Less than a week ago, the San Francisco Giants made history by signing Tennessee manager Tony Vitello to a three-year contract. Just a few days later, the Baltimore Orioles brought Cleveland Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz on board to be their new skipper.

Wednesday, the Minnesota Twins reportedly made their managerial choice for 2026, becoming the fifth team to already do so this offseason. They’re going with former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton, according to multiple reports.

Before operating in Pittsburgh’s dugout, Shelton was Minnesota’s bench coach. His familiarity with the Twin Cities could make him a vital asset for a team that underperformed in 2025, leading to a massive fire sale at the most recent trade deadline.

Here’s everything to know about the Twins’ newest manager.

Derek Shelton’s managerial record

Shelton became manager of the Pirates in 2019 after a team-wide reset. He did manage to increase the team’s win percentage each of his first four seasons with the club, culminating in a 76-86 record in 2023.

Unfortunately, the Pirates mirrored that record in 2024 and then got off to an atrocious start in 2025, going just 12-26 (.316) with Shelton at the helm before he was let go. The Pirates finished the season with a 71-91 (.438) record.

Derek Shelton before Pittsburgh

Shelton started his professional coaching career as the minor league hitting coordinator in Cleveland in 2003. He moved to the Rays following the 2009 season as the hitting coach. He was fired following the 2016 season but was hired soon after to be a quality control coach for Toronto. In 2017, he joined the Twins as their bench coach.

What other teams still need a manager?

Although several teams have already named a new manager, the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, and Washington Nationals are all still looking for new managers.

LOS ANGELES – Three pitches, two home runs and World Series history made by the Toronto Blue Jays in a stunning start to a pivotal Game 5.

Leadoff man du jour Davis Schneider hit Blake Snell’s first pitch into the left field pavilion at Dodger Stadium, and before he could snugly don Toronto’s iconic home run jacket, franchise player Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a 394-foot shot in the same neighborhood. Toronto 2, Los Angeles 0 before Snell could even settle in. 

It was the first time in World Series history that a team led off a game with back-to-back home runs. And for Guerrero, it was second in as many nights and eighth of the postseason.

Snell, the two-time Cy Young Award winner who posted a 0.86 ERA with just six hits given up in three playoff wins entering the World Series, opted to throw three fastballs out of the gate, and was punished for it. 

Toronto kept up an aggressive approach that worked against Shohei Ohtani the night before, ambushing Snell with the two homers and three hits in their first four plate appearances. 

The Blue Jays already pinned a loss on Snell in this World Series. He took a 2-2 tie into the bottom of the sixth in Game 1, but did not record an out and the Blue Jays went on to score nine runs in the inning en route to an 11-4 victory. 

This time, they brought the pain from the jump. 

Follow along for live updates from Game 5 of the World Series.

Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 5 of the 2025 World Series at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 29.The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays are tied 2-2 in the best-of-seven series.Johnson is a minority owner of the Dodgers as part of the Guggenheim Baseball Management ownership group.The group purchased the team in 2012.

Earlier in the day, Johnson had posted on social media about the importance of Game 5.

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NEW YORK — The countdown to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, Italy, hit the 100-day mark on Oct. 29. That leaves spectators ample time to study up on the U.S. Olympic team with no need to sweat.

The athletes, on the other hand …

“It’s pretty crazy,’ said Kristen Santos-Griswold, the American speed skater, when asked what the feeling is when she hears there are 100 days to go. “It’s so funny, because after the last Games, I was, like, ‘Four years is so long.’ When I was deciding if I wanted to keep skating or not, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can handle another four years.’ But now I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s no time.”

Santos-Griswold was among more than 100 U.S. Olympic and Paraylmpic athletes at the Team USA Media Summit this week, discussing preparations, expectations and more ahead of the Games starting in early February. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams will include more than 250 athletes, and 14 have secured spots already. Among those breathing easy: Snowboarding stars Chloe Kim and Red Gerard, both of whom have qualified.

The rest are headed into the heart of the qualification process, with final rosters to be set in mid-January.

“The anticipation is building, the training intensifies, as you can imagine,’ said Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.  “But the excitement is also building and we are very, very encouraged by what Team USA promises to be by the time we get to Milan Cortina.’

Here’s where Team USA stands entering this final stretch. The Opening Ceremony is set for Feb. 6.

