The NBA reinstated Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, and he is eligible to return to game action, the league announced Saturday.

The NBA suspended Green indefinitely on Dec. 13 for ‘striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face” during a game the day before.

Green had to meet league and team conditions before he returned.

‘During the period of his suspension, which began on Dec. 14 and resulted in him missing 12 games, Green completed steps that demonstrated his commitment to conforming his conduct to standards expected of NBA players,’ the NBA said in a news release. ‘He has engaged in meetings with a counselor and has met jointly on multiple occasions with representatives of the NBA, the Warriors, and the National Basketball Players Association, both of which will continue throughout the season.’

The Warriors went 7-5 in his absence, and they are 17-18 overall and in 10th place in the Western Conference.

Green’s suspension without pay cost him $1.84 million.

The Warriors play Toronto Sunday and New Orleans Wednesday, but it has not been decided when Green will return.

The Dec. 13 suspension came just six games after he served a five-game suspension without pay in November for “escalating an on-court altercation and forcibly grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert around the neck in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner.’

The indefinite suspension issued in December was Green’s fourth suspension since March, including a one-game suspension in the first round of the playoffs against Sacramento in April.

This season, Green, who signed a four-year, $100 million contract with Golden State in the offseason, is averaging 9.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds and shooting 49% from the field and 42.9% on 3-pointers.

Green is a four-time NBA champion, four-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, eight-time All-Defense performer and 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year.

McKenna Kelley, the daughter of Mary Lou Retton who posted a crowdsourcing request for her mother that has now reached $459,324, said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports that she and her sisters never expected to get so much money from the public and were “so overwhelmed” by the response.

“I don’t know if that’s ignorant of us or if that was just sweet,” said Kelley, 26. “This was not supposed to be a big media thing. … We didn’t even think about what this would turn into. It was simply four daughters who felt helpless who wanted to help their mom who knew that this would help take a burden off.”

On Oct. 30, Retton wrote on Instagram that she was “with family continuing to slowly recover and staying very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process.”

Asked repeatedly by USA TODAY Sports to comment, Retton has declined.

Kelley said that after her mother’s medical bills are paid, the family plans to donate ‘all remaining funds’ to a charity of her mother’s choice. Neither Kelley nor Retton would comment on how much of the $459,324 from the account at spotfund.com has been spent or what amount would be given to charity. 

Donations skyrocketed after Kelley’s surprising Instagram announcement about her mother, one of the most recognizable names in U.S. Olympic history. 

“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley wrote on Oct. 10. “She’s been in the ICU for over a week now. Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she (is) not insured.” 

When asked in the interview with USA TODAY Sports why her mother wasn’t covered by medical insurance, Kelley said that Retton could not get affordable health care because of pre-existing conditions, which she said include “over 30 orthopedic surgeries, including four hip replacements. She’s in chronic pain every day.”

Said Kelley: “Due to her medical history and the amount of surgeries she has endured from gymnastics and just life, it’s unaffordable for her.”

When told that an insurance agent contacted by USA TODAY Sports found two plans charging $545 and $680 per month for which someone with her mother’s medical history would qualify, Kelley said that Retton had once been covered by health insurance but “because she was not able to work and give speeches for two years due to the pandemic, she gave up her insurance.”

Retton was “about to get (health insurance) again but didn’t, and then she got sick,” Kelley said. 

Retton remains popular in Olympic circles, with a speaking fee that is believed to be at least $25,000. She and her husband, former University of Texas quarterback Shannon Kelley, divorced in 2018 after 27 years of marriage. About 10 years ago, McKenna Kelley said, Retton moved from her large house in the Houston area to a smaller home.

Against this backdrop, with her mother in the hospital, Kelley said, she and her three sisters made the decision to raise money for their mother online from both friends and strangers.

“This is genuinely four daughters concerned for their mom, that was it,” Kelley said. “I know I keep saying that but that is truly where our hearts were when we started this; we felt so helpless. Her breathing was out of our control. The only thing that we could do to help that was in our control was what if we start a GoFundMe, what if we start a spotfund, people can help.”

