Newly signed Reggie Bullock underwent surgery Wednesday for a cervical disk herniation, the New York Knicks announced.

The team said it would provide an update on his rehab and progress around the start of training camp.

On Tuesday, Bullock signed a two-year, $8.2 million deal with the Knicks. The sides reworked the deal after his medical issue prompted the team to back out of its original two-year, $21 million agreement.

Bullock, 28, averaged 11.3 points in 63 games for the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers last season. He was acquired by the Lakers ahead of the trade deadline in February in exchange for guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and a second-round draft pick.

Bullock also has played for the Suns and Clippers since being drafted with the 25th overall pick in 2013.

The procedure took place at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

BOSTON -- Last year's Boston Celtics were defined by a point guard wearing No. 11. Wednesday afternoon, the team unveiled both their new point guard, Kemba Walker, and new No. 11, Enes Kanter, in what was hailed as a new day for the franchise.

Still, Kanter couldn't help but take one poke at Kyrie Irving during the introductory press conference at the team's practice facility.

"It was my old jersey number," Kanter said, before adding with a smile, "and I wanted to be the reason no one else did," referencing Irving's Nike commercial shot at TD Garden with his father, Drederick, last fall, in which he said the same thing.

As the room broke into laughter, Kanter quickly followed up with, "I had to say it."

For the most part, though, Wednesday was about new beginnings in Boston. The franchise tried to turn the page on the past two years -- which, for much of that time, seemed like the start of a long run in Boston for Irving. But over the final few months of last season the bloom was off the rose between the two sides, with an abrupt loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs -- a round earlier than the Celtics reached without him a year earlier -- marking the final time Irving would play for the team.

That was confirmed at the start of free agency, when he opted to leave as a free agent to join Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan with the Brooklyn Nets -- a decision that didn't come as a surprise to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.

"I think I had a pretty good idea in March or April," Ainge said, when asked when he knew Irving would leave. "Not for sure though, not certain.

"But I was obviously thinking a move in a different direction at that point, thinking of the different options."

It turned out that once Irving and Al Horford, who opted out of the final year of his contract and wound up signing with another Atlantic Division rival, the Philadelphia 76ers, chose to leave town, those options centered on, according to Ainge, Walker and Kanter. Ainge said the two of them were the team's top priorities in free agency after the draft, and that it was able to come to an agreement with Walker almost immediately after free agency opened at 6 p.m. on June 30.

Throughout the season, Walker had been open about wanting to remain in Charlotte, where he'd spent the first eight years of his career after winning a national championship at the University of Connecticut as a junior in 2011. Ultimately, though, he said the draw of being with a franchise that has consistently won -- Boston has been in the playoffs five straight seasons, and has won at least one series in each of the last three of them -- was too much to pass up.

After making the playoffs only twice in his career -- and losing in the first round each time -- Walker said he was ready to do more winning as he approaches his 30s.

"Throughout my career we just haven't been consistent with winning," Walker said. "I'm not saying that's going to happen here, because I don't know. I can't see the future or anything like that, but I want to win. I want to be on a team that goes out and competes every night on a high level.

"Watching Boston over the years, man, that's just what they've done. That's what they've done. They've competed at a very high level each and every year, been in the playoffs every year, and I want to be a part of something like that. So that was kind of some of the things that went into my decision."

It wasn't at all clear the Celtics would be in a position to be competitive again when Irving was all but certain to leave and Horford appeared likely to join him at this time a month ago. At that point, it looked like Boston would be pivoting to a re-tooling of their roster centered on their young wings, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

But when Walker came into the picture, the Celtics were quickly able to get a new building block for the present -- one they hope, along with improved play from Gordon Hayward a full year removed from the devastating leg and ankle injuries that robbed him of all but the first six minutes of the 2017-18 season, will allow them to remain in the mix atop the East.

"It's different," Walker said. "I don't know if we're going to be better, I can't tell the future, but we have a really good team, a bunch of young guys who are very talented who I'm looking forward to playing with.

"But yeah, do I think we can be good? Yeah, I do. I think I'll be a huge part of that, as well as to grow the young guys, we need those guys to step up and be huge for the team, as well as Gordon. We want Gordon to have a great year as well, which I think he will because he's been working. That's what it takes to succeed in this league.

"So yeah, I'm excited. Hopefully it's great things to come."

Naturally, one All-Star point guard replacing another is going to draw comparisons. That is especially true here, given how tumultuous Irving's final season in Boston turned out to be. Walker, though, said he didn't reach out to Irving before making his decision on whether to play for the Celtics.

And, when it comes to the comparisons, Walker said he will have no problem dealing with them.

"It's fine," he told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan in a sit-down interview Wednesday. "It's OK. I guess it's going to come with the territory. It wasn't a great year for those guys [last year]. There's always such expectations with this organization, and things didn't go well, so now that I'm coming in and I'm taking [Kyrie's] place, I know I'm going to be asked questions about him and things like that.

"It just didn't work out. It happens. It happens so much in this league. We know how great of a player Kyrie is, but it just didn't work out. Hopefully I can come in and it works out. That's my plan. But you can't tell the future. You never know what's going to happen. But through hard work, dedication and us working together, hopefully we can get things back on track."

