Many of those backs are going to get paid. The 2017 class becomes eligible for extensions for the first time this offseason, but it's a strange time to be a running back. Running back salaries were grossly depressed before a recent run, but in 2019, virtually every back on a significant long-term contract has struggled to reproduce his prior form. Contracts few would have argued with at the time they were signed are now underwater. Backs who looked like stars have turned into ordinary, replacement-level runners.
I find this juxtaposition interesting. It's easy to talk about not paying running backs in the abstract, but just about every team knows it can probably get away with shuffling players in at the position, and many still hand out multiyear deals to veterans anyway. A draft class full of successful backs in the mid-to-late rounds is about to ask for a lot more money. Teams that have witnessed expensive backs fail in 2019 are going to have to decide whether they're going to rely on academic principles or fall in love with their guy as the exception to the rule.
Let's look at the backs who are playing on contracts worth more than $15 million and see what has happened to them, both over the course of their current deal and specifically in 2019. Then, I'll get to the backs from 2017, project what their teams will do, and try to give some insight into what each organization with a 2017 draftee should do with their existing starter. Naturally, let's start with the most expensive running back in football.
I covered Zeke's season in my column on Monday, when I noted how he has created far fewer big plays and hasn't been as efficient in 2019. The arguments that Dak Prescott needed an effective Elliott to move the ball as a passer weren't supported by past evidence and look downright foolish now.
Elliott isn't holding the Cowboys back by any means, but they have actually been slightly more efficient on offense with backup Tony Pollard on the field than him. Elliott has been on the field far more frequently, but the offense has generated 0.21 points of additional expected points per play with Pollard on the field and 0.17 points with Elliott in the lineup.
That doesn't sound like much, but over the course of a full game's worth of snaps, it factors out to about 2.6 points for the Cowboys. That stat doesn't tell the whole story, but the most expensive back in football should look more productive than a rookie fourth-rounder who will make $3.2 million over the next four years. (Elliott, by comparison, is penciled in for just over $50 million over that same time frame.)
Gurley's enormous volume as a runner and receiver and gaudy touchdown totals made him a fantasy darling and an MVP candidate during 2017 and the first half of the 2018 season. He seemed like the most important part of the Rams' offense, which is why it was no surprise when Los Angeles signed him to a massive extension after his third season. If any player was an argument against the idea that teams could just plug any running back into a scheme and succeed, it was Gurley.
Well, when he got hurt in November 2018, the Rams signed C.J. Anderson off the street and saw the burly former Broncos starter play just as well for the minimum as Gurley had. After Gurley returned, the Rams used Anderson as the focal point of their timeshare during the playoffs. With the offensive line struggling and Gurley dealing with a long-term knee issue, his role in the offense has been reduced, and he has been far less efficient. After nine games last season, Gurley was averaging 4.8 yards per carry, 136.7 yards from scrimmage per game, and had 16 touchdowns. In 2019, he's averaging 4.1 yards per carry, 71.3 yards from scrimmage per game, and has eight touchdowns.
The famous phrase surrounding Bell was that the Steelers wanted to "pay the position, not the player." The implication, of course, is that Bell transcends the running back position. While he attracted a ton of volume as a receiver in Pittsburgh, the argument that he deserved to be paid like a combo of a running back and wide receiver didn't stand serious scrutiny. The Steelers did just fine at running back without Bell in 2018.
Bell's stint in New York has been a disaster. Surrounded by a dismal offensive line and with a coach who might not want him altogether, the three-time Pro Bowler has averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and has yet to top 70 rushing or receiving yards in a game. His longest play of the season has gone for only 21 yards, and while he was incredibly efficient in Pittsburgh, Bell ranks dead last in DVOA and 28th in success rate, which measures how frequently a back keeps his offense on schedule. DVOA doesn't tell the whole story for running backs, but Bell hasn't remotely moved the needle in his first season in the Big Apple.
Freeman spent 2015-16 as the primary back in a Kyle Shanahan offense, which is a license to print money. After racking up 3,175 yards from scrimmage and 31 touchdowns during those two seasons, the Falcons locked him up by giving him $17.3 million in guarantees and just over $22 million in 2017-19.
Over that time frame, Freeman has totaled 1,926 yards from scrimmage, with 11 touchdowns and seven fumbles. After a lost 2018 season, he was averaging 3.5 yards per carry this season before going down because of a foot injury. He already has missed 17 games over the past three seasons and might miss Sunday's game with the Bucs. The 27-year-old will almost surely be a cap casualty for the Falcons this offseason.
The Cardinals guessed wrong. After a brilliant 2016 season in which I thought Johnson should have been an MVP candidate, the Northern Iowa product suited up for only 46 snaps in 2017 before going down because of a season-ending wrist injury. With Johnson entering the final year of his rookie deal in 2018, the cap-strapped Cardinals responded to the Todd Gurley deal by signing Johnson to a three-year extension with $24.7 million in guarantees, despite the fact that he had really been a productive starter for only one year at the pro level.
