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Supreme Court hears pivotal Louisiana election map case ahead of 2026 midterms

The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on whether Louisiana lawmakers can use race as a factor when drawing congressional maps, a closely watched case that could impact voters nationwide in the 2026 midterms.

At issue is whether the state’s congressional map, updated twice since the 2020 census, is an illegal racial gerrymander. It has faced two federal court challenges – first, for diluting minority voting power under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and most recently, for potentially violating the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The high court, which agreed to take up the case last fall, is expected to hand down its decision by late June. 

During oral arguments, the justices focused closely on whether Louisiana’s redistricting efforts were narrowly tailored enough to meet constitutional requirements and whether race was used in a way that violates the law, as plaintiffs have alleged.

Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga argued that the state’s latest map protected political stability, including preserving leadership positions like the U.S. House speaker and majority leader.

‘I want to emphasize that the larger picture here is important – because in an election year we faced the prospect of a federal court-drawn map that placed in jeopardy the speaker of the House, the House majority leader and our representative on the Appropriations Committee,’ Aguiñaga said. ‘And so in light of those facts, we made the politically rational decision: we drew our own map to protect them.’

Louisiana’s congressional map has twice been challenged in federal court since it was updated in the wake of the 2020 census, which found that the state’s Black residents now totaled one-third of Louisiana’s total population. 

The first redistricting map, which included just one district where Black voters held the majority, was invalidated by a federal court (and subsequently, by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals) in 2022. 

Both courts sided with the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP and other plaintiffs, who argued that the map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of Black voters in the state. 

Lawmakers were ordered by the court to adopt by January 2024 a new state redistricting map. That map, S.B. 8, was passed and included the creation of a second majority-Black voting district in the state. 

But S.B. 8 was almost immediately challenged by a group of non-Black plaintiffs in court as well, after they claimed issue with a new district that stretched some 250 miles from Louisiana’s northwest corner of Shreveport to Baton Rouge, in the state’s southeast. 

They argued in the lawsuit that the state violated the equal protection clause by relying too heavily on race to draw the maps, and created a ‘sinuous and jagged second majority-Black district based on racial stereotypes, racially ‘Balkanizing’ a 250-mile swath of Louisiana.’

The Supreme Court agreed last November to take up the case, though it paused consideration of the arguments until after the 2024 elections.

Meanwhile, Louisiana officials argued in court filings that non-Black voters failed to show direct harm required for equal protection claims or prove race was the main factor in redrawing the map.

They also stressed that the Supreme Court should clarify how states should proceed under this ‘notoriously unclear area of the law’ that pits Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act against equal protections, describing them as two ‘competing demands.’ 

Officials have cited frustrations over repeatedly redrawing maps, and the prospect of being ordered back to the drawing board once again, and asked the court to ‘put an end to the extraordinary waste of time and resources that plagues the States after every redistricting cycle.’ 

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Trump-district Democrat warns party ‘in trouble’ ahead of 2026 midterms

A House Democrat who represents a district that former Vice President Kamala Harris lost to now-President Donald Trump in 2024 is sounding the alarm about public perceptions of his party.

‘I think the Democratic brand is really in trouble, and it’s been portrayed as this crazy-left, you know, out-of-touch thing,’ Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital in an interview. ‘They couldn’t paint me with that brand because people know me.’

Suozzi is well-known in his suburban Long Island district, having been a longtime local official before first coming to Congress in 2017. He did not run for re-election in 2022 but later won a special election to replace expelled former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., and has remained ever since.

During that time, he forged a reputation as a moderate Democrat willing to find bipartisan consensus on issues like government waste and border security – themes he wished his party would take the lead on.

 

‘When I first started talking about immigration, the need to secure the border, a lot of consultants were like, ‘Well, that’s a Republican issue. I don’t know if you should talk about that.’ But I said, ‘That’s what the people are talking about in my district,” Suozzi recalled.

‘I’m a first-generation American. My father was born in Italy, so immigration is a really important issue to me. When it became such a negative, it was actually painful for me, because I define my whole life through immigration.’

He said people in his district were also concerned about the cost of living, which he suggested was a universal concern.

‘We don’t, as Democrats, focus enough on the basics,’ Suozzi said. ‘It can’t just be choice and LGBT – important issues, but that you can’t build a party around that – so I’m trying to encourage Democrats to talk about things like, how do we rebuild the middle class?’

Additionally, like House Democratic leaders in more recent election cycles, Suozzi also denounced progressive calls to ‘defund the police’ – which he called ‘the stupidest three words ever said in the history of politics.’

He even argued Democrats were on board with cutting government waste, the stated mission of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), though Suozzi disagreed with how it was being carried out.

‘I want to set up a competition between the Democrats and the Republicans. Let’s see who can root out more waste, fraud and abuse,’ he said.

‘I don’t think anybody’s against rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. We just don’t think that when you’re doing it through DOGE, that you should be eliminating the people that oversee the nuclear stockpile, like they did and then reversed,’ Suozzi continued.

‘We don’t think that you should be eliminating the people that are responsible for preventing the avian flu. Which they did and then tried to reverse. We don’t think you should be eliminating the people that are overseeing the outbreak of measles in Texas. That’s not a good idea. But they did. So let’s be smart about these things and let’s, you know, figure out ways that we can actually save money.’

He also called on Democrats to focus more on outreach outside ‘traditional media,’ noting Trump’s embrace of podcasts and social media to reach young male voters.

