Breaking
Wealth World News
Archive

2025

Browsing
Sports

Yankees look to stay alive vs. Blue Jays as ALDS shifts to New York

The New York Yankees will attempt to keep their season alive on Tuesday, Oct. 7, as they host the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of their American League Division Series.

Toronto took the first two games at home to be on the verge of advancing to the championship series round. The unlikely hero in Game 2 was rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, who was making just his fourth major league start. He struck out 11, walked just one and allowed no hits in 5 ⅓ innings as the Jays rolled to a 13-7 victory.

Toronto turns to trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber (4-2, 3.57 ERA in the regular season) as it looks for the clincher in Game 3. Needing a win to force a Game 4, New York counters with veteran lefty Carlos Rodón, who was tied for second in AL with 18 of them during the regular season.

Where to watch Yankees vs Blue Jays Game 3

Game 3 of the American League Division Series is being televised on FS1. Joe Davis will handle play-by-play duties with John Smoltz as analyst and Ken Rosenthal reporting from the field.

TV: Fox Sports 1
Streaming: Fox Sports app, Fubo (free trial)

What time is Yankees vs Blue Jays game today?

Tuesday’s game is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET in New York

Blue Jays lineup today

George Springer (R) DH
Davis Schneider (R) LF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
Alejandro Kirk (R) C
Daulton Varsho (L) CF
Ernie Clement (R) 3B
Anthony Santander (S) RF
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) 2B
Andrés Giménez (L) SS

Yankees lineup today

Trent Grisham (L) CF
Aaron Judge (R) RF
Cody Bellinger (L) LF
Ben Rice (L) 1B
Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
Ryan McMahon (L) 3B
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Austin Wells (L) C

John Schneider’s message for pundits who thought Yankees would cruise

“Don’t have one. I think we’re just focused on playing our game really. I think that we’re confident when we’re playing our game. It was a good weekend at home, we’re treating this as if it’s a 0-0 series. You can’t take your foot off the gas.

‘I think we do a really good job of kind of worrying about what is important to us, and that’s kind of how we’ve done it all year. That’s kind of how we’ve gotten here. It’s a tight knit group. I think that they’re just going to continue to worry about them.”

Aaron Boone on Yankees’ mindset for Game 3

‘The good thing here down the stretch is we’ve really latched onto this win today. Win today. We almost scratched our way back to win a division, and it was kind of that mindset and that mantra, the final month, six weeks is what happened yesterday. We talk about it in our advance and hitters meeting and things like that or things that come up.

‘But it’s like that’s over with. We won another series, whatever, we didn’t. It’s like let’s go win today. That’s as simple as our focus is, and that’s as small as I want us to keep it regardless of what happened. These guys have done a really good job with that, and whatever happens tonight, I expect they’ll go out and do the same.’

Blue Jays’ good luck charm?

In the past two weeks, the Blue Jays have worn the same hats as the 1992 team, the year of the franchise’s first World Series, five times.

They haven’t lost yet, including the first two games of the ALDS, where they routed the New York Yankees in both games.

They will be sporting that retro cap look tonight as they look to advance to the ALCS with a Game 3 victory over their division rivals.

Yankees vs Blue Jays schedule for ALDS

Blue Jays lead series 2-0

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4 – Blue Jays 10, Yankees 1
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5 – Blue Jays 13, Yankees 7
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7 – Blue Jays at Yankees, 8:08 p.m. ET
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8 (if necessary) – Blue Jays at Yankees, Time TBA
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10 (if necessary) – Yankees at Blue Jays, Time TBA

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Deion Sanders reacts to Cleveland Browns QB trade

Deion Sanders stated he does not care about the Cleveland Browns trading quarterback Joe Flacco.
The trade affects his son, Shedeur Sanders, a backup rookie quarterback with the Browns
Shedeur Sanders was drafted by the Browns in the fifth round but has not yet played in a game.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders said ‘I don’t care’ Tuesday when asked about the big NFL trade in Cleveland that could affect his quarterback son Shedeur.

The Cleveland Browns traded quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals, making room for Shedeur to move up the depth chart with the Browns after being drafted by them in the fifth round in April.

“Yeah, I got that text during practice,” Sanders said at his news conference Tuesday in Boulder. “I don’t care. I don’t give a darn about the Browns at all. I care about the Colorado Buffaloes. I do love me some Shedeur Sanders, though. Believe that. I care about him. The rest of that mess, I don’t, OK?”

Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel started for the Browns last week in a 21-17 loss against the Minnesota Vikings. He replaced Flacco, who was benched after the Browns got off to a 1-3 start. Gabriel was selected in the third round of the draft in April before Shedeur, who was considered by many to be a first-round talent. Shedeur played under his father at Colorado in 2023 and 2024 but has not played in an official game yet for Cleveland.

“I’m a coach trying to win, just like they’re trying to win games,’ said Sanders, whose team is 2-4 and faces Iowa State on Saturday at home. ‘But I could care less of who they traded.’

Sanders deferred to a friend of his who was at the news conference in Boulder — former Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones.

“As a Bengals fan, I like the trade,” Jones responded.

“He went to the Bengals?” Sanders asked. “I didn’t know that. Oh my God. Bengals ain’t no joke, ain’t they? They trying to win.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Politics

Senate Republicans confirm more than 100 Trump nominees as government shutdown continues

Senate Republicans confirmed a staggering tranche of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Tuesday as the government shutdown continues.

Lawmakers voted along party lines to confirm the batch of 107 of Trump’s nominees, a move that whittled down the remaining pending nominees on the Senate’s calendar to double digits. It also came as the upper chamber was deadlocked in the midst of a government shutdown, during which floor votes have largely been dedicated to trying to reopen the government.

The slate of confirmed nominees included many of Trump’s top allies and former candidates that he hand-picked to run in previous elections.

Some of the most recognizable on the list were former Republican Senate candidate and ex-NFL star Herschel Walker, who was tapped as the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, and Sergio Gor, a top advisor to Trump who he picked to be his U.S. Ambassador to India.

Other posts confirmed included a wave of senior administration officials, several prosecutors and the reappointment of Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins to a seat on the commission until 2031.

The vote also marked the second time that Senate Republicans have deployed the new rule change surrounding confirmations since going ‘nuclear’ on Senate rules last month.

Republicans opted to change confirmation rules to allow a simple majority of votes to advance large swathes of nominees in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus’ blockade of Trump’s picks that lasted nearly nine months into his presidency.

Typically, subcabinet-level nominees, particularly those with bipartisan support out of committee, are sped through the Senate either by unanimous consent or through a voice vote, two fast-track procedural moves in the upper chamber. But Senate Democrats refused to relent, and Republicans argued they forced their hand on a rules change that they believed would benefit both parties in the future.

The rule change allows for an unlimited number of nominees to be confirmed in a single batch, but includes several procedural hoops to jump through before a final confirmation vote.

Senate Republicans previously confirmed 48 of Trump’s picks last month. Among that batch were Kimberly Guilfoyle, who Trump tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, who was picked to be the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Politics

Senate stalls on shutdown vote amid warning furloughed workers may lose pay

An expected sixth vote to reopen the government didn’t come to fruition on Tuesday, but lawmakers face a new wrinkle: the possibility that furloughed employees won’t be paid. 

The government shutdown marched into its seventh day with both Senate Republicans and Democrats still at odds on a path forward, and no real clear end in sight. The Senate was expected to vote on the GOP’s plan again, but no agreement could be reached to bring the bill, along with the Democrats’ counter-proposal, to the floor. 

Both sides are still entrenched in their positions, too. Senate Democrats want a firm deal on the extension of expiring ObamaCare tax credits to earn their votes to reopen the government, while Senate Republicans have promised that negotiations on the credits can happen once the government is open again.

Lawmakers failed to hold a sixth vote to reopen the government Tuesday as a new White House memo warned that furloughed workers may not get paid.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has continued to ramp up his messaging that Americans broadly support their push, and blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Republicans for not being in session as a major roadblock to progress. 

‘Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed and thousands more are working without pay. And meanwhile, House Republicans are getting paid and not working,’ Schumer said. ‘So federal workers working and not getting paid. House Republicans paid and not working. Very bad. Very bad thing for them. Very bad picture for them.’

While lawmakers traded barbs and discussed an off-ramp on Capitol Hill, the latest memo from the White House, first reported by Axios, signaled that up to 750,000 nonessential furloughed federal workers may not be paid.

The memo adds fresh uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal employees caught in the political crossfire.

When asked if it was the White House’s position whether federal workers should be paid back pay, President Donald Trump said, ‘I would say it depends on who we’re talking about.’

‘I can tell you this,’ Trump said. ‘The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about. But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.’