One recurring theme throughout last season was Irving's rocky relationship with the team's young players, which went through many ups-and-downs throughout the year. Boston will be hoping Walker, especially now that he's around for the next four years, will be able to forge a stronger one.

The fact he already has relationships with Tatum and Brown -- Tatum recently signed with Jordan Brand, which Walker is part of, and the two spent time in Paris together, and he went on a trip to Africa with Brown in the past -- should help. And when asked directly about it, Walker said he was confident he'd be able to help them grow into the players Boston hopes they can be.

"I think so," Walker said. "I think so. I think my skills complement these guys. I love to get in the lane and I'm gonna have a lot of attention. That'll definitely open up opportunities for other guys, but for the most part, I think I made my teammates better in other ways, just being a good teammate, wanting the best for those guys and pushing them as much as possible. It's going to be fun. I'm looking forward to the opportunity."

He told MacMullan that part of what drew him to Boston was the chance to play alongside Tatum after spending that time with him in Paris -- though he said Tatum never once implored him to come to Boston in free agency.

"We spoke for quite some time," Walker said. "When we left Paris and the days went on and FA came and I made my decision, a lot of it was because of him.

"[We talked] about the city, about the fans, the atmosphere, Coach Stevens, some of the players on the team, how things went last year and stuff like that.

"[But] not once did he say, 'Come [here].'"

As for his own number selection, Walker said he chose to wear No. 8 -- the same as former fan favorite Antoine Walker -- because his birthday is May 8, and because "there's no numbers available," he said with a laugh.

"But it's cool to wear Antoine Walker's number. I spoke to him, and he gave me the blessing as well, so I'm excited."

The Oklahoma City Thunder's discussions to move nine-time All-Star guard Chris Paul to a new destination are parked, and an increasing expectation exists that he will start the season with the team, league sources tell ESPN.

Oklahoma City has been working with Paul and his representatives on finding a trade, but nothing is materializing so deep into summer free agency, sources said. Both sides believe there are benefits to Paul, 34, playing out the season with the Thunder. For now, there's a belief that there could be more success exploring trade scenarios again after Dec. 15 -- or even the completion of the 2019-20 season, league sources said.

The market expands on Dec. 15, when players who signed offseason free-agent deals can become eligible to be included in trade packages.

The Thunder traded Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Paul, two future first-round picks and two pick swaps.

Because the Houston-Oklahoma City trade came so late in free agency -- coupled with three years, $124 million left on Paul's contract -- there are no contenders with the cap space or roster structure to incorporate parameters of a deal for Paul. The Thunder made the trade with Houston to accommodate Westbrook's wishes, but ensuing talks with Paul and his representatives found two sides sharing a belief that a season together could be beneficial to both, sources said.

Here is the formula for why:

*40% of players under contract cannot be traded

* There are no teams with significant cap space (ATL has the most @ $7M)

* Biggest trade exception is GSW ($17.2M) who is hard capped- next is DAL @ $11.8M https://t.co/H6FExQmTAf

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 17, 2019

Thunder general manager Sam Presti welcomes the idea of Paul playing for his franchise this season, and Paul has warmed to the idea of the Thunder as a landing spot for the year based on the organization and a competitive talent level. The Thunder don't have a Western Conference championship contender, but they do have a core with Paul, Danilo Gallinari, Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander that will not be participating in the NBA's annual race to the bottom. It promises to be a competitive environment for Paul to play the season.

Paul had a positive experience in Oklahoma City during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, when his New Orleans team was relocated there because of Hurricane Katrina.

For now, Oklahoma City doesn't feel a need to surrender draft compensation to unload Paul's contract, sources said. The Thunder want to be competitive and believe that Paul can serve as a mentor to Gilgeous-Alexander, a second-year guard who's considered the franchise's future playmaker.

Oklahoma City has gathered eight future first-round picks in the Paul George and Westbrook trades since the start of free agency, including the Miami Heat's 2021 and 2023 first-rounders via the LA Clippers. Miami's 2021 pick is unprotected. The Thunder could have as many as 15 first-round picks between the 2020 and 2026 NBA drafts.

A two-year-old spat between Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who is a TV analyst for the team, rose up again this week in the midst of a disappointing season in Boston.

Two years ago, Price was upset about a comment the analyst made on air about Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and confronted Eckersley on the team plane, blocking his way, mocking and cursing at him as some players applauded.

In a profile published on the Boston Globe website on Tuesday, Eckersley said he does not plan on ever talking with Price.

"I didn't know how to deal with that. I don't plan on saying a word to him, I don't plan on seeing him, never," Eckersley said in the article. "I don't really give a --- one way or another. I don't think he really cares one way or the other."

Price responded on Twitter on Wednesday, first with a row of crying-laughing emojis, then saying in response to a critic, "I had a meeting set up to apologize to him and he backed out that day. Get your facts right." Later, he added, "ECK needs attention."

When he got to Fenway Park on Wednesday, Price asked to speak to reporters and took off on Eckersley.

