PHOENIX -- Christian Yelich is staying quiet when it comes to his contract situation with the Milwaukee Brewers.

While Yelich is brushing off questions about his new deal, his teammates are all-too-happy to sing his praises.

The 28-year-old is on the brink of a multiyear contract that could keep him in Milwaukee for the rest of his career, sources confirmed to ESPN. The team said the 2018 NL MVP wouldn't answer questions about the negotiations on Wednesday, and the organization also declined comment.

Yelich is guaranteed $27.75 million in the remainder of his current deal: $12.5 million this year, $14 million in 2021 and a $1.25 million buyout of a 2022 team option for $16 million. Sources say his new deal would add seven years and increase the total value to approximately $215 million.

"He definitely deserves it,'' Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. "The guy's definitely the best player on our team. He rakes. Like I said, he got a deserving contract for sure.''

Milwaukee obtained Yelich and Cain on the same January day in 2018. Yelich was acquired in a trade with Miami, and Cain agreed to an $80 million, five-year contract as a free agent.

The silky smooth Yelich turned into one of the game's most feared sluggers in Milwaukee. He led the NL with a .326 batting average, .598 slugging percentage and 1.000 OPS while helping the Brewers make it to the NL Championship Series in his first year with the team. He hit 44 homers and won another NL batting title with a career-high .329 average last season.

"Christian in his first two years here, you know he has done incredible things,'' manager Craig Counsell said, "and I think he's taken this challenge, and took a trade that was probably to a place that he wasn't sure about at the outset of it and made the best of it and found a place that he really likes to play.''

Yelich was building a case for a second straight MVP award before he broke his right kneecap on Sept. 10, sidelining the outfielder for the rest of the year. He finished second to Los Angeles' Cody Bellinger in the MVP balloting, and the Brewers were eliminated by Washington in the wild-card game.

"Since I've been here and Yeli's been here, I mean he's been the best player I've ever seen," All-Star reliever Josh Hader said. "The way he goes about his business, he does everything the right way and it's just fun to be around him. For him to be here, lifelong Brewer, that's exciting news.''

The new contract for Yelich comes after the Brewers shed nearly $30 million from their payroll after they reached a team-record $132.6 million last year. Catcher Yasmani Grandal signed with the Chicago White Sox in free agency, and infielder Mike Moustakas left for the Cincinnati Reds.

Yelich's deal shows "he believes in our culture, he believes in the guys around him, he believes in the front office and he loves playing here, he loves the fans,'' Brewers pitcher Brent Suter said.

Suter said he stood up, gave some fist bumps and jumped around a little bit when he saw the news.

"He's the face of our franchise. He's our guy,'' he said. "So to see him locked in for nine years is incredible. Very happy day.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Boston Red Sox starter Chris Sale is not expected to undergo Tommy John surgery, a source confirmed to ESPN's Buster Olney on Wednesday.

Sale's elbow injury is still a concern, and it's unknown for how long the left-hander will be sidelined, but the surgery would have ended his season before it began.

Elbow inflammation forced Sale to be shut down in August, during the Red Sox's 84-78 season. He finished 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA. His five-year, $145 million extension starts this season for Boston.

The Athletic first reported that Sale is not expected to have Tommy John surgery.

As the Red Sox pondered Sale's future, they gathered several medical opinions. Interim manager Ron Roenicke told reporters earlier Wednesday that the team was still waiting to hear from renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

Roenicke stressed that the Red Sox needed "to get this right" before determining how to proceed with Sale.

ElAttrache was the third medical expert to review the MRI on Sale's left elbow, along with surgeon Dr. James Andrews and the Red Sox's medical staff.

"We want as many opinions as we can," Roenicke said. "Dr. Andrews saw it and read the MRI. I don't want to comment on it until we get one more opinion."

Sale saw Andrews this past August after the seven-time All-Star was shut down. Sale had a platelet-rich plasma injection at the time but avoided surgery.

Sale, who turns 31 on March 30, threw to batters Sunday for the first time since August and told the team of the soreness in his elbow Monday.

The Red Sox had already said that Sale would start the season on the injured list after he reported to camp with pneumonia.

The Red Sox signed Sale to the contract extension last March. The new deal starts this season and runs through the 2024 season. Sale will earn $30 million per year from 2020 to 2022 and $27.5 million in 2023 and 2024.

Federal authorities on Wednesday charged a 23-year-old sports bettor known as "Parlay Patz" with transmitting threats of violence directed at professional and collegiate athletes and their friends and families.