Said Kelley: “When we asked for help, when we put this out there, we didn’t think of how this would turn out because she’s not Mary Lou Retton to us. She’s our mom. She would ground us, she would make us clean our room, she’d make us dinner, she’d be the shoulder to cry on, she is the joy and light of our lives and we wanted to help.”

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Australian Open with an injury a week before the season’s first major was due to start after playing just one tournament in his comeback from 12 months on the sidelines.

Nadal said he had concerns over his surgically repaired hip after needing a medical timeout in the third set of his Brisbane International quarterfinal loss to Jordan Thompson on Friday.

The 22-time major winner initially said it seemed like more of a muscular problem than the tendon issue that caused him so much pain this time last year.

But he posted on social media Sunday that scans after he arrived in Melbourne revealed a small tear in the muscle and he was flying back to Spain for treatment.

‘Hi all, during my last match in Brisbane I had a small problem on a muscle that as you know made me worried,’ Nadal said on X, formerly Twitter. ‘Once I got to Melbourne I have had the chance to make an MRI and I have micro tear on a muscle, not in the same part where I had the injury and that’s good news.

‘Right now I am not ready to compete at the maximum level. I’m flying back to Spain to see my doctor, get some treatment and rest.’

Nadal’s latest injury setback comes after being away from the court for almost a year and having surgery on his troublesome hip in June. The former top-ranked player also had a history of knee and foot issues that many thought would threaten his ability to remain on the tour for as long as he has.

But Nadal’s latest comeback looked promising as he won his first two competitive matches in a year before losing to Thompson. He wasted three match points in the second set with uncharacteristic errors in his quarterfinal before losing in three.

‘A lot of things can be happening in a body like my body after a year without playing tennis,’ he said after the loss to Thompson. ‘So hopefully it is just that, just a muscle that is supercharged. If that’s the thing, perfect.’

The 37-year-old Spaniard opened the tournament with straight-sets wins over Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler but was pushed for 3 hours and 25 minutes by Thompson in what was his third match in four nights.

Nadal was playing on a wild card in Brisbane but had a protected ranking for the Australian Open that would have given him a start in the 128-player main draw.

Since arriving in Australia, Nadal had appeared to be lowering expectations of what he could achieve during the tour’s swing through the country and that his focus was to be fit for the clay court season and the French Open in May, where he has won a record 14 times.

‘I have worked very hard during the year for this comeback and as I always mentioned my goal is to be at my best level in 3 months,’ he said. ‘Within the sad news for me for not being able to play in front of the amazing Melbourne crowds, this is not very bad news and we all remain positive with the evolution for the season.

‘I really wanted to play here in Australia and I have had the chance to play a few matches that made me very happy and positive.’

The Australian Open is due to start Jan. 14 at Melbourne Park, with No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic − who has a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles − favorite to win.

The upcoming Olympic games may go off without one of the biggest stars in women’s soccer.

On Sunday, Chelsea announced that Sam Kerr — the Australia captain and arguably the best striker in women’s soccer — had suffered an ACL injury.

‘Chelsea Football Club can confirm striker Sam Kerr has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during our warm weather training camp in Morocco,’ read a club statement announcing the news.

Football Australia went one step further, declaring that Kerr had suffered a torn ACL, and that the star striker would miss the rest of the Women’s Super League season.

‘Matildas captain Sam Kerr has been ruled out of the second half of the English Women’s Super League season and Australia’s AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers Round 3 series against Uzbekistan in February 2024,’ read the federation’s announcement. ‘This follows confirmation from Chelsea FC that the forward has suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the club’s mid-season camp currently taking place in Morocco.’

A torn ACL generally requires a minimum of between six and nine months for a return to play, and that’s if things go smoothly. Kerr’s Chelsea teammate Catarina Macario, for example, is in her 19th month of recovery from an ACL tear of her own.

Kerr injury massive blow for Australia, Chelsea

Kerr’s injury will pose a real problem for both club and country.

The Matildas face a two-legged playoff against Uzbekistan in late February, the winner of which will claim one of the Asian Football Confederation’s two places at the Paris games. There is no other path to the Olympics, and while Australia will be heavily favored to win the tie, the job is certainly more complicated without Kerr.

