs (13 points) was the only other player to score in double figures for the visitors, who made just 38.2 percent of their shots.

Orlando managed to cut an 11-point halftime deficit to 69-65 when Banchero split a pair of free throws with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter.

Porzingis helped Boston maintain control, though, throwing home a putback dunk and converting the ensuing foul shot for a three-point play. Tatum was later fouled while attempting a trey, and he too cashed in at the charity stripe, making all three free throws for a 75-65 Celtics lead with 3:11 to go.

Boston took an 83-74 advantage into the fourth.

Brown then took over, scoring 15 points in the first 5:45 of the final period to make it 103-86. The Magic never threatened the rest of the way, with Boston leading by as many as 23.

After being held to 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting during Friday’s loss, Banchero came roaring out of the gate on Sunday, scoring 19 points to lift the Magic to a 31-27 edge after 12 minutes of action.

But Boston came to life just past the midway point of the second quarter, and after Brown scored nine points during a 20-5 run, the hosts found themselves up 61-46 with 51.8 seconds left in the frame.

The Celtics settled for a 61-50 lead at the break.

–Field Level Media

Season on the Line for Ravens and Jags

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JACKSONVILLE – Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is hearing his name mentioned in the MVP conversation, but that doesn’t impress him much. The Baltimore star is more interested in making a run for the Super Bowl and Lombardi Trophy, and his top-seeded AFC team can take a big step in that direction when the Ravens visit the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday night.

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Baltimore (10-3) holds a one-game lead over the Miami Dolphins at the top of the conference. There are nine scenarios in which the Ravens can clinch a playoff spot Sunday should they defeat the Jaguars (8-5).

Linebacker Patrick Queen is one of many Baltimore players eyeing the top seed and first-round bye, especially with the Ravens winning three straight games and seven of their past eight.

“We want it bad,” Queen said. “If we don’t get it, we make the playoffs. We’re still in there.”

Jackson was the NFL MVP in 2019 and appreciates the praise for his 2023 individual season, which includes 2,934 passing yards and 16 touchdown throws. He also has 644 yards and five scores on the ground.

But Baltimore hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2020 season, and Jackson is focused on changing that.

“It’s an honor just being acknowledged — to be in the conversation with great guys,” Jackson said. “But I’m just trying to stay locked in trying to win, because I want (the Lombardi) trophy.”

Jackson is coming off a superb performance in which he passed for 316 yards and three touchdowns and tacked on 70 rushing yards in last week’s 37-31 overtime home win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Baltimore won that contest on a 76-yard punt-return score by Tylan Wallace. The third-year-pro was only handling the duties because two-time Pro Bowl selection Devin Duvernay injured his back earlier in the season.

Duvernay was placed on injured reserve Wednesday, and Wallace now will be the team’s main returner.

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Jacksonville will look to end a two-game slide in which it lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns by a combined seven points.

The Jaguars have seen their lead in the AFC South shrink to one game over the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans. But Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence said he’s not concerned.

“We’re in a fine position, record-wise,” Lawrence said. “We have to take care of business this week and moving forward. We have to take it one week at time. We need to get back on track this week for sure.”

Lawrence has been dealing with a high ankle sprain sustained against the Bengals on Dec. 4. He was questionable for last week’s game against the Browns before playing and getting mixed results — 257 passing yards and three touchdowns but also throwing three interceptions.

He practiced in full on Wednesday and said he’s making progress.

“It’s feeling better. Thankfully, I made out of the game pretty clean,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t re-aggravate it anymore. I’m just trying to keep getting better every day; hopefully it feels even better this week. I was able to move around decent on Sunday, so that was positive.”

As per containing Jackson, the Jaguars rank fourth in the NFL in rushing defense at 92.2 yards per game.

Jacksonville also features two standouts. Pass rusher Josh Allen is tied for third in the NFL with 13.5 sacks, and linebacker Foyesade Oluokun ranks second in tackles with 138. Oluokun led the league in tackles each of the past two seasons.

Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith is tied for third with 136 tackles, while safety Geno Stone is second with six interceptions.

Baltimore safety Kyle Hamilton (knee) was injured against the Rams but was a limited practice participant on Wednesday. Smith (back) also was limited.

For Jacksonville, safety Andre Cisco (groin) and cornerback Tyson Campbell (quadriceps) didn’t practice. Cisco was hurt against the Browns while Campbell missed the contest.

The Jaguars notched a dramatic 28-27 home win over the Ravens last season. Lawrence tossed a 10-yard scoring pass to since-departed Marvin Jones with 14 seconds left, followed by a winning two-point conversion pass to Zay Jones.

–Field Level Media

NFL: Week 15 Primer

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Holiday shopping season has been a smashing hit.