According to the criminal complaint, Benjamin Tucker Patz of New York, New York, used multiple anonymous accounts on social media in 2019 to make threats against athletes, including members of the New England Patriots, several Major League Baseball teams and multiple college basketball and football players. Some of the threats contained derogatory terms and racial slurs.

Patz is charged with transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in federal prison. Patz did not immediately respond to phone and email messages from ESPN.

On March 9, 2019, Patz allegedly sent four Instagram direct messages to an unidentified college basketball player for Pepperdine University, stating, "Your throat will be severed open with a dull knife," "Your entire family will be beheaded and burned alive," "I will enter your home as you sleep and kill you" and "Watch your back, you're a dead man walking."

In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent Daniel Nowak said the Instagram account behind the threats to the Pepperdine player was registered with an email address linked to Patz. The criminal complaint identifies similar threats made on Instagram against a college basketball player for the University of Arizona, players for the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays, and the girlfriend of an Atlanta Braves player.

The complaint claims that approximately 18 messages were sent from the Instagram account @parlaypatz to college and professional football and basketball players. More than 300 more threatening messages were directed at players from anonymous accounts that authorities believe are linked to Patz.

"Your worthlessness costed me over 100,000$ tonight! Sad!" a Dec. 22, 2019, message from @parlaypatz to a college basketball player for the University of Arizona said. Arizona lost to St. John's 70-67 the previous night.

Citing betting records from bookmaker William Hill, investigators allege that Patz placed a parlay wager on July 25, 2019, on the Cleveland Indians, four other MLB teams and a professional tennis player. Roughly 45 minutes before the Indians played the Kansas City Royals, a Royals player received two direct messages on Instagram, stating, "I will cut open the throat of your baby" and "You will die."

On Feb. 3, 2019, according to the complaint, Patz posted a screenshot of a $10,000 bet on the Los Angeles Rams against the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. On the same day, the complaint states that multiple players for the Patriots received direct messages on Instagram threatening to "rape" and "murder" family members.

"His substantial and persistent online sports wagering suggests that Patz may have threatened athletes who played in games on which he had unsuccessfully wagered and lost money," Nowak said in his affidavit, "or that he may have tried to influence the outcome of upcoming sports events on which he had wagered."

Patz gained notoriety in the sports betting community and was profiled in the media after he reportedly won multiple high-dollar parlay bets, leading to the "Parlay Patz" nickname. His @parlaypatz Instagram account was still up Wednesday, including posts about winning more than $333,000 on 13-team parlay in November.

Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion tested positive for prohibited substance EPO

Bahrain’s Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Ruth Jebet has been banned for four years, the Athletics Integrity Unit has announced.

The 23-year-old, who is also the former women’s world 3000m steeplechase record-holder, tested positive for the blood-booster EPO in an out-of-competition sample taken on December 1, 2017.

Jebet denied intentionally taking the substance, so the case was referred to a disciplinary tribunal, which ruled that she should be handed a four-year ban and lose her results from the date the sample was taken through to February 4, 2018.

Having been provisionally suspended from February 4, 2018, Jebet’s four-year ban will backdated to that date.

The full disciplinary tribunal decision document can be found here and Jebet has the right to appeal the decision.

The Kenyan-born steeplechaser won her Olympic title after she clocked 8:59.75 to finish ahead of Kenya’s Hyvin Jepkemoi and Emma Coburn of the USA in Rio. Later that month, Jebet ran 8:52.78 to break the world record in Paris, whereas in 2014 she had won the world junior title in Oregon.

READ MORE: Athletics Integrity Unit reveals more than 100 athletes face doping disciplinary proceedings

Other recent announcements from the Athletics Integrity Unit include the provisional suspension against Ukrainian 800m runner Natalіia Krol (née Pryshchepa), after the 2016 and 2018 European champion tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, which is often used as a masking agent.

All sport in Italy, including England's men's and women's Six Nations matches and all Serie A games, will be played behind closed doors until 3 April in an effort to contain coronavirus, the government has said.

Italy is the worst-hit European country with some 3,090 cases and 107 deaths.

The Italian Cup semi-finals between Juventus and AC Milan and Napoli and Inter Milan were postponed this week.

The government decree was made on Wednesday evening.

England men's and women's sides play Italy in the Six Nations on 14 and 15 March.