Should Australia go through, the Olympics run from July 25 to August 10. That would leave an almost impossibly short gap of just over six months for Kerr to fully recover in time to make head coach Tony Gustavsson’s roster.

For the Blues, Kerr has been central to how future U.S. women’s national team manager Emma Hayes’ side attacks. Thus far in the 2023-24 season, Kerr has four goals and three assists, second at the club only to England winger Lauren James in goal involvements. Kerr had concluded the previous three seasons as the team’s leading scorer, and has 99 goals in 128 Chelsea appearances.

Kerr’s injury will increase pressure on Macario to make her return, as well as shine a spotlight on another USWNT forward. Mia Fishel scored on her Chelsea debut, but hasn’t added to that total across 273 minutes of Women’s Super League play since a summer transfer from Tigres.

ESPN issued a statement on Saturday saying it will handle a matter with media giant Pat McAfee internally after the former NFL punter called out on an executive on his show.

The comments came on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday when McAfee called out Norby Williamson, the head of event and studio production at ESPN.

‘There are folks actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN,’ McAfee said. ‘More specifically I believe Norby Williamson is the guy attempting to sabotage our program.’

McAfee was likely referencing a report from the New York Post in which sports media columnist Andrew Marchand wrote that Disney, which owns ESPN, would accept the turmoil from the comments Aaron Rodgers made about Jimmy Kimmel in relation to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein court documents. Marchand reported ESPN loses 48% of viewers from its ‘First Take’ lead-in, not accounting for the nearly 400,000 viewers who watch on the show’s YouTube channel. The report added the show is down 12 percent from the same window in 2022, which aired a noon ET version of ‘SportsCenter.’

‘(Williamson) is seemingly the only human that has information, and then somehow that information gets leaked and it’s wrong and then it sets a narrative of what our show is,’ McAfee said. ‘And then are we just going to combat that from a rat every single time?’

McAfee’s comments came the same day ESPN released its ratings of ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ with the company reporting December viewership was up 21% from September and more minutes of the show are being watched.

ESPN statement on Pat McAfee comments

A statement provided by ESPN to USA TODAY Sports noted Williamson’s commitment to the company’s success and how it will address the situation.

‘No one is more committed to and invested in ESPN’s success than Norby Williamson,’ the statement read. ‘At the same time, we are thrilled with the multi-platform success that we have seen from ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ across ESPN. We will handle this matter internally and have no further comment.’

During Friday’s show, McAfee retold a story of Williamson not showing up for a meeting they had scheduled in 2018, adding ‘this guy has had zero respect for me.’ Several other former ESPN employees, like Jemele Hill and Michelle Beadle, responded with similar views of Williamson.

There are so many ugly moments in the NFL. Players get badly hurt. They get concussed. They get released. Their careers are shorter than yours and mine. Most don’t have job security. Then something happens that reminds you why this sport, despite all the ugliness, can at times be beautiful. Jadeveon Clowney on a rainy Saturday in Baltimore showed us why it can also be joyful.

Clowney was playing in the regular season finale in a game that meant nothing to Baltimore because the Ravens have the top seed in the AFC wrapped up. But to Clowney what happened was profound.

There was under a minute left in the first half and Clowney sacked Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph. That gave him 9.5 sacks on the season. That sack triggered a $750,000 bonus. Seven. Fiddy.

But it was what happened next that caught the attention of everyone, including the announcing crew. After the sack, Clowney started dancing. A joyful dance in the rain. His teammates high-fived him and laughed. The announcers smiled. Word seemed to circulate among the Ravens crowd and they joined in with Clowney’s celebration. Or maybe they didn’t know and just saw a player happy and liked seeing it.

The celebration lasted some 30 seconds.

‘I didn’t know I had a sack and then they told me,’ Clowney said. ‘I was like, ‘Oh yeah,’ and you just start turning it up right now. I had a good time on that.’

When asked what he would do with the extra cash, he added: ‘I will put it with the rest of my money. Under the mattress, in the bank. I got three kids. I got to continue to … look after them. Football’s going to be over one day.’

