2026

HOUSTON — Jonathan Aranda was an unknown rookie the last time Mexico played in the World Baseball Classicc in 2023, and really, was little more than a cheerleader.

Now, three years later, he’s an All-Star first baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays, and was the primary reason Team Mexico averted a huge upset Friday with n 8-2 victory over Great Britain in the opening game of the WBC in Houston.

“He is an All-Star, I think he is a perennial All-Star,’ Team Mexico manager Benji Gil gushed. “I think he is going to end up being an MVP-type candidate hitter.’

It was Aranda’s two-out, three-run homer in the eighth inning, hooking into the left-field Crawford Box seating section that snapped a 1-1 tie before Mexico blew it open in the ninth.

“I never ran this fast after a home run, ever,’ Aranda said. “It was a very [significant] home run because we were tied, and then that at-bat gave positivity for the team. I was so happy for the team. Not just the team, but for the country.

“We are playing for these colors and I’m very happy for that.’

Mexico had gone completely hitless since Nacho Alvarez Jr.’s one-out homer in the second inning. The team sent 22 players to the plate and producing nothing more than a walk or hit by pitch. The only time Mexico got even close to a hit was when Great Britain right fielder Trayce Thompson robbed Aranda of a double with a leaping catch at the wall.

“We kept repeating in the dugout, just keep having good at-bats,’ Gil said. “It is going to come. It is going to come. And credit to our players, they just kept battling and having good at-bats. …

“They never lost faith. They kept fighting, grinding.’

Get in the game with 2026 WBC tickets!

It looked like the same story in the eighth when Alek Thomas and Joey Ortiz each struck out, but then Gary Gill Hill ran into control problems. He walked Jaren Duran and Randy Arozarena. Great Britain manager Brad Marcelino saw enough, and summoned right-handed Tristan Beck of the San Francisco Giants to face the left-handed Aranda.

“Arguably one of our better arms on the back end, big-league arm,’ Marcelino said.

Beck immediately fell behind, 2-0, missing on sliders, and then tried to sneak a fastball past Aranda. Mistake. Big mistake. Aranda went the 96-mph fastball into the Crawford Boxes, and the crowd of 27,724, mostly cheering for Mexico, finally could exhale.

“When I hit it, I didn’t know it was going to be a home run,’ Aranda said, “and I started running hard. When the train’s horn went off, that’s when I knew it was a home run.’

Certainly, this is a different Aranda appeared for Team Mexico in 2023. He was a reserve infielder and had only six plate appearances, producing a single and striking out three times. He was blocked by Joey Meneses and Rowdy Tellez at first base and made only one start in six games.

“Even back then he was an absolute stud,’ Gil said. “I think it was more of a situation of where to play him.’

This Aranda is coming off his breakout year when he hit .316 with 14 homers and a .883 OPS last season for Tampa Bay, making the All-Star Game. He missed most of the last two months when he broke his left wrist in a collision with Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, but as he proved Friday, he is now a bona fide star.

“Last year, at the All-Star break, he was one of the top 10 hitters in all of baseball,’’ Gil said. “Doesn’t matter where they’re from, or what position. And you can see the quality of his at-bats.’’

Aranda simply said: “I’ve matured a little more, and I’ve simply kept doing the same things.’’

Certainly, it was a huge thrill too for Alvarez, a back-up infielder for Atlanta who grew up in California, and doesn’t know a lick of Spanish. While Aranda ran quietly around the bases in his home-run trot, Alvarez went wild, pumping his chest with his fist, throwing his arms into the air, skipping, hopping and high-fiving everyone but the peanut vendors.

“I really blacked out when I hit it,’ he said. “I think it’s just an honor to represent this country. It means the world to my parents. I want to represent the country how they would. So whatever it takes to win these games, I am willing to do whatever it takes.’’

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

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Sports

NBA MVP power rankings: Will Celtics star be impacted by teammate’s return?

When it comes to the race for NBA Most Valuable Player, we’re coming to an inflection point.

Because of the 65-game eligibility rule stipulating that a player must appear in at least as many games to qualify for individual honors, several stars who have dealt with injuries are now approaching disqualification.

Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, last season’s MVP, must play in 13 of his team’s final 18 games of the regular season. Denver Nuggets All-Star center Nikola Jokić, a three-time MVP, can miss no more than a single game over the team’s final 20 to maintain eligibility.

It all sets up for a tight finish through the final month of the 2025-26 season.

Here’s the latest iteration of the USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings:

USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings

5. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

His standing here will almost certainly be compromised, now that Jayson Tatum is making his return for the final 20 games of Boston’s season. Brown, though, was a stabilizing presence and may even continue to be the primary option as Tatum works his way back to game shape. The Celtics owe him immense gratitude for his efforts to carry the team on both ends. He’s averaging career-highs in points (28.9; tied for fourth-most in the NBA), rebounds (7.2) and assists (5.0), and is a steady defensive presence. The Celtics are one of the big surprises of the season because of him.

4. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

There’s a strong argument for Wembanyama to be higher up on this list. The Spurs are just behind the Thunder in the West, and Wembanyama continues to impact both ends of the floor with efficiency. He leads the NBA in blocks per game (2.7), but he also alters dozens of shot attempts per game. He ranks sixth in rebounds (11.2) and is shooting a career-high 50.1% from the floor. It seems that we write this in every edition of the MVP power rankings, but, once again, he’s only getting better each time he steps on the court.

3. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

As mentioned above, the big issue here is Jokić’s availability and eligibility. Yet, consider this: he has played 47 games this season, and 23 of those – or 48.9% – have resulted in triple-doubles. Statically, no player has better numbers than Jokić, who is actually averaging a triple-double (28.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 10.4 assists per game). And, frankly, if Jokić hadn’t missed all the games that he has, he’d probably top this list. But that time missed cannot be overlooked, at least at this point in the season.

2. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

Unfair or not, MVPs tend to go to the best player on the best teams. The Pistons have lost two consecutive games to a pair of contenders in the Cavaliers and Spurs. In one of those losses, against Cleveland, Cunningham scored just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting, though he did generate 14 assists. Still, Cunningham is the catalyst through which Detroit’s offense runs. His 9.8 assist per game rank second in the NBA (behind Jokić), and his defense is an essential part of his game; his length and persistence helps establish Detroit’s defensive identity.

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Always the model of consistency, Gilgeous-Alexander moves slightly ahead of Cunningham after an uneven week for the Detroit star. Gilgeous-Alexander is on the verge of breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126 consecutive games with at least 20 points, now three games away from the mark (through March 5). Gilgeous-Alexander has worked on his efficiency this season – which was already remarkably high. He’s shooting fewer 3s, is at a career-high 55.1% field goal rate and is carrying his team as Oklahoma City is dealing with several injuries.

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Politics

Man accused of Iran-backed Trump assassination plot compared his plan to Butler shooting: FBI

A Pakistani man convicted on Friday of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump and other politicians told an FBI agent he thought Iran ‘was responsible’ for the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Asif Merchant, 47, told the FBI agent, Jacqueline Smith, that the incident ‘was the same thing he was sent here to do,’ Smith testified during Merchant’s trial. Merchant told jurors the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sent him on a ‘mission’ to kill U.S. politicians, including by telling him to attend a Republican rally.

Merchant was arrested July 12, 2024, one day prior to the shooting in Butler, where Thomas Crooks fired several shots into a rally crowd, killing one and grazing Trump’s ear.

The FBI has said repeatedly that it found no evidence that Crooks had co-conspirators or that any foreign actors were involved in the incident.

Merchant, who was convicted by a jury of murder-for-hire and attempt to commit terrorism, testified that Trump was not his only target, telling jurors then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley were also on his list. He claimed that he only took part in the plot because Iran’s IRGC warned it would target his family.

‘I had no other options,’ Merchant said. ‘My family was threatened.’

Merchant now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. His sentence will be determined at a later hearing.

Merchant was arrested after he was recorded on camera outlining a plot on a napkin to kill a politician with a person who turned out to be an FBI informant. Federal prosecutors showed video during the trial of Merchant speaking to the informant. The prosecutors said Merchant also tried to hire two hit men and pay them $5,000, but the men turned out to be federal agents posing as assassins.

Smith, the FBI agent who met with Merchant after his arrest, said that Merchant never conveyed that he feared for his family. Merchant said he wanted to do intelligence work and be paid for it, Smith said.

The FBI agent also said Merchant was told by an Iranian handler to attend a Republican political rally to scope out security but that Merchant was worried about being identified, and so he watched the rally online instead.

Merchant’s defense team told jurors their client, who has two wives, was a family man and cared deeply about his faith and that he intentionally acted carelessly because he wanted to be caught.

In their closing arguments, defense lawyers said Merchant had his hand forced in the operation, thinking his family would be harmed if he did not cooperate. Additionally, the lawyers cited several instances where they said Merchant’s actions as an intelligence operator were little more than incompetent.

Fox News’ Danielle Cavaliere and Brendan McDonald contributed.

Feds say Pakistani national backed by Iran plotted to assassinate Trump, others in murder-for-hire scheme

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Politics

Spanberger lashes out at Pentagon after Hegseth pulls colleges’ support over woke ‘ideologies’

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger hit back at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon announced it would cut ties and funding relationships with numerous collegiate institutions over what it described as woke ideologies.

