DALLAS − Shohei Ohtani, baseball’s only two-way player, likely won’t be ready to pitch by opening day in Japan after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder in November, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday at baseball’s winter meetings. But Roberts still expects him to be in their lineup as the designated hitter.

“Very unlikely,’’ Roberts said when asked if Ohtani could possibly pitch in Tokyo. “I just don’t see us starting the clock in March to then think that we would keep that continuously going through October. Then, that would call for a break or reprieve in the middle of the season, so I don’t know.

“I still think unlikely.’’

Still, the Dodgers are counting on him when the Dodgers open the season in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19 at the Tokyo Dome.

“I don’t think he’d have it any other way,’’ Roberts said. “That’s our expectation. …It’s not cemented. If something doesn’t look right, feel right, obviously we’ve got to pivot.

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“Maybe a lot of disappointed fans. We’re going to do what’s best for Shohei. But where we stand right now, I expect him to play.’’

Ohtani last pitched in 2023 for the Los Angeles Angels before undergoing his second elbow surgery in September that season that kept him from pitching in his first year with the Dodgers. He rehabbed his arm during the season while hitting 54 homers and stealing 59 bases. He hit .310 with a league-leading .390 on-base percentage, .646 slugging percentage and became the first player to hit at least 50 homers and steal 50 bases in the season, unanimously winning the MVP award.

The Dodgers now plan to exercise caution when he returns in 2025 as a two-way player.

“It’s going to be interesting,’’ Roberts said, “because the continued rehab with the left shoulder, keeping it strong, maintaining it, maintenancing it within the overall body stuff. Then, the pitching regimen, the side sessions of pitching, to then be a part of hitters’ meetings and get ready, get ramped up to take at-bats as a DH.’’

Ohtani went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts in his last season as a pitcher in 2023, while hitting .304 with a league-leading 44 homers and 95 RBI.

“I guess if anyone can manage it, it’s Shohei,’’ Roberts said. “But it’s certainly going to look a lot different. I don’t think the left shoulder is going to have much of an impact on Shohei’s pitching, I think his innings, his right elbow, is the biggest factor.

“I just think the question is when he starts pitching in Major League games.’’

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As the rumor mill continues about former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick taking the North Carolina football coaching job, Belichick joined ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on ESPN on Monday and was asked about the position.

Belichick, 73, won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and has spent his coaching career in the NFL. When McAfee asked him about the job, he said he had had a ‘couple of good conversations’ with UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts and that ‘we’ll see how that goes.’

While Belichick does not have college coaching experience, he does come from a pedigree with some, as his father, Steve Belichick, had coaching stints with Hiram, Vanderbilt, UNC and Navy. His son, Stephen Belichick, is currently the defensive coordinator for Washington.

‘I did grow up around [college football],’ Belichick said. ‘My dad was a college coach who was at North Carolina for three years, Vanderbilt for a year and then Navy for 50. It seems college football is more like pro football. I’ve talked to a lot of college coaches about things like salary cap and putting value on players and negotiating. … I think there are similarities. I haven’t experienced it first hand.’

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Due to that background and how the college football game has shifted now with NIL and the transfer portal, Belichick said he sees a fit for NFL coaches at the collegiate level. He even made a ‘pitch’ for potential UNC recruits subtly.

‘Let me put this in capital letters, if, ‘I.F.’ I was in a college program, that college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for players that had ability to play in the NFL,’ Belichick said. ‘It would be a professional program: training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques, that would transfer to the NFL. It will be an NFL program at a college level.’

‘I feel very confident that I have the contacts in the NFL to pave the way for those players that would have the opportunity to compete in the National Football League,’ Belichick added.

UNC football has an opening after longtime coach Mack Brown was fired on Nov. 26. Belichick has been out of the coaching spotlight this season after he and New England parted ways after 24 seasons. While Belichick interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons job over the offseason, the job went to Raheem Morris.

An assist is a unique basketball statistic.

Unlike scoring or rebounding, the player making a pass is dependent on another player to get credit. The pass can be perfect – even spectacular – but if the recipient of the pass doesn’t put the basketball through the hoop, there is no assist. Just a missed shot.

It requires skill and good fortune to amass all-time assist numbers.