Lindsey Vonn chases her Olympics return

At 41, Lindsey Vonn, the legendary Alpine skier, is trying to make her fifth U.S. Olympic team, and planning to compete in the downhill, super-G and team combined races. It’s understandable if this comes as a surprise.

In early 2019, Vonn announced her retirement. But in late 2024, she announced her comeback — after undergoing surgery for a partial knee replacement, no less.

‘Because of my knee replacement, I literally can do anything I want to do. I’m not restricted,’ Vonn said Tuesday. ‘Since I blew out my knee the first time in 2013, I haven’t been able to train with no restrictions. So I think I’m in potentially the best shape of my life, which is saying something at my age.’

She seems to relish being almost twice as old as some of her prospective teammates, who clearly are more adept in some areas than she is. Like creating TikTok videos.

“I did one,’ Vonn said. “It’s my first and probably only TikTok video because it was ‘Law & Order (SVU).’ ”

Her comeback gained steam in March 2025. That’s when at 40 she became the oldest Alpine skier to make a World Cup podium with a second place finish in the super-G at the 2025 World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho.

It muffled the skeptics and fueled believers.

“I’ve gotten so much support from so many people, so many young girls and women,’ Vonn said. “I think I’m proving to the world that a woman at 41 can do anything they set their mind to.’

Who are Team USA’s big stars to watch?

She earned her first gold at the 2014 Sochi Games in the women’s slalom event. She collected her second gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, this one in giant slalom, and won a silver in super combined. Then, almost shockingly, she left the 2022 Beijing Games without a medal. Don’t expect it to happen again.

Chloe Kim, the snowboarder, was the darling of the 2018 Winter Olympics when at age 17 she won gold in the halfpipe. It was no fluke. In 2022, she won gold in the halfpipe again. Now, at the advanced age of 25, she is coming off a gold-medal performance at the 2025 World Championships and poised to win, yep, more Olympic gold.

NHL players, including Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews and Charlie McAvoy, will be on the Olympic ice for the first time in 12 years. And hockey star Hilary Knight will bring her own star power to the ice. She’ll compete in her fifth Winter Games. The 36-year-old forward led the Americans to a gold and three silvers during her four Olympic appearances.

Who are Team USA’s other stars to watch?

In 2022, speed skater Erin Jackson became the first Black woman to win individual gold at the Winter Olympics when she won the 500 meters. Oh, and that was with only four months of competition as speed skater. Expect more medals on the ice for the former inline skater who also has competed in roller derby.

At 40, Kaillie Humphries is one of the world’s older bobsledders — and best, with her three Olympic golds and one bronze. The 41-year-old Elana Meyers Taylor is another medal contender, having won three Olympic silvers and two bronze in her four Olympic appearances.

Illia Malinin, 20, is known in figure skating as the Quadgod, and he earned that nickname the fearless way. He is the world’s only figure skater to land a quad axel in competition. That’s four rotations in mid-air, followed by a clean landing. This would be his first Olympics, and it’s easy to imagine him spinning his way to a medal.

Jordan Stolz, 21, is the world’s fastest skater at 1,000 meters and at one point built an 18-victory streak at World Cup events. He’s racked up gold medals at the World Championships, and now it’s time for the 21-year-old to bag an Olympic medal at his second Games.

Winter Olympics sliding center update

The rebuilding of Cortina Sliding Centre is complete, and so waits the 16-curve, 1,892-yard track on which the luge, skeleton and bobsled will be held. The venue passed safety tests earlier this year, and it passed the aesthetics test decades ago. The venue offers breathtaking views of the Italian Alps and rich Olympic history, having hosted bobsledding for the 1966 Winter Olympics.

American Mystique Ro, who will compete in the skeleton mixed team event that’s making its Olympic debut, could make it onto the podium, and she expressed no concerns about safety.

“This is definitely a technical slider’s track from what we understand of it,’ said Ro, who won a gold and silver at World Championships earlier this year. “So from there we can kind of ease up a little bit on our apprehension. But obviously we want to make sure we understand where the pressure is to identify it.’

To ensure she’s ready for Olympic competition, Ro said she’ll scout out the track early and game plan.

“We want to make sure we understand where the tricky parts,’ she said.

When are 2026 Olympic trials for figure skating?

Qualifying for most Winter Olympic sports is points-based, dependant on how athletes finish in World Cup events over the coming weeks. Figure skating, like gymnastics for Summer Games, does have trials in the form of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. So does curling. Here are those key dates.