Suozzi, in particular, singled out Trump and Elon Musk’s appearances on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience,’ one of the most-listened-to podcasts in the world.

‘We have to figure out how we can get the truth out there to people. When Elon Musk or the president or somebody says something and there’s nobody to check it, and there’s no way to push back because nobody– I can’t get on Joe Rogan. I’d love to go on Joe Rogan. I can’t get on,’ he said.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only prominent Democrat to appear on Rogan’s podcast during the 2024 election cycle. Tentative plans for Harris to appear fell through, though she did appear on the ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast.

Overall, however, the New York Democrat signaled he was confident Democrats could take back the House of Representatives in 2026, given the historic electoral backlash to a sitting president during the midterm elections.

It is worth noting, however, that Democrats will be defending more vulnerable members in 2026 than Republicans.

‘I mean, you look at history and when a president of one party gets in power – usually that party usually loses elections the year and two years afterward. So, like, even in the local elections this year, I think you’re going to see a much higher Democratic vote because the Democrats are going to be energized, because they’re all so upset,’ Suozzi said. ‘I think that the midterms will be the same thing.’

Suozzi warned, however, that Democrats’ message ‘can’t just be about why we disagree with Trump and, you know, hair on fire and everybody freaking out.’

‘There are a lot of causes for concern,’ he conceded, but added, ‘We have to also talk about what we stand for. And I think, again, this whole idea of rebuilding the middle class and public safety and strong defense and securing the border – we have to also talk about those things as well.’

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Greenland PM slams upcoming visit from Usha Vance as ‘very aggressive’ provocation: report

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede described second lady Usha Vance’s upcoming visit to his country as a dangerous and ‘very aggressive’ provocation during a recent interview with a national news outlet in Greenland. 

The visit by the second lady, one of her sons and an accompanying U.S. delegation was announced by the White House on Thursday. Per the announcement, Vance will spend the trip visiting historical sites, learning about the country’s heritage, and attending Greenland’s national dogsled race. Trump’s national security advisor, Michael Waltz, will also visit the arctic country this week as part of the delegation traveling with the second lady, according to sources familiar with the trip.   

‘We are now at a level where it can in no way be characterized as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife, which is a prospect. Because what is the security advisor doing in Greenland?’ Egede questioned in an interview with Greenland news outlet Sermitsiaq. ‘The only purpose is to show a demonstration of power to us, and the signal is not to be misunderstood. [Waltz] is Trump’s confidential and closest advisor, and his presence in Greenland alone will certainly make the Americans believe in Trump’s mission, and the pressure will increase after the visit.’

Egede’s condemnation of the trip from U.S. officials follows repeated calls by President Donald Trump for the U.S. to annex Greenland. Trump has stressed the importance of Greenland for national security purposes. 

‘I think it will happen,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier this month during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Greenland is currently undergoing a political shift after Egede’s left-wing party was defeated in elections earlier this month by the center-right Demokraatit party, which is pushing for independence from Denmark – Greenland’s current governing authority.

The leader of the new party in charge has expressed disdain for Trump, calling him ‘a threat to our political independence,’ according to NPR.     

During an interview with Sermitsiaq, Egede called on Greenland’s ‘allies’ to step up and do more than just ‘whispering that they support us’ against the U.S.’s threatened encroachment. 

‘If they do not speak out loudly about how the USA is treating Greenland, the situation will escalate day by day, and the American aggression will increase. So, we need our other allies to clearly and distinctly come with their support and backing for us,’ he said. 

Egede added during the interview that Greenland has done ‘everything’ to show that ‘through [the United States’] continued pressure they are violating us as a population and our sovereignty,’ adding that the visit from Vance and Waltz represented a dangerous and ‘very aggressive’ provocation in the ongoing saga.

In preparation for the visit by Vance and other U.S. officials, Danish police have deployed extra security forces, as is typical any time high-level diplomats visit the country, per media reports. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the second lady for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

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Trans European travelers warned by their countries about US travel amid Trump ‘two-sexes’ order

Several European countries have updated their travel advisories for transgender travelers seeking to enter the U.S. amid President Donald Trump’s ‘two-sexes’ executive order and the administration’s immigration crackdown.

Finland, Denmark, the U.K. and Germany are all urging cautionary planning for transgender people when traveling to the U.S.

‘When applying for an ESTA or visa to the United States, there are two gender designations to choose from: male or female,’ the Danish travel advisory said on its website.

The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is the system that screens passengers before they travel to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program.

‘If you have the gender designation X in your passport, or you have changed your gender, it is recommended that you contact the U.S. Embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed,’ the website reads.

Finland also updated its website in recent weeks.

‘If the gender listed on the applicant’s passport does not match the gender assigned at birth, the US authorities may deny the application for a travel permit or visa,’ Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its website.

The new advisory does not explicitly mention the Trump administration, but it comes as the U.S. State Department aligned its policies with President Trump’s goals of only having ‘male’ or ‘female’ on American passports.

According to an advisory on its website, Germany issued a warning for transgender travelers to exercise caution when traveling to some countries, but it did not explicitly state the U.S. or mention President Trump.

‘For example, transgender travelers may encounter difficulties entering certain countries if they present a passport with a name and photo that no longer corresponds to their gender identity,’ their information for LGBTQ travelers states.