A Pentagon leadership memo initialed ‘PBH’ — the secretary’s full name is Peter Brian Hegseth — sent just before the U.S. bombed Iran and entitled ‘Aligning senior service college opportunities with American values,’ laid out an examination of standing ‘Professional Military Education institutions, [the] bedrock upon which we build lethal warfighters grounded in the founding principles that underpin American

Spanberger fired back after it was reported that the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., would be affected. The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot covered her remarks at a high school in Hampton — about halfway between the two cities.

Spanberger said the move is an ‘outrageous attack at yet another point of pride in Virginia,’ as the memo said the Senior Service College programs there would be ended and that servicemembers would lose support.

‘The idea that the Pentagon would pull back from this fellowship program that has been long a fixture at William & Mary is just outrageous,’ she said, according to the paper.

The Pentagon memo said the department will ‘no longer invest in institutions that fail to sharpen our leaders’ warfighting capabilities or that undermine the very values they swore to defend,’ and that more than a dozen schools faced termination.

Spanberger, who formerly worked for the CIA, said the move speaks to the Defense Department’s ‘lack of understanding of the real strength of universities, whether it’s William & Mary or others, in educating the next generation of military leadership,’ according to the paper.

She also cited the fact William & Mary’s current chancellor is himself one of Hegseth’s predecessors.

Robert Gates was former President George H.W. Bush’s director of central intelligence and later served as Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, remaining in the role into former President Barack Obama’s term.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

In a statement obtained by Hampton Roads’ CBS affiliate, the college administration said it was ‘puzzled and saddened’ by Hegseth’s move, saying that William & Mary is ‘among the country’s most military-friendly institutions’ and also embraces its ROTC program.

While the Williamsburg school may be on the chopping block, the affiliate reported that Regent University in Virginia Beach — founded by Christian evangelist Pat Robertson — may be considered one of the replacement institutions.

In the memo, Harvard, Washington University in St. Louis, MIT, Tufts, Georgetown, George Washington University, Princeton, Yale, Brown and Queen’s University in Canada were listed as schools facing separation.

Colleges being considered as replacements include Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., The Citadel, Virginia Tech, the University of North Carolina, Clemson University and Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Harvard students earn course credit helping asylum seekers as critics calls school ‘bastion of woke activism’

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Politics

While UN Issues mixed signals, Witkoff exposes Iran’s nuclear evasion ‘pride’

The stunning details revealed by Steve Witkoff on his talks with Iran and their boastful remarks about its nuclear program have seemingly fallen on deaf ears at the U.N. nuclear agency.

Days into the U.S.-Israel joint campaign against Iran, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi posted to X stating, ‘There has been no evidence of Iran building a nuclear bomb.’

Fox News Digital asked the IAEA how it could assess the development of a possible nuclear weapon without access to Iran’s facilities but received no response at press time.

Grossi’s post came as the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff gave details to Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this week on his talks with the regime prior to the U.S. and Israel launching their military operation against Tehran.

Witkoff revealed the negotiators said they had an ‘inalienable right’ to enrich uranium. When Witkoff countered that the Trump administration had the ‘inalienable right to stop [them, ]’ he explained that the negotiators said this was only their starting point.

‘They have 10,000, roughly, kilograms of fissionable material that’s broken up into roughly 460 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, another 1,000 kilograms 20% enriched uranium,’ Witkoff explained. ‘They manufacture their own centrifuges to enrich this material, so there’s almost no stopping them. They have an endless supply of it. The 60% material can be brought to 90% – that’s weapon grade — in roughly one week, maybe 10 days at the outside. The 20% can be brought to weapons grade inside of three to four weeks.’

Witkoff added that during his first meeting with the negotiators, they said ‘with no shame that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60% and they’re aware that that could make 11 nuclear bombs, and that was the beginning of this negotiating stance.’

‘They were proud of it. They were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs,’ Witkoff said.

Grossi, who is running to become the next United Nations secretary general, did however admit in his post on X that Iran maintains ‘a large stockpile of near-weapons grade enriched uranium’ and said that the Islamic Republic has not allowed inspectors full access to its program. With these facts in mind, he said that the IAEA ‘will not be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful’ until Iran ‘assists…in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues.’

Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, FDD, told Fox News Digital, No one paid much attention to Rafael Grossi throughout the Biden years when he repeatedly warned publicly that Iran was refusing to cooperate with and providing false statements to the IAEA about ongoing investigations into undeclared facilities, activists and nuclear material.’

The former Trump administration official said, ‘There are some key facts being ignored today. The IAEA board last year found Iran to be in breach of the NPT. To this day, Grossi has confirmed that the IAEA cannot verify the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful.’

He continued, ‘This is not Iraq where we lacked hard public evidence of a nuclear weapons program. Iran had built out nearly every part of its nuclear weapons program in plain sight, with the weaponization work moving forward at undeclared sites controlled by SPND. If the administration had evidence the regime was moving quickly to reconstitute key elements of that program — from advanced centrifuge manufacturing to completion of a new underground enrichment site alongside advancement of delivery vehicle programs – the president was fully justified in enforcing a red line he set after Operation Midnight Hammer.’