The issue will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday by the Six Nations organisers and the individual countries - and the matches in Italy could be postponed rather than being played behind closed doors.

The decree, announced by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, affects all areas of the country, including those places were the virus has not been found.

It also states that sporting clubs and organisations are responsible for checking their players and staff for coronavirus.

A government statement read: "There will be no sporting events with the presence of the public in order to prevent further contagion opportunities."The government's decree reads: "Sports events and competitions of all kinds and disciplines, held in every place, both public and private, are suspended; however it is permitted to carry out the aforementioned events and competitions behind closed doors, or outdoors without the presence of the public.

"In all such cases, the associations and sports clubs, by means of their medical staff, are required to carry out the appropriate checks to contain the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus among athletes, technicians, managers and all accompanying persons who participate."

Juventus are also scheduled to play Lyon on 17 March in Turin in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Last Thursday, Inter Milan's Europa League victory over Ludogorets was played behind closed doors at San Siro Stadium.

And last week Ireland's men's and women's Six Nations games against Italy in Dublin on 7 and 8 March were postponed because of coronavirus.

The Premier League has written to clubs to emphasise the importance of hygiene during to current coronavirus outbreak.

A number of clubs, including Wolves and West Ham, have advised players not to pose for selfies and sign autographs until the situation changes.

DUQUOIN, Ill. – The latest batch of cars competing in Saturday’s Shamrock Classic has pushed the entry list to 40 for the fifth annual NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series event at the Southern Illinois Center.

Among the latest group are Shamrock Classic veterans Thomas Chandler, Mark Chisholm, Jake Neuman, David Budres, Robert Bell and Tyler Robbins, as well as newcomer Sean Robbins.

Reigning Shamrock victor Cannon McIntosh will compete as one of four entries from the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team, alongside five-time series winner Zeb Wise and standout rookie-of-the-year contenders Buddy Kofoid and Daison Pursley.

Justin Grant, the 2017 Shamrock winner, will pilot a car for RAMS Racing. He captured victory one year ago with the Rick Young-owned operation during the Indiana Midget Week round at Gas City I-69 Speedway.

Reigning series champion Tyler Courtney, a seventh-place finisher in last year’s event after starting 21st, is entered.

Courtney is also a past victor in USAC midget competition at the sixth-mile indoor dirt oval, capturing the non-points special event Junior Knepper 55 in December of 2016.

Hayward Motorsports will field drivers Tanner Thorson and Gage Rucker. Thorson, the 2016 USAC National Midget champion, was victorious in the USAC season opener at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., in early February.

Chris Windom leads the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series standings entering the event following a victory on the second night of the Winter Dirt Games in Ocala.

The 2016 USAC Silver Crown and 2017 National Sprint Car champion was ninth in his first career Shamrock Classic start a year ago.

Petry Motorsports has filed Shamrock Classic entries for Kevin Thomas Jr., who scored the team’s first two triumphs with the series last year at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and Arizona Speedway, and 2017 USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year Tanner Carrick.

Brady Bacon, the 2014 and 2016 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion, is undefeated thus far in USAC national features in 2020, sweeping both nights of an AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series doubleheader at Bubba Raceway Park in in mid-February.

Bacon is one of just two drivers to have started in the feature event of all four previous editions of the Shamrock Classic, with fourth place finishes in both 2016 and 2017 serving as his best. He also took 14th in 2018 and 18th in his most recent start in 2019.

Oklahoma’s Tyler Thomas, a winner in both AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car and NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition during his career, will drive his familiar No. 91T, entered by Brian Thomas.

Among the other early Shamrock Classic midget entries is reigning NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year Andrew Layser, who comes into the event off his best series result of third in Ocala. He finished eighth in his Shamrock debut in 2019.

Tyler Nelson, a USAC regional midget winner at Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway in 2019 and a Shamrock Classic starter in 2018, is entered as well.

He will be joined by last year’s USAC Western States Midget titlist Robert Dalby, five-time USAC Western States Midget champion Ronnie Gardner and 2017 USAC Gulf Coast Midget champ Kyle Jones, all of whom are vying for their first Shamrock Classic starts.

To view the complete entry list, advance to the next page.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has made no secret of his desire to eventually strap in to an NTT IndyCar Series car.

In the near future, he’ll have an opportunity to do just that.

Johnson confirmed on Twitter Wednesday afternoon that he’ll be testing an Arrow McLaren SP Indy car next month at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. The NTT IndyCar Series races the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the 2.38-mile, 16-turn course on April 5.