Nov. 11-16, 2025: Curling Olympic Team Trials in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Jan. 4-11, 2026: U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis

It hasn’t even been a week since the arrests of former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on federal gambling-related charges. Yet somehow, the news keeps getting worse for the pair.

Neither Billups nor Rozier will receive any of their NBA salaries while they are on leave during the FBI’s ongoing investigation, a person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

Rozier’s salary will be held in escrow. If he is eventually cleared in the federal investigation, he will receive all missed payments in full, while Billups’ leave will be unpaid.

This decision has sparked outrage from the NBA Players’ Association, while the attorneys for both Billups and Rozier have denied any involvement with the gambling operations being investigated.

Will this affect NBA team spending/salary caps?

It will not.

Although Rozier will no longer receive installments of his $26.6 million salary, the first of which Rozier was set to receive later this week, the Heat will not receive any sort of salary cap benefits as a result.

Billups, meanwhile, will simply be on unpaid leave. He signed a multi-year extension in April this year.

The NBA Players’ Association is concerned with the NBA’s decision to withhold Rozier’s salary. The union released a statement announcing it would be filing a grievance on Rozier’s behalf:

‘While we are in agreement with the league that upholding the integrity of the game is of the utmost importance, their decision to place Terry [Rozier] on leave without pay is counter to the presumption of innocence and inconsistent with the terms of our Collective Bargaining Agreement.’

The statement continued, ‘We plan to challenge their decision via the proper channels.’

Will Terry Rozier get his money back?

Should Rozier be cleared of the charges he is facing and reinstated into the NBA, he could receive all of his missed payments back in full.

Whether he gets any of the money will hinge on the results of his legal case.

Rozier is not only facing charges regarding the illegal gambling operations being investigated by the FBI, but according to ESPN, he is also facing an $8,218,211 federal income tax lien filed in November 2023.

Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, says Rozier does not owe that money.

Trusty told ESPN on Wednesday, ‘He owed $9,000 of the total $8 million in taxes from 2021, and it has been paid. We just need the IRS to help remove the now-defunct lien. … Terry never owed anyone $8 million.’

ESPN writes that Trusty was unable to answer follow-up questions on the matter.

USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer answered your college football questions in a live AMA ahead of Week 10. Who’s next on the hot seat? What are the best fits for Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly? Are there glimmers of hope for Bill Belichick?

Check out Blake’s answers below:

Lane Kiffin predictions: Where is he coaching in 2026?

BT: Predicting Kiffin’s movements are a fool’s errand, but I’ll bite and break it down by my best-guess percentages:

He returns to Mississippi: 40%
He’s hired by LSU: 37%
He’s hired by Florida: 23%

If you tweak the question to Ole Miss or the field, I’d take the field. The longer the Rebels’ season goes, though, the more complicated an exit becomes.

Someone is going to hire Brian Kelly. Where is his best fit?

BT: Kelly might sit out this cycle, collect some buyout checks and then pop his head up and see what’s out there next year. As for jobs that might open this cycle…

What if Missouri loses Eli Drinkwitz? Hear me out on this. Kelly’s a consistent winner, he’s spent most of his career in the Midwest, and his biggest LSU issues became his continued big-game woes, his lack of fit and his inability to meet national championship expectations. Well, he’d fit better in Columbia, Missouri, than he ever did in Baton Rouge. And, Drinkwitz also has a big-game problem, so what’s the difference? Also, Missouri wouldn’t have the same national championship demands.

Elsewhere, Kelly would be an upgrade for Wisconsin if it fires sunken coach Luke Fickell. I could make an elevator pitch for James Franklin at either Missouri or Wisconsin, too.

Who is next to coach to get fired? Seems like there’s at least one every week now.

BT: Auburn hosts Kentucky this weekend before hitting the road against Vanderbilt on Nov. 8. Losing to Vanderbilt for the second straight season could be just the recipe to earn Auburn’s embattled coach Hugh Freeze some more free time to work on his golf game.

Or, perhaps Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith could cut Freeze in line by losing a sixth straight Big Ten game at Minnesota this weekend. Smith is only in Year 2, but he’s working for an athletic director and university president who did not hire him. That’s a bad position for a coach on the hot seat.