Spencer Faragasso, a senior fellow at the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), told Fox News Digital that his organization calculated prior to the June 2025 12 Day War that Iran possessed 440.9 kilograms of 60% rich uranium. With about 24 or 25 kilograms of 90% rich uranium required per weapon, Faragasso said the country possessed the ability to produce 11 weapons in one month.

Faragasso said that there remain questions about whether the Iranians can access their enriched materials, and whether they possess additional centrifuges that may have not been installed in the facilities that were struck.

‘Being able to enrich the uranium up to weapon grade is actually a tall order,’ he said, explaining that it would require a new enrichment site and components and materials that ‘Iran would either need to recover from its destroyed facilities’ or ‘illicitly import them from abroad.’ With a few hundred centrifuges, enough for two or three cascades, Faragasso said the Iranians could have enriched their uranium stores to weapon grade.

‘To be clear, the successes gained from the June war are not permanent and officials from the regime spoke publicly about how they wanted to reconstitute their enrichment program, their nuclear program,’ he said. ‘The more time that goes on, the worse the situation will get. It’s not going to get better, especially regarding the ballistic missile program.’

He said the Iranians had previously expressed the desire to open a fourth enrichment site, which the IAEA stated was at Esfahan. According to Faragasso, there was ‘never confirmation’ of where the site was or how far along construction may have been.

The group is now tracking an Israeli strike on March 3 on Min-Zadayi, a site that Faragasso said ‘was completely unknown’ to them previously. The Israel Defense Forces reported on X that the site was ‘used by a group of nuclear scientists who operated to develop a key component for nuclear weapons.’

The State Department referred Fox News Digital to remarks made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the press on Tuesday on Iran’s nuclear program.

‘This terroristic, radical, cleric-led regime cannot be ever allowed to have nuclear weapons.’ Explaining that the Islamic Republic was ‘willing to slaughter their own people in the streets,’ Rubio directed members of the press to ‘imagine what they would do to us. Imagine what they would do to others. Under President Trump that will never, ever happen,’ he said.

Satellite images reveal activity at Iran nuclear sites bombed by US, Israel

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Politics

After the strikes, how would the US secure Iran’s enriched uranium?

When War Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked recently whether U.S. forces would ever move to secure enriched uranium reportedly stored at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear complex, he declined to say, citing operational security.

The exchange highlighted a question the U.S. and Israel’s air campaign alone cannot answer: even if U.S. strikes degrade Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, who would physically secure the enriched uranium, and how?

Iran is believed to possess a significant stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, near weapons-grade. That material could theoretically be used in multiple nuclear devices if further refined.

Moving from 60% to weapons-grade 90% enrichment requires additional processing, and weaponization would involve further technical steps. But analysts say the more immediate issue is physical control of the material itself.

‘If the U.S. wants to secure Iran’s nuclear materials, it’s going to require a massive ground operation,’ Kelsey Davenport, director of nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, told Fox News Digital.

Davenport said the highly enriched uranium believed to be stored at Isfahan appears to be deeply buried and contained in relatively mobile canisters. Securing it would likely require locating the full stockpile, accessing underground facilities and safely extracting or downblending the material.

‘It’s not even clear the United States knows where all of the uranium is,’ she said, noting that the mobility of storage containers raises the possibility that some material could be moved or dispersed.

The administration repeatedly has said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains a central objective of Operation Epic Fury.

‘Ultimately, this issue of Iran’s nuclear pursuit and their unwillingness through negotiations to stop it is something President Trump has said for a long time needs to be dealt with,’ Hegseth said.

Senior administration officials have argued that Iran sought to build up its ballistic missile arsenal in part to create a deterrent shield — enabling Iran to continue advancing its nuclear program while discouraging outside intervention.

So far, however, the bulk of U.S. strikes have focused on degrading missile launchers, air defenses and other conventional military targets.

Experts note that dismantling missile systems may reduce Iran’s ability to shield a potential nuclear breakout. But physically controlling enriched uranium itself presents a separate and more complex challenge.

Airstrikes versus physical control

Defense officials have acknowledged that degrading nuclear infrastructure from the air is different from safely managing or securing nuclear material.

Airstrikes can destroy centrifuges, power systems and support buildings. But enriched uranium stored underground may remain intact unless it is physically secured, removed or verifiably downblended.

Striking or extracting nuclear material also carries safety risks that military planners must weigh.

If storage casks containing uranium hexafluoride gas were compromised, the material could pose chemical toxicity risks to personnel entering the site without proper protective equipment. Analysts say a conventional strike is unlikely to trigger a nuclear detonation, but dispersal of material could create localized hazards and complicate recovery efforts.