Many lawmakers had just learned about the memo as of Tuesday afternoon. It suggested that a 2019 law signed by Trump that guaranteed back pay for furloughed workers in future shutdowns may not have to be followed.

‘I just heard that,’ Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., said. ‘My phones are lighting up.’

When asked if the memo hurt or helped talks, she said, ‘It could get more urgent, it also could tick a lot of people off.’

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that the memo was ‘probably not a good message to send right now to people who are not being paid.’

‘I’m not an attorney, but I think it’s bad strategy to even say that sort of stuff,’ Tillis said. ‘We got a lot of hard-working people there on the sidelines now because the Democrats have put them there.’

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said that she believed that issue had been settled with the 2019 law, but as a ‘back up,’ Congress could pass a bill that any ‘obligations that were incurred during the shutdown are authorized to be paid.’

And Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, argued that regardless of the memo, the law said ‘shall.’

‘I left my law degree in the car, but ‘shall’ is relatively straightforward,’ he said. ‘I think it doesn’t matter at all, because we’re fighting for healthcare.’

The latest pressure tactic on Senate Democrats comes after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed in a previous memo that mass firings could be on the horizon beyond the typical furloughs during a shutdown.

It also comes after OMB Director Russ Vought announced nearly $30 billion in federal funding was set to be withheld from blue cities and states. 

Both Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wanted to see federal workers get paid, but contended that the issue would go away if Schumer and Senate Democrats reopened the government.

‘My assumption is that furloughed workers will get back pay,’ Thune said. ‘But that being said, this is very simple. Open up the government and this is a non-issue. We don’t have to have this conversation. Everybody gets paid when the government is open.’

Meanwhile, the previous tactics did little to nudge Democrats from their position, and so far, have not killed talks between either side.

But Sen. Jean Shaheen, D-N.H., who has been a key communicator for Senate Democrats in bipartisan talks, said that Vought’s actions weren’t helping matters.

‘It would be a lot easier to resolve the situation if Russ Vought would stop talking,’ Shaheen said. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Business

Paramount acquires Bari Weiss’ The Free Press, naming her the top editor of CBS News

The newly formed media corporation Paramount Skydance has acquired The Free Press, an online news and commentary outlet co-founded by Bari Weiss, who will join CBS News as editor-in-chief.

Weiss launched The Free Press in 2021 with her wife, Nellie Bowles, and her sister, Suzy Weiss. They have presented the publication as a heterodox alternative to the legacy news media and a bulwark against “ideological narratives,” particularly on the political left.

Bari Weiss in New York in 2024.Noam Galai / Getty Images for The Free Press file

The acquisition is one of Skydance chief David Ellison’s most significant early moves to reshape the news unit at Paramount, which he acquired in a blockbuster $8 billion deal earlier this year.

In seeking federal approval of the merger, Skydance vowed to embrace “diverse viewpoints” and represent “the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.” The company also pledged to install an ombudsman at the nearly 100-year-old CBS News operation.

“This partnership allows our ethos of fearless, independent journalism to reach an enormous, diverse, and influential audience,” Weiss said in a news release. “We honor the extraordinary legacy of CBS News by committing ourselves to a singular mission: building the most trusted news organization of the 21st Century.”

The Free Press has roughly 1.5 million subscribers on Substack, with more than 170,000 of them paid, according to Paramount Skydance. The Financial Times estimated that the publication generates more than $15 million in annual subscription revenue. NBC News has not independently verified that figure.

“Bari is a proven champion of independent, principled journalism, and I am confident her entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS News,” Ellison said in a statement. “This move is part of Paramount’s bigger vision to modernize content and the way it connects — directly and passionately — to audiences around the world.”

The acquisition talks between Ellison and Weiss were first reported in late June by Status, a media industry newsletter. Ellison is the son of billionaire tech mogul Larry Ellison, the co-founder of the software firm Oracle.

Weiss co-founded The Free Press after quitting the opinion section of The New York Times. In a resignation letter that was published online, Weiss decried what she characterized as the “illiberal environment” at the newspaper.

The Free Press earned wide attention in April 2024 after it published an essay from Uri Berliner, a senior business editor at National Public Radio who accused his employer of organizing around a “progressive worldview.” Berliner then resigned from NPR and joined The Free Press.

The publication’s regular stable of columnists includes Tyler Cowen, an economist and podcaster; Matthew Continetti, the author of a book about the evolution of American conservatism; and Niall Ferguson, a British-American historian.