The money is important and why Clowney was so happy. But the money also likely represents something else. Part of it is about respect.

It wasn’t so long ago, at least by NFL standards, that Clowney was college and NFL royalty. While at South Carolina, he made what remains one of the most remarkable hits in recent college football history. He was fast, physical and went first overall in the draft to Houston and would make three consecutive Pro Bowls there.

Clowney has been a good player but it’s fair to say he hasn’t necessarily lived up to being the No. 1 overall pick. He’s bounced around the league. A season in one city, moving on, playing in the next. In fact, the Ravens are his fifth team in six years. He’s played for the Texans, Seattle, Tennessee, Cleveland and the Ravens. This is his 10th year and he’s never reached double digit sacks and the last time he reached nine was 2021. Last year in Cleveland he had just two.

Clowney is only 30 years old and seems like one of those players who has been around forever. Maybe because he has been. He’s one of the more persistent, staying forces at the position but it was thought he’d lost some of his fire and skill. Then he went to the Ravens.

Baltimore signed him in August to a one year, $2.5 million contract. That’s essentially veteran minimum wage. And, yes, people will say that’s generational wealth, and it is to normies like you and me. But to NFL players in a league worth billions that is small change.

What usually happens in these situations is that teams load up contracts with incentives. That’s meant to both inspire and show some respect to a vet like Clowney. In many cases, however, some of the incentives are almost impossible to hit. It’s a contractual game that few players like but they all play because they mostly don’t have a choice.

So it looked like Clowney signed his small contract and he was going to play in Baltimore and he’d break out. Or he’d play like he did with some of those other recent teams, making minimum impact, and moving on once the season was over.

What happened? The Ravens’ defense became the smartest and most athletic in the NFL. Clowney was a big reason why. He regained some of the speed and ferocity that hasn’t been there before. Much of the credit goes to Clowney, of course, but some of it also goes to the Ravens coaching staff that always seems to know how to get the best out of their players.

Clowney had already gotten a bonus of a million when he hit seven sacks and the nine triggered the $750,000.

The cash is important and, sure, it inspired the joy. But the joy itself was wonderful to see. Look around the sport. Look around the world. We needed that.

PHOENIX — It has been nine weeks and four days since the Texas Rangers celebrated their first World Series championship in franchise history. 

The NFL season was in Week 9, the NBA was starting its second week and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce had just started dating. 

Well, here we are now, and baseball’s hot stove season has been more frozen than Minnesota’s 10,000 Lakes (only 5.3 inches of snow this winter). 

We can stop blaming Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the $1.025 billion for the hang-up. 

They signed in December but there were only a handful of serious suitors involved anyways. 

HOT STOVE UPDATES: MLB free agency: Ranking and tracking the top players available.

There are just five weeks remaining before spring training, and about 25 of the marquee free agents remain unsigned. 

Two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell is still out there, looking for someone to pay him in excess of $200 million. 

Josh Hader, the best closer in baseball the past four years, is waiting for someone to come up with $100 million over five years. 

Cody Bellinger, the former MVP who had a comeback season in 2022, is wondering if anyone besides the Chicago Cubs have any serious interest. 

Teams are looking for a discount, players are looking for a payday, and the closer we get to spring training, we’ll see who blinks first. 

Certainly, there’s still plenty of money in the coffers considering the Los Angeles Dodgers were the only team to grab Ohtani and Yamamoto, with only four other teams dropping $100 million in free agency this winter. 

Who could ever have imagined that the Kansas City Royals would outspend 24 major league teams? 

Or that the Oakland A’s would have spent more in free agency than the Yankees? The Cubs would have spent $40 million on a new manager but not a nickel on their roster? The mighty AL East has spent just $79.1 million, $25.9 million less than the Royals? 