Chris Paul has both. The San Antonio Spurs guard on Sunday passed Jason Kidd (12,091 career assists) for No. 2 on the NBA’s all-time assist list and now has 12,099 assists.

Plenty goes into that. Longevity. This Paul’s 20th season. Talent. Paul is smart, focused, gifted, has amazing court vision and command of an offense. Quality teammates. He has assisted on baskets to 173 players, from the obscure (Arvydas Macijauskas) to the bucket-getters (David West, Blake Griffin, Devin Booker, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry).

Paul’s first assist went to P.J. Brown in Paul’s first NBA game in 2005. The assist that moved him into second place behind John Stockton (15,806 assists) came on a pass to Victor Wembanyama who was two months from turning 2 years old in Paul’s NBA debut.

“It was cool – it’s a lot better since we won, given the fashion that we won,” Paul said Sunday after the Spurs defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, coached by Willie Green, who was on the receiving end of 143 Paul assists during his NBA career.

“I have had the opportunity to be part of a lot of great players’ journeys in my career, and to be here with Vic, to be connected with him in that way has been pretty cool,” Paul continued.

Paul will keep adding to his assist total but remains 3,707 assists behind Stockton’s record, which, like LeBron James’ all-time scoring record, will not be broken for a long time. Paul, 39, had 3,813 assists from 2016-17 through 2022-23 – a span of seven seasons. It’s difficult to envision seven more seasons of eight-plus assists per game from Paul to reach Stockton.

“I just love hooping, but I love my family, too,” Paul said of retirement consideration. “I know I’ve missed a lot (of family events). Right now, I’m just going to keep hooping and figure it out as a I go.”

Paul was reminded that Stockton missed 22 games in his 19-year career. Despite multiple hand injuries that required surgery, Paul has been reliable, playing in fewer than 58 games in a season just once. Even if Paul had played in more games, he’d still remain a considerable distance behind Stockton.

It doesn’t make Paul’s accomplishment any less remarkable. He is one of two players with 20,000 points and 10,000 assists and has 600 games with at least 10 assists (second to Stockton’s 863).

Paul is a future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and is one of the game’s all-time great point guards. He’s an 11-time All-NBA and nine-time All-Defense selection and has led the league in steals six time and assists five times. He was a member of the NBA’s greatest 75 players and has two Olympics gold medals. An NBA title has eluded him.

In explaining his success, Paul said, “Just being willing to learn and adjust and adapt to the way the league’s going.”

Playing for his seventh franchise, Paul is helping a young Spurs team figure out how to win and helping Wembanyama maximize his unlimited potential.

“San Antonio has been nothing short of amazing,” Paul said. “The fans have been amazing, the staff, the team. You hear all these stories about the San Antonio Spurs (being) a first-class organization. To get an opportunity to experience it and witness it, just gratitude.”

He is averaging 10.2 points and 8.5 assists in 28.9 minutes per game this season.

“He’s just incredible how he doesn’t just do things halfway,” Wembanyama said. “He’s never just on the court just to be on the court. He’s trying to win, trying to find solutions. It’s a really unique thing, and it’s a trait you find in all these players, those greats that stick around for years and years.”

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There’s no room for nostalgia in the NFL.

For those general managers and team owners who need it, this season has been a reminder that it’s better to move on too soon than be stuck with a veteran quarterback who is very suddenly, but very clearly, past his prime.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst isn’t one for gloating, but his decision to move on from Aaron Rodgers after the 2022 season now looks inspired. A four-time MVP, Rodgers was expected to lead the long-suffering New York Jets to a Super Bowl title. Instead, he’s won all of three games and, on Sunday, the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention for the 14th consecutive year, the longest streak in major sports.

The Minnesota Vikings chose not to throw the boatload of money at Kirk Cousins that the Atlanta Falcons did and that, too, looks prophetic. While Cousins is flailing — no TDs and eight interceptions over the last four games — and the Falcons are on the outside of the playoff race looking in, the Vikings are tied for the third-best record in the NFL. With Sam Darnold as their quarterback, no less.

Joe Flacco doesn’t even resemble the guy who led the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs last year. Andy Dalton was fine — until he wasn’t.

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This isn’t an exact science, of course. Tom Brady defied Father Time and conventional wisdom when he went to Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers. Peyton Manning won one Super Bowl and played in another after the Indianapolis Colts decided not to risk his rebuilt neck.