CBS News has repeatedly found itself in the national spotlight in recent months. President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit last year against Paramount accusing “60 Minutes” of deceptively editing an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

CBS denied the claim. Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit for $16 million.

The Federal Communications Commission is still investigating whether CBS engaged in “news distortion.” The commission is chaired by Brendan Carr, who was appointed by Trump at the start of his second term.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Sports

NFL power rankings: Eagles, Bills, Chiefs lose … so who’s No. 1?

For the first time in the 2025 season, Philadelphia doesn’t check in at No. 1.
One new team entered the top five this week with two more right on the fringe.
Another squad is occupying last place for the first time.

NFL power rankings entering Week 6 of the 2025 season (previous rank in parentheses):

2. Buffalo Bills (2): Perhaps they haven’t beaten anyone of note aside from a fully healthy Ravens squad on opening night. But Sunday night’s loss was uncharacteristic, insomuch as Buffalo’s three giveaways cost them the turnover battle for the first time since the 2023 regular-season finale. A two-game road swing (Atlanta, Carolina) through the NFC South should be therapeutic.

3. Philadelphia Eagles (1): My esteemed colleague Chris Bumbaca wrote it best − Philly can’t (or won’t) feed Saquon Barkley, the best running back on the planet five minutes ago. Currently? Try 53.4 rushing yards per game and 3.2 per carry. And the A.J. Brown issues continues to persist. But let’s not forget this team didn’t truly take flight until October a year ago.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6): They’ve scored at least 20 points in 20 consecutive games, the league’s longest streak. They nearly scored 20 two times over in Sunday’s 38-35 shootout win at Seattle, the Bucs’ latest harrowing, last-minute escape … and one that will further burnish QB Baker Mayfield’s early MVP credentials.

5. Green Bay Packers (4): Beaten up in the trenches and coming off a 40-40 loss − yes, that’s what it was − to Dallas, they needed the week off.

6. Jacksonville Jaguars (14): Liam Coen, Coach of the Year? Devin Lloyd, Defensive Player of the Year? Trevor Lawrence, Comeback Player of the Year? This all seems quite lofty, but give the 4-1 Jags their props, especially after breaking the Chiefs’ 23-game streak of burying opponents they’d led by 14+ points.

10. Denver Broncos (12): Tempting to move them much higher after two impressive wins, including Sunday’s victory in Philly, allayed concerns about their uneven start. Coming off a six-sack performance, the league’s best D continues to shine.

11. Washington Commanders (13): QB Jayden Daniels returned to action and summarily became the first player with at least 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his first 20 NFL games. Good thing he’s right given Washington will play in prime time three of the next four weeks.

14. Kansas City Chiefs (8): Social media informs us that they are winless since Taylor Swift’s new album dropped. Seems like the extent of their problem(s).

15. New England Patriots (22): Their next three opponents have a combined three wins. Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye seem on the cusp of resurrecting this franchise from its recent dormancy.

19. Chicago Bears (18): And now a return to Washington’s Northwest Stadium, scene of the Hail Mary crime that sent this club into a 10-game tailspin a year ago.

22. Arizona Cardinals (19): Third-string running backs are bound to do third-rate things − and for a team that isn’t fortunate enough to be in third place after three straight losses coming on the final play.

26. Cleveland Browns (28): New QB1 Dillon Gabriel could stand to cut it loose a little more next week but did enough to earn a win in his debut.

27. New Orleans Saints (31): WR Rashid Shaheed has scored 15 NFL touchdowns. Their average length covered? How about 50.1 yards. (Hat tip:NFL Network.)

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

UNC’s start under Belichick is worst in program’s 137-year history

Bill Belichick’s first season at North Carolina hasn’t gone to plan. You might even call it a disaster.

The six-time Super Bowl champion-winning coach has found things on campus aren’t so simple without Tom Brady under center.

How bad has it been? UNC football’s first season with Belichick has produced the program’s worst start against Power Four competition since the Tar Heels first fielded a team in 1888.

That was Grover Cleveland’s first term as president when the U.S. only had 38 states.

It’s been nearly 137 years since UNC played its inaugural game against Wake Forest at the North Carolina State Fair. No team since the program’s inception has been worse than Belichick’s team through three Power Four games. 

The Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1 ACC) have lost each of their three games against P4 programs, outscored 120-33 in blowout defeats to TCU, UCF and Clemson. That 87-point margin in the first three games against P4 teams is the worst in program history. 