Certainly, things will change at some point, but here are your up-to-date free-agent expenditures, compiled by MLB Trade Rumors, since we last saw the Rangers spraying champagne:

NL West ($1.322 billion) 

Los Angeles Dodgers: $1.043 billion Arizona Diamondbacks: $122 million San Francisco Giants: $121.25 million San Diego Padres: $32.5 million Colorado Rockies: $0

NL East ($236.65 million) 

Philadelphia Phillies: $172 million Atlanta: $31.1 million New York Mets: $29.3 million Washington Nationals: $4.25 million Miami Marlins: $0 

NL Central ($232.65 million) 

Cincinnati Reds: $106.2 million St. Louis Cardinals: $99 million Pittsburgh Pirates: $16.2 million Milwaukee Brewers: $11.25 million Chicago Cubs: $0 

AL Central ($180.75 million) 

Kansas City Royals: $105 million Detroit Tigers: $45.75 million Chicago White Sox: $24.3 million Cleveland Guardians: $4.75 million Minnesota Twins: $950,000 

AL East ($79.1 million) 

Boston Red Sox: $39.5 million Toronto Blue Jays: $25.5 million Baltimore Orioles: $13 million Tampa Bay Rays: $1.1 million New York Yankees: $0 

AL West ($71.8 million) 

Texas Rangers: $26.5 million Seattle Mariners: $24 million Houston Astros: $12 million Los Angeles Angels: $7.8 million Oakland A’s: $1.5 million 

Certainly, things will start to change this week with teams and players submitting their arbitration numbers by the Jan. 12 deadline, and reality knocking on the door. 

Here are our 2024 predictions with roughly five weeks until spring training camps open. (The Dodgers and San Diego Padres are reporting early with their season-opening series beginning on March 20 in Seoul, South Korea.)

1. Dodgers aren’t done

The Los Angeles Dodgers, after dropping $1.043 billion, aren’t stopping now. They get another corner outfield bat. Hello, Teoscar Hernandez? If Hader is still on the market in a month, and they can grab him for less than the five-year contract in excess of $100 million he’s seeking, they’ll seize the opportunity and sign him, too. Yes, they are all-in, scaring the daylights out of everyone in baseball. 

2. Mets won’t make a splash

The New York Mets, after spending a record $374.7 million on their payroll last season, will not sign a marquee free agent the rest of the winter and will put All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso on the trade block in July. 

Money may bring happiness in the real world, but Mets owner Steve Cohen rudely discovered it can bring on misery in baseball. Cohen could have hired anyone to write checks, but hired president David Stearns as president of baseball operations in an attempt to make the Mets the Dodgers of the East. 

3. Blake Snell will wait into spring training

Blake Snell will still be a free agent when spring training hits with teams continuing to balk at his asking price in excess of $200 million. The Los Angeles Angels are the strongest suitor at this juncture. 

Snell was the most dominant pitcher in the National League last season, yielding a stunning 1.20 ERA the last 22 starts of the season, so you would think that just about everyone in baseball would want him? Uh-uh. Teams are wary of him because of the fact he pitched past six innings only three times last year, and has never pitched eight innings in any of his 191 career starts. Large-market teams openly question whether he could handle the pressure and scrutiny of pitching in their city. There’s a reason why the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees and Mets have shied away, at least for now. Snell, 31, could fall right into the Angels’ laps. 

4. Cubs will make some big moves

The Cubs, who haven’t had a free-agent signing or made a trade all winter, will be baseball’s most aggressive team these next five weeks. They will not only re-sign Bellinger, with no one else expressing strong interest, but could bring in third baseman Matt Chapman or first baseman Rhys Hoskins, too, along with another starter. Their offseason is just starting. 

5. Yankees will add another arm

The New York Yankees will sign or trade for another marquee starter before opening day. After acquiring Juan Soto for only one year, they have already shown they are all in. This means they could overpay, at some point, for Dylan Cease, although they’re balking at the price. The Yankees also have had discussions for Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins and Shane Bieber of the Guardians. They could even jump into the Hader marketplace. But the Yankees will spend, trade and do everything possible to assure they are playing deep into October.

6. Rangers will bring back Jordan Montgomery

The Texas Rangers, who have been wary of spending with the uncertainty of their TV contract, will re-sign Jordan Montgomery. Simply, he’s too valuable not to bring back for an encore. He produced a 2.90 ERA in six starts during their World Series run, and they have a shiny new trophy for their reward. Montgomery is also being sought by the Yankees, but his preference all along was returning to Texas. 