Arrow McLaren SP utilizes Chevrolet engines in its two cars, lending to a natural crossover opportunity, considering Johnson drives for Chevrolet flagship team Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The Zak Brown, Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson-led operation is fielding young guns Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew full time in the NTT IndyCar Series this year.

Johnson broke the news of his test opportunity in a pair of posts on Twitter, complete with photos of a Dallara DW12 in the Arrow McLaren SP shop in Indianapolis.

So much for a roomy interior. pic.twitter.com/WOjbVMsZCu

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 4, 2020

It means my friends at @arrowmclarensp offered to let me jump in a car and test with them next month at @barbermotorpark ? https://t.co/ptBpbYFoPy

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 4, 2020

Johnson has a close friendship with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. The duo most recently met up during IndyCar Spring Training at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where Johnson was able to spectate during the test thanks to an invitation from McLaren.

During his Spring Training visit, Johnson presented one of his NASCAR helmets to Brown.

Johnson’s ties to McLaren go back even deeper than that, however. He tested a McLaren Formula One car in 2018 at Bahrain Int’l Circuit as part of a ride swap with two-time F-1 champion Fernando Alonso, who was then a driver for McLaren’s F-1 program.

While Johnson has said fans likely won’t see him in the Indianapolis 500 after he retires from full-time NASCAR Cup Series action, he said during Daytona 500 Media Day in February that road course racing was certainly an option when it came to Indy car racing.

“It’s a box I want to check and where my head is. IndyCar is an option and sports cars are an option,” Johnson said. “I have finished second in the Rolex 24 twice and I would like to try that again. I would like to stand on the top box there. Le Mans is on my wish-list. Off road, I would like to run the Mint 400 again or the Parker 400; some of those courses I really enjoyed.

“But IndyCar, I think the windscreen on the Indy car certainly creates a huge upgrade in safety for those cars. I don’t want to say that an oval would be completely out of the question; the right oval would be important,” Johnson noted. “But I want to do some road course racing. After driving that F-1 car a couple Novembers ago, it just blew my mind what that experience was like.

“I’m really open to the point of checking boxes. That’s what 2021 will be all about for me.”

ROSEVILLE, Calif. – Canales Racing and Colby Copeland will launch an assault on both the King of the West/NARC Sprint Car Series and Sprint Car Challenge Tour titles this season.

In addition, Copeland and car owners Tracy and Vicki Canales have welcomed several new partners to the team.

Jeff Wolsleben with Econo Lube N’ Tune & Brakes, Ed Gerber with Eagle Companies Inc., Vince Harris with GEICO, Scott Lynch with American River Overhead Door Inc., FVP and NOS Energy Drink have all partnered with Canales Racing for the new racing season.

“We are thrilled to welcome a number of great companies to our team this year,” said Tracy Canales. “We also look forward to having Colby Copeland back behind the wheel once again with our son Trevor spinning the wrenches. As a team, this will certainly be our biggest year to date, with a healthy mix of winged 410 and winged 360 sprint car racing throughout the state, along with a trip to Knoxville planned in August.

“We’re truly thankful to have the support from our new and returning companies this season.”

As noted, Copeland and the No. 5c team are set to compete for the title with both the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series and the Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Elk Grove Ford and Abreu Vineyards.

The combination will also race in several other selected events this year.

In addition to Copeland’s schedule, Trent Canales will also continue to race for the family-owned team and compete in select winged 360 events during the season.

Last year saw Copeland and Canales Racing bring home a sixth-place finish in the Sprint Car Challenge Tour standings, making the trip to 10 of the 12 events.

The soon-to-be 28-year-old racer started out this season by earning a runner up finish during his preliminary night at the Chili Bowl Nationals, locking him into his third career Saturday night finale at the event.

Copeland also picked off a King of the West-NARC victory last season at Petaluma (Calif.) Speedway in June.

“I’m really excited to have Econo Lube N’ Tune & Brakes, Eagle Companies Inc. and all of our new partners make it possible to run full-time with KWS-NARC and SCCT this season,” said Copeland. “We have a great schedule put together with Canales Racing in 2020 and hope to start off solid right out of box.

“I also want to thank Tracy and Vicki Canales for the opportunity to pilot the (No.) 5c once again this year.”

COLUMBUS, Ind. – Fourteen-year-old Jonathan Shafer has become the latest young gun to join the growing midget roster at Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Racing this season.