Even this season, Russell Wilson is thriving in Pittsburgh after a dismal stop in Denver had many assuming he was washed up. (Though the Steelers’ defense and Mike Tomlin being Mike Tomlin are the main reasons Pittsburgh is once again perched atop the AFC North.)

But it’s a general rule of thumb that if you’re betting a QB in the twilight of his career will be able to duplicate his earlier success, your odds are about as good as hitting the jackpot in Las Vegas.

“I’ve started one year, so …,” Rodgers said when asked about the Jets’ postseason futility that is now in its second decade. “I’m a part of it for one year.”

Yes, but the Jets invested a lot in Rodgers under the starry-eyed assumption he’d make all the difference in their fortunes. And Rodgers echoed that wishful thinking, proclaiming himself still able to play at a high level despite being almost 40 when he arrived in New York.

“I’m an old guy so I want to be part of a team that can win it all,” Rodgers said after he was traded to the Jets, “and I believe this is a place where we can get that done.”

Yet all he’s brought to the Jets is chaos and turmoil. Oh, and one 300-yard game, his first in almost three years. Rodgers threw for 339 yards and one TD on Sunday, only for the Jets to lose to the Miami Dolphins in overtime.

It was New York’s fourth consecutive loss, and 10th of the season. Seven of those losses, including the last three, have been by one score.

“We just didn’t figure out how to win enough games,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t play good enough in some crunch times. That’s why we’re sitting here with the record we’ve got.”

Back in the spring of 2023, when it was clear the relationship between Rodgers and the Packers was irretrievably broken — or, specifically, his relationship with Gutekunst — the quarterback griped about Green Bay’s unsentimental approach to personnel decisions.

“They like to get rid of players a year early instead of a year late,” Rodgers said.

As if that’s a bad thing.

It’s human nature to hold on to a good thing for too long, refusing to believe it will ever go bad. Relationships. Clothing styles. Those condiments that have been sitting in your refrigerator for years. But that’s listening to your heart, not your head. And operating that way in the NFL practically guarantees a losing record and a disappointed fan base.

It’s sad to watch the careers of Rodgers, Cousins and so many others end in this fashion. Sadder still is their declines got some help from people whose job it is to know better.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

The most decorated program in women’s college soccer history has added another piece of hardware to its already sizable trophy case.

Behind a goal in the 61st minute from Olivia Thomas, North Carolina defeated Wake Forest, 1-0, Monday night in nearby Cary, North Carolina, to win the Division I national championship.

It’s the Tar Heels’ 23rd national title in their distinguished history. The next-closest program, Florida State, has only four.

The championship came under an interim head coach, Damon Nahas, who succeeded Anson Dorrance after the legendary coach retired in August after leading his alma mater for the previous 45 seasons. Under Nahas, the Tar Heels went 22-5 and rebounded after a late slide in which they lost three of their final four regular-season matches.

Despite its storied history, the title is North Carolina’s first since 2012. The Tar Heels had made the national championship game three times since, most recently in 2022, but lost each time.

With the game in a scoreless deadlock with 28 minutes remaining, Thomas struck a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box that curled around the Wake Forest wall and into the side netting.

Monday’s victory capped off a dominant defensive run for North Carolina during the postseason. In six NCAA tournament games, the Tar Heels allowed just one goal, which came in a 2-1 overtime victory against Penn State in the national quarterfinals.

North Carolina was part of an all-ACC College Cup, which also included Duke and Stanford. The Tar Heels rolled past the archrival Blue Devils, the nation’s top-ranked team, 3-0 in the semifinals to earn a date with Wake Forest, which was appearing in the program’s first-ever national title game.

Juan Soto agreed to the biggest contract in sports history to kick off Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, but there should be plenty of hot stove action in the days to come at the annual event in Dallas.

Soto’s 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets on Sunday night surpassed the $700 million contract that Shohei Ohtani signed last winter and may very well have shifted the balance of power behind the World Series champion Dodgers in the National League.

The trade market always takes shape at the Winter Meetings, with Chicago White Sox starter Garrett Crochet among the top players expected to be traded before the 2025 season begins.