7. Dylan Cease will stay put

The Chicago White Sox will open spring training with Dylan Cease, and could even carry him until the July trade deadline. They have had serious trade discussions with about a half-dozen teams, currently including the Yankees and Orioles, but no one has stepped up and is willing to offer a package of at least two top-100 prospects and two other players. The White Sox can afford to be patient. There’s no pressure to move him now.

8. Matt Chapman won’t return to Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays will pass on third baseman Matt Chapman, will let the Cubs sign Cody Bellinger without putting up much of a fight, and will instead sign free-agent outfielder Joc Pederson to a one-year contract to be the left-handed bat they need. Certainly, they have plenty of money after Ohtani didn’t take their $700 million, spending only $25.5 million this winter on Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Kevin Kiermaier.

9. Padres will stay quiet

The San Diego Padres’ wild spending days are over. They don’t offer anyone more than $5 million a year the rest of the winter, trying to spread out the remaining $20 million in their budget to fill about six different positions. Their World Series aspirations have melted into the goal of merely qualifying as a wild-card contender.

10. Phillies will focus on what they’ve got

The Philadelphia Phillies will do everything possible to sign ace Zack Wheeler to an extension before opening day, and likely Bryce Harper, too. Yet, they will not make an offer to free agents Blake Snell or Josh Hader, believing that neither fit into their team. They will sit relatively pat, at least until the July 30 trade deadline, and then vow to do everything to end their World Series drought.

LaTroy Hawkins, Jacque Jones launch a podcast

They arrived in professional baseball in the ’90s before social media, and even before the advent of Google, when the only available answers were provided through experience and asking questions. 

They are done playing baseball, but they see the pitfalls young athletes face that can tarnish careers and ruin lives, while the trust between the media and athletes continues to deteriorate. 

Jacque Jones and LaTroy Hawkins, best of friends from their 6 ½ years together with the Minnesota Twins, don’t pretend to have all of the answers, but they’re dishing out advice and sharing knowledge as much as they can. 

They have launched a weekly podcast, “Thick Skin with Jacque and Hawk,” produced by Next Chapter Podcasts CEO Jeremiah Tittle, who came up with the nickname. 

The podcast was Jones’ idea, and Hawkins, special assistant with the Twins and a TV analyst and commentator with the organization, didn’t hesitate. 

“The media and society always seem to focus on athletes when they get in trouble, but never when they do good things,’’ Jones said. ’’I remember the Damar Hamlin situation. When this guy got hurt on the field, he had a foundation started, but had only a couple of thousand dollars in it. He gets hurt, and it goes up to $10 million. Nobody supported it until something catastrophic happened to him. 

“Nobody talks about the good things that guys do. It’s all about who can have the hottest take, who can say the craziest thing, that’s what drives shows now.’

Jones, 48, and Hawkins, 51, also want the media to take notice – and not always believe the organization’s spin. 

“Sometimes when the media gets it wrong, we can correct them. Look, I’m an advocate for the media. I’m on TV with the Twins. But sometimes we get it wrong. Nobody is perfect.’

Hawkins believes there should be classes about the power of social media in high school, if not junior high.

“We have to educate people about social media and how to use it to your advantage,’’ Hawkins said. “You’ve got to be so careful.’

Hawkins and Jones will continue to share their own experiences and talk about the importance of education, too, with Jones returning to the University of Southern California for 1½ years to finish his degree, and with Hawkins now taking online classes for his college degree. 

“I want to showcase my personality and my ability, too,’ Hawkins said. ‘I have aspirations to work in the front office and people will have a chance to hear me speak on another level.’’ 

Around the basepaths

– The Chicago White Sox have recently spoken to the Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they are not close to trading ace Dylan Cease. They’re still holding out for two premium prospects and two others in return. If the White Sox don’t get what they want, they’ll hold onto him until they do.