It hasn't gone well. Johnson racked up 2,118 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns in 2016. He has produced 2,011 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns in 2018-19, but that has come over 24 games and required 48 more touches. He has averaged just 3.7 yards per carry and lost his starting job to Kenyan Drake, who only arrived two weeks ago. Disconcertingly, the Cardinals will owe $10.2 million in guaranteed money to Johnson for 2020, which will trigger an additional $2.1 million in guarantees for 2021.
The undeniably gifted Barkley is on a fully guaranteed deal after being taken with the second overall pick by the Giants in 2018. While he has shouldered a huge workload amid dismal quarterback play from Eli Manning and Daniel Jones, he hasn't been able to single-handedly propel the offense forward. Barkley has been the ultimate boom-or-bust back, ranking 41st out of 47 backs in success rate in 2018 and last out of 35 qualifying backs this season.
In 2018, Barkley had seven runs of 40-plus yards on 261 runs. While slowed by a high ankle sprain this season, he has only one in 101 carries. If you need to break 40-plus yard runs once every other week to create value, the track record of guys in the NFL who have been able to pull that off for an entire career is mostly just Barry Sanders, and that's in part because he was able to stay healthy.
The Giants and hog-molly enthusiast Dave Gettleman passed on Quenton Nelson to draft Barkley, and Nelson is arguably the best interior lineman in football. They passed on Lamar Jackson, and Jackson is the most valuable runner in the league. The Giants ranked 16th in rush offense DVOA last season and are 20th this season. Barkley is an incredible athlete and has little to work with, but that doesn't mean he was the right pick.
A bizarre signing when it went down in 2018, McKinnon will end up collecting $16 million without ever taking a regular-season snap in a 49ers uniform after tearing his ACL during workouts in 2018 and aggravating the injury this summer. The 49ers have done just fine with Tevin Coleman and a trio of undrafted backs in Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson this season.
By virtue of being drafted with the fourth overall pick, Fournette ended up with one of the largest running back contracts in football when he was signed. The Jaguars drafted him after throwing asset after asset at running back and hoped to solve their problem for good. In the process, they passed on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. That alone makes the Fournette pick a disastrous example of opportunity cost. As you'll see, he might be the 10th-best runner in his own draft class.
Fournette was drafted as an Adrian Petersonclone, a runner who was supposed to win between the tackles, overpower defenders and keep the chains moving. He hasn't done that on a consistent basis. Fournette ranks 33rd out of 35 backs in success rate this season. That's actually worse than he performed in 2017 and 2018, when he ranked 26th out of 47 qualifying backs in each season. His yards per carry have spiked from 3.7 in 2017-18 to 4.6 this season, but that's a product of four long runs in which he broke a total of three tackles. Those runs matter, but given Fournette's previous track record, they're not likely to be a sustainable path to success.
Miller has missed all of 2019 because of torn ACL and MCL, which obviously has made this season a waste for the Texans. This was the final year of the deal he signed in free agency, and while he made the Pro Bowl in 2018, he played only one full 16-game season in his four years in Houston.
Miller was about as efficient for the Texans as he was in Miami, converting 38.4% of his runs into added expected points for the Texans after hitting on 39.8% of his runs in Miami, but the big plays mostly vanished. He generated seven plays of 35 yards or more on 755 touches with the Dolphins. He had only three such plays on 808 touches with the Texans, with one 97-yard run as an outlier.
The Texans essentially paid Miller to be one of the best backs in football and got league-average play before getting nothing in 2019. Teams make worse mistakes, and I sympathize with Miller playing behind a porous offensive line for much of that time, but it's also hard to argue with the idea that the Texans would have been better off committing this money to their line and going with a cheaper option.
During his time in New England, Lewis was either wildly productive or injured. In Tennessee, strangely, he has been neither. Signed to be the 1A to Derrick Henry's 1B, Lewis flopped when the Titans made him their main back during November 2018, starting six straight games and carrying the ball 72 times for only 200 yards. Henry won the role back with some impressive performances in December and has subsequently become the focal point of Tennessee's offense. Lewis finished last season with the league's worst success rate.
In 2019, Lewis has almost disappeared from the offensive game plan. He has touched the ball only 41 times in 10 games, serving mostly as a low-efficiency dump-off option to Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill. He's averaging just 4.8 yards per catch, which is the worst figure in football by nearly a full yard for receivers with 20 catches or more. He's likely to be cut after the year, at which point he will unquestionably go back to the Patriots and look like the game-breaking back we saw in 2015-17, because football is unfair.
The deal: Three years, $15.6 million (signed with Browns)
Johnson originally signed a three-year extension in June 2018 with the Browns, but he seemed to fall out of favor with Hue Jackson and then Freddie Kitchens. With his touches nearly cut in half, Johnson requested a trade after the Kareem Hunt signing and was eventually sent to the Texans for a third-round pick.
He has been a useful back with the Texans, averaging 5.5 yards per carry on 60 rushes, but it's telling that the Texans signed Carlos Hyde after Lamar Miller went down because of a torn ACL and didn't turn the starting job over to Johnson, even given what they traded to acquire him. I'd like to see the Texans -- or another team -- give Johnson something close a starting role, but this is a lot to pay for a secondary back, especially given that the Texans haven't featured Johnson as a receiver.
McCaffrey, obviously, has been a wild success and the exception to the 2019 malaise on this list; I'll get to him in a minute.