So far, seven transgender Americans have sued the Trump administration over the policy, which the American Civil Liberties Union filed on their behalf in February. 

Trump signed the executive order titled ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ in one of his first actions in January. It reiterates that the administration recognizes there are only two sexes, male and female, defined strictly by biological characteristics determined at conception. It mandates that federal agencies enforce this binary understanding of sex across the federal government, including in healthcare, education and military service.

Trump has also faced judicial pushback for his nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration as he carries out his mass deportation program targeting anyone living in the country unauthorized. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and White House for comment.

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Trump charges ahead with agenda in week 10 as judges try to block his executive orders

President Donald Trump begins the 10th week of his fast-paced second term in office with a Cabinet meeting on Monday. 

The question on many people’s minds is whether DOGE chief Elon Musk will be in attendance. 

In the previous meeting, it was reported that discussions were tense between Musk and some Cabinet members, particularly between Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, over DOGE’s broad and deep cuts. Rubio and Trump both denied these claims.

The Cabinet meeting comes against the backdrop of White House attorneys going to court on various aspects of the president’s second-term agenda on issues like the removal of illegal immigrants, slashing the federal workforce, cutting foreign aid, his executive order banning transgender soldiers in the military and allowing transgender Americans to have passports with alternate designations than the binary ‘male’ and ‘female’ genders assigned at birth.

Also on Monday, Trump will appear with Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. Trump appointed Landry to the Council of Governors last month.

Landry recently praised the president’s near elimination of the federal Education Department, saying, ‘The United States spends the most on education, yet we are ranked at the bottom of nearly every poll. The time for change is NOW! Thank you President @realDonaldTrump for returning education where it belongs – the states!’

In the wake of the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID, advocates are calling for Trump to extend the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was launched by President George W. Bush and is scheduled to expire on Tuesday. The Bush Institute has urged the administration to reconsider cuts to the program.

Bush previously said that the program has saved more than 25 million lives in developing countries, according to a Politico report.

Trump will also be closely watching as U.S. negotiators are meeting separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia this week. Trump spoke to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week when a partial outline of a ceasefire was agreed to.

On Thursday, Trump is sending a team from his administration to Greenland, including second lady Usha Vance and national security advisor Mike Waltz.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute B. Egede is not offering a welcoming hand to the U.S. delegation, calling the trip ‘highly aggressive’. 

‘What is the national security advisor doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us,’ Egede said.

On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News, ‘So you have to ask yourself: How are we going to solve that problem, solve our own national security?’ 

‘If that means that we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland, that is what President Trump is going to do, because he doesn’t care about what the Europeans scream at us,’ he continued.

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SCOOP: House to hold hearings next week on ‘activist judges’ blocking Trump agenda

The House Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a hearing early next week looking into the issue of ‘activist judges,’ three people familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital.

It comes as the Trump administration has faced more than a dozen injunctions from various district court judges across the country on a range of policy decisions.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, confirmed on Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom’ that he intended to hold such hearings minutes after Fox News Digital reported on the news.

Jordan also said he expects a House-wide vote next week on a bill by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to block district judges from issuing nationwide injunctions. 

Jordan has been one of President Donald Trump’s closest House allies. Issa served in his first administration.

Two sources said they expected that vote next week or the week after, but one source stressed that conversations were still ongoing.

That comes as some conservatives push for impeachment as a way to punish judges blocking Trump’s agenda. 

A resolution by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, has seen some attention from House GOP leadership after Trump specifically called for the judge in question – U.S. district court Judge James Boasberg – to be impeached.

Boasberg issued a 14-day emergency injunction on Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Tren De Aragua gang members to a prison in El Salvador. The White House is now locked in a legal standoff over the order.

But two sources also told Fox News Digital last week that Trump showed interest in Issa’s bill as well, telling Capitol Hill aides that ‘the president wants this.’

Gill, who has also forged a close relationship with the president, told Fox News Digital when he introduced the bill earlier this month that he hoped it would go through the regular committee process. But it’s not clear if those plans have changed given House leaders’ inclination toward Issa’s bill.

However, if any conservative who has filed an impeachment resolution – Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Eli Crane, R-Ariz., in addition to Gill – classified it as ‘privileged,’ it would force House GOP leaders to take it up within two legislative days.

Two sources told Fox News Digital last week that House leaders were wary of the impeachment route given the intense political maneuvering such a measure would take – only for it to likely die in the Senate.

Jordan praised Issa’s bill during his Fox News television interview on Monday, though his office did not immediately return a request for comment.

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‘Corrupt, dangerous’: GOP Rep moves to impeach judge who blocked Trump federal funds freeze

Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde is formally introducing his articles of impeachment against a Rhode Island judge who previously ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds. 

The articles, first shared with Fox News Digital, charge Chief U.S. District Judge John James McConnell Jr. with abuse of power and conflicts of interest, stating he ‘knowingly politicized and weaponized his judicial position to advance his own political views and beliefs.’  

If McConnell is found guilty of such charges, the articles read, he should be removed from office. 

McConnell is currently overseeing a lawsuit brought by 22 states and the District of Columbia that challenges the Trump administration’s move to withhold federal grant funds. After McConnell ordered the administration to comply with a restraining order, the government appealed to the First Circuit – which refused to stay the orders. 