Is Group of Five CFP entrant guaranteed to be an AAC team?

BT: Every indicator points to the American producing the Group of Five qualifier.

The Mountain West absorbed damage by Boise State getting blown out by South Florida of the American, then losing to Notre Dame. Boise later beat previously undefeated UNLV, further hurting the Mountain West’s playoff picture.

The American’s got quite a tussle brewing between Navy, Tulane, Memphis, USF and North Texas. Whichever team emerges as the conference champ seems like a near lock for the playoff.

Forced to pick a sleeper outside of the American, I’d take James Madison of the Sun Belt. Its only loss came against Louisville, a playoff contender.

I know it’s fun to pile on Bill Belichick, but UNC was right there the past two games. Is there hope all isn’t lost yet?

BT: Almost-wins is a stat that’s only tracked by losing teams. That said, you’re right that UNC doesn’t look as bad as it did in September. The Tar Heels (2-5) probably can find a win or two in November. That still would amount to a pitiful debut. If there’s hope on the horizon, it’s rooted in a recruiting class that ranks fourth in the ACC. Belichick’s staff will need to do a better job of nabbing some high-impact transfers, too.

If Matt Caldwell plays well Saturday (assuming Arch Manning won’t play), is there any chance Sark sits Arch?

BT: If Manning is healthy for Texas’ Nov. 15 game against Georgia, I think he’ll play. Would that be the right choice? Not necessarily.

If Caldwell thrives against Vanderbilt and Texas wins, then Sarkisian should use the upcoming open date to evaluate all options. That includes riding with Caldwell, the veteran transfer from Troy.

CFP sleeper: Gerogia Tech or BYU?

BT: Why not both? I’d lean Georgia Tech, though.

I think the Yellow Jackets will stay undefeated in ACC play. Then, if it beats Georgia on Black Friday, Georgia Tech is in the playoff no matter what happens in the ACC championship. Or, if it loses to Georgia, it can still make the playoff by winning the ACC championship.

In other words, if Georgia Tech beats NC State, Boston College and Pittsburgh (it’ll be favored in each game), then it needs to only win either the Georgia game or the ACC championship and it’s in the playoff. Two bites at the apple.

Georgia Tech to the playoff. Haynes King to New York City. Brent Key to …?

The Cincinnati Bengals became the first team in the NFL to lose to the New York Jets this season following a fourth-quarter collapse. New York headed into their bye with a 39-38 win to end the team’s third-longest losing streak to open a season.

For the Bengals, the offense had one of its best days of the season, especially on the ground. But a question remains as the Bengals sit at 3-5: how soon can franchise quarterback Joe Burrow come back?

Burrow suffered a Grade 3 turf toe injury in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s been on injured reserve (IR) ever since and was on the sidelines in Week 8 at home.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor spoke about Burrow’s status today.

‘He’s been good. I don’t have any updates [on the progress]. It’s gone as we had hoped,’ Taylor said.

‘He’s had a great attitude, great energy about him. He’s in the meetings, met with him one-on-one, he’s been great to be around, optimistic and things have been going well, but I don’t have any update on the timeline.’

That current timeline keeps Burrow sidelined for much of the regular season following surgery to repair his toe.

Cincinnati traded for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco from the Browns after dropping to 2-3. He led the team to a win in Week 7 against divisional foe Pittsburgh.

Flacco is day-to-day with a shoulder injury and that puts his status for Sunday’s Week 9 game against Chicago in doubt.

With Flacco potentially out, Bengals fans may be wondering when their star quarterback will be back in the lineup. Here’s what we know.

How long is Joe Burrow out?

Burrow had surgery on his toe on Sept. 19 and that procedure requires a minimum three-month recovery. Three months from his surgery date is Dec. 19, two days before the Bengals’ Week 16 road contest against the Miami Dolphins.

Getting him back on the field that quickly uses the minimum recovery time. If things aren’t fully ideal and he still needs a week to ramp up to game shape, that’d put him back on the field for Cincinnati’s Week 17 game at home against the Arizona Cardinals.

Either way, the Bengals need to hold on over the next six weeks to keep pace in the AFC wild card race.

AFC North standings

Pittsburgh Steelers: 4-3 (1-1 in AFC North)
Cincinnati Bengals: 3-5 (2-0)
Baltimore Ravens: 2-5 (1-0)
Cleveland Browns: 2-6 (0-3)