"Honestly, I just think it's trash. He had an unbelievable career and he's a Hall of Famer," Price said. "I saw his special on MLB Network. It was cool. The one thing that stood out to me was that he had zero former teammates in that interview. Not one talking about him. It was him talking about himself.

"If anybody ever does a special on me after baseball, I won't need to go on that interview. I will have former teammates. I will have former coaches. He didn't have that. To me, that's all you need to know. That tells the story right there."

According to a release on the documentary ahead of its debut last year, the special did in fact have interviews with some of Eckersley's former teammates, including Ron Darling and Bruce Hurst.

Price, who is in the fourth year of a seven-year, $217 million contract, has had a testy relationship with Boston fans. He seemed to have put that behind him last season, especially in the second half of the season and the playoffs, when he showed grit and pitched lights out.

This season, Price leads Boston starters with a 3.16 ERA, and he has a 7-2 record with 102 strikeouts. But the rest of the rotation, especially Chris Sale and Rick Porcello, have been ineffective and the bullpen wildly inconsistent. Coming off their World Series title, the Red Sox entered Wednesday 10 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

Manager Alex Cora got pulled into the spat on Wednesday. He told reporters he did not think the issue was a distraction in the clubhouse, but said he had talked with Price about it in the morning. "It sucks that it keeps coming [up]."

CHICAGO -- It took 14 home starts spread across two seasons and 17 calendar months, but Chicago Cubs starter Yu Darvish finally earned his first win at Wrigley Field on Wednesday.

"It's amazing," Darvish said after leading the Cubs to a 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. "First win at Wrigley. I was always looking for that first win."

It marked an important step for Darvish since he signed a six-year, $126 million deal with the Cubs in February 2018.

He spent most of last year on the injured list, then started this season slowly. But after asking for the ball in the Cubs' first game coming out of the All-Star break, Darvish has put together two gems. On Friday, he threw six shutout innings in a no-decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Wednesday, he went six shutout innings again, this time giving up just two hits while striking out seven.

His fastball command has never been better as a Cub, and his breaking pitches continue to fool opposing hitters.

"It's not a fun at-bat," Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said of the few hitters who have reached first base. "Everyone says it ... He just trusts his arm. He's pitching with conviction. He's getting stronger and stronger, more and more comfortable."

Darvish indicated that until recently, despite being healthy, he was favoring his arm angle on his fastball simply because of the pain he used to feel in his elbow. Now he's just letting it fly, using the proper mechanics and delivery.

The results are showing.

He threw a first-pitch strike to 82% of the hitters he faced Wednesday, the second-highest rate of any start in his career. Reds hitters were 1-for-14 with five strikeouts after falling behind 0-1 in the count.

"He still takes some time in between pitches, but how he's spending that time seems to be better," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "I don't think he's wondering what to do next. I think he's calculating what to do next. And when he gets back on the rubber, 'here we go.'"

There might have been no better example of that "here-we-go" attitude than when Yasiel Puig stepped into the batter's box as the tying run, with one man on and two outs in the top of the sixth inning Wednesday. After pitching coach Tommy Hottovoy visited the mound -- building drama to the at-bat -- Darvish came out firing. He threw five pitches to Puig, and three reached 98 mph, including what turned out to be his final pitch of the game -- one that blew Puig away.

Chants of "Yu!" followed as he walked off the mound, showing plenty of emotion after the strikeout.

"The people yelling for him as he comes off the field was awesome," Maddon said. "I know he feels that in a positive way. And he deserved it."

Added Darvish: "I'm almost 120% right now. I don't need anything right now. It's perfect, everything."

That's music to the ears of Cubs fans who have been waiting for this version of Darvish since they said hello to him and goodbye to World Series hero Jake Arrieta two years ago. It has taken a while, but the electric stuff often advertised but sometimes not delivered with Darvish is everything and then some right now.

He's even shocking himself.

"I haven't given up a lot of walks over the last seven or eight starts," said Darvish, who had the game ball from his first Wrigley win next to him at his locker. "I'm surprised by that."

Since the All-Star break, Darvish has totaled 12 innings pitched while giving up just one walk, no runs, four hits and 15 strikeouts.

"He's more of an animal on the mound," Rizzo said. "Grunting there in the sixth, reaching back when he needs it. Being smart. He's got confidence in his fastball. He's fun to play behind."

Darvish has carried a lot of the load while fellow starters Kyle Hendricks and Cole Hamels have dealt with injuries this season. Hamels is due back soon, which would give the Cubs a healthy rotation for the stretch run.

"It's going to be nice to get the band back together," Maddon said.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Angels pitcher Noe Ramirez was suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount for throwing a pitch in the area of Houston outfielder Jake Marisnick's head, and Los Angeles manager Brad Ausmus was suspended a game and fined.

Joe Torre, chief baseball officer for Major League Baseball, announced the penalties Wednesday, one day after Ramirez drilled Marisnick between the shoulder blades with a 1-1 pitch in the sixth inning of the Angels' 7-2 home victory.

Ramirez said he will appeal the suspension. Bench coach Josh Paul managed the Angels' 11-2 loss to the Astros on Wednesday while Ausmus served his suspension.