The offseason to come
Many of the running backs I mentioned in the introduction are in line to get new contracts this offseason. For the Class of 2017, this spring will be the first time they become eligible for extensions. Players from 2015 and 2016 draft classes who don't have deals will be hitting free agency. There also will be a number of veterans on the market, including both natural free agents and likely cap casualties.
Let's sort them all out, starting with the running backs who are likely to be free agents before getting to possible extension candidates. And given what we know about the players who are struggling on more expensive deals, let's see if we can apply the mistakes teams have made in the past to free agents-to-be.
Could the Chargers keep Gordon around next season? I thought he was a surefire goner after his holdout failed and he struggled mightily upon his return, but the former first-round pick has looked more impressive in recent weeks, generating an average of just over 110 yards from scrimmage per game since the start of November. At the same time, Philip Rivers has seemingly fallen apart, and if the Chargers do start over at quarterback next offseason, they might prefer to have Gordon around.
The franchise tag for running backs in 2020 should come in somewhere around $12 million, and if the Chargers do let Rivers and his $23 million cap hit fall off the board without an expensive replacement, they would be able to afford Gordon. After a disappointing season, he might be better off taking a one-year deal to try to get the long-term deal he craves in 2021, after guys like McCaffrey have signed their own contracts.
If Gordon does leave, it's difficult to see much of a market forming for him north of the $10 million-per-year deal the Chargers reportedly offered Gordon during his holdout.
Henry, who won the starting job for good at the end of last season, is set to hit free agency for the first time in 2020. After racking up 395 carries in his final season at Alabama, the Titans might have done Henry a favor by using him as a part-time back for most of his first three seasons in Tennessee. He should end his fourth season with about 835 carries as a pro, which is still a lot for a back in 2019, but not quite as much as it would have been if the Titans had handed Henry the full-time job earlier.
My first instinct was that backs with Henry's size (247 pounds) and physicality probably don't age well, but it's not that simple. When you go back through the past 30 years and look at the backs who were 240 pounds or more and carried the ball at least 600 times through their first four seasons, the chances of those backs playing effectively through another deal were about 50-50. For every Natrone Means or Eddie Lacy, there was a Jerome Bettis or Steven Jackson.
The issue with Henry, instead, is that he's strictly a last resort in the passing game and comes off the field on third downs. He has played just over 75% of Tennessee's snaps on first and second down this season, but only 11.5% of the snaps on third downs. Even if he is an effective runner, that's going to cap his ceiling and limit his market in a league that leans more and more to the pass. The Titans have grown quite comfortable building their offense around Henry and are likely to be installing a new quarterback in 2020, so unless a regime change sweeps through Nashville, I wouldn't be surprised if general manager Jon Robinson locked up Henry this offseason.
Drake has looked like a different player in Arizona, averaging 5.2 yards per carry and making an instant contribution as a receiver. A long-term future with the Cardinals seems unlikely, though, given that David Johnson has more than $10 million guaranteed in 2020, Chase Edmonds is under contract and looked impressive before going down with an injury, and Kliff Kingsbury's team has major holes elsewhere on the roster.
Drake's big-play ability, versatility and relatively fresh legs could net him a multiyear deal, albeit likely as the lesser half of a rotation.
There was little interest in Howard when the Bears put him on the trade market last offseason, although the former Pro Bowler ranked eighth in success rate for the Eagles before going down with a stinger. The closest comparable for Howard is Alfred Morris, who racked up huge numbers for Washington during his rookie deal but then had to settle for relatively modest, short-term deals in free agency.
Howard will have a roster spot in 2020, but as a back who doesn't offer much as a receiver and doesn't play special teams, he's really closer to the fringes of the league than his track record suggests. He's probably looking at a one-year deal in the $2 million range.
2020 status: Under contract ($5.5 million cap hit)
The Panthers will obviously pick up McCaffrey's fifth-year option for 2021, which helps increase their negotiating leverage as they try to come to terms on a long-term deal. History tells us, though, that he and the Panthers will likely sign a new deal next offseason. The two contract comps McCaffrey's camp will bring up in negotiations are Elliott and Gurley, both of whom signed extensions before their fourth seasons in the league began.
Given how McCaffrey has played this season, he has a credible claim to top Elliott's contract and become the highest-paid running back in football. The Cowboys typically give out longer deals than any other team in the league, mostly to help them restructure their cap, but the Panthers don't usually hand out anything longer than five years. McCaffrey won't have the largest overall value, but the key number to look for is $50 million in new money. He will likely get there through the first three new years of his contract, topping Elliott (at $48 million) and Gurley ($47.1 million).
Of course, the Rams might very well not have signed Gurley if they had waited a year, and the Rams star is the closest comp to McCaffrey. Should the Panthers wait? Probably not. McCaffrey is likely to get only more expensive as he gets closer to free agency, and he doesn't appear to have the same sort of knee concerns that Gurley did when the Georgia star signed his deal. Barring injury, my guess is that McCaffrey signs a five-year, $85 million extension sometime next summer. Given two years of top-level production and no injury history to speak of, I don't see a strong argument to let McCaffrey play out his deal and move on.