“I don’t think that fundamentally we’re doing the wrong things. We’re just not doing them well enough,’ said Belichick, who is in the first year of a 5-year, $50 million deal.

UNC’s historically bad start has the Tar Heels in jeopardy of missing a bowl game for the first time since 2018.

‘UNC isn’t just bad; this is one the worst major-conference teams in the country,’ USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg wrote after Saturday’s loss to Clemson.

Even the 2006 Tar Heels, who finished with 3-9 in John Bunting’s final season, were 12 points shy of matching the margin set by Belichick’s bunch. UNC was outscored 108-33 against Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Clemson in ‘06.

The 2003 team, which posted a 2-10 record, started the season with five straight losses against Power Four opponents. But those Tar Heels averaged 24.6 points in their first three P4 games. Mack Brown’s 1-10 teams in the 1988-89 seasons couldn’t even reach the rock-bottom mark set by Belichick’s team. Brown’s squads were outscored 97-44 and 65-19 in their first three games against P4 squads in the first two seasons of his first stint in Chapel Hill. 

UNC’s 94 points through five games is the Tar Heels’ lowest total to start a season since scoring 85 in the first five games of 2006. The Tar Heels are 131st in total offense, worst among P4 teams, with only Kent State, Northern Illinois and UMass recording worse yardages.

UNC is 75th in total defense, but explosive plays have been the eye-popping issue. That was certainly the case against Clemson, which had 8 explosive plays vs. the Tar Heels. The Tigers tacked on seven passes of 20 or more yards, including four TDs on the first 16 plays, and one run of 10 or more yards. TCU had 10 explosive plays and UCF logged five vs. UNC. 

It’s a lot to clean up for a program that is one of 11 in college football yet to win a game against a P4 opponent.

Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Struggling Bengals trading for veteran QB while Burrow remains out

The Cincinnati Bengals have apparently seen enough of Jake Browning − to the point where they’ve accepted help from their longtime in-state rivals.

Cincy has agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns for former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. The Bengals will also obtain a sixth-round draft pick (originally owned by the Detroit Lions) while sending a fifth-rounder to Cleveland in exchange.

The deal will become official once Flacco completes a physical. Backup quarterback Brett Rypien was released in a corresponding move.

The deal lands two days after the Lions beat the Bengals 37-24 at Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati’s third consecutive defeat − all since QB1 Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury in Week 2 that required surgery and will likely keep him out at least another two months.

Browning, who did an exceptional job taking over when Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury midway through the 2023 campaign, has not risen to the occasion this time around, throwing eight interceptions in three-plus games. The Bengals haven’t even been competitive, their losses by an aggregate score of 113-37.

The mission awaiting Flacco, 40, is to keep Cincinnati afloat long enough to turn a relevant team back over to Burrow in the event he’s able to return in December. Now in his 18th season, Flacco has passed for 46,512 yards and 259 touchdowns during stints with five different franchises. He put together a standout playoff run for the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted him 18th overall in 2008, on their way to winning Super Bowl 47 to cap the 2012 campaign.

While Flacco isn’t a threat to leave the pocket, he has loads of experience and an arm with plenty of juice − one that should leverage the sizable offseason investment Cincinnati made in wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins earlier this year. Flacco has also long been a popular teammate and locker room presence, remaining a captain for the Browns last week even after he was benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel. Flacco’s willingness to give his receivers chances to make plays will result in interceptions, but he’ll now enjoy a far more capable corps of wideouts than he had in Cleveland.

The Bengals, a notoriously stingy franchise over the years, will only have to pay the prorated amount of Flacco’s $1.3 million base salary this season. He will become a free agent again next March.

Flacco’s departure also means rookie Shedeur Sanders will become the primary backup quarterback to fellow rookie Gabriel, who made his first NFL start Sunday in London. Gabriel had the Browns in position to win, but they gave up a touchdown in the final minute, losing 21-17 to the Minnesota Vikings.

Bengals QB depth chart

Joe Burrow (injured)

Joe Flacco (projected)

Jake Browning (projected)

Sean Clifford (practice squad)

Browns QB depth chart

Dillon Gabriel

Shedeur Sanders

Deshaun Watson (PUP list)

Bailey Zappe (practice squad)

Joe Flacco stats

2025: 1-3 record; 58.1% completion rate; 815 yards, 2 TDs; 6 INTs; 60.3 QB rating

Career: 116-95 record (including playoffs); 46,512 passing yards; 259 TDs; 168 INTs; 83.8 QB rating

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Another one of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami friends is retiring

Inter Miami defender Jordi Alba, one of several former Barcelona stars to follow Lionel Messi to MLS, has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2025 season.