‘The American people overwhelmingly voted for President Trump in November, providing a clear mandate to make our federal government more efficient,’ Clyde told Fox News Digital. ‘Yet Judge McConnell, who stands to benefit from his own injunction, is attempting to unilaterally obstruct the president’s agenda and defy the will of the American people. Judge McConnell’s actions are corrupt, dangerous, and worthy of impeachment.’

Clyde announced plans to draft impeachment articles in early February, after McConnell ordered the Trump administration to reinstate paused federal grants and loans. The articles formalize the charges. 

McConnell has also come under fire from Trump supporters and conservatives in recent weeks after a 2021 video resurfaced in which he warned that courts must ‘stand and enforce the rule of law … against arbitrary and capricious actions by what could be a tyrant or could be whatnot.’ 

The articles cite that video, claiming McConnell ‘has allowed his personal, political opinions to influence his decisions and rulings,’ and that he has demonstrated a ‘bias that would warp his decision’ in the federal freeze case. 

In a statement, Clyde said ‘judicial activism’ is ‘the Left’s latest form of lawfare.’

‘Congress bears the responsibility and the constitutional authority to hold activist judges accountable through impeachment,’ he continued. ‘I applaud the work of my colleagues to hold other rogue judges accountable, and I hope we see swift action on this critical matter in the House very soon.’

When contacted, the court declined to comment. 

Clyde’s impeachment resolution follows a similar move by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who earlier filed articles of impeachment against U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg. The Washington, D.C.-based federal judge is overseeing a separate case challenging President Donald Trump’s use of an 18th-century wartime law to deport Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador who were linked to the violent gang Tren de Aragua. 

Gill accuses Boasberg of abusing his power by pausing the deportation order under the 1789 law. 

The mounting criticism of lower court judges who have ruled against the Trump administration prompted U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue an unusual statement in response this month.

‘For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,’ Roberts said. ‘The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.’

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

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Byron Donalds leads bipartisan effort to punish federal workers for failure to report foreign gifts

Two prominent House lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle are teaming up to push for greater transparency on the gifts or perks that representatives of the federal government receive from foreign entities.

Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Jared Golden, D-Maine., introduced the Gift, Accountability, Reporting, and Disclosures (GARD) Act late last week, aimed at strengthening the government’s guardrails against foreign influence.

The bill would vastly expand the definition of a ‘foreign’ gift, while imposing heightened requirements on what kind of details must be disclosed and when.

Federal employees who file reports more than 30 days after a foreign gift is received would be slapped with a $200 fine. Golden and Donalds’ collaboration on the issue is notable in today’s hyper-partisan climate.

Federal employees, the president, the vice president, members of Congress, other officials and their families are generally expected to report foreign gifts that amount to $480 or more – though that baseline can be lower for certain government entities.

The State Department’s chief of protocol, a politically appointed role, is tasked with gathering such information and issuing a report due 11 days after a presidential term has ended. There is also currently no deadline for that data to be made public in the Federal Register, which has been amended with Donalds and Golden’s new bill.

The GARD Act would mandate the State Department to publish its foreign gift list within 30 days of receiving the information. The designation of ‘foreign’ would also grow to include non-U.S. businesses and nonprofits. It also would standardize reporting of foreign gifts given to adult children and relatives of government officials at a $480 baseline.

Additionally, instead of a political appointee at the State Department gathering the information, that would now be taken on by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

Both Republicans and Democrats have accused recent party leaders and families of enriching themselves on foreign business.

It is not immediately clear if House GOP leaders have shown interest in the bill, but it comes amid talks of both of its leaders potentially seeking higher office.

Donalds announced earlier this year that he is running for governor of Florida, and he is endorsed by President Donald Trump for the role.

Meanwhile, the Portland Press Herald held up Golden – a moderate Democrat who represents a district Trump won in 2020 and 2024 – as a potential candidate for governor in Maine.

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Every MLB team’s most pivotal player for 2025

It really does take an entire 26-man roster and – as managers and executives will tell you – roughly 50 players worth of organizational depth to create a playoff team.

But some players’ performances are more crucial than others.

As this 2025 Major League Baseball season gets underway, USA TODAY Sports examines 30 make-or-break players whose bouncebacks or steady stat lines may determine their franchise’s fate over the next six months:

American League

Baltimore Orioles: C Adley Rutschman

For all the All-Star talent the Orioles added in recent years (Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg) and those likely on their way to that status (Jackson Holliday, Samuel Basallo) Rutschman remains their bell cow. His .194/.278/.564 line the final three months of the season coincided with Baltimore’s fade from a slim AL East lead to a quick and quiet wild-card exit. He’s shown a revamped approach with good results this spring and, at 27, remains in his offensive prime.

Boston Red Sox: RHP Walker Buehler

We’re assuming the best for this club: That marquee acquisitions Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman have Cy Young and MVP-caliber seasons, that the rookie triplets Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer contribute significantly, and soon. That still leaves a significant question about the rest of the starting rotation, which will start the year with three arms (Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford) on the injured list. Buehler, signed to a one-year deal, feels like the swing guy in their fortunes. He had a feast-famine aspect to his starts last year, when he pitched 75 innings and posted a 5.38 ERA in his first season back from a second Tommy John surgery. Yet he finished with two scoreless starts in the playoffs and famously recorded the final out of the year. He should nudge his innings count up and his ERA down, the extent to which may determine Boston’s fate.