– The San Francisco Giants are still open to adding another starter after acquiring Robbie Ray from Seattle, but unless Blake Snell’s price tag dramatically drops, they’re not interested in the defending Cy Young winner. 

– Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos worked his magic once again by acquiring one year of Chris Sale from the Boston Red Sox, and turning it into three years of control with Sale signing a two-year, $38 million contract with an $18 million club option in 2026. Really, the total cost is just $21 million with the Red Sox also sending $17 million to Atlanta for Vaughn Grissom, who had no position available to him in Atlanta.  

If Sale stays healthy, it will be a steal. Remember when Atlanta signed Charlie Morton at the age of 37? Well, three years later, he’s still pitching for Atlanta.

Sale, one of the fiercest competitors in baseball, also is expected to provide valuable veteran leadership for the young rotation. 

Sure, there’s risk involved, but they preferred this alternative to giving up prized prospects for Tyler Glasnow and weren’t willing to outbid the Phillies for Aaron Nola (seven years, $172 million). 

If Sale is healthy in October, look out. 

– The White Sox are shuffling their front-office staff and are bringing in Jin Wong from the Kansas City Royals to be an assistant GM. White Sox assistant GM Jeremy Haber is expected to depart on his own before spring training, with Jin fulfilling part of his duties. 

– Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch spoke to Andre Dawson and has informed him that his request to change his plaque to have him wearing a Cubs cap instead of representing the Montreal Expos will be reviewed by the Hall’s Board of Directors in March. 

It’s highly unlikely, however, the Board will permit him to make a change, fearing it would open a wave of other changes. 

Dawson, meanwhile, is recovering from a recent hip replacement surgery after undergoing three knee replacement surgeries. 

– Farhan Zaidi, San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations, is scheduled to meet with future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker in the next week to discuss a front-office position. 

– The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are the two leading candidates to host the finals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. MLB is strongly leaning towards having the event in the Central Time Zone with retractable roof ballparks. 

– While Trevor Bauer has begun a national media tour in hopes of pitching again in the major leagues after a 2 ½-year absence, it’s worth remembering that if he had shown even some level of remorse in his meeting with Dodgers officials in January 2023, the Dodgers likely would not have released him. Instead, they paid him $22.5 million to go away. 

– Teams now believe that the Milwaukee Brewers will not trade ace Corbin Burnes, and plan to revisit their position at the All-Star break. 

– The Dodgers will be paying Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto only a combined $7 million in actual salary in 2024, $12 million in 2025 and $14 million in 2026. 

The Dodgers, meanwhile, protected themselves with Yamamoto. He can opt out of his contract after the 2029 and 2031 seasons, but if he undergoes Tommy John surgery or misses at least 134 consecutive days with right elbow problems, he can not opt out until after the 2031 and 2033 seasons. 

Yamamoto also has a provision in the contract that would enable him to opt out of his deal after any season if the Dodgers trade him. 

– No one has more power in the remaining free-agent market than agent Scott Boras. 

He represents stars Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, J.D. Martinez and Rhys Hoskins, among others. 

– Japanese pitching star Shōta Imanaga has four teams seriously bidding for his services with a Thursday deadline, including the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. 

– Free-agent starter Marcus Stroman has informed the Yankees he’s seriously interested in signing with them, but the Yankees have declined to make an offer. 

– The Cincinnati Reds say they’re done with their big expenditures and don’t expect to make any major trades, believing the team they’ve assembled could be their best since 2014. 

– The Boston Red Sox are telling teams that All-Star closer Kenley Jansen, who’s scheduled to earn $16 million, is available. They also are open to listening on offers for outfielder Masataka Yoshida, who has four years and $72 million remaining on his contract. 

– Kudos and happy retirement to Michael Brantley, who thanked Larry Pardo, the former Milwaukee Brewers scout, for believing in him and drafting him in 2005. Brantley was traded three years later to Cleveland in the CC Sabathia deal. 

– Happy 80th birthday to beloved Charlie Manuel, who is recovering from his stroke and hopes to be at the Phillies’ spring-training camp as their senior advisor. 

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale 

Don’t worry, Swifties.