Here’s all the news from Monday at the Winter Meetings:

Yankees GM Brian Cashman ‘proud’ of effort to sign Juan Soto

“We entered the process in free agency and that took us to heights that I never would have expected,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said at the Winter Meetings on Monday. “Hal Steinbrenner really stepped up to find a way to retain Juan Soto, and so I’m certainly proud of his efforts.”

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The Yankees were unable to bring back the superstar outfielder who helped them reach in the World Series in 2024, with their 16-year, $760 million offer falling short of the Mets’ 15 and $765 million.

Cardinals have ‘intention to try’ trading Nolan Arenado

Speaking to reporters at the Winter Meetings on Monday, Cardinals president John Mozeliak confirmed that the club is looking to move eight-time All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado.

‘It is my intention to try,’ Mozeliak told reporters on Monday.

The 33-year-old is coming off the worst season of his career, hitting just 16 homers with 71 RBI and a .719 OPS in 152 games. A 10-time Gold Glove winner, Arenado is due $74 million over the next three seasons – with the Rockies covering $10 million of that as part of the 2021 deal that sent him to St. Louis.

Kyle Tucker trade? Astros will ‘listen on anybody’

“We’ll listen on anybody. We’re not trying to aggressively move anybody out the door,’ Astros GM Dana Brown told reporters. ‘If it doesn’t make sense, we wouldn’t do it.’

Tucker has been one of baseball’s best since becoming an everyday player in 2021, averaging 35 home runs and 25 steals per 162 games with an .888 OPS over the past four seasons. Projected to earn around $16 million in 2025, Tucker was limited to 78 games by injury this season, but still managed 23 home runs with a .993 OPS.

Tucker should fetch a $300+ ($400?) million contract next winter and it’s hard to imagine the Astros putting up that kind of money, so moving him in a blockbuster deal could be a prudent course of action. That said, the Astros are contenders and trading one of their best players would be tough to pull off.

Alex Bregman is hot commodity with Soto off the board

With Juan Soto no longer available, Alex Bregman becomes the best hitter available on the free agent market.

‘Alex is a good player, man. He’s a complete player. He’s a player that’s been on winning teams his whole career,’ Red Sox manager Alex Cora said at the Winter Meetings on Monday.

‘Good defender. Offensively he’s really good. He’s a guy that a lot of people are talking about, and I do believe he can impact a big league team, a championship-caliber team. He’s that type of player.’

Jordan Romano to Phillies

DALLAS — The Philadelphia Phillies, whose bullpen failed them again in the postseason, hope they have solved their Achilles heel by agreeing to a one-year, $7.75 million contract with free agent All-Star closer Jordan Romano on Monday at the Winter Meetings.

Romano was one of baseball’s premier closers from 2021-23 with the Toronto Blue Jays before missing the final four months of the season with an elbow injury. He needed arthroscopic surgery for an elbow impingement. The Blue Jays non-tendered him last month, making him a free agent.

Romano, 31, saved 95 games and struck out 230 batters with a 2.37 ERA from 2021-23, with the highest WAR among all relievers during that span.

– Bob Nightengale

Tigers, veteran Alex Cobb agree to one-year deal

DALLAS — The Detroit Tigers have added a starting pitcher.

The Tigers have signed right-hander Alex Cobb, an All-Star in 2023, to a one-year contract in MLB free agency, according to a source with knowledge of the agreement. The two sides agreed Monday, the first day of MLB’s Winter Meetings, but the deal is pending a physical exam.

Cobb, 37, posted a 2.76 ERA with three walks and 10 strikeouts across 16⅓ innings in three starts for the Cleveland Guardians in the 2024 season. He missed most of the season because of left hip surgery and a right shoulder injury.

– Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press

Cubs announce Matthew Boyd deal

Yankees rumors after Juan Soto news

No need to sugarcoat it: This is devastating for the Yankees.

Soto and Aaron Judge made for one of the great middle-of-the-order duos in major league history, combining for 99 home runs (apropos), combining with Giancarlo Stanton to reestablish a punishing Bronx Bombers presence and drive the Yankees to their first World Series since 2009. 

What now?

The answers are all suboptimal, to a degree. The Yankees can try to add power and address badly-needed upgrades by pursuing Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso or Christian Walker, with the first two options likely costing in excess of $200 million.