Ausmus said he thought his suspension was unnecessary but that since MLB thought Ramirez committed an egregious offense, he should be penalized, too.

"I thought three games for Noe was a little bit steep, but he still has the appeals process to go through," Ausmus said.

Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons was less reserved in his assessment of the suspension.

"I think it's bull----," Simmons told reporters Wednesday. "People get hit all the time. (Ramirez) can't make one mistake I guess? Just because of the perception? So if Marisnick got hit at any point throughout the season (by the Angels), whoever touched him was going to get suspended? Is that what it means?"

Marisnick was playing his first game against Los Angeles since his violent home plate collision with catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

Marisnick ran over Lucroy while trying to score in Houston on July 7, leaving Lucroy with a concussion and a broken nose. He's out for at least three more weeks after having surgery on his broken nose Tuesday.

Astros manager AJ Hinch said he expected Torre's office to step in after Tuesday's incident. He said he hopes both teams consider the matter closed.

"My reaction is really that it should be over and settled and done with," he said. "I think we will all be better served letting MLB be MLB and let us play the game on the field and get away from this issue."

Marisnick, a native of nearby Riverside, is currently appealing his two-game suspension for the collision. He said he hasn't heard from MLB about when his appeal will be and echoed Hinch's comments about hoping that both teams can move forward.

On Wednesday, Marisnick went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the Astros' win. Ramirez did not pitch in the game.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas Rangers left-hander Mike Minor is already tired of being connected to possible trades.

Minor, an All-Star for the first time this season, saw his name bubble up again Wednesday, with MLB Network reporting that he is "an increasingly likely trade candidate." It has the 31-year-old wondering why the Rangers gave him a three-year, $28 million contract in 2018.

"I feel like ever since I signed it's been a topic," Minor told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday. "It's almost like I signed just so they could trade me."

On Friday, general manger Jon Daniels would only go as far as to say the Rangers "probably" would not deal Minor before the July 31 deadline.

"I like our team a lot better with Mike on it, but we're not going to rule anything out," Daniels told reporters.

Rangers manager Chris Woodward also acknowledged the trade rumbling on Wednesday.

"We've got to accept that and embrace that and move on with our day," he told MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.

But Minor is just over all the chatter.

"I don't think that it helps when I go home and I have neighbors asking me about it, too," he told the newspaper.

Minor, who is 8-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 122 innings over 19 starts, will earn $9.5 million in 2019 and 2020, making him more than just a playoff-run rental. He is set to make his next start for the Rangers on Friday against the Houston Astros.

The Rangers enter Thursday at 50-46, sitting five games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League.

Mariano Rivera was the greatest regular-season reliever of all time and the greatest postseason reliever of all time. That's why he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Simple enough.

But Bill James' old line about Rickey Henderson -- "If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers" -- got us wondering: If Mariano Rivera had never thrown a postseason pitch, would he still have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer? And, similarly, if he'd somehow never thrown a regular-season pitch, would he still have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

We think we can answer these questions, which -- considering this article made it to print -- are almost certainly going to be answered "yes."

1. If Mariano Rivera had never thrown a regular-season pitch, would he have been a Hall of Famer? Would he have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

Just get past the basic unreasonableness of the premise. You don't watch the whole movie saying, "But why would a radioactive spider bite give him spidey sense?" He never threw a regular-season pitch because he just didn't.

In which case, here's the guy's career: 141 innings. No pitcher has ever made the Hall of Fame throwing fewer innings, unless you count Stan Musial and George Sisler. But these are the instructions given to voters:

5. Voting: Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

His playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship and character are unaffected in this scenario. His record would obviously be limited but still something to behold:

• His postseason ERA (0.70) is the lowest in postseason history, minimum 30 innings. (The only people even close all threw about 31 innings, or were Sandy Koufax.) Put it this way: There have been only three seasons in history in which a pitcher had a regular-season ERA of 0.70 or lower with a minimum 50 innings pitched; Rivera's postseason career was essentially two of those, in the highest stakes and against the best teams.

• He has the most saves in postseason history, almost two and a half times as many as the next guy and almost triple the active leader.

• He has the most win probability added in postseason history, and this one's a doozy: Rivera's postseason WPA is 11.7. The next-highest player had 4.1 WPA. The highest by a hitter -- of all the hitters in history! -- is 3.2. Rivera, in fact, had more WPA than the second-, third- and fourth-best postseason careers put together. Remember Madison Bumgarner's postseason run in 2014, when he seemed to single-handedly pitch the Giants to the title? Rivera's career WPA is like seven of those.

That all fits under "record," but it's not exactly intuitive how much that translates to the final factor in the Hall of Fame instructions, "contribution to team." It's a contribution to a team, but how do we possibly put those 141 innings on a scale alongside Hank Aaron's 10,000 (regular-season) plate appearances, or on a scale alongside Bob Gibson's 4,000 regular-season innings and 81 postseason innings? We do it, friends, with championship win probability added (cWPA).