Chicago White Sox: 3B Miguel Vargas

At one time a top-30 prospect, Vargas went from scant opportunity with the Dodgers to the endless onramp afforded young players in a moribund franchise. With the White Sox headed toward another 100-loss season while buttressing its farm system through trades and high draft picks, it’s imperative they produce some player development wins. Vargas, 25, acquired in the three-way deal that dealt away Michael Kopech, Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham, had a rough go in his two-month South Side audition, producing a .104/.217/.170 line in 157 plate appearances. For better or worse, he’s a decent test case for whether the White Sox are simply accruing prospects or have the capability to turn them into finished products.

Cleveland Guardians: RHP Gavin Williams

Perhaps no team must steer into its identity more than the Guardians. As such, a team that won its division despite ranking 17th in OPS made 38-year-old DH Carlos Santana its marquee offseason acquisition. Hey, why change now? As always, the Guardians must have excellent and preferably affordable starting pitching. Cue Williams. An elbow injury delayed his 2024 debut until July and the results were predictably uneven, all the way through a thumping by the Yankees in the ALCS. Now, he is healthy and looking every bit like a guy ready to build off a strong 2023 rookie season. With longtime ace Shane Bieber unlikely to return from Tommy John rehab until perhaps midseason, Williams can be a crucial bridge from No. 1 starter Tanner Bibee to promising right-hander Luis Ortiz. It’s also not out of the question the 6-foot-6 Williams finds another level of dominance and assumes the ace mantle himself. That’d be a very Guardians outcome.

Detroit Tigers: 2B Gleyber Torres

Goodness, what a fine piece of real estate to occupy: Batting third between a pair of potent left-handed bats in Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, who posted .832 and .927 OPS, respectively, last year. Now, it’s on Torres to make it all go and at 28, he still has plenty of offensive prime left. His final season in the Bronx was a typically Gleyberish mixed bag, with a .307 first-half OBP preceding a 48-game finishing stretch with a .372 OBP and .790 OPS. He backed that up with a largely clutch postseason. But like their AL Central brethren Guardians, the Tigers are a pitching-dominated group (they finished 23rd in OPS in 2024) and after whiffing on Alex Bregman and demoting prospect Jace Jung, Torres is their best chance at upgrading this number. While Greene, Carpenter, Colt Keith and perhaps Spencer Torkelson represent strong chances for young hitters to take more steps forward, Torres must be a viable lineup hub in the middle of it all.

Houston Astros: INF Isaac Paredes

Hey, no dancing around the elephant in the room: Dude is getting the job of the franchise stalwart they didn’t re-sign. And he was acquired for a Silver Slugger in the peak of his career. OK, so the pressure of making up for the losses of Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker doesn’t fall entirely on the shoulders of Paredes, 26. And the Tucker trade can be won if slugging prospect Cam Smith pans out. Yet the Astros are expecting Paredes to consistently populate the Crawford Boxes at the former Minute Maid Park with baseballs, his new digs hopefully clawing back the 100-point loss in OPS he suffered last season. Hitting between potential Hall of Famers Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvárez should help that cause.

Kansas City Royals: RHP Carlos Estévez

Hey, who isn’t pumped for the AL Central race? The Royals might be the most complete team of all, but that’s assuming all their parts are in place and firing properly. Enter Estévez. Kansas City doled out a two-year, $22 million deal to land the former Rockies, Angels and Phillies closer, enabling the dominant Lucas Erceg to be deployed in the highest-leverage spots in earlier innings. But Estévez, 32, saw his strikeouts per nine innings drop by one and save percentage dip from 87 to 75 after his trade to Philadelphia, and gave up a huge postseason grand slam to Francisco Lindor. Keeping his footing as the Royals’ ninth-inning guy would significantly align the arms that come before him.

Los Angeles Angels: RF Mike Trout

Yes, that’s Right Fielder Mike Trout, signifying his new station in life. Trout, 33, was always a player who transcended the listicle, but after injuries limited him to 147 games in three of the past four seasons, he’s more of a working stiff like the rest of us. You know him well. It would be nice if he simply stayed healthy.

Minnesota Twins: RF Matt Wallner

It’s almost like the Twins have been stashing this guy only to unleash him on the world this year. Wallner played 67 games at Class AAA the past two seasons but check out his numbers over his 169 career major league games: 29 homers, 31 doubles, an .866 OPS. Now, the Twins are quietly licking their chops that he can become a Schwarberian leadoff man, his massive power and on-base acumen (.379 in five minor-league seasons, .366 with the Twins) overcomes his career 35% major league strikeout rate. Trimming that K rate and rattling the Target Field walls would greatly augment a lineup already missing Royce Lewis due to injury.

New York Yankees: Carlos Rodón

Rodón’s number of games started the past seven full seasons is a real seesaw ride: 20, 7, 24, 31, 14, 32. Those last two numbers represent his years as a Yankee, when he began his six-year, $162 million deal with an injury-plagued, subpar campaign but then came back with a solid season of health and prosperity and playoff reliability. Now, the Yankees simply can’t afford Rodón to continue that yo-yo. With Gerrit Cole off to Tommy John rehab, Luis Gil on the shelf a couple months and various Clarke Schmidt body parts barking, Rodón is both their Opening Day starter and needed horse. He and Max Fried aren’t enough, but minus a dominant Rodón, the defending pennant winners could get lost in the AL East sauce.