2020 status: Under contract ($8.6 million cap hit)
If you read the blurb on Fournette earlier, you can probably guess that I'm not quite as optimistic about him. The Jaguars will likely pick up Fournette's fifth-year option, given that he doesn't have any catastrophic injuries in his past, although an unexpected wrist issue that would have caused Blake Bortles to likely fail his physical was part of the calculus in Jacksonville's foolish Bortles extension in February 2018.
It would take a massive turnaround from Fournette to justify a long-term extension, the sort of turnaround that lasts through 2020.
Cook's breakout this season has been nothing short of phenomenal. The Vikings thought the former Florida State star had this sort of ceiling in him when they traded up to grab him in the second round of the 2017 draft, and while a torn ACL sidelined him after just four games in his rookie year, he has shown no signs of the knee injury this season. Cook seems equally capable of gliding past defenders or running over them, and he has averaged more than 10 yards per reception as one of the league's most devastating screen backs.
All of that is true. And yet, there are so many red flags when it comes to signing Cook. The knee injury hasn't bothered him this season, but that ACL tear is ominous. He then missed five games in 2018 with hamstring issues. If he plays all 16 games in 2019, it will be his first full campaign as a pro. His breakout has come after moving to a Kubiak/Shanahan scheme in an offense that seems to turn every back it finds into a superstar. Indeed, both Cook and third-round pick Alexander Mattison are averaging 4.8 yards per carry, although Mattison has offered nothing as a receiver and has been less impressive by expected points metrics.
In so many ways, this has been an outlier season from Cook. Signing him this offseason off that outlier season in an incredibly back-friendly scheme could turn out to be just fine; I would expect Cook to stay productive as long as he stays healthy and the duo of Kubiak and offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski remain in charge of the Vikings' offense. History suggests the Vikings are likely better off going with less expensive options and using the savings elsewhere, though.
2020 status: Under contract ($1.2 million cap hit)
You can make a case that Kamara is, on a play-by-play basis, the best back the Saints have had on their roster during the Sean Payton era. They have gone through all different kinds of permutations in terms of their running back usage over the past 13 years, but even when they used the second overall pick on Reggie Bush, he was typically the secondary running back behind Deuce McAllister or Pierre Thomas. Kamara is really the first one to take over as both the primary runner and receiver over a multiyear span, although he cedes plenty of touches to Latavius Murray.
The Saints are doing just fine, but 2019 has been a disappointing season for Kamara. His touchdown rate has finally regressed toward the mean, as the runner who racked up 31 touchdowns on 476 touches from 2017-18 has just two on 154 touches this season. I wouldn't attribute that to much more than randomness and opportunity. Thanks in part to missing time with an ankle injury, Kamara has just three carries inside the 5-yard line after racking up 16 in 15 games last season.
Kamara's efficiency has dropped from his spectacular rookie year -- he became just the third player in league history to average 6 yards per carry on 50 or more runs and 10 yards per reception on 50 or more catches -- but he's still a wildly effective back and a true second option behind Michael Thomas in the passing game. After letting Mark Ingram leave in free agency, the Saints are likely to extend Kamara this offseason. The down year might depress his value a tiny bit, but he'll likely top the Gurley deal and come in somewhere around four years and $60 million.
Still just 23, Mack was firmly entrenched as Indy's starting back before going down with a fractured hand during Sunday's game with the Jaguars. The injury will likely keep him out for several weeks and ensures that the South Florida product will enter his fourth pro season in 2020 without ever completing a full 16-game campaign. The good news, I suppose, is that Mack's injuries as a pro have been relatively minor.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard has shown a desire to build around the players who fit into Indy's culture, and Mack was one of the first players Ballard drafted after arriving in 2017. Mack has been a productive back who rarely fumbles, although he offers little in the passing game. The Colts will enter the offseason with more than $100 million in cap space for the second consecutive year, so it wouldn't surprise me if they extended Mack this offseason before the midtier running back market goes up. Without a 1,000-yard season on his résumé, Mack's market value is probably somewhere around McKinnon's four-year, $30 million deal.
The most efficient running back in football might be Jones, whose 61% success rate leads all backs. I covered the difference Jones makes on the Packers offense in my Monday column; in short, the Packers are the best offense in football with Jones on the field and something closer to the 2019 Giants with Jamaal Williams at running back. Over his past 16 completed starts, Jones has carried the ball 215 times for 1,043 yards and a staggering 17 rushing touchdowns, throwing in 54 catches for 491 yards and four more scores.
He has done all this while the Packers have refused to even use him as an every-down back for most of the past two years, which leads to a fascinating negotiation. Jones looks like one of the best running backs in football when he's on the field. There will certainly be teams that want to pay him like a franchise back if he hits free agency. The disconnect between his success and his usage rate makes it difficult to judge what happens next. If any of these situations has a chance to turn into the next Bell or Gordon standoff, it's this one. With that in mind, the Packers seem likely to let Jones play out the final year of his rookie deal in 2020.