Shafer, from Ashland, Ohio, will run a limited schedule of roughly 10 races with the Toyota-backed midget team. After starting in micro sprints, this year will mark Shafer’s first foray into midget racing.

“I’m really, really excited and can’t thank Keith (Kunz), Pete (Willoughby) and Toyota Racing Development enough for giving me such a great opportunity,” Shafer told Sprint Car & Midget. “Anyone who knows about midget racing knows Keith’s name, and in my eyes, they’re the best midget team out there. To be able to work with them is huge for me and I can’t wait to get started with them.”

“I love it anytime that we can bring a new young kid onto the scene,” added Kunz. “Jonathan is only 14 years old, so that really gives us a great opportunity to mold him into a driver as we work on the learning curve he faces, with not having really any midget experience. His background in the late models is impressive, so I’m excited to get him into a car this summer and see what he can do.”

Shafer will debut with KKM on May 22 at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., with the POWRi National Midget League.

In all, the Buckeye State teenager will compete at Belle-Clair, Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway, Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway, Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., and Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway in POWRi action.

He’ll also make USAC Midwest Regional Midget appearances at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway and Paragon (Ind.) Speedway as well.

It’s a diverse schedule that Shafer admitted he couldn’t have pictured when discussions began between his family and the KKM squad in January around the Tulsa Shootout in Tulsa, Okla.

“My dad (former NASCAR Truck Series part-timer Todd Shafer) actually started talking to Keith at the Tulsa Shootout about me running a midget with them … and it was about two weeks later that I got to go up to his shop in Indiana and we really sat down and started looking at what some of those races would look like,” the younger Shafer recalled. “Keith showed me around the shop and how they work on the cars and everything, and I was blown away. It was so methodical in how they go about everything.

“They put the time in and the effort in, and you can see that with everything they do,” Shafer continued. “That’s the kind of team a driver wants to be a part of and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

Shafer noted that he’s already spent time on the iRacing motorsport simulation service in order to prepare for some of the things he might face when he gets to his first race with KKM in May.

“Me and my micro buddies, we’ve been on iRacing running the midgets a lot, just to try and get a good grip on them,” Shafer said. “It’s pretty realistic and I feel that it does help you a lot. I don’t know that I know entirely what to expect, but I feel like I have a little bit of an idea and as a young driver, that’s really all you can ask for.”

As he prepares to take the next step and compete in the national spotlight, Shafer admitted he was still absorbing just how quickly he’s reached the point in his career that he sits at going into 2020.

“Man, not even just a few years ago, I was in a quarter midget and an outlaw kart … and two years later I’m running late models and getting to suit up with the best team in midget racing. It’s unbelievable,” Shafer sounded. “I’m so grateful to all the supporters and partners who have helped me get to this point and believed in what I can do in racing.

“We’re going to learn a lot this summer, but we’re going to have a lot of fun along the way, too.”

ORLANDO, Fla. – Adam Scott has had a temperamental relationship with the World Golf Championship events over his lengthy career, which makes him a good source for how their perception on Tour has changed over time.

Scott was still a few years away from turning pro when the WGCs began in 1999, but he has seen them evolve and shift in the years since. It’s a big reason why he skipped the WGC-Mexico Championship in 2018 and '19, and why his return to the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play later this month will be his first appearance since 2016.

What some view as can’t-miss events, Scott perceives as optional – and he’s not alone in that sentiment, given that eight players skipped Mexico City last month. According to Scott, the Tour’s more global reach and feel is a significant factor.

“There are many factors that are different than 20 years ago when (the WGCs) started,” Scott said. “The PGA Tour had far less international events 20 years ago, they have a lot more now. It was much harder to get the world’s top players together. Most of the world’s top players play on the PGA Tour as PGA Tour members now.”

Scott is one of the headliners this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which boasts one of the two strongest fields this year outside the WGCs. The other, the Genesis Invitational, was one that Scott went on to win.

Scott noted that the lines have begun to blur between elevated-status events like Bay Hill and Riviera and WGCs among the Tour’s top tier, especially with the recent addition of no-cut events in Asia each fall. He also believes that there have been “some levels of compromise” among the WGCs, specifically with recent changes to venues, dates and format.

But with players often relying on their scheduling flexibility and passing up some WGC starts with guaranteed money, Scott believes it all boils down to dollars and cents.

“They were significantly more money; now everything is a lot of money,” he said. “I don’t think they are doing the same as what they did 15 or 20 years ago, that’s for sure.”