Alba’s announcement marks the second such move for a major Inter Miami star in recent weeks. Midfielder Sergio Busquets confirmed his retirement in September, with both players calling it a career whenever the Herons’ season comes to an end.

The announcement marks a U-turn for Alba, who in May signed a contract extension that would have kept him on Miami’s books through the end of the 2027 season. However, the vastly experienced defender will now hang up his boots no later than the 2025 MLS Cup final, which is set for Dec. 6.

Inter Miami has two remaining regular-season matches, and have clinched an MLS playoff berth. The Herons will get a bye past the wild-card stage directly into Round 1, and will secure home-field advantage for a best-of-three series should they pick up one more point in the regular season.

Alba, 36, posted his announcement on Instagram Tuesday, calling time on a 20-year career that included a European title with Spain at Euro 2012, as well as six league championships and a UEFA Champions League crown with Barcelona. Since joining Miami in July 2023, Alba has lifted the 2023 Leagues Cup and 2024 Supporters’ Shield while being named to the MLS Best XI in 2024.

‘The time has come to close a truly meaningful chapter in my life,’ said Alba. ‘I’ve decided to bring my professional football career to an end at the conclusion of this season.

‘I do so with complete conviction, with peace, and with happiness. Because I feel I’ve walked this path with every ounce of passion I had, and now it’s the right moment to open a new chapter and close the previous one with the best possible feeling.’

In a club statement, Miami owner Jorge Mas hailed Alba as ‘a great asset within the team and an exemplary professional.’

‘Jordi has been an exceptional addition to Inter Miami and one of the standout players in Major League Soccer over these two seasons,’ added Mas. ‘Those that know me know that family is the most important part of my life, and Jordi will forever be part of our Inter Miami family. We wish Jordi all the happiness in this new stage of his life.’

Soccer data site Transfermarkt says that as of his announcement, Alba has played exactly 700 professional matches, scoring 51 goals and adding 135 assists. While Alba has played at least one season with Miami, Valencia, and Gimnàstic de Tarragona, the bulk of his career was spent at Barcelona, where (along with Miami’s Messi, Busquets, and Luis Suárez) he played a pivotal role in a spell of success that revolutionized the sport.

During that run, Alba was a fixture at left back, offering a major attacking threat while enjoying a nearly telepathic connection with Messi. The two spent nine years as teammates at the La Liga giants, and when Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, it was Alba who succeeded him as Barcelona captain.

When Messi joined Inter Miami in 2023, it was time to get the gang back together. Messi, Busquets, and Alba all arrived in Miami that summer, immediately helping the club to its first-ever trophy. With the three iconic ex-Barcelona players in place, Miami claimed the 2023 Leagues Cup in a major statement of intent.

However, the club may be undergoing some significant changes. Beyond Alba and Busquets’ departures, the Herons’ new home at Miami Freedom Park, a 25,000-seat venue, is set to open for the 2026 season. While USA TODAY Sports reported that Messi and Miami are close to signing off on a new contract that would run through 2027, the status of another of the Argentine icon’s friends, Suárez, remains unknown.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Why Rams are using Baltimore baseball stadium as practice facility

The Los Angeles Rams will pack for an extended trip before they head to Baltimore this week.

The Rams are scheduled to face the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 12 (1 p.m. ET, Fox). The Rams made arrangements to stay in Baltimore after the game and use Oriole Park at Camden Yards as a practice facility the following week in preparation for their Week 7 meeting in London versus the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team official told USA TODAY Sports.

The Baltimore Banner was the first to report the news.

“We’ll go out to Baltimore on Saturday, but then we’ll stay out there in our preparation for Jacksonville going into the London game. Then we’ll fly out on Friday. That gives us a good opportunity to really lean in,” Rams coach Sean McVay said Friday, Oct. 3. “We’ll just stay out in Baltimore to shorten that trip to London when we go play Jacksonville before our bye. But what a big stretch this is going to be for us.”

Camden Yards is the home of the Baltimore Orioles, who are on vacation right now and not in the ongoing MLB playoffs.

The Rams’ extended stay in Baltimore gives the team a much shorter flight to London. A trip from Baltimore to London is a little over seven hours. The travel time between Los Angeles and London is over 10 hours.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By