Having luckily avoided a Bell extension, the Steelers instead enjoyed a breakout season from Conner in 2018, who made the Pro Bowl in his debut campaign as a starter. Injuries capped Conner's season at 13 games, and shoulder, ankle and quad injuries have alternately sapped his effectiveness or kept Conner out altogether this season. The 24-year-old ran for 145 yards in a game against the Dolphins and hasn't topped 55 rushing yards in any other game this season.
Conner is a talented back, and the Steelers would surely prefer to get ahead of the curve instead of letting an extension linger and creating another Bell situation, but I don't see how the Steelers can realistically offer Conner a market-value deal this offseason given his injuries. Pittsburgh also has just $5.7 million in cap room in 2020, a figure that rises all the way to $95.6 million the following year. For those reasons, the Steelers should (and likely will) let Conner play through the final year of his deal in 2020.
No team is prouder of its run-first offensive identity than the Seahawks, and while general manager John Schneider used a 2018 first-round pick on Rashaad Penny, his 2017 seventh-round selection is the team's best back. Carson has averaged an even 20 carries per game and still ranks fourth in the NFL in success rate. The only player who has carried the ball more frequently per game than Carson is Nick Chubb, who ranks 32nd in success rate. Even McCaffrey, who comes close in rushing usage, is 17th in success rate. It's impressive to combine this level of rushing volume and efficiency.
The growing problem for Carson is fumbles. No back in football has more fumbles than his six, and it's an issue that doesn't appear to be going away. After fumbling in each of the first three games this season, he has fumbled three times over his past two contests. It dramatically reduces Carson's value, dropping him to the middle of the pack in DVOA. The Seahawks rank fourth in the league in win probability added on running plays when you leave out fumbles for everyone. When you mix in their fumbles, many of which have come from Carson, the Seahawks drop to 12th in the same category. Seattle has plenty of cap room, but given Carson's fumble woes, I have to imagine the Seahawks wait on giving him a new deal.
2020 status: Under contract ($1.7 million cap hit)
Sunday was Mixon's best game of the season, as the second-round pick scored for the first time inside the 5-yard line all year while topping 5 yards per carry. That's not a particularly high bar, but in toiling behind a dismal Bengals offensive line, Mixon has been anonymous in 2019.
play
1:56
Bell: Mixon is trending up
Stephania Bell, Mike Clay and Field Yates discuss Joe Mixon's recent improvement and what fantasy managers can expect from him vs. the Steelers.
The Bengals typically reward their own core contributors with extensions, and there are teams that wouldn't consider signing Mixon after the Oklahoma back was caught on video punching a woman in the face in July 2014. Mixon will likely end up re-signing with the Bengals, although both sides could prefer to wait to see Mixon behind a more effective line in 2020 to establish a fair market value.
While the most disappointing member of the Bears' offense in 2019 has been the guy at quarterback, Cohen has been anonymous for most of the season. Where's the playmaker who took over games at times last season? Matt Nagy started the season essentially employing Cohen as a full-time slot receiver, but regardless of how the Bears have used Cohen, it hasn't worked. Cohen has just 367 yards from scrimmage and ranks near the bottom of the league in both yards per rush (3.1) and yards per reception (5.8).
Cohen's prototype is Darren Sproles, who never got the credit or contract he deserved, short one year with the franchise tag in San Diego. The league is more enlightened now and finds more of a use for players with Cohen's skill set, but the 5-foot-6 halfback is still likely to be undervalued. His best chance of getting a significant deal is likely with the Bears, given that general manager Ryan Pace may want to try to make a badly fading 2017 draft look more successful than it actually was.
Eddie Jackson is playing better than the "crap" the safety compared himself to earlier this month, but Cohen, Mitchell Trubisky and second-round pick Adam Shaheen have all had wildly disappointing 2019 seasons. Of the three, Cohen has the best chance of again looking the most like the player the Bears envisioned heading into the year.
The best of the rest
In addition to the players I mentioned, there are three restricted free agents from the class of 2017 worth mentioning. Third-round pick Kareem Hunt was cut by the Chiefs after he was caught on video assaulting a woman; he has since signed with the Browns and served a suspension. Hunt has taken over a significant role as Cleveland's third-down back since returning to the lineup, but he'll be a restricted free agent in 2020.
Hunt will be joined on the RFA market by Matt Breida and Austin Ekeler, both of whom were undrafted free agents who worked their way into starting roles. In all three cases, the most likely scenario is a return to their current teams for 2020, although C.J. Anderson serves as a recent example of a back being tendered too low and getting an unexpected offer sheet.
There also will be a number of veterans on the market. Lamar Miller is an unrestricted free agent and should have no trouble finding a roster spot, although the 28-year-old is probably looking at a one-year deal with incentives coming off his ACL tear. Likely cap casualties include Devonta Freeman, Dion Lewis and Jerick McKinnon, each of whom will likely also be looking at one-year deals.
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Major League Baseball has widened its investigation of alleged sign stealing by the Houston Astros and will probe activity by the team over the past three seasons.
After the conclusion of owners meetings Thursday, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB will "investigate the Astros situation as thoroughly as humanly possible." The probe includes the team's firing of an assistant general manager during the World Series for clubhouse comments directed at female reporters, behavior the club at first accused Sports Illustrated of fabricating.