All three are right-handed hitters, however, which would badly imbalance the lineup around Judge. That’s where a trade for Cody Bellinger makes so much sense: They could likely import the lefty-hitting, athletically elite first baseman/outfielder from the Cubs for not much more than taking on the potential $52.5 million owed Bellinger this year and next (He has a player option for 2026).

– Gabe Lacques

Top MLB free agents remaining

Juan Soto and Blake Snell, the top two players in USA TODAY Sports’ 2024-25 free agent rankings, are now off the board but there’s elite talent remaining on the market expected to fetch big deals.

Here are the top 10 players still on the market:

SP Corbin Burnes
3B Alex Bregman
1B Pete Alonso
SP Max Fried
OF Teoscar Hernández
OF Anthony Santander
INF Gleyber Torres
SP Nathan Eovaldi
SP Jack Flaherty
RP Tanner Scott

Juan Soto contract is ‘most important transaction the Mets have ever made’

Longtime New York Mets announcer Gary Cohen told SNY late Sunday that Juan Soto’s record-breaking 15-year, $765 million deal is ‘the biggest and most important transaction the Mets have ever made.’

‘The only one that even is in the same ballpark is the trade for Mike Piazza in 1998.

‘The Mets have never dipped this deeply into the free into the free agent market in terms of the caliber of player and youth. The thing that would come closest to that would be signing Carlos Beltran (seven years, $119 million after 2004 season).’

With the team coming off an NLCS appearance, Cohen said Soto ‘completely changes the conversation around the Mets’ and the addition ‘automatically’ makes New York the NL East favorites ‘regardless of what they do the rest of the offseason.’

Soto contract is history repeating itself 24 years after A-Rod deal

DALLAS — This is the exact spot where it happened, turning the baseball world upside down, leaving executives fuming, and publicly threatening that it would forever ruin the sport.

The date: Dec. 11, 2000. The time: 1:30 a.m. The location: Room 633, Anatole Hotel, Dallas, Texas.

It was the moment the Texas Rangers agreed to a 10-year, $252 million contract with shortstop Alex Rodriguez.“How can I forget?’ said former Rangers GM Doug Melvin. “How can anyone forget?’

Now, 24 years later, at this same hotel, history repeated itself. This time, it’s Juan Soto signing a record 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets.

And once again, particularly from the small- and mid-sized markets, you could hear screaming into the Texas night, and cries that the sport is broken – worrying about a work stoppage in 2026.

Scott Boras, the man who negotiated A-Rod’s contract and now Soto’s, can only laugh and will tell you it’s a shrewd business deal that will only enhance the franchise’s value.

“I think the process was very misunderstood,’ Boras told USA TODAY Sports of the Rodriguez pursuit. “When you look at the surplus value, even though the Rangers didn’t win, it was economically beneficial to the franchise. It was definitely team-friendly.’

– Bob Nightengale

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Update: Brandon Graham backtracked later Monday night, saying he ‘had it all wrong’ and plans to apologize to both Hurts and Brown, per ESPN’s Tim McManus.

Perhaps winning doesn’t really cure everything.

That’s what Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham suggested Monday when he insinuated a rift is growing between wide receiver A.J. Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts.

On his weekly talk show with SportsRadio 94 WIP, Graham shared that ‘things have changed’ between the wide receiver and his quarterback, though they were friends before.

Signs of discord had started to become apparent on Sunday.

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After a 22-16 Eagles victory over the Carolina Panthers in which Philadelphia managed fewer than 300 yards of total offense, a reporter asked Brown what needed to be improved on his side of the ball. The wideout responded with one word: ‘Passing.’

On Monday, Graham called out Brown for his postgame comments.

‘The person that’s complaining needs to be accountable,’ he said. ‘I know that [Hurts] is trying. [Brown] could be a little better with how he responds to things.

‘We have to make sure that we don’t let the personal get in the way of the business.’

Despite evidence of discord in the Eagles’ locker room, Philadelphia is 11-2 and riding a nine-game win streak into its Week 15 clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team’s win on Sunday – along with the Arizona Cardinals’ and Atlanta Falcons’ losses– helped them clinch a spot in the playoffs.

In addition, Brown is still on pace to hit the 1,000-yard mark for a third straight year in his third season with the Eagles despite missing three games earlier this year.