As published by The Baseball Gauge, cWPA takes the premise of win probability added but applies it across a season: Given the standings, or the stage of the postseason, and the situation of the game, how likely is a given play to affect a team's chances of winning the World Series? A bases-empty single on Opening Day is worth only a tiny bit of cWPA; a single that drives in David Justice and Sid Bream in Game 7 of the NLCS -- turning a ninth-inning deficit into a walk-off win -- is worth .340 cWPA, more than a third of a whole championship, because those 1992 Braves' chances of winning it all improved from roughly 1 in 6 before the hit to roughly 1 in 2 after it.

Rivera's championship win probability added, just in his postseason appearances, adds up to 1.792 -- meaning that if an average pitcher instead of Rivera had been New York's closer, the Yankees could have expected to have won two fewer World Series. That 1.792 is a record, unsurprisingly, well ahead of second-place Bumgarner's 1.230 cWPA in postseason play and third-place Rollie Fingers' 1.150 and fifth-place Babe Ruth's 0.905. Rivera's cWPA is higher than the combined cWPA of the pitchers with the second-, third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-most saves in postseason history. Double, in fact.

But Rivera, in this scenario, has no regular-season contribution, while everybody else would. So add in the regular season -- the thousands and thousands of plate appearances Hall of Famers racked up in their careers -- for everybody except Rivera, and Rivera's cWPA would still be among the all-time leaders:

1. Mickey Mantle, 3.099
2. Ruth, 2.887
3. Lou Gehrig, 2.217
4. Willie Mays, 1.916
5. Stan Musial, 1.814
6. Rivera, postseason only, 1.792
7. Duke Snider, 1.779

Now we're on the same scale: In terms of adding championships, relative to average players, Rivera's contribution to his team in the postseason alone is topped by only five players, all five of them among the dozen greatest players of all time. Assuming in this weird premise that voters don't hold it against Rivera for limiting his brilliance to the postseason, it's clear his contribution ranks among the very, very inner circle of major leaguers. Further, his place on the cWPA leaderboard isn't the result of a single start (à la Jack Morris) or a single play (like Hal Smith) but sustained greatness over 16 postseasons, 96 appearances and five World Series titles. He's in!

2. If Mariano Rivera had never thrown a postseason pitch, would he have been a Hall of Famer? Would he have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

The answer to the first part is easy. Trevor Hoffman is an uncontroversial Hall of Famer from the same era as Mariano Rivera, and their Hall of Fame arguments are roughly similar/clearly in favor of Rivera:

• Hoffman: 1,089 innings, 2.87 ERA, 601 saves, seven All-Star games

• Rivera: 1,283 innings, 2.21 ERA, 652 saves, 13 All-Star games

Rivera threw almost 200 more innings than Hoffman and allowed 38 fewer runs. The difference between Rivera's ERA+ and Hoffman's is bigger than the difference between Hoffman's and Todd Van Poppel's. It's not even close. And while in this scenario Rivera threw a pitiful zero postseason innings, Hoffman's case depended not one bit on his postseason performance: 13 innings, 3.46 ERA, four saves and two blown saves. And no rings.

But Hoffman didn't get in until the third ballot. Other than Dennis Eckersley -- who won 150 games as a starter, and serves as the exception to prove this rule -- no reliever has ever made it in on the first ballot:

• Rollie Fingers, second vote

• Hoyt Wilhelm, eighth vote

• Goose Gossage, ninth vote

• Bruce Sutter, 13th vote

Lee Smith was never voted in, but was elected to this year's class by the Today's Game Era committee. So maybe too many voters just won't vote for even an elite closer -- a mere relief pitcher -- on the first ballot unless they have no other choice. In which case our no-postseason Rivera has to be not just as good as these Hall of Famers, but much better. He has to be as valuable as a non-reliever.

The first part is subjective, but Rivera had 12 seasons with an ERA+ over 200 -- that is, seasons where his park-adjusted ERA was twice as good as the league average. Hoffman, Gossage, Sutter and Eckersley had two each. Smith had one. Rivera's 12 best years combined the very best two years of those five Hall of Famers, plus the three best seasons of Aroldis Chapman.

But does that make him as valuable as a non-reliever? His career WAR -- 56.2 -- is borderline, among the lowest for a non-reliever in the Hall and especially low for a modern candidate. But relievers' workloads are artificially limited so they can be saved for high-leverage situations. Their low workloads are strategy, not flaws. The WAR scale breaks down for relievers, because teams are essentially saying that one WAR in a close ninth inning is worth more than one WAR in any other generic situation.

They give us an idea of just how valuable, because they offer relievers contracts to sign with them. Over the past decade-plus, teams have spent about $5 million per win from a starting pitcher or a position player. They've spent almost $11 million per win from a relief pitcher. Either teams are all terrible at spending their money, or they think high-leverage WAR are a lot more valuable than run-of-the-mill WAR. Maybe even twice as valuable.

If "twice as valuable" is right, then Rivera's 56 WAR would be, to a front office, to a team, as valuable as around 110 WAR by a starting pitcher or position player. That's an inner-circle Hall of Famer: Greg Maddux, Mickey Mantle.

Now, that rests on some assumptions, and it might be overly generous to the relievers, but it's also fairly consistent with Hall of Fame voting. For non-relievers, 60 WAR is about what it takes to get into serious discussion, and 70 or 80 makes a player close to a lock. Some players sneak into serious candidacies with 50 WAR.

For relievers, those standards are all about halved: 25 is the floor (Sutter, Fingers), 30 is a serious candidate (Hoffman and Smith), 35 or 40 makes a lock (Gossage, Wilhelm). The average Hall of Fame reliever had 38 regular-season WAR. Rivera had 50 percent more than that.

Of course, in this scenario he had no postseason appearances. Neither did Ernie Banks, famously, and Rivera's regular-season cWPA (.341) aces Banks' (.213). Rivera's regular-season cWPA is the 131st-highest ever, just behind Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez and just ahead of David Ortiz and Chipper Jones. Indeed, his cWPA -- without any postseason contribution -- would be just about the median Hall of Famer's cWPA including the postseason. Not every Hall of Famer improved his contribution in the postseason. Regular-season Rivera would be ahead of the total cWPA contributions of Wade Boggs, Tom Seaver, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza -- and Eckersley, the first-ballot Hall of Famer, whose cWPA took a sizable hit on October 15, 1988.

Rivera's took an even bigger hit on Nov. 4, 2001, when Tony Womack had (by cWPA) the third-biggest hit in baseball history. A lesser reliever might not have lived that down. But Rivera is the greatest reliever of all time. Both of 'em.

A guide to the under-20 action in Borås, including preview, finals timetable and TV info

Many athletes to have claimed medals at the European U18 Championships in Győr last year will be among those seeking success in Sweden over the coming days as European Athletics U20 Championships action takes place in Borås from July 18-21.

Thomas Keen and Keely Hodgkinson both gained gold in Győr and feature on the Great Britain team again in Borås, while Ireland’s Sarah Healy will be looking to build on the 1500m and 3000m double she achieved last year.

The entry lists feature 12 world under-20 leading athletes, including high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine, who has cleared 2.00m this summer, and Tilde Johansson, who recently set a Swedish under-20 record of 6.73m in the long jump. Both Mahuchikh and Johansson also got gold in Győr.

The British team will expect to come back with a clutch of medals, with their new world under-18 200m record-holder Amy Hunt possibly one of the stars of the event.

Her massive breakthrough when clocking 22.42 in Mannheim last month makes her a strong favourite for that event, while she will lead a strong team in the 4x100m too.

READ MORE: Amy Hunt reflects on blistering sprint record

The sprint events ought to be productive for Britain all round, with Jeremiah Azu more than a tenth of a second quicker than anyone else over 100m and Immanuela Aliu in the mix for medals on the women’s side.

In the 400m hurdles, Alastair Chalmers is the quickest in Europe with Seamus Derbyshire also likely to be battling for medals.

Over the flat 400m, Ethan Brown lines up second fastest this year. Likewise, Joe Ferguson is second quickest behind Ireland’s Aaron Sexton on the 200m entries.

Josh Zeller leads the way in the 110m hurdles, while Lucy-Jane Matthews is a podium contender in the women’s equivalent.

Even with European youth record-holder Max Burgin absent through injury, Britain has the fastest three in the men’s 800m. Ben Pattison, Finlay McLear and Oliver Dustin are the trio going for medals.

It is a similar story on the women’s side where Isabel Boffey and Hodgkinson will be favourites if Switzerland’s Delia Sclabas, entered also for the 1500m and 3000m, does not run.

Britain’s Joshua Lay is fastest over 1500m with European youth 3000m champion Keen stepping down this time around. Grace Brock is fastest of the 5000m entries.

Holly Mills will be in with a shout of medals in both the long jump and heptathlon and has been named the GB team co-captain alongside Commonwealth Youth Games discus silver medallist James Tomlinson.

“It’s an amazing honour to be named captain out of all these amazing athletes,” said Mills. “From where I was at last year, to be able to come back to this point and now to be named captain of the team is really fantastic.

“We both captained the team at Loughborough International and I feel that has served as a really good stepping stone for this championship and I’m really excited to be one of the leaders of such a great team.”

GB team and entry lists

MEN
100m: Jeremiah Azu, Chad Miller, Tobi Ogunkanmi; 200m: Joe Ferguson, Praise Olatoke; 400m: Ethan Brown; 800m: Oliver Dustin, Finley McLear, Ben Pattison; 1500m: Thomas Keen, Joshua Lay; 3000m: Max Heyden, Ben West, Joe Wigfield; 5000m: Rory Leonard; 110m hurdles: Jack Sumners, Josh Zeller; 400m hurdles: Alastair Chalmers, Seamus Derbyshire; 3000SC: Remi Adebiyi, Kristian Imroth; LJ: Stephen MacKenzie, Alessandro Schenini; SP: Lewis Byng; Discus: James Tomlinson; HT: Bayley Campbell, Ben Hawkes; Dec: Joel McFarlane, Jack Turner; 4x100m: Fraser Angus, Jeremiah Azu, Joe Ferguson, Chad Miller, Sagesse Nguie, Tobi Ogunkanmi, Praise Olatoke; 4x400m: Ethan Brown, Alastair Chalmers, Lewis Davey, Callum Dodds, Michael Fagbenie, Ben Hawkes, Ben Pattison

WOMEN
100m: Immanuela Aliu; 200m: Georgina Adam, Amy Hunt, Hannah Kelly; 400m: Amber Anning, Louise Evans; 800m: Isabelle Boffey, Sarah Calvert, Keely Hodgkinson; 1500m: Molly Canham, Erin Wallace; 3000m: Saskia Millard, Eloise Walker; 5000m: Grace Brock, Izzy Fry; 100m hurdles: Lucy-Jane Matthews, Marcia Sey; 400m hurdles: Marcey Winter; 3000mSC: Holly Page; LJ: Holly Mills, Josie Oliarnyk; SP: Sarah Omoregie, Serena Vincent; HT: Charlotte Payne, Charlotte Williams; Hept: Olivia Dobson, Holly Mills, Amaya Scott; 4x100m: Georgina Adam, Immanuela Aliu, Amy Hunt, Hannah Kelly, Jazmine Moss, Cassie-Ann Pemberton; 4x400m: Amber Anning, Nayanna Dubarry-Gay, Louise Evans, Hannah Foster, Natasha Harrison, Maisey Snaith

The final entry lists can be found here.

Timetable and results

The action gets under way on Thursday July 18 and runs until Sunday July 21, with a full timetable and live results available here.

Finals
Times given are local time (an hour ahead of UK time)

Friday July 19
17:05 Long Jump M
17:50 Discus Throw W
18:30 800m Heptathlon
18:45 Shot Put M
19:35 Hammer Throw M
20:19 100m M
20:35 100m W

Saturday July 20
16:25 High Jump W
16:35 3000m M
17:33 3000m SC W
17:50 Pole Vault M
18:00 800m W
18:15 1500m M
18:19 Triple Jump W
18:25 200m W
18:35 200m M
18:44 Hammer Throw W
18:46 400m W
19:00 400m M
19:16 100mH W
19:31 110mH M
19:45 1500m Decathlon

Sunday July 21
10:00 10,000m Race Walk W
10:05 Discus Throw M
10:30 Shot Put W
11:05 10,000m Race Walk M
11:18 Long Jump W
12:05 400mH W
12:14 Javelin Throw M
12:20 400mH M
12:30 3000m W

15:54 3000m SC M
16:12 High Jump M
16:18 Pole Vault W
16:20 5000m M
16:37 Triple Jump M
16:47 4x100m W
17:00 4x100m M
17:25 5000m W
17:45 Javelin Throw W
18:00 800m M
18:33 1500m W
18:50 4x400m W
19:25 4x400m M

Finals timetable correct at time of publication. Click here for live event timetable.

TV guide

The championships will be streamed live on the European Athletics website here and coverage will also be shown on Eurosport.

Beating Steve Ovett’s 1500m time in Monaco was a performance a decade in the making, Charlie Grice tells AW

Ten years ago Charlie Grice appeared in AW’s ‘rising stars’ magazine column as a promising 15-year-old middle-distance runner and spoke about his ambition to one day emulate the achievements of fellow Brighton Phoenix clubmate Steve Ovett. At the time Grice’s 1500m PB was 3:58.35 and a few months earlier he placed a mere sixth in the English Schools final, but this month he achieved his dream by beating Ovett’s best time of 3:30.77 with 3:30.62 in Monaco.

Ovett’s mark was a world record in 1983, whereas Grice’s performance places him No.4 on the UK all-time rankings behind Mo Farah, Steve Cram and Seb Coe – all of whom have broken the 3:30 barrier – and puts Grice in the frame for a potential podium place at the IAAF World Championships in Doha this year, not to mention the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

“I’m very aware of the history,” he says, “and ever since I spoke to AW for the article all those years ago that mentioned what Steve Ovett had done, his time has been ingrained in my head so to get it is like a dream come true.”

Grice says fellow Phoenix member Paul Collicutt keeps Ovett and his former training partner Matt Paterson up to date with results and adds: “The whole club was excited to see me race in Monaco because they knew I was in good form. Paul called Steve straight away without realising it was early hours of the morning in Australia and I think Steve was out for dinner but he replied with a few words saying ‘congratulations’.”

Since that early article in AW, the past decade has seen Grice change his name to Charles Da’Vall Grice. After that early sixth place in the English Schools final, he later went on to win two English Schools golds and a bronze medal in the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore at 1000m. In 2013 he took silver in the European Under-23 Championships at 1500m as his improvement continued under the coaching of Jon Bigg. Several British 1500m titles followed and in 2016 he reached the Olympic final in Rio, placing 12th in a slow, tactical race won by Matt Centrowitz.

That same year he ran 3:33.60 for 1500m – again in Monaco – and that time survived as his PB until last week when he sliced three seconds off his best. “I think I’ve been capable of this kind of time on paper,” he says, “but it’s just been a case of actually putting it down.”

Amazingly his performance was achieved despite spending much of the spring period wearing a protective boot due to injury. “I tore my plantar fascia tendon after the indoors and I was in a boot for two months,” he explains, “so to be running this well off that kind of build-up is great.”