"That investigation is going to encompass not only what we know about '17, but also '18 and '19," Manfred said. "To the extent we are talking to people all over the industry, former employees, competitors, whatever, to the extent that we find other leads, we're going to follow these leads."
Manfred has said for now the Astros are the only team being investigated for cheating allegations.
"Our clubs, all 30 of them, recognize that the integrity of the competition on the field is crucial to what we do every day," he said. "I think that there's wide support across the industry for the idea that when we have a problem in this area, there should be firm, serious disciplinary action that discourages people from engaging in this type of behavior."
Oakland pitcher Mike Fiers told The Athletic in a story last week that while he was playing with the Astros during their 2017 World Series championship season the team stole signs during home games by using a camera positioned in center field. During this year's playoffs, Houston players were suspected of whistling in the dugout to communicate pitch selection to batters.
Asked if he wished more had been done before Fiers spoke out publicly, Manfred said baseball has chased every lead it has received to the "the extent that we felt was investigatively possible."
"Obviously, an individual breaking what is a pretty firm commitment to silence about what goes on in dugouts and in clubhouses is a big break in an investigation, provides an opportunity to push forward that we haven't had previously," Manfred said.
Manfred fined the Boston Red Sox in September 2017 for using an Apple Watch to steal signals from New York Yankees catchers.
"It's a challenge for our sport and all sports to regulate the use of that technology in a way that makes sure that we have integrity in our play," he said.
When the Red Sox were fined, only weeks before the Astros won their first World Series title, Manfred said all 30 clubs were notified that future violations would be subject to more serious sanctions, including the possible loss of draft picks.
"I wrote what I wrote because I did not believe that the discipline that have been handed out in the past were in line with the significance of the issues that we were dealing with," he said. "I viewed them with a particular level of seriousness."
As whether he felt that was sufficient and his message received, Manfred responded: "Well, we know at least one instance it probably wasn't heeded."
Astros owner Jim Crane declined comment on the allegations when he was seen in the hotel lobby Wednesday, and Manfred declined to discuss their conversations this week.
In other issues addressed during the meetings at a luxury hotel adjacent to the new $1.2 billion Texas Rangers ballpark that will open next season:
LABOR
While MLB and the players' association decided to start labor talks more than two years before their contract expires in December 2021, negotiations with union head Tony Clark and top lawyer Bruce Meyer have not progressed.
"Mr. Meyer suggested a series of changes that would turn the Basic Agreement back 50 years, I mean essentially give back to the union everything we've achieved over the last few decades," Manfred said. "I asked in response to his suggestion what was in that deal for the clubs? And he said labor, peace. ... I said to him labor peace is a mutual benefit. It's not something that you trade economics against. ... It keeps the players working and getting paid, and it keeps our business going forward."
MINOR LEAGUES
Manfred detailed how MLB arrived at its initial proposal to drop 42 minor league teams from their current circuits for the 2021 season as part of a new Professional Baseball Agreement with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.
"We have facilities and I can show you pictures if you want to see. OK, that are simply not appropriate for professional baseball players: inadequate shoppers, tiny locker rooms, no place for players to eat, no place for players to work out," Manfred said. He maintained minor league franchise moves "produce travel that is not acceptable for professional players, bus rides, long, six, eight, 10 hours." MLB wants fewer prospects and higher salaries and "suggested to them that maybe we were drafting and signing players who don't have a realistic opportunity to become major leaguers." He claimed minor league negotiators said the problems were MLB's to solve.
RULES
Owners supported Manfred in a proposal to require a three-batter minimum for pitchers next season, a rule MLB has the right to change for 2021 even without the union's agreement.
TV
Owners voted to have digital streaming rights within a team's broadcast market revert to each team from Baseball Advanced Media starting with next season. That could lead to the Yankees' YES Network being streamed on Amazon Prime and similar deals. Amazon bought an equity stake in YES this year.
OLYMPIC QUALIFYING
After the failure of the U.S. to qualify for the 2020 Olympics at the Premier12 tournament, using non 40-man roster players, MLB is looking ahead to the Americas qualifying tournament in March.
"I think there's sentiment among the ownership that we should do the very best we can to make the most of our last qualifying opportunity," he said.
ROYALS
John Sherman was approved as the new controlling owner of the Kansas City Royals, and his group plans to close its deal to purchase the last-place team from David Glass and his family next week. The proposed sale was announced Aug. 30 and was expected to be worth about $1 billion.
GIANTS
Greg Johnson was approved as the new controlling owner of the San Francisco Giants. Giants president and CEO Larry Baer still will represent the club at the meetings, along with Johnson and Rob Dean, who had been handling leadership duties since March. Baer was suspended without pay from March 4 through July 1 after a video showed him in a physical altercation with his wife.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Greg Johnson was approved by the major league clubs as the new controlling owner of the San Francisco Giants.
Following the decision Thursday at the owners meetings in Arlington, Texas, Giants president and CEO Larry Baer will still represent the club at the meetings, along with Johnson and Rob Dean, who had been handling leadership duties since March.
Baer was suspended without pay from March 4 through July 1 after a video showed him in a physical altercation with his wife.