There’s no bad blood between Travis Kelce and anyone on the Kansas City Chiefs when the star tight end sits out the regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

Prior to kickoff, the Chiefs announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Kelce was ruled out for the matchup in a coaching decision. They later posted that wide receivers Rashee Rice and Kadarius Toney, cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, defensive end Mike Danna and tackle Donovan Smith were also inactive for the game.

Earlier in the week, head coach Andy Reid said that Patrick Mahomes would sit out the game with the AFC West and a playoff spot already clinched. Blaine Gabbert will start at quarterback.

It is a common practice in the NFL for teams to sit star players and other members of their starting lineup in the final week of the regular season to protect them from injury before the playoffs. The Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns were among those who sat players in Week 18.

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Earlier on Sunday, Detroit Lions rookie tight end Sam LaPorta injured his knee in the regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions had already captured the NFC North title and a playoff spot, so the game was essentially meaningless.

Kelce also sat out the regular season finale of the 2020 season, also against the Chargers, when they had their playoff spot secured. The Chiefs ended up going to the Super Bowl.

Kelce, who made headlines this year for dating popstar Taylor Swift, finishes the regular season with 93 receptions for 984 yards and five touchdowns. This means his streak of consecutive 1,000-yard seasons is snapped at seven. Per USA TODAY’s Nate Davis, no other tight end in NFL history has more than three 1,000-yard seasons in a row.

Jim Harbaugh has already called J.J. McCarthy the greatest quarterback in Michigan’s history.

The argument isn’t difficult to make. Despite not making his starting debut until the second game of last season, McCarthy has built a résumé that is largely unmatched despite the Wolverines’ long list of notable college passers — even if some, like Tom Brady, went on to bigger and better things after leaving Ann Arbor.

In fact, there are enough contenders for the program’s Mount Rushmore that Brady doesn’t make the cut of the five best college quarterbacks to play for the Wolverines:

J.J. McCarthy (2021-23)

McCarthy is 26-1 as the starter, with the one loss coming to TCU in last year’s Fiesta Bowl. That winning percentage is the best in program history, the best of any Bowl Subdivision starter in the past decade and one of the best in FBS history. He’s also the program’s career leader in completion percentage, efficiency rating and adjusted yards per attempt. Should he come back next season, McCarthy could own a big number of the Wolverines’ career and single-season passing records. Winning a national championship would make it very hard to argue against McCarthy as the best in program history.

Rick Leach (1975-78)

Leach was a four-year starter who led the Wolverines to three Big Ten championships and, after dropping the rivalry as a freshman, three wins in a row against Ohio State. He went 38-8-2 overall as the starter and twice finished in the top nine of the Heisman Trophy voting, including a third-place finish as a senior. While his numbers are from a different era — such as that 46.3% career completion percentage — Leach finished his career with an NCAA record of 82 touchdowns accounted for.

Benny Friedman (1924-26)

You’ll need to turn back the clock a century to include Friedman, one of the inaugural inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. The only two-time All-America quarterback in program history, Friedman led the Wolverines to a pair of Big Ten championships and lost just two games in his final two seasons, one a 3-2 slog to Northwestern in 1925 and the other to eventual national champion Navy in 1926.

Jim Harbaugh (1983-86)

Harbaugh was the first Michigan quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a game and one of the most efficient passers of his era, leading the Bowl Subdivision in efficiency rating as a junior in 1985, finishing second nationally as a senior and graduating with an NCAA career record that lasted for more than 12 years. The Wolverines went 21-3-1 during his final two seasons with wins against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State in both years. Harbaugh finished third in the Heisman voting as a senior, which remains tied with Leach for the highest finish by a quarterback in program history.

Chad Henne (2004-07)

First, the bad: Henne went 0-4 against Ohio State and 1-3 in bowl games as the starter. But as one of the rare four-year starters in program history, Henne’s name is all over the Wolverines’ record book. He’s first in career attempts (1,387), completions (828), yards (9,715) and touchdowns (87), in the latter by 17 scores over second-place John Navarre. The career totals are enough to place Henne ahead of Brady, Denard Robinson, Elvis Grbac and others.