Gerrit Cole opts out, but Yankees can keep him by adding 2029 salary

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Gerrit Cole exercised his opt out from his New York Yankees contract, giving the team two days to void the opt out by adding a $36 million salary for 2029, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

Three days after the Yankees lost the World Series, New York said Saturday it declined first baseman Anthony Rizzo‘s $17 million option in favor of a $6 million buyout, making the first baseman a free agent.

Cole’s decision, which was expected, was conveyed by a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was not publicly announced. Cole would give up $144 million in the four remaining seasons of his $324 million, nine-year contract.

A 34-year-old right-hander, Cole won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award. His 2024 season didn’t start until June 19 because of nerve irritation and edema in his right elbow. The six-time All-Star went 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts, then was 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts.

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A three-time All-Star, the 35-year-old Rizzo hit .228 with eight homers and 35 RBIs over 92 games in an injury-interrupted season.

Rizzo missed 62 games with a fractured right forearm after colliding with Boston reliever Brennan Bernardino on June 16. He batted .380 (8 for 21) after returning from the injured list on Sept. 1, then fractured the fourth and fifth fingers when hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh’s Ryan Borucki on Sept. 28.

He returned for the AL Championship Series and World Series and batted .267 with no RBIs.

A 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs, Rizzo has a .261 career average with 303 homers and 965 RBIs in 14 major league seasons. He was traded from Chicago to the Yankees in July 2021.

He stayed with the Yankees for a $32 million, two-year deal, then agreed in November 2022 to a $40 million, two-year contract.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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With Ohtani and Yamamoto, World Series averaged record 12.9M viewers in Japan

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With Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto making their first appearance, the World Series averaged 12.9 million viewers in Japan, making it the most-watched Fall Classic in the nation’s history.

Along with the United States ratings, the five-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees had a combined 28.7 million average in the two countries.

The Dodgers’ 4-2 victory in Game 2 averaged 15.9 million in Japan, making it the most-watched postseason game in the nation’s history, according to Major League Baseball. Yamamoto was the Dodgers’ starting pitcher and allowed only one run and one hit in 6 1/3 innings.

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Tokyo is 19 hours ahead of New York and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, meaning the games started around 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday morning in Japan. The games were carried through Fuji TV, NHK BS and J Sports.

The Series also delivered record viewership in Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Taiwan, according to MLB.

The World Series averaged 15.8 million viewers in the U.S. on FOX, FOX Deportes and streaming, its best performance since 2017. That is a 67% increase over last year, when the Texas Rangers‘ victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games averaged only 9.11 million, which was the lowest-recorded Series average.

Los Angeles was the top market with a 18.9 rating and 53 share, while New York was third with a 12.4 rating and 41 share. San Diego was second at 12.4 and 41.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to the percentage of the audience viewing it at the time.

FOX and FS1 averaged 7.49 million for the postseason, a 42% jump over last year, and its best average in seven years.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Dodgers to celebrate World Series victory with parade, stadium celebration

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The Los Angeles Dodgers will celebrate their eighth World Series championship with a downtown parade and a stadium gathering featuring Shohei Ohtani and other star players on Friday.

The Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in five games, clinching the title with a 7-6 victory in the Bronx on Wednesday.

The team said that because of logistics, traffic and timing, fans won’t be able to attend both events. People dressed in blue Dodgers gear began gathering along downtown streets hours ahead of time.

The parade will begin mid-morning at Gloria Molina Grand Park in front of City Hall with Mayor Karen Bass in attendance. It will continue on a 45-minute route that culminates at the intersection of 5th and Flower streets, with the Dodgers traveling atop double-decker buses.

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The celebration at Dodger Stadium will begin shortly after noon. The parade will be carried on the stadium’s videoboards ahead of the team’s arrival.

A portion of the proceeds from the ticketed stadium event will be donated to the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.

There were more than a dozen arrests during informal celebrations after the team’s comeback win to clinch the Series. Burglaries, vandalism and fires occurred in some parts of the city.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Reports: World Series MVP Freddie Freeman also played through major rib injury

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Freddie Freeman authored a World Series MVP performance for the ages, and not just because the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman dealt with a badly sprained ankle throughout the team’s playoff run.

Freeman also suffered broken cartilage in his rib just before the Dodgers began their postseason in the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, ESPN and The Washington Post reported.

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The 35-year-old Freeman was diagnosed with the injury on the night of Oct. 4, one day before the start of the NLDS, per ESPN. Yet Freeman remained on the Dodgers’ roster while also dealing with the aforementioned ankle injury, plus a broken finger suffered in August that had not fully healed. He was in the lineup for that game, and still contributed through the first two rounds of the playoffs. This despite noticeable pain that required him to sit three different times during the Dodgers’ NLDS win over the Padres and NLCS win over the New York Mets.

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The four days of rest between the Dodgers’ clinching Game 6 of the NLCS and Game 1 of the 2024 World Series helped Freeman make a noticeable improvement, and not only physically. He also tweaked his swing to recover his power stroke. Still, the type of rib injury Freeman was dealing with usually sidelines players for months, ESPN reported.

[RELATED: Full coverage of the World Series] 

Instead, roughly three weeks after being diagnosed with that broken rib cartilage, Freeman hit the first and only walk-off grand slam in World Series history:

And Freeman added on from there, hitting home runs in each of the Dodgers’ next three games to solidify his World Series MVP case. Freeman also broke the record for most consecutive World Series games with a home run (six, dating back to the end of the 2021 World Series he won with the Atlanta Braves) and tied the record for most RBIs in a single World Series (12).

Check out Freeman’s full World Series MVP trophy ceremony and sit-down interview with the “MLB on FOX” postgame crew below:

Freddie Freeman named World Series MVP

Freddie Freeman on Dodgers’ grit, playing through injuries and more

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Dodgers’ World Series clincher averages 18.6 million viewers on FOX, a five-year high

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The Dodgers’ 8-7 victory over the Yankees in Game 5 for their eighth World Series title and second in five years averaged 18.6 million viewers on FOX, FOX Deportes and streaming, according to Nielsen.

That is the most-watched game in the Fall Classic since Game 7 in 2019 when the Washington Nationals’ victory over the Houston Astros averaged 23.22 million.

The series averaged 15.81 million, its best performance since 2017 when Houston’s victory over the Dodgers in seven games averaged 18.93 million.