Johnson is the son of Charles Johnson, part of the group including late managing partner Peter Magowan that bought the Giants in 1993 and kept them from relocating to Florida. Greg Johnson will be chairman and Dean the vice chairman, and both will be managing members, the team said in a statement.
Baer and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi will report to Johnson and Dean.
Dean is the son-in-law of late Giants principal owners Harmon and Sue Burns. Dean had been serving as the interim control person with Major League Baseball and the team's board of directors. The Giants planned the changes to their governance structure after Baer's absence.
A video posted by TMZ showed Pam Baer seated in a chair when Larry Baer reached over her to grab for a cellphone in her right hand and she toppled sideways to the ground in the chair screaming, "Oh my god!" The couple later released a statement saying they were embarrassed by the situation and regretted having a heated argument in public.
Baer, long the face of the franchise, sat a few rows back rather than on the podium when San Francisco introduced new manager Gabe Kapler at Oracle Park last week.
Bruce Bochy retired after the season following a 25-year managerial career that included the past 13 seasons with the Giants after 12 years with the Padres. His teams won World Series championships in 2010, '12 and '14.
British captain Leon Smith says whether or not to recall Andy Murray for Friday's quarter-final against Germany at the inaugural Davis Cup finals is one of his "more difficult decisions".
Murray, 32, was rested for the Group E victory over Kazakhstan which booked their last-eight spot in Madrid.
With Britain facing the Germans at 16:30 GMT, Smith says he will make his decision in the morning.
"Andy is a team player and understands what is best for the team," he said.
Former world number one Murray looked sluggish as he laboured to a three-set win over Dutch world number 179 Tallon Griekspoor in the opening group match on Wednesday, admitting afterwards he was still "a couple of kilos" heavier than he would have liked after gaining weight while taking time off with his new-born son and family.
In the Scot's absence, Kyle Edmund played one of his finest matches of the year to beat Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin before Dan Evans was overpowered by Alexander Bublik in three sets.
British number one Evans, 29, is yet to win in the Madrid finals, although Smith is backing the 29-year-old to "find a way" to win.
Following 24-year-old Edmund's performance, it appears likely Evans will make way for Murray's return - if Smith decides he is in good enough shape.
"There is no awkwardness about who is going to play, who isn't going to play, it is a good, open and honest discussion. That's what we will do again," Smith said.
"It might be one of the more difficult decisions I've had to make, but it is also better when you have got the quality we've got to be able to have those discussions.
"We can look at who is in the best physical condition, and look at the match-ups again, linking those factors together to do what is best for the team.
"Because we are scheduled tomorrow evening it gives us time to see if everybody is right and how they feel."
Germany reached the quarter-finals by topping Group C, winning five of their six rubbers against Argentina and Chile.
Philipp Kohlschreiber, their experienced second-ranked singles players, has dropped one set in his two victories, while leading player Jan-Lennard Struff is ranked higher than any of the British players at 35th in the world.
Struff dropped their only rubber in a three-set loss to Chile's Cristian Garin on Thursday with French Open champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies showing their class by cruising through the doubles matches.
"I think it will close, a 50-50 match again, although we shouldn't have anything to fear," Smith added.
Who else is in the quarter-finals?
Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique has overseen the transformation of the 119-year-old competition into a season-ending 'World Cup of Tennis', which saw the 18 nations split into six groups of three.
The six group winners automatically qualified for the last eight with the two best-placed runners-up joining them.
The quarter-final line-up is:
Australia take on Canada later on Thursday in the first last-eight tie, with the other three matches taking place on Friday.
Serbia face Russia from 09:30 GMT while Friday's other two ties are both due to start at 16:30.
Scheduled start times of both sessions have been moved forward 30 minutes after late finishes earlier this week, with a tie between Italy and USA concluding at 4:04am local time on Thursday. In addition, the break between the first and second singles rubbers has been cut from 20 minutes to 10.
The same start times will be in place for Saturday's semi-finals.
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed Thursday that driver Denny Hamlin has had successful arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder.
The surgery, completed by Dr. Patrick Connor at the Charlotte Surgery Center, was to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He revealed earlier this month that he planned to have surgery to repair the injury following the conclusion of the season.
Hamlin explained when the surgery was announced that he is unsure how the injury occurred.
“I really don’t know how it happened to be honest with you, but it’s something that has been nagging (me) really for years,” said Hamlin. “I’ve had shoulder issues; it just got to the point where it was really bad and (I) got it scanned and (we) figured out what it was.
“It hadn’t really affected me in the car at all. That part has really been fine.”
He competed in the final races of the season with the injury, which was not the first time he raced injured. He finished the 2015 season with a torn ACL in his right knee, suffered during a pick-up basketball game. He had surgery to repair that injury during the ensuing offseason and returned at full strength in 2016.
Hamlin is expected to fully recover in time for the start of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
CONCORD, N.C. – Rum Runner Racing owner Joey Coulter has hired Pearson Lee Williams to take over driving duties of the team’s No. 2 dirt late model.
Williams, a native of Georgia, has worked with Rum Runner Racing as a crew member since 2016 while also racing his own equipment in Georgia when not on the road with the team.
Williams will debut behind the wheel of the Rum Runner Racing entry this Friday at Georgia’s Screven Motorsports Park. The team also plans to compete Saturday at Lancaster (S.C.) Speedway and Sunday at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.
Cooper said the Lightning were hopeful that Kucherov would be able to play, but now they are unsure whether the reigning league MVP will return for Saturday's game against Anaheim.
Kucherov suffered the injury during Tuesday's loss to the St. Louis Blues and did not return to the contest.
The Lightning have not disclosed details about the injury, but Cooper told reporters after Tuesday's game that Kucherov was not in the concussion protocol.
Kucherov, 26, has six goals and 12 assists in 18 games this season. The three-time All-Star scored a league-leading 128 points last season, when he won the Hart Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award.
Wales captain Bale was pictured laughing with teammates while posing with the fan-made banner after his country qualified for Euro 2020 on Tuesday with a win against Hungary.
The image has been met with an angry reaction in the Spanish media -- with the club calling it a bad joke -- but the player's representative Jonathan Barnett told ESPN FC he's not concerned about the reception for Bale at the Bernabeu on Saturday when Real Madrid host Real Sociedad.
The flag and celebration were "meant for the media" rather than being aimed at the club or its fanbase, he said.
Members of the Real Madrid squad have told ESPN FC they were amused by the image, but believe it could damage Bale's relationship with fans.
The front-page headline of Spain's biggest-selling sports newspaper Marca on Thursday read "Disrespectful. Misguided. Ungrateful. In that order" in reference to Bale's celebration.
Madrid-based newspaper AS's front-page claimed that "the club and [coach Zinedine] Zidane fear the reaction of the fans."
Bale returned from international duty to take part in full training with his Real Madrid teammates at the club's Valdebebas training ground on Thursday.
He is expected to feature at the Bernabeu on Saturday having not played for Madrid since October, when he was injured playing for his country.
Last week Bale admitted to feeling "more excitement playing for Wales" than he does for Real Madrid.
Earlier this month Zidane dismissed the possibility of Bale leaving in January, saying he's counting on his involvement "until the end of the season."
The former Tottenham player has been linked with a return to the club amid UK and Spanish media reports that new Spurs' boss Jose Mourinho sees Bale as a top target for the 2020 summer window.
Cricket South Africa will make an announcement regarding the director of cricket position, effectively the most important role in the organisation on Friday.
The post was created in the aftermath of the 2019 World Cup and was filled in an interim capacity by CSA's general manager Corrie van Zyl since August. Fresh interviews were conducted two weeks ago and at least three candidates including van Zyl, former captain Graeme Smith and former national selector and seasoned administrator Hussein Manack presented to a five-person panel.
But Smith has since withdrawn from the race while van Zyl remains suspended for alleged dereliction of duty regarding the payment for players' commercial rights during the last season's Mzansi Super League. However, that does not necessarily make Manack the favourite and CSA are understood to be considering delaying the appointment to later next year and broadening their search.
"We will make communication tomorrow about the director of cricket role. There has been a lot of talk about it and we ask the public to wait for the announcement. Even if we don't announce a name tomorrow, we will communicate that. This person must be an allrounder on and off the field, must have administrative qualities too because there is a lot that needs to be done. We could even look internationally," CSA CEO Thabang Moroe told SAFM radio.
If CSA is unable to confirm an appointee, Enoch Nkwe will continue in his role as the interim national team director for the upcoming England tour that begins in five weeks' time. Nkwe, the former Gauteng batsman and title-winning Highveld Lions and Jozi Stars head coach, took the national team to India where they drew the T20I series 1-1 but were whitewashed in the three-match Test series.
If Nkwe is kept on, Moroe indicated the support staff would be beefed up for the England series. "Should we not be in a position to appoint the director of cricket tomorrow, then Enoch Nkwe will continue as coach of the Proteas when England comes here, but we will need to give him the necessary support," Moroe said.
If a director of cricket is appointed, it will be his or her prerogative to choose the next team director, which would leave Nkwe's future uncertain.
The announcement, whatever form it takes, will end some of the uncertainty that has dogged South African cricket in the last few months. Calls have come from several quarters including captain Faf du Plessis for the permanent appointments to allow the team to begin preparations for the immediate challenges of England, medium-term projects such as preparations for the next year's T20 World Cup and the long-term succession plan for when du Plessis retires.
Novak Djokovic ensured Serbia moved into the Davis Cup quarter-finals as Group A winners with a straight-set victory over France's Benoit Paire.
The world number two won 6-3 6-3 after team-mate Filip Krajinovic overcame Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 7-6 (7-5) earlier.
Germany beat Chile 2-1 to win Group C and set up a last-eight tie with Great Britain on Friday.
Australia face Canada in the first of the quarter-finals from 17:00 GMT on Thursday.
The other three ties are on Friday with Serbia taking on Russia from 09:30 GMT.
Great Britain face Germany and Spain play Argentina from 16:30.
Scheduled start times of both sessions have been moved forward 30 minutes after late finishes earlier this week, with a tie between Italy and USA concluding at 4:04am local time on Thursday.
I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information. Today I Dig®attracts millions of users every month.r
Phone: (800) 737. 6040 Fax: (800) 825 5558 Website: www.idig.com Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