Athletics (Sacramento): 2B Zack Gelof

While owner John Fisher still seeks some $550 million in minority investment to finance their proposed ballpark in Las Vegas, the club has at least started to spend a few bucks on the roster while wishcasting their new yard into reality. Speaking of which, it was a year ago when a possibly accurate stadium rendering featured Gelof on the outfield scoreboard. Perhaps that was a jinx: His OPS tumbled from .840 his rookie year to .632 with an AL-high 188 strikeouts. A bounceback year from Gelof would solidify a nice and club-controlled core alongside Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler Jr. and perhaps J.J. Bleday for their four years in Yolo County.

Seattle Mariners: CF Julio Rodríguez

After ownership’s response to an offense that ranked in the bottom third in almost every major statistical category was to add Donovan Solano and retain Jorge Polanco, it’s clear these Mariners’ fate lied in improvement from within. And while on paper the Mariners’ flaccid lineup will again betray its fabulous pitching staff, their resident superstar performing as such would go a long way toward preventing that. Rodríguez’s 2022 debut saw him post a 147 adjusted OPS and 5.5% home run rate while winning Rookie of the Year; in 2024, those tumbled all the way to 116 and 3.3%. The neighborhood around him isn’t getting any better: The club believes reclamation project Victor Robles can be a viable leadoff man all season long, while platoon situations will toss veterans Mitch Haniger, Mitch Garver, Polanco and Rowdy Tellez into an irregular and seemingly ineffective mix. So yes, a lot rides on Rodríguez’s 24-year-old shoulders.

Tampa Bay Rays: OF Josh Lowe

For one year, the Rays will be playing in a Yankee Stadium replica fueled by extreme humidity, baseballs whizzing out of their home ballpark as the summer creeps in. Sounds like a great time for a lefty slugger to bounce back from injury and take advantage of Steinbrenner Field’s 314-foot right field wall, eh? Enter Lowe, 27, who was dogged by an oblique strain from the jump and played in just 102 games last year, his adjusted OPS dropping from 128 to 98. With several starters returning from injury, the Rays are expected to pitch excellently, per usual. Offense has always been an issue, but perhaps their temporary Tampa yard can jump-start a few guys – and Lowe can realize the potential the Rays have been excited about for years.

Texas Rangers: CF Evan Carter

Carter was a microcosm of the Rangers’ fate in both 2023 and 2024, fueling their World Series title run with a startling display of offensive acumen, only to be hampered by injury the following season. A back injury limited him to just 45 games, casting some doubt on his roster security entering this spring, and he may share time with the switch-hitting Leody Taveras. Yet the Rangers are at their best when he’s both in the lineup and patrolling his piece of the outfield. If he’s healthy and productive, the lineup lengthens and the club’s depth is buttressed greatly.

Toronto Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette

Talk about a symbiotic relationship: Bo Bichette needs a big year to shore up his pending free agency, and the Blue Jays are dying for better offensive production after a collective lineup funk put them in a 12-game hole by Memorial Day. While most of the attention has been cast toward Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s contract extension impasse, Bichette, 27, played in 81 games due to a calf injury and a broken middle finger, and he was bad (.225/.277/.322) when he was on the field. But this “last dance” element to the Jays’ season is fascinating, particularly as it concerns their shortstop, who can paint 2024 as an ugly aberration and get back into the nine-figure contract game with a third All-Star caliber season.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen

The bold-faced names in Arizona’s rotation stack up against almost anyone; in Gallen and $210 million free agent Corbin Burnes, they feature right-handers who started the past two All-Star Games. Yet Gallen will need to reverse a little slippage he experienced in 2024. A hamstring injury limited him to 28 starts, while a handful of key metrics – most notably a dip in strikeout-walk ratio from 4.68 to 2.79 – moved in the wrong direction. He’s also a free agent after this season, and a strong platform year would dovetail nicely with the D’backs giving the Dodgers a strong challenge for the NL West title.

Atlanta Braves: 1B Matt Olson

In Atlanta, an injury-ravaged year still means 89 wins and a playoff berth. And so many of last year’s ailing stars – Spencer Strider, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II and eventually Ronald Acuña Jr. – will be back and close to full go. Olson? Well, he played in 162 games yet again, because that’s what he does. But he’d surely prefer a return to even two-thirds of his 2023 self in 2025. One year after leading the majors in homers and RBI (54, 139) and the NL in slugging (.604), those numbers fell off to 29, 98 and .457, the first time since 2018 Olson failed to hit 30 homers in a full season. Olson’s hard-hit percentage was a career-low 47.3, down from 55.6. If anything else, momentum is on his side: Olson produced a .966 OPS in his final 56 games.

Chicago Cubs: RHP Porter Hodge

He’s wedged between 36-year-old Ryan Pressly and 37-year-old Ryan Brasier in the Cubs bullpen. And after an excellent debut in 2024, Hodge, 24, should be due to take the next step in his development as a top-flight reliever. He racked up nine saves in 40 appearances while posting a 0.88 WHIP, giving up just two homers in 43 innings. Hodge generated swings and misses on more than half the sweepers he threw, and finished the season unscored upon in 18 of his final 19 outings. Hodge might not be the closer in name at Wrigley Field, but he could be their most indispensable arm.