He jokes: “Running less is the way forward! I went away to Flagstaff in May and was out there for five and a half weeks and raced in Portland (June 9) but at the start of the camp I was only allowed to do 100m strides in my heavy running shoes in 15-16 seconds so I had to take baby steps. Then out there I got pretty fit.”

When he was injured he kept fit doing cycling in a home-made altitude chamber in England, plus swimming. “I guess I’ve also had years of training banked and am lot stronger,” he says.

Since his teenage years he has increased his mileage gradually every year under the patient supervision of Bigg and he has been a regular at British Athletics altitude camps where, compared to some athletes, he is recognised as being a big ‘responder’ to altitude work.

“Nothing happens overnight,” he says on his training and improvements. “It’s taken years and years of hard graft. Jon (Bigg) was always very good back then in holding me back. I would always want to do more and more but he had a long-term plan for me.

“I’ve had a lot of messages from people wanting to know what training I’ve done in the past few weeks but it’s not about that. It’s about the months and years leading up to a race. It’s quite funny how people always think there’s some kind of magic session or a magic camp where you can go away on one altitude camp and then you’ll run amazingly.”

Grice is speaking to AW from St Moritz, where he is enjoying a few days of training at altitude with friend and training partner Adam Clarke, among others. Rather than being homesick or treating it as ‘work’, Grice says he enjoys the lifestyle of training camps. “I like being away at altitude,” he says. “No distractions. Simple living. Plus St Moritz is such a beautiful place and it’s good to hang out in places like this with mates like Adam.”

Being an elite athlete also often means there is uncertainty when it comes to racing and Grice only got a last-minute invite to the 1500m in Monaco. The new world rankings system means he has struggled to get into Diamond League races lately and instead has raced in meetings in places like Watford and Marseille, although he does not necessarily think it has done him any harm. “It’s good for confidence to get some wins,” he says.

He also feels his 3:33.60 in Monaco in 2016 hinted at more to come. “When I ran that time I was overtaking Mo (Farah) on the back straight and got this sudden surge of ‘wow’ and thought ‘is this really happening?’ I remember my hand then clipping Mo’s trail leg and I nearly tripped him and then I bolted off and died the last 100m (Farah finished fifth and Grice ninth). I was on for about 3:32 but I faded and loads of runners came past me.”

Similarly, he feels his 3:30.62 in Monaco last week was not perfect and suggests there is more to come. “I was running a little wide at some points and I got a load of spike marks up the back of my leg because I was running into the back of people a little,” he says.

“I knew if I had the opportunity of racing in Monaco then I could get a PB of maybe 3:31,” he continues. “But I’d not raced there since 2016, when I ran my PB, so I didn’t want to set a limit on what I could do.

“I knew I had to hurt early. In races this year I’ve only gone through 800m in 1:54 or so but this one I was going to have to suffer early on and I went through 800m in 1:52 and 2:21 at 1000m. I honestly think I can go quicker. It probably won’t happen this year now but hopefully next year I’ll go back.”

Crazy night in Monaco to go fourth on the UK ?? 1500m all time list. Wow ?? #GRICEGRIND

1. Sir Mo Farah 3:28.81
2. Steve Cram 3:29.67
3. Seb Coe 3:29.77
4. Charlie Da’Vall Grice 3:30.62
5. Steve Ovett 3:30.77 pic.twitter.com/KhhWEDtWMV

— GRICEGRIND (@CharlieGrice1) July 13, 2019

It also wasn’t perfect that his coach was unable to watch him. Bigg was at the European Under-23 Championships in Sweden and stayed in a hotel near to Stockholm so he could potentially fly to Monaco, but close to the event he realised it was impossible to get there in time so he watched on a live stream instead.

In addition, Grice could barely have picked a worse weekend to run his fast time. With Wimbledon, the Cricket World Cup and British Grand Prix it meant athletics was drowned by other sports and struggled to get any coverage. “I think back in the day they stopped the news to play these big races whereas athletics doesn’t really hold any real weight these days,” he says. “It is a bit annoying but I guess it is what it is.”

If his form continues, though, he will surely get the recognition eventually. After this weekend’s Diamond League in London, where he is set to race 800m, his next big target is the Müller British Championships in Birmingham where he will face one of the strongest fields of the weekend – including Josh Kerr, Chris O’Hare and Jake Wightman – in the battle for Doha qualification.

“I can’t wait for it. I hope it’ll be a good turn-out,” he says. “You go to Birmingham and sometimes it’s not a great atmosphere. Races like Highgate have shown what more can be done. But the British Champs has the potential to be a crazy race with six or seven people with the qualifying time and that’s what my focus will switch towards soon.”

So what motivates him most in future? More fast times and records, or a podium place at a global championship? Without hesitation he replies: “Definitely medals. Fast times are great and I’ll 100% be going for a British record one day. It probably won’t happen this year with this weird season. But myself and Jon have always said it’s all about the medals.

“The next two years are huge with a Worlds and Olympics and the 1500m time the other night shows that I can be in the medals.”