We found Buffalo and Josh Allen to be profitable last week, along with the Rams (+7.5) taking the Ravens into OT before losing on a punt-return TD (but LA covered!).

Our player prop, Texans QB CJ Stroud under 226.5 passing yards also hit.

This week we’ll go high and low, with a three-team teaser as our main selection.

See how the primary play developed, along with a bonus play and a player prop below.

THE HEADLINER

The big three betting lines:

Dolphins -8.5 vs. Jets
Rams -6.5 vs. Commanders
Chiefs -7.5 at Patriots
(per DraftKings)

We’ve assembled a tasty plus-money three-team teaser, fading the revenge factor while considering one particular facet of the weekend weather.

First, we are teasing the Jets’ number to a whopping +17.5. It’s not because we believe in a Zach Wilson renaissance; rather, it’s that we don’t believe the Dolphins are dramatically better than they showed in Monday night’s upset at the hands of the Tennessee Titans.

Add the weather factor: It’s going to be windy in Miami. Deep throws to Miami speedsters might not be readily available, and the Jets would like to control the clock – similar to the Titans’ scheme.

Next up, the Los Angeles Rams. We can’t quit them. As their collective health improves, so, too, does their record. In another must-win game, LA can’t afford to play carelessly against the wobbly Commanders – but we’ll tease ourselves a little cushion just to be sure.

Finally, we already jumped off the Kansas City Chiefs bandwagon and can see others doing the same. The “KC will figure it out” crowd is thinning, and Sunday’s opponent, the Patriots, have nothing to lose (except a prime draft position).

The Chiefs don’t appear to have the hammer anymore. We think the talented Patriots defense can keep this close enough to cover, and hope that Bailey Zappe doesn’t throw a couple of pick-6s.

The bet, a three-team teaser parlay (+105 at DraftKings):

Jets +17.5
Rams +3.5
Patriots +14.5

THEY SAID IT

“It’s tough man. It’s real tough, and all we can do is bounce back and just try to go out there and give everything we have. We’re playing a tough, tough team this next week that plays really good defense.”

– Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the critical Kadarius Toney offside penalty that helped doom KC last week.

BONUS COMBO

Falcons at Panthers, 1 p.m. ET

The line: Falcons -3, total 34 (FanDuel).

The one feels too easy.

The Falcons need the victory to continue chasing the NFC South title, while the Panthers are in experiment mode under interim head coach Chris Tabor.

The quarterback matchup, Atlanta’s Desmond Ridder vs. Carolina’s Bryce Young, is a mismatch. Momentum is going the Falcons’ way.

Ridder threw for 347 yards last week while Young hit only 13 of his 36 pass attempts for 137 yards.

The forecast has rain and some wind, so while Ridder has some scrambling ability and a stronger arm, Young will be challenged again.

Atlanta receivers Drake London (10 catches) and Kyle Pitts (a touchdown reception!) are finding their form.

The play: Tease Falcons down to -2.5 (-148 at FanDuel).

PROP CORNER

Rachaad White, the talented Tampa Bay running back, had success last week in a 29-25 win over Atlanta, and has posted rushing totals of 100, 81 and 102 yards over the past three games.

The Bucs are on the road for the second consecutive week, this time at Green Bay, and face an angry group of Packers.

There isn’t much fear from the Packers regarding QB Baker Mayfield, so there should be added focus on the ground game.

The Bucs’ rushing success recently can be seen as a bit of a mirage, too, as they are better than only two NFL teams in rush success rate and were 24th in EPA per rush entering Week 15.

White is due for regression and, after 45 carries the past two games, he’s likely to see fewer carries as well. The number was 81.5 early Thursday but had been bet down to 80.5 by Thursday afternoon.

Prop play: Buccaneers RB Rachaad White under 80.5 rushing yards (-115 at BetMGM, FanDuel).

– Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook

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While We’re Young (Ideas) – On Baseball Free Agency

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Los Angeles Dodgers recent free agent signee, Shohei Ohtani, will collect seven hundred million over 10 years but only $2m a year in compensation with the rest – some $68m a year – to come in a record-setting deferral deal that might make former New York Mets and MLB journeyman Bobby Bonilla blush.

Of course, Bonilla “only” collects $1.19m a year, but does so until 2035. That’s not bad for a guy who hasn’t played an inning since 2001, but it signified a system gone mad in 2001. Now, 23 years later Major League Baseball has a full scale systematic player contract crisis on its hands.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have three of the top five hitters in baseball – none of them home grown – but still with a farm system often considered the envy of baseball clubs everywhere. Mookie Betts (2B/OF) was acquired through a trade with the Boston Red Sox. He promptly signed an extension with the Dodgers and will pocket $392m over 13 years. Meanwhile, Freddie Freeman (1B) signed a paltry six year, $162m deal with the Dodgers in 2022, a year after leading his only other team, the Atlanta Braves, to an MLB championship and two years after receiving the Most Valuable Player award for the National League.

That leads us to Shohei Ohtani – a generational two-way superstar – who signed as a free agent just after the Baseball Winter Meetings and set the salary scale on fire with the reported $700m deal. But just this week, The Athletic reported Ohtani’s deal was a smoke and mirrors cash-deferment deal of a lifetime, with the deferred money to be paid out without interest from 2034 to 2043. That’s quite a retirement plan for a guy who reportedly earns $50m a year in off-field endorsements, a number sure to rise.

With another generational player, Dodgers longtime starter Clayton Kershaw recovering from shoulder surgery and technically a free agent himself, the Ohtani deal is structured to provide salary flexibility to the Dodgers with free-agent Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the crosshairs. Former Tampa ace Tyler Glasnow fell in the Dodgers’ blue line, signing a five-year, $136.5 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers that makes official the trade of Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot from the Tampa Bay Rays to Los Angeles, the Dodgers announced Saturday.

The LA-Tampa deal ends right-handed starter Ryan Pepiot and outfield prospect Jonny Deluca to the Rays. it was contingent upon Glasnow signing an extension. The window to do so opened Thursday morning, and the parties quickly came together with the framework of a deal that will tack four years and $111.5 million in new money onto the $25 million Glasnow was owed for the 2024 season.

There is no deferred money in Glasnow’s deal.

Wrote The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal this week, “The usual howls are coming. The large-market teams end up with all the best players. A $700 million contract is outrageous. Baseball needs a salary cap.

“We’ve been hearing this talk for years. The small-market frustration, to a degree, is understandable. But the most expensive teams — see the 2023 Mets, Yankees and Padres — do not always win.”

Yes, Ken, Baseball DOES need a better salary structure system – aka – a Collective Bargaining agreement that allows all major league teams to deal from the same deck of cards. But, as we know, Baseball’s super-agent Marvin Miller-esque Players Association will have no part of a structured system similar to the NBA, NHL or NFL. Baseball wants to be the wild west just they way Miller, the late architect of Baseball’s free agency and unlimited team salary operating system, wanted it to be before he passed away in 2012, but face it – the system is broken.

The only recourse for MLB teams is to draft wisely, build the farm system and strike it rich with a dozen home grown players, all playing under their original contracts.

IDEAS FOR A BETTER TEAM SALARY CAP SYSTEMS: Is it within reason for Baseball to solve its rich team/poor team issue of team salary with a league-wide system that can finally place all 30 MLB teams on even ground. Baseball would need to have 40 “Salary Slots” to spread across each 40-man roster to distribute the average team salary of $122,724,208 or $3.068m per man? Of course, paying all players the average would not fly, nor would it be right.

In general, this entire idea wouldn’t fly with the tight knit MLB Players Association. They pride themselves on total free agency and arbitration for players who can’t agree with their teams on fair terms.

But, for argument sake, take the $122,724,208 average team salary figure and place 10 of the 40 players on the current MLB minimum salary of $720,000 per year. That would subtract $7,200,000. from the team salary figure, and rounding off it would leave $115,524,000 to be distributed to 30 “slots” for players. The slots would begin at 18% of team salary and wind down gradually.

If the best player – Slot #1 took 18% of the team salary, he would earn $20,794,320. That would leave $94,729,680 for 29 others. If Slot #2 took 15%, he would earn $14,209,452 per year, leaving $80,520,228 for the remaining players. … The percentages would lessen, as would the salary of players decreased and the slots would diminish from #3 to #30. nFor ownership, salary and cost certainty for payroll would be determined and team looking to make trades would have a simple mechanism to trade slot-for-slot or slot for a combination of slots. The trading of future Draft Picks for a player would be an exception and the team receiving the draft pick(s) would need to slot in the respective proposed salary of the player from the slots they have open. They would be given three years to do that. This system might result in difficult team decisions to trade away one of their current players or cut a player to fit someone new into their hierarchy. In some cases, it might force another trade.

Injury exceptions would need to be reviewed by independent doctors and a player might need to be replaced with a free agent assuming his spot or a minimum wage player coming on board and subjecting his team to bump everyone up one “slot.”

Two-way players who can go up and down from the minors to the majors would be limited to three call-ups in a given year, or the player would earn minimum.

Reducing length of contracts to five years would be a must, maybe negotiate for four.

When recruiting free agents, a club GM could say, “I have an expiring contract at “Slot 3” and it might be a “take it or leave it” situation. Some veteran players might take a lower slot in order to play as the sixth man or seventh man on a championship contender.

The salary structure and full team salary would increase with increases in revenue and In-Season Tournament and NBA Playoff shares would be in addition to the regular season system.

Let the negotiating begin.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: What have we heard in Foxboro all week? “We’re getting ready for Kansas City.” … In San Antonio, the Spurs snapped a 17-game losing streak on Friday night, that’s (0-16 in a row) and (4-20 for the season) for longtime coach Gregg Popovich who is undergoing a total rebuild around 2023 No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama. Yes, Bill Belichick is (3-10), coming off a miracle win in Pittsburgh and going into a tough match-up this weekend against the KC Chiefs (8-5) at Gillette Stadium. Pop won the NBA Lottery last season after going (22-60) and the forecast doesn’t look very good for this season with only the Detroit Pistons rivaling the lowly Spurs.

Two of the most decorated coaches in the history of their respective sports are feeling the pressure that comes from losing. In Boston, rumors surfaced midweek that Patriots team owner Robert Kraft had already made up his mind to part ways with Belichick, with that decision coming after a loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany.

The problem with that report? No sources were cited and Belichick did not comment or directly answer any questions, defaulting to his usual monotone response about his next NFL opponent.

Last weekend, both Belichick and Kraft appeared on ESPN’s College Gameday prior to the Army/Navy Gam played at Gillette. With Kraft situated front and center on the Gameday set, ESPN radio host Pat McAfee put Kraft in an awkward position, stating: “I don’t envy your position, what’s about to happen. We all know, we don’t have to ask.”

The lack of a reply from Kraft, call it the silence, was deafening.

In San Antonio, the waters are much calmer and all indication is that Popovich will make any and all career decisions on his own.

Don’t expect changes in Foxboro or on the Riverwalk anytime soon.

DRAY: Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green earned an indefinite suspension this past week when he clocked Jusuf Nurkić, center of the Phoenix Suns, after the two were tangled up on an in-bounds play. Green was hit with an indefinite suspension by the NBA less than 24 hours after the incident and the NBA noted, “This outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” … “Green’s suspension will begin immediately. He will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.” … An indefinite suspension. That’s a five alarm fire in the NBA. Rightfully so for such a cheap shot and it coming in a play of tangled-up arms that happens three or four times a game, easily. Green’s most recent suspension, a five-gamer, came after he entered the fray of an altercation with the up and coming Minnesota Timberwolves and placed opposing center Rudy Gobert in a blind-side head-lock as he walked Gobert away. … While I’d love to see the NBA Players Association volley-in with an opinion on proper discipline for one union member cold cocking another union member, we’d all wait until the ghost of the deceased former executive director Larry Fleisher to appear before that would ever happen. It will be left for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBA senior-veep of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars to opine the length of a suspension that will surely approach 10-games. That would put Green in the sin bin until a January 4, 2024 game against the Denver Nuggets. That length of suspension is reasonable, considering the situation, but it will come after the NBA and the Warriors consult on a plan going forward. We’re unlikely to hear a syllable from Green’s former teammate, Andre Iguodala, now serving as Acting Executive Director for the NBPA. Iguadola, a class act to be sure, replaced Tamika Tremaglio, who had served in the role of Executive Director since January 2021.

Prince = The Greatest (Photo by Getty Images)

TIDBITS: Who decided that just because “Up With People” was joined by the Southeast Missouri Marching Band and Anita Bryant at Super Bowl V (1971) that every damn sports event needs to include a miniature rock show at halftime or, in the case of the NHL Stadium Series (Met Life Stadium – February 17), a pregame concert? On Wednesday, the NHL thrilled all by announcing the Jonas Brothers would play before the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Flyers face off in New Jersey. The Jonas Brothers hit The Disney Channel in 2005 right out of Wyckoff, NJ and it took three years for them to be nominated as “Best New Artist” at the 2008 GRAMMYs.

Honestly, do you think the Jonas Brothers are going to sell a single ticket to the grizzled fans of the Philadelphia Flyers or New Jersey Devils? The NHL would be far better off by offering cold Philly pretzels and a packet of mustard for every fan paying for parking at Met Life.

The last time a musical act tipped the scales of entertainment at a sporting event was 2017 when Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, DJ Jazzy Jeff, actor Michael B. Jordan, Jidenna, and Run D.M.C.‘s Darryl McDaniels joined The Roots for the NBA All-Star Game and the introduction of the stars.

Before that, roll the calendar back to 2007 when Prince did the halftime act of all-time at Super Bowl XLI in Miami (in the rain, no less). The NFL should’ve retired the tradition right then and there. Prince will never be topped, and that’s coming from a big fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (2009), The Rolling Stones (2006), The Who (2010), Tom Petty (2008), and even Beyoncé (2013).

But, the Jonas Brothers?