Chuck DeVore, a former Reagan-era defense official who worked on nuclear issues, argued that directly targeting the stockpile may not be a priority under current battlefield conditions.

‘You don’t want to release the material into the surrounding areas and cause radioactive contamination,’ DeVore said, adding that deeply buried facilities are difficult to reach from the air.

DeVore also downplayed the immediacy of a breakout scenario, arguing that further enrichment, weaponization and delivery would be difficult to execute undetected amid sustained U.S. air operations.

Even if Iran were able to further enrich uranium, he said, assembling a deliverable weapon under active military pressure would present significant technical and operational hurdles.

Still, DeVore acknowledged that long-term control of the uranium would ultimately require a political resolution inside Iran and some form of outside oversight.

What would securing it require?

Nonproliferation experts say securing enriched uranium generally involves more than military force. It requires verified accounting of the material, sustained access to storage sites and either removal or downblending to lower enrichment levels suitable for civilian use.

Davenport said internationally monitored downblending would be the safest option if political conditions allow.

‘The IAEA remains the best place to go back into Iran to monitor the sites, to try to track down and account for the enriched uranium,’ she said, describing downblending as a relatively straightforward technical process compared to attempting to extract and transport highly enriched material in a contested environment.

Both pathways — physical seizure or internationally monitored reduction — depend on conditions that do not currently exist.

Administration officials argue that dismantling Iran’s missile network weakens Iran’s ability to shield a nuclear breakout and reduces the immediate threat to U.S. forces and regional allies.

But suppressing missiles and controlling enriched uranium are separate challenges.

Destroying infrastructure can slow or disrupt a program. Physically locating, accounting for and securing nuclear material requires sustained access, reliable intelligence and — ultimately — political conditions that allow it.

For now, the administration maintains that Iran will not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. How the enriched uranium itself would be secured remains a question without a public answer.

Iran’s shadowy chemical weapons program draws scrutiny as reports allege use against protesters

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Sports

Celtics star Jayson Tatum to make season debut tonight: Latest updates

Six-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, nearly 10 months removed from his last NBA game, is nearing his return from his ruptured Achilles rehab and will play basketball this season.

It comes at an excellent time for Boston, which has outperformed external expectations in Tatum’s absence. The Celtics are currently 41-21 and in the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, just 4.5 games back of the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.

All-Star Jaylen Brown has carried Boston, and a potential Tatum return for the final 20 games of the regular season and playoffs should provide a massive boost to Boston’s chances at competing in the East.

Here’s everything you need to know about Jayson Tatum’s availability for Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks:

Is Jayson Tatum playing tonight vs. Mavericks?

Yes, he will make his highly-anticipated season debut, barring any unforeseen setbacks. The Celtics officially listed Tatum as available on the latest injury report Friday early afternoon.

The initial injury report published Thursday had listed Tatum as questionable for the first time since he tore his Achilles; previously, the Celtics had listed him as out. As of Friday morning, Tatum had retained the questionable designation, though local media at the Celtics facility reported that Tatum was present at the team’s shootaround, staying mostly in the weight room area.

Tatum and the training staff will presumably check off any last-minute preparations to ensure Tatum is physically and mentally locked in. In any case, it’s safe to assume that his minutes will be closely monitored.

Coach Joe Mazzulla will hold his pre-game press conference at around 5:15 p.m. ET. He may provide updates then.

“We only have (20) games left, so it’s going to have to be a quick process whenever that happens,” Celtics forward Sam Hauser said Friday of incorporating Tatum, according to the Boston Herald. “As much as you want, like, a grace period for that, we don’t really have that luxury, so we’re all just going to have to figure it out on the fly. That’s a good thing for us to have to problem-solve whenever that comes up and figure things out on our own. But I think overall, it’s a positive.”

How many minutes will Jayson Tatum play vs. Mavericks?

At this point, it’s not set in stone, and the Celtics will almost certainly not reveal their precise plan for Tatum in his debut. Still, a minutes restriction is a near certainty, as he works his way back to game shape. Coach Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics have maintained that they would be prudent with Tatum, so there’s no reason to rush him back to a full workload, especially since the Mavericks (21-41) are not a particularly strong opponent.

Tatum hasn’t played a live basketball game since mid-May, so his conditioning will be tested. Last season, Tatum averaged 36.4 minutes per game. He likely won’t come close to that Friday night.

A good estimate for his playing time is around 20-to-25 minutes.

How to watch Jayson Tatum’s potential season debut vs. Mavericks: TV channel, live stream

Start time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: TD Garden (Boston)
TV channel: ESPN
Live stream: ESPN, Fubo

Jayson Tatum 2024-25 stats

Last season, Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game in 72 appearances.

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Sports

Geno Smith to be released by Raiders ahead of 2026 NFL free agency

The Las Vegas Raiders are moving on from starting quarterback Geno Smith after just one season.

The Raiders are set to release Smith unless they can find a trade partner before the start of the new league year on March 11, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

The Raiders acquired Smith from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick – which later became Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe – during the 2025 NFL offseason. The move reunited the veteran quarterback with Pete Carroll, who spent five years coaching Smith with the Seahawks.

Smith struggled during his lone season with the Raiders. He posted a 2-13 record across 15 starts while completing 67.4% of his passes for 3,025 yards, 19 touchdowns and an NFL-high 17 interceptions.

Smith also took a league-high 55 sacks behind Las Vegas’ porous offensive line while his 84.7 passer rating ranked 35th among 42 qualified quarterbacks for the 2025 NFL season.

The Raiders fired Carroll after finishing the 2025 NFL season with a 3-14 record, tied for the worst in the NFL with the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans. Las Vegas landed the No. 1 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft and is widely expected to take Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

That eventuality made Smith expendable.

Las Vegas will save $8 million against the salary cap by releasing Smith before the start of the new league year. The Raiders will take on a $18.5 million dead-cap hit as part of the transaction.

Smith, 35, figures to draw interest on the free agent market as an experienced stopgap signal-caller.

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Sports

Venezuela bullpen, one big inning too much for Netherlands in WBC opener

One big inning, a great escape and an epic performance from its bullpen was enough for Venezuela to register a crucial victory in its World Baseball Classic opener.

A star-studded lineup did just enough to stay a step ahead of a competitive Netherlands squad, and Venezuela registered a 6-2 victory in the first Pool D game Friday, March 6 at Miami’s loanDepot Park.

The win gives Venezuela a key advantage in a group where a loaded Dominican Republic casts a long shadow. With Israel and Nicaragua considered longshots to advance, the Venezuela-Netherlands victor would gain a significant advantage to claim one of two tickets to the quarterfinals.

And with starter Ranger Suárez only completing two innings, the Venezuelan bullpen – which gave up no earned runs in seven relief innings – saved the day.

Daniel Palencia, the Chicago Cubs closer, capped the effort by striking out two in the top of the ninth inning.

And an opportunistic Venezuela lineup pounced after Netherlands gave it an extra out in the fifth inning as Atlanta Braves star Ozzie Albies failed to cover first base on a bunt attempt. That loaded the bases with no outs, enabling Willson Contreras to deliver a two-run single and Wilyer Abreu an RBI single. Combined with a bases-loaded walk, a 2-1 Venezuela edge became 6-1.

Jose Buttó kept the lead intact, inheriting two runners and escaping his own bases-loaded, no-out situation in the top of the sixth with just one run given up.

Thanks to Ronald Acuña Jr.’s leadoff double in the first and Javier Sanoja’s second-inning homer, Venezuela never trailed. Now, it preps for a matchup against Israel the evening of Saturday, March 7. Netherlands must come back for a noon matchup against Nicaragua – suddenly a must-win.

USA TODAY Sports had full coverage of the game between Venezuela and the Netherlands. Scroll below for highlights:

Daniel Palencia shuts it down in ninth

Cubs closer Daniel Palencia had little trouble nailing down Venezuela’s victory with a powerful ninth. He needed just eight pitches to punch out Druw Jones and pinch hitter Jakey Josepha and got a pair of swinging strikes on Red Sox star Ceddane Rafaela.

Netherlands’ fate wasn’t quite sealed as Rafaela was brushed by a four-seam fastball to extend the game. But Xander Bogaerts lined out to shortstop Ezequiel Tovar to end it, a strong statement from Venezuela’s ninth-inning guy.

The final total for the Venezuela bullpen: Seven innings, no earned runs, one hit, seven strikeouts and three walks.

Druw Jones strikes again, but Venezuela still leads 6-2

Just like its opponent a half-inning before, Netherlands enjoyed a bases-loaded, no-out situation thanks to a gaffe from the opposition. But unlike Venezuela, which broke the game open with a four-run inning, Netherlands could only claw back one run in the top of the sixth inning.

Druw Jones – son of Netherlands manager Andruw Jones – hit a deep fly to the warning track in right field for a sacrifice fly to make it a 6-2 game, but Venezuela escaped any further damage and took a comfortable lead into the late innings. Jones had tied the game earlier with an RBI double.

Venezuela put itself in danger when Luinder Avila – beginning his third inning of relief work – hit a batter and walked another, and catcher William Contreras was called for catcher’s interference, loading the bases. Jones, the No. 9 hitter, nearly made the game much more interesting, but his drive off Jose Buttó died in Ronald Acuña Jr.’s glove near the wall.

Acuña also made an excellent running catch on Chadwick Tromp’s soft fly ball with the bases loaded, preventing the runners from advancing. And the Venezuelans moved onto the seventh with their 6-2 advantage.

Ozzie Albies’ gaffe helps Venezuela take 6-1 lead

Make no mistake: Netherlands reliever Jaydenn Estanista hitting Venezuela’s No. 9 hitter with a pitch and walking leadoff man Ronald Acuña Jr. set the stage for disaster in the bottom of the fifth inning. But Ozzie Albies’ mental error – or simply a miscommunication – poured accelerant on the rally.

Albies failed to cover first base on a Maikel Garcia bunt attempt – though first baseman Sharlon Schoop perhaps should have stayed home – and that gave a dangerous Venezuela lineup an extra out, and a bases-loaded situation in a one-run game. Estanista’s walk to Luis Arráez drove home an insurance run, and then Willson Contreras greeted Eric Mendez with a two-run single for a 5-1 lead.

Wilyer Abreu tacked on another run-scoring hit for a 6-1 lead. And a competitive Netherlands squad that was never more than a run behind suddenly faces a huge climb in the final four innings.

Bullpen battle as Venezuela clings to narrow lead

If Venezuela is to stave off a Netherlands upset, its bullpen must be on point. Starter Ranger Suárez gave them two innings of one-run ball and Eduard Bazardo and Luinder Avila put up zeroes in the third and fourth to maintain a 2-1 lead entering the fifth.

Antwone Kelly, Netherlands’ less heralded starter, actually outlasted Suárez – who signed a $130 million contract with Boston this winter – by completing three innings. Ryjteri Merite, a lefty deep in the Cincinnati Reds system, followed with a scoreless fourth, getting a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play ball from Javier Sanoja to overcome Didi Gregorius’s error.

Javier Sanoja puts Venezuela up 2-1 with solo home run

A power-packed Venezuelan lineup got its first home run from a most unlikely source.

Javier Sanoja, the Miami Marlins utilityman who hit just six homers last season, clubbed an Antwone Kelly first-pitch fastball for a solo homer to left in his home ballpark, giving Venezuela a 2-1 lead through two innings.

Sanoja, who had a .683 OPS for Miami in 118 games, turned and gestured immediately toward his dugout, the light-hitting third baseman knowing he got all of it. Kelly rallied to strand a pair of runners and keep it a one-run game.

Druw Jones – manager’s son – ties it for Netherlands with double

Druw Jones is absolutely beating any charges that he’s a nepotism pick on Netherlands’ WBC team. The No. 9 hitter – and son of Hall of Famer and Netherlands manager Andruw Jones – stroked a two-out, game-tying double off Ranger Suárez, hustling to second to the quiet delight of his dad in the dugout.

Jones, a top prospect for the Arizona Diamondbacks, was stranded at second as Suárez induced a groundout to end the inning in a 1-1 tie. But Suárez needed 29 pitches to escape the second, giving him 43 pitches as he drifts toward the 65-pitch limit for this pool-play round.

Acuña Jr., Arráez give Venezuela 1-0 first-inning lead

A stacked Venezuelan lineup looks as daunting in reality as it does on paper. Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled on the first pitch of the bottom of the first and Luis Arráez drove him home with a single through a drawn-in infield as Venezuela took 1-0 first-inning lead.

The partisan Venezuela crowd at Miami’s loanDepot Park didn’t need long to voice their enthusiasm, as Acuña drove Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Antwone Kelly’s first pitch into the gap in left center field. Maikel Garcia’s grounder to second moved Acuña to third and then Arráez, the three-time batting champ, rolled a grounder under shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ glove.

Venezuela starter Ranger Suárez needed just 14 pitches in the top of the first, yielding an infield single to leadoff man Ray-Patrick Didder, but retiring Boston Red Sox teammate Ceddane Rafaela on a fly to center.

Netherlands lineup today vs. Venezuela

Ray-Patrick Didder – LF
Ceddane Rafaela – CF
Xander Bogaerts – SS
Ozzie Albies – 2B
Didi Gregorious – 3B
Hendrik Clementina – DH
Sharlon Schoop – 1B
Chadwick Tromp – C
Druw Jones – RF

Venezuela lineup today vs Netherlands

Ranger Suárez – LHP

Ronald Acuña Jr – RF
Maikel García – 3B
Luis Arráez – 2B
Willson Contreras – 1B
Salvador Pérez – DH
Wilyer Abreu LF
William Contreras – C
Javier Sanoja – CF
Andrés Giménez – SS

How to watch Netherlands vs Venezuela on Tubi

Matchup: Netherlands vs. Venezuela
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Miami (LoanDepot Park)
TV: Tubi
Streaming: FOX One App

Stream the World Baseball Classic on Fubo

Netherlands WBC roster

Pitchers: Kenley Jansen, Antwone Kelly, Lars Huijer, Jaydenn Estanista, Jaitoine Kelly, Kevin Kelly, Shairon Martis, JC Sulbaran, Jamdrick Cornelia, Wendell Floranus, Arij Fransen, Eric Mendez, Ryjeteri Merite, Justin Morales, Shawndrick Oduber, Derek West, Dylan Wilson

Catchers: Chadwick Tromp, Hendrik Clementina

Infielders: Ozzie Albies, Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, Juremi Profar, Sharlon Schoop

Outfielders: Ceddanne Rafaela, Druw Jones, Jakey Josepha, Ray-Patrick Didder, Dayson Croes, Delano Selassa

Venezuela WBC roster

Pitchers: Ranger Suárez, Eduardo Rodriguez, Antonio Senzatela, Jhonathan Díaz, Eduard Bazardo, José Buttó, Enmanuel De Jesus, Carlos Guzman, Yoendrys Gómez, Andrés Machado, Keider Montero, Daniel Palencia, Ricardo Sánchez, Angel Zerpa, Christian Suárez, Luinder Ávila, Anthony Molina

Catchers: Salvador Perez, William Contreras

Infielders: Luis Arraez, Willson Contreras, Maikel Garcia, Andrés Giménez, Eugenio Suárez, Gleyber Torres, Ezequiel Tovar

Outfielders: Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio, Wilyer Abreu, Javier Sanoja

Andruw Jones on Curacao connection

‘You see how baseball in Curaçao has grown. I’m so proud that I could lead some of these guys to believe in themselves, to go out there and chase their dream. Now that they’re all here and helping us try to win this tournament, it’s awesome,’ Netherlands manager Andruw Jones told reporters before the game.

‘I tell them all the time, take advantage of the opportunity they’re going to give you, and I can see a lot of them are doing it, so I’m very proud of that.’

Jackson Chourio injury update

Venezuela’s Jackson Chourio is out of the starting lineup on Friday against the Netherlands after being hit with a pitch on Wednesday. Manager Omar Lopez said Chourio does not have a fracture and will be available to run and play defense if necessary.

2026 World Baseball Classic schedule

Pool play: March 5-March 11
Quarterfinals: March 13 & 14 (Houston and Miami)
Semifinals: March 15 & 16 (Miami)
Championship game: March 17 (Miami)

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Politics

Trump says defense giants will quadruple production of ‘exquisite class’ weapons after White House meeting

President Donald Trump said Friday that during a meeting with defense executives they had agreed to increase production of what he called ‘exquisite class’ weapons by four times as his administration looks to accelerate weapons production while military operations against Iran continue.

‘Expansion began three months prior to the meeting, and Plants and Production of many of these Weapons are already under way,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social after the meeting.

‘We have a virtually unlimited supply of Medium and Upper Medium Grade Munitions, which we are using, as an example, in Iran, and recently used in Venezuela,’ he said. ‘Regardless, however, we have also increased Orders at these levels.’

Trump said the meeting concluded with executives agreeing to come back to the White House in two months.

The White House emphasized the session was scheduled weeks ago and was not convened in response to immediate battlefield shortages. Officials described the meeting as part of a broader effort to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and speed production of American-made weapons.

Companies in attendance Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Corporation, Boeing, Honeywell, BAE Systems and L3Harris Technologies.

The meeting comes as U.S. forces remain engaged in Operation Epic Fury, a campaign targeting Iranian military assets following coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes. Administration officials have maintained that U.S. readiness remains strong, even as the pace of missile defense operations has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

During the 2025 12-day Iran conflict, U.S. forces fired more than 150 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors — roughly a quarter of the global inventory — to shield Israel and U.S. assets from Iranian missile attacks, according to defense assessments. Patriot PAC-3 MSE missiles are currently produced at a rate of roughly 600 to 650 annually, with replenishment timelines measured in months or years rather than weeks.

U.S. and Israeli officials previously estimated that Iran had a large ballistic missile arsenal — roughly 2,000 to 3,000 missiles of various types at the outset of the conflict. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Thursday Iran’s missile attacks have decreased 90% since the start of the conflict.

Defense planners have described missile defense inventories as part of a broader strategic balancing act. The same high-end systems used to protect U.S. bases and partners in the Middle East are also supplied to Ukraine and positioned in the Indo-Pacific, creating what some analysts characterize as a ‘zero-sum’ competition for inventory across theaters.

Lawmakers emerging from recent classified briefings have raised questions about sustainability if operations expand.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., warned the campaign could become a ‘math problem,’ balancing incoming missile volumes against finite interceptor supplies and production capacity.

Other members, including Republicans briefed on the operation, have said officials assured Congress U.S. forces remain in strong shape.

Current and former defense officials have drawn a distinction between offensive strike weapons — which can often be surged from prepositioned stocks — and defensive interceptors such as Patriot and THAAD systems, which require longer production timelines and cannot be rapidly manufactured at scale.

Operation Epic Fury destroys Iran’s navy and cuts missile attacks by 90% in ongoing campaign

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS