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Veteran first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini and the Arizona Diamondbacks are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, sources told ESPN, launching a comeback for the 32-year-old who sat out the 2024 season.
Mancini, who has played parts of seven major league seasons, missed 2020 after being diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. He returned to the Baltimore Orioles in 2021 before being traded to the Houston Astros the next season and signing with the Chicago Cubs in 2023.
After signing with the Miami Marlins last year, Mancini was released toward the end of spring training and did not play the rest of the season. He continued working out in Nashville and will compete for a job with the Diamondbacks, who had the best offense in baseball last year and traded for Josh Naylor to play first base, with incumbent Christian Walker signing a three-year, $60 million free agent contract with Houston.
For half a decade, Mancini was a powerful right-handed presence in the middle of Baltimore's lineup. In 831 career games, he has 129 home runs and 400 RBIs, hitting .263/.328/.448 with a 110 OPS+.
Drafted in the eighth round out of Notre Dame in 2013, Mancini debuted in 2016 and by 2017 was a full-time player, splitting time between first and left field. His best season came in 2019, when he hit .291/.364/.535 and finished sixth in the American League with 75 extra-base hits (including 35 home runs) and 322 total bases.
Mancini will have plenty of competition for a roster spot. In addition to Naylor, Arizona has a loaded outfield, with Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Jake McCarthy, Pavin Smith, Randal Grichuk, Alek Thomas as well as non-roster invitations for Garrett Hampson and Cristian Pache.
Scherzer has eyes on winning title with 3rd team
TORONTO -- Max Scherzer joined the Toronto Blue Jays convinced he can win a World Series with a third team following titles with Washington and Texas.
"Winning cures everything," the 40-year-old right-hander said Friday, three days after his $15.5 million, one-year contract was announced. "All you need to do to wake up in the morning is to have that drive to win, and the rest kind of takes care of itself."
A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer was 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA last year for the Rangers. He started the season on the injured list while recovering from lower back surgery and was on the IL from Aug. 2 to Sept. 13 because of shoulder fatigue. He didn't pitch after Sept. 14 because of a left hamstring strain.
Scherzer feels healthy.
"Normal ramp-up kind of in the lifting, normal ramp-up in the throwing, right where I need to be in terms of my bullpen progression," he said during a Zoom news conference. "So I'm looking to come in here into spring training at full tilt."
He joined a rotation projected to include José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis.
"The backbone of any team is always the starting rotation," Scherzer said. "It doesn't matter how much offense you got, if you don't have a starting staff, you're always going to be in trouble if you don't have starters going out there and eating innings."
Scherzer learned about the current Blue Jays when he spoke with Bassitt, a New York Mets teammate in 2022, and assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense, a University of Missouri teammate from 2004 to 2006.
"Just understanding how the team is, how the organization is, how they treat the families and how the guys on the team are, where the state of the organization is, how they want to improve," Scherzer said. "I had a good chat with those guys how the Blue Jays handle everything and felt like this was going to be a fit."
A Florida resident, Scherzer had geography in mind when considering teams.
"First and foremost is kind of staying here on the East Coast, especially with my family here in Florida. The kids are in school," he said. "That makes it very easy to be able to get back and forth, be able to see them and have them be able to travel in, as well."
Scherzer is 216-112 with a 3.16 ERA over 17 seasons with 3,407 strikeouts in 2,878 innings. His average fastball velocity dropped from 94.7 mph in 2020 to 92.5 mph last year.
"I still feel I can pitch at a very high level here. I frankly got all the pitches to be able to navigate a lineup," he said. "It's not about throwing 98. If you can throw 94, 95, you can get a lot of people out."
He limits his use of analytics.
"There's too much data, actually," he said. "What we're talking about with pitching now, I actually completely disagree with. And so, for me I understand what I do well, what I need to look at, what I actually need to be thinking about in terms of all my pitches, in terms of everything I'm doing ... there's some data that's good, but a lot of data is bad."
Though Scherzer spent parts of parts of nine seasons in the NL East, this will be his first time in the AL East.
"You got five teams that can all beat each other up. So, that's the good news," he said. "When you're in a highly competitive division, that only makes you better. ... It makes you battle-tested."
The 25-year-old, a four-time All-Star, has a $28.5 million, one-year contract and can become a free agent after the World Series.
"You all know our desire to have him here for a long time, and we'll continue to work towards that," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told reporters during the news conference.
Bencic reaches first Tour final since maternity leave
Belinda Bencic reached her first WTA Tour final since returning from maternity leave with a surprise victory over Elena Rybakina at the Abu Dhabi Open.
The Swiss former Olympic champion clinched a 3-6 6-3 6-4 triumph over world number five Rybakina in two hours and six minutes.
Bencic welcomed her daughter, Bella, in April 2024, and returned from a 13-month break from the tour six months later.
The 27-year-old's win over Kazakhstan's Rybakina was her first against a top-five opponent since she became a mother, and she will face American Ashlyn Krueger in Sunday's final.
Bencic, who won the Abu Dhabi title in 2023, said reaching the final was reward for "working really hard to come back" after the birth of her first child.
"It was definitely not an easy road, and I'm so excited that the results are coming so fast," Bencic said.
"It still doesn't mean that the work is over, so I have a long way to go, but I'm really happy how it's working on the court. I'm really enjoying myself on the court."
Ranked 1,213 in the world four months ago, Bencic is now guaranteed a return to the top 100 following the conclusion of the tournament.
World number 51 Krueger, who has one WTA singles title to her name, reached the final with a straight sets victory over Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.
The 20-year-old beat the world number 39 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.
BROWNSBURG, Ind. Exclusive Autosport is excited to announce the addition of Canadian Mac Clark to the squads USF Pro 2000 driver line-up for the 2025 season.
The upcoming year will be the 20-year-olds fourth season in the IndyCar ladder system of USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire, and his first full campaign at the ladders top level. Clark won the USF Juniors title in 2022 and has scored wins in USF2000 as well.
The Milton, Ontario, Automotive Engineering student will pilot Exclusive Autosports No. 90 Corpay Cross-Border Solutions Tatuus IP-22 with support from Clubine Motorsports, Actuarial Risk Management, and TNG Exotics.
The sole focus of the season will be to bring Exclusive Autosport its second USF Pro 2000 championship and secure Clark the title winners scholarship package to INDY NXT that is valued at $681,500. Off-season testing is under way and each outing has been tremendously valuable as the team looks forward to next season.
I am thrilled to announce that I will be joining Exclusive Autosport for the 2025 USF Pro 2000 season, enthused Clark. As a Canadian driver, its an incredible honor to represent a team with Canadian roots on the grid, and Im proud to showcase our shared passion and talent on such a competitive stage. This is an amazing opportunity, and I am deeply grateful for the support of Mr. Duncalfe and Mr. Cooley.
They have welcomed me into the Exclusive Autosport family, and I am ready to give it my all as we fight for the championship together. I also want to express my heartfelt thanks to my partners Clubine Motorsports, Actuarial Risk Management, and TNG Exotics for their unwavering support as we embark on this exciting new chapter. With the strength of this new partnership, I am more motivated than ever to achieve our goals on and off the track.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. With the opening race weekend of the 2025 season in the books, there have already been significant accolades achieved across four different IMSA-sanctioned championships.
Reflecting on Daytona, we saw so many of our competitors achieve great success through incredible, close on-track competition right up to the finish and saw even more great stories told across our broadcast, digital and social platforms, said IMSA President John Doonan. Its remarkable to see what the IMSA community collectively achieved to kick off the new season of IMSA.
7 Manufacturers Win
Of IMSAs 18 auto manufacturers, seven (Porsche, Ford, Chevrolet, McLaren, Hyundai, Toyota, Mazda) already have a win to kick off the new year. That number increases to 12 (Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Ferrari, BMW) with at least one podium finish in the four series that raced at Daytona.
In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, five of the 11 different manufacturers entered either won or made the podium in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Porsche (Grand Touring Prototype, GTP), Ford (Grand Touring Daytona Pro, GTD PRO) and Chevrolet (Grand Touring Daytona, GTD) won their classes, with each brand placing at least one other car on the podium across classes. Acura (GTP) and Aston Martin (GTD) also made the top three to kick off the year.
BMW narrowly missed a podium, but did score the first GTP pole of the year, while Ford (GTD PRO) and Porsche (GTD) won the other two.
McLaren (Grand Sport, GS) and Hyundai (Touring Car, TCR) scored wins in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge opener, the four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge, with Porsche and Ford (GS) and Audi (TCR) also on podiums.
Porsche (Grand Touring Daytona X, GTDX) and Toyota (Grand Sport X, GSX) won the two manufacturer classes in the pair of 45-minute VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races. Ferrari (GTDX), Ford and BMW (GSX) scored VP Challenge podiums as well.
Close Competition
Each of the four classes in the Rolex 24 had multiple cars on the lead lap with margins of victory under two seconds in three of the four.
The GTP class saw three cars on the lead lap with a 1.335-second margin of victory. In GTD PRO, those numbers were seven on the lead lap and a 1.909-second margin of victory. In GTD, nine finished on the lead lap with a 1.454-second margin of victory. LMP2s revised finishing order produced a closer result, with the margin of victory of 6.716 seconds between the two cars on the lead lap.
Most of the 61 cars had a turn at the front of the field, too, with 47 of 61 cars leading at least one lap. In both GTP and LMP2, 10 of the 12 cars entered led at least one lap. In GTD PRO, 10 of 15 cars led at least one lap there and in GTD, that number increased to 17 of 22 cars.
The competition wasnt limited to being close during the race. It also proved itself during qualifying on Thursday.
The first 15 cars in GTD, comprising eight of the nine manufacturers entered, qualified within 0.958 of a second in the first race with new torque sensors introduced to the field. The ninth GT manufacturer, Ford, showed its pace by sweeping the front row in GTD PRO qualifying as the top six cars in that category covering four manufacturers, were within 0.922 of a second. In GTP, four of the five brands qualified within 0.537 of a second down to sixth place.
Viewership Increases
Per NBC Sports, IMSA coverage across NBC and USA windows and Peacock streaming coverage increased compared to 2024, with Sundays closing segment of the Rolex 24 delivering Peacocks most streamed IMSA event on record.
Sunday coverage across NBC and Peacock averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 899,000 viewers, up 133 percent from the weighted average of 2024 NBC and USA windows, including Peacock and digital simulstreams (385,000 TAD viewers).
The three linear simulstreamed window on NBC (two telecasts) and USA (one) averaged a TAD of 491,000 viewers, up 31 percent from 2024.
Digital Growth
Across IMSAs official YouTube channel and additional social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok), more than 54 million views and nearly four million engagements were achieved in the first month of the season across both organic and collaborative posts.
This covered a mix of unique social and digital content offerings, including original content, an NBC Sports IMSA Season Preview show, five races from three series across the Roar Before the Rolex 24 and Rolex 24 At Daytona weekends, a full field drone photo and video package, the first two IMSA Endurance Hour Podcasts, and the first live race stream of the Rolex 24 on IMSAs YouTube channel for an international audience.
By the end of the race, the Rolex 24 broadcast on YouTube accumulated 2,930,130 Total Live Views, and the number surpassed the 3 million mark with Video On Demand (VOD) content added in. The Rolex 24 also achieved 131,520 Peak Concurrent viewers. The level of views and engagement, as IMSA chatted during the race with fans, resulted in 133,000 Chat Messages. These records smashed previous high-water marks of 505,000 Total Live Views and 22,000 Peak Concurrent viewers achieved at Sebring 2024 when YouTube live programming was first launched.
OCALA, Fla. Jonathan Davenport has won consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Series features and hes setting records left and right.
The Georgia late model ace won his 85th feature in the series on Thursday night at Ocala Speedway and picked up his 20th Speedweek triumph, which tied him for seventh on the all-time list of Speedweek winners with Jack Boggs.
Thats awesome. I would have never thought that I would be on any kind of history list or anything like that, no less with huge names like that, said the three-time Lucas late model champion. It just shows that Im getting old. We have definitely had some good runs down here during Speedweeks. I didnt always come down here. I kind of bounced around a little bit. But every since we started following the tour, obviously, weve come down.
It was also his fifth triumph at Ocala Speedway.
This is fun. I always liked this place, Davenport said. This is our fifth win here. I enjoy a place where you have to maneuver around and drive instead of just having a car that is perfect.
Davenport has two wins, four runner-up finishes and a third-place effort in seven Lucas series races this season.
He goes for three in a row tonight at Ocala.
PSV Eindhoven on Friday said United States men's national team striker Ricardo Pepi is likely out for rest of season after undergoing meniscus surgery in the United States following a knee injury sustained in January during a Champions League match against Liverpool.
Pepi scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 3-2 victory over Liverpool, a result that guaranteed PSV finished in the top 16 of the league phase, but he was forced to exit the match in the 76th minute after being treated for the knee injury.
Pepi confirmed the surgery via his Instagram account earlier this week: "Surgery went well everyone! Thank you so much for the warm messages and keeping me in your thoughts. Couldn't be happier to sign my new contract until 2030 with PSV. We have so much to accomplish together. Love you guys "
Sources told ESPN last week that he would miss one to three months. However, on Friday a source with knowledge of Pepi's injury said that surgery was needed to repair the torn meniscus, and that the player will likely be sidelined for thee months, "give or take a few weeks."
The Eredivisie season ends on May 18.
PSV coach Peter Bosz said Friday on the team's social media: "We assume that Ricardo Pepi will be out for the rest of the season."
U.S. men's national team sources have not commented on how the loss will affect the team, which has a Concacaf Nations League semifinal against Panama scheduled for March 20 and a possible final three days later.
The injury comes at an especially inopportune time for Pepi. Last week, he signed a contract extension that will keep him at the Eredivisie club until the summer of 2030.
The El Paso, Texas native has excelled with PSV this season with 18 goals in 25 league and cup appearances, though that has often been in a substitute's role in support of usual starter Luuk de Jong.
Pepi was also the subject of a $25 million transfer bid by Premier League side West Ham United, though that was rejected by PSV.
Pepi has been in excellent form at international level as well, scoring in both legs of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal matchup against Jamaica.
Pepi's injury leaves U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino with the challenge of looking for a replacement ahead of the Nations League. He has 13 goals in 33 games for the USMNT, where he has been a regular fixture ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
On Friday, PSV technical director Ernie Stewart told ESPN that the team evaluated adding another striker.
"Pepi's injury created a situation you have to respond to but that has not been possible yet," he said. "Bringing in a new player at forward is on our agenda, but not a must. If we decide to, it must be a good fit for the team. We are considering it."
Two goals from Jhon Durán on his Al Nassr debut and another from Cristiano Ronaldo helped the side to a 3-0 win over Al Feiha in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
Durán took just 22 minutes to open his account for the club after joining from Aston Villa before January's transfer deadline, striking home from inside the six-yard box.
He netted again in the second-half, converting a Sadio Mané cross. Ronaldo added Al Nassr's third, himself scoring from a cross just two minutes later.
The result moves Al Nassr up to third in the Saudi Pro League, eight points behind leaders Al Ittihad.
Middlesex recover 100,000 of missing funds but former CEO avoids criminal charges
Middlesex CCC has confirmed that it has recovered 100,000 that was incorrectly paid to the club's former CEO Richard Goatley prior to his resignation in 2021, but has offered no comment to the news that Goatley will not be facing criminal charges after the Metropolitan police deemed there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
The dispute between the club and Goatley has been an ugly and protracted one, and reached a head in May 2024 when Middlesex reported him to the police, alleging that about 70,000 in unauthorised expenses had been paid into his personal bank account.
In return, Goatley went to the high court to lodge a personal injury claim, accusing Middlesex of pursuing a harassment campaign against him. In April 2021, he had suffered a stroke during a committee meeting at Lord's, and was subsequently forced to resign due to ill health. The club denies any wrongdoing.
Middlesex went on to record a loss of 952,000 in 2021, with their net assets shrinking from approx 2 million to 179,000 - thanks in part to the club's pensions contributions being wrongly paid for 12 months, which caused a further 350,000 deficit in their books. In 2023, the club was placed into "special measures" by the ECB, having been fined 50,000 for financial irregularities and handed a suspended points deduction.
In a statement, a Met police spokesperson acknowledged that Middlesex had made allegations of fraud against Goatley, adding that the "nature of the alleged offences were complex and required careful "consideration".
"After a thorough and detailed assessment, officers decided on Wednesday 29 January that no criminal offences could be identified," the spokesperson continued. "The case will be reopened should further investigative opportunities become available."
In a statement, Goatley said he had always maintained his innocence, adding that the police's finding were "welcome" and came as "no surprise". He confirmed that he will be continuing his civil claim against Middlesex.
Responding to the developments, Middlesex said it was pleased to confirm the recovery of the missing funds after a "lengthy and challenging process", adding that they comprised 57,000 of unauthorised cheques paid into Goatley's bank account and a further 43,000 of ineligible payments made into his pension fund.
"We are grateful to the bank and insurance company involved in ensuring that these payments were refunded to the club," the statement continued. "We have no comment to make on the decision that the Metropolitan Police have reached and their reasoning for doing so."
Cards owner accused of verbal abuse in lawsuit
TEMPE, Ariz. -- A former assistant to Michael Bidwill is suing the Arizona Cardinals owner, alleging that he "unmercifully harassed" her in an effort to get her to leave the team.
Brittany Neuheisel, who was Bidwill's assistant from 2019 until she resigned last week, is suing on claims of constructive discharge, wrongful discharge, discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The 11-page complaint was filed Thursday in the Superior Court of Maricopa County.
According to the complaint, Bidwill was demeaning to Neuheisel and would verbally abuse her "almost every day." Neuheisel left the Cardinals nine days ago and walked out crying after, her attorney, Mike Caspino, told ESPN, "Bidwill screamed at her for over a half hour."
Among the many allegations in the lawsuit, Neuheisel says Bidwill demanded that she disavow her children and grandchildren and that he told Neuheisel that her relationships were "affecting her work performance."
Neuheisel says Bidwill asked her to make multiple false claims, including shipping a firearm through FedEx to an acquaintance. Neuheisel says she told Bidwill of the restrictions on shipping firearms but that Bidwill allegedly told Neuheisel "to proceed with the shipment." Bidwill also allegedly asked Neuheisel to "provide false information" on federal and international forms that were related to his travel by private plane, according to the lawsuit. When Neuheisel objected, Bidwill would allegedly tell Neuheisel, a practicing Catholic, "Do it and then go to confession."
The lawsuit says Bidwill wanted to replace Neuheisel, a 54-year-old Navy veteran, with someone who was "young, beautiful and athletic." After the Cardinals hired a woman who fit those descriptions, the lawsuit alleges that Neuheisel's role was diminished and that duties she typically had done were taken over by the new hire.
The Cardinals disputed Neuheisel's claims.
"Earlier this week, the Cardinals received an email from a California-based plaintiff's lawyer," a team spokesman said in a statement. "In it, he threatened to file a lawsuit unless the team agreed to his demand for a substantial amount of money by 5:00PM the next day. The team refused and the lawyer has now filed the Complaint.
"The Cardinals were surprised by and strongly deny the allegations made in this lawsuit and intend to defend the case on its merits in the appropriate forum. As this is now pending litigation, the team will refrain from further comment."
Caspino responded to the Cardinals' statement, saying his request was part of the process.
"We always engage in pre-litigation settlement discussions," Caspino told ESPN. "In fact, judges expect us to do so. This is the practice of all competent lawyers. In the case of Ms. Neuheisel, our settlement efforts were rebuffed by Bidwill and the Cardinals."
The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial with a goal of damages, which were not specified.
ESPN investigated the Cardinals' workplace culture under Bidwill in 2023 after it came under scrutiny following accusations made by Terry McDonough, the team's former vice president of player personnel, who filed an arbitration complaint that accused the Cardinals and Bidwill of gross misconduct, including discrimination and harassment, among other allegations.
In April, the Cardinals were ordered by an NFL arbitrator to pay McDonough $3 million for "false and defamatory" statements the team made about him to the media.
Days later, McDonough's wife and daughter filed a lawsuit for defamation, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the Cardinals, Bidwill and others connected to the team.
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