Cincinnati Reds: LHP Nick Lodolo

There are more pressing questions to sort in the near term, such as shaky closer Alexis Diaz or how to best integrate winter trade acquisition Gavin Lux at several positions. But the significant and real hope the Reds bring into this year still hinges on being able to outpitch opponents. And a healthy Lodolo would be a difference-maker. Injuries have limited him to just 47 starts since his 2022 debut, with four IL placements last year and a left tibia fracture impacting his past two seasons. Despite all the starts and stops, he’s been effective, recording an average of 16 outs per start and averaging 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

Colorado Rockies: CF Brenton Doyle

“Pivotal player” and “Rockies” is something of a misnomer until the franchise proves it has aspirations beyond winning, say, 70 games. Doyle, though, presents a rare opportunity: Completing the leap from solid player to superstar. He was a 4-win performer last year, now owns two Gold Gloves and paired 23 homers with 30 stolen bases. At 26, a 30-30 season is within reach for Doyle, and pairing that with improving upon a .260/.317/.446 line could give the Rockies their perennial All-Star.

Los Angeles Dodgers: INF/OF Tommy Edman

This dude was so good last year. Injuries delayed Edman’s debut to Aug. 19, by which time he’d been traded from St. Louis, and he blew up in the playoffs, with a .328 average, .860 OPS, two homers, 13 RBIs and an NLCS MVP trophy. And after signing a five-year, $60 million extension, Edman’s gone from great postseason story to indispensable piece. Sure, the Dodgers really are so deep that a lot can go wrong and things will still be all right. Yet Edman is so intrinsically tied to the Dodgers’ depth at multiple positions. His continued good health will make the club that much harder to beat.

Miami Marlins: RHP Sandy Alcántara

Hard not to feel mildly cynical and highly transactional about this team, so let’s get to it: Alcántara has looked great and has been unscored upon in spring training, his fastball reliably 99 mph as he looks fully operational after 2023 Tommy John surgery. So his reasonable contract, an additional year of team control and Cy Young resume would fetch a haul at July’s trade deadline. Somehow, the Marlins are back in the position of tearing down to build back up again – and a dominant Alcántara leads the way in that venture, too.

Milwaukee Brewers: LHP Nestor Cortes

Whether it’s David Stearns or Matt Arnold atop the Brewers’ executive pyramid, there’s always an “And now, for my next trick…” element to their roster construction. Trading Corbin Burnes and winning the NL Central anyway was pretty neat last year. This time? How about dealing All-Star closer Devin Williams to the Yankees and slotting Cortes toward the top of the rotation? Nasty Nestor was pretty solid in 2024, making 30 starts, consuming 174 ⅓ innings with a 1.15 WHIP. The Brewers would absolutely take that. Yet Cortes has never posted consecutive 100-plus innings seasons. With Brandon Woodruff returning from a year-plus absence due to shoulder surgery and Tobias Myers felled with an oblique, the Brewers will need that.

New York Mets: RHP Kodai Senga

Manager Carlos Mendoza bottom-lined it after Senga’s most recent incident-free spring start: “If he’s healthy, he’s an ace. We need that.” Particularly after injuries to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas shelved them for the foreseeable future, and Opening Day starter Clay Holmes is converting from reliever. The Mets made the NLCS despite Senga’s shoulder strain that limited him to three starts, including the postseason. He was a 2023 All-Star. If his Ghost Fork is dipping and his health agrees with him, elbowing past the Braves and Phillies in the NL East is a possibility.

Philadelphia Phillies: RF Nick Castellanos

Those raucous Phillies are getting older: Six of their nine everyday players are between 31 and 34 years old, and even third baseman Alec Bohm turns 29 this year. Castellanos? At 33, he’s far from washed, and played in every single game last year as if to prove it. This year, the Phillies need just a little more quality regardless of quantity: His homers slipped from 29 to 23, his OPS from .788 to .742, his hard-hit rate from 43.3% to 38.2%. He’ll need to cash in opportunities from the five hole this year.

Pittsburgh Pirates: RHP Bubba Chandler

Wait, so a dude already shipped to the minor leagues who has just seven Class AAA starts under his belt is the pivotal player? Well, the Pirates aren’t your typical outfit. Their multi-decade boycott of the free agent market puts them behind the curve, and growing dominant starting pitchers seems to be their best way to get around this problem. Paul Skenes is in place. Jared Jones was practically there but now faces the dreaded spring elbow MRI shuffle. Enter Chandler, a consensus top 15 prospect who has been leveling up his secondary offerings to complement a 98-ish mph fastball. He’ll probably need at least half a season at Indianapolis to be Pittsburgh-ready. But completing that leap would go a long way toward expediting a PNC Park turnaround.

San Diego Padres: INF Jose Iglesias

OK, this is a 60% vibes-based selection. But lest we forget, Iglesias did not join the Mets until June, produced a .337/.381/.448 line and racked up 3.1 WAR, which was really the biggest OMG of all. In San Diego? Iglesias will DH, clean up some leftovers on the infield and hopefully usher in good tidings to a team that could use some. The Padres were World Series-caliber and had the Dodgers on the ropes in the NLDS, only to squander a 2-1 lead and return to an uncertain future. The trick this year: Stay viable and make sure pending free agent pitchers Dylan Cease and Michael King stay put. Having Iglesias from the jump should help.

San Francisco Giants: SS Willy Adames

Not a shock the guy with the franchise-record $182 million deal will matter. But it’s imperative the charismatic infielder not do too much in his first season by the Bay. Playing in a pitcher’s park, Adames’ home run total will almost surely diminish from the 32 he hit in Milwaukee. Playing alongside Matt Chapman, the Giants may have the best left side of the infield in the game. The greatest Giants teams always significantly skew toward pitching and defense. Adames will hopefully realize just being himself is enough.

St. Louis: 3B Nolan Arenado

The never-say-die narrative rumbles into the regular season. Simply, the better Arenado plays, the easier it will be for the Cardinals to trade him – and, perhaps, the less money they’ll have to assume in the deal and the better prospects they may get in return. St. Louis may not be able to have its cake and eat it too – getting someone to assume most of the $74 million (or whatever the amount is at the time of a trade) owed him and also receiving good players. An Arenado offensive renaissance – even for just two months – would help all that.

Washington Nationals: LHP MacKenzie Gore

Make no mistake: The Nationals got a great return in their 2022 trade of Juan Soto to the Padres. Their starting shortstop (CJ Abrams) and left fielder (James Wood) on Opening Day is evidence enough. Yet the guy taking the mound against Philadelphia is the one who can truly make it a franchise-altering transaction. Gore, 26, made strides in 2024, striking out 181 and completing at least six innings in 11 of his 32 starts. Yet command and efficiency still elude him: Gore made 10 starts where he threw at least 90 pitches yet did not pitch beyond the fifth inning and had a 1.42 WHIP. Gore’s complete ascension to ace would significantly move the Nationals closer to legit contender status.

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Sports

Vonn is not the only skier finding success at ‘older’ age

SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Lindsey Vonn will take your apologies now.

Deemed “too old” by some when she retired back in 2019, Vonn stood on a podium Sunday where the youngest woman was a month shy of her 34th birthday.

“Age is just a number,” Vonn said after her second-place finish in the super-G made her, at 40, the oldest woman to make a World Cup podium.

“If you feel good and you’re mentally still driven and you work hard, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.”

Vonn is proof of that. Her medal at the World Cup finals came just four months after she announced she was coming out of retirement.

But Vonn is no longer an outlier when it comes to age. This season has been one reminder after another that female skiers need not have an expiration date.  

Federica Brignone is the oldest woman to win the overall title, at 34, while the two women who finished behind her are both 32 or older. Lara Gut-Behrami turns 34 next month while Sofia Goggia is 32.

The top three in both the downhill (Brignone, Cornelia Huetter and Goggia) and the super-G (Gut-Behrami, Brignone and Goggia) this season were all 32 or older, and Brignone and Sara Hector (32) are currently second and third in the season standings for giant slalom.

Brignone also repeatedly set records this year as the oldest woman to win downhill, super-G and giant slalom races, while 33-year-old Anna Swenn-Larsson became the oldest woman to make a slalom World Cup podium. Another 33-year-old, Lena Duerr, also reached the slalom podium.

“It’s really nice,” Brignone said of watching so many “older” women have success.

For too long, there was little room in elite-level sports for women once they reached their late 20s or early 30s. Even women in their early 20s in some sports were looked down upon; yes, gymnastics, that side eye is directed at you.

That was partly because women were forced to choose between their athletic careers and having a family. But there was also the perception that older women weren’t as good. Weren’t as fast. Weren’t as strong. Weren’t as resilient physically. Weren’t as … whatever. You get the idea.

Even women who defied that idea, like Vonn, heard the snide comments, asking when she was going to retire and wondering why she was still hanging around. Never mind that Vonn got 23 of her 82 World Cup wins after her 30th birthday and made the podium another 12 times.

“There’s just an expectation, especially of women at a certain age, that you need to be doing a certain thing, and I don’t believe in that at all,” Vonn said Friday, before the World Cup finals began. “I think you’re only limited to what you push yourself to.”

And more and more, women in all sports are refusing to accept the limitations that have been put on them.

Serena Williams played until she was 40, and her older sister Venus was still playing last year. Diana Taurasi just retired after 20 seasons in the WNBA. Simone Biles dominated the Paris Olympics at 27, an age once considered ancient for a gymnast, winning three gold medals and doing a vault so difficult no other woman even tries it.

Advances in science and nutrition and training have extended the lives of female athletes who want to keep competing. Vonn came out of retirement after a partial knee replacement eliminated the pain that had become a constant, and she said Sunday she no longer even has to ice the repaired knee.

“My right knee has been the best part of my body this whole season,” she said. “It wasn’t about how I was physically this year, it was just I couldn’t put all the pieces together in one run. … I’m a little rusty, but when it works, I know what to do and I know I can put all the pieces together, and I did that today.”

What Vonn said about knowing what to do might be the key to all this. Younger athletes might bounce back quicker or have more energy. But older athletes have a career’s worth of knowledge. They know how to train. They know how to compete. They know what to do in just about every circumstance because they’ve seen it before.

The track for the World Cup finals is new, and Sunday’s super-G was the first race on it after Saturday’s downhills were canceled. Yet Gut-Behrami knew exactly how to navigate the steep, slick course. Vonn knew what was doable on the dry snow, which is similar to what she skis on in Colorado.

“Super-G is really challenging. When you have more experience, it’s easier to be fast,” Gut-Behrami said.

The veteran skiers who dominated the World Cup circuit this year are helping to reframe the narrative around women athletes. Around women in general. If anyone still has something snarky to say to Vonn & Co. about their ages, good luck. It’s going to be real hard to hear it over the clinking of all those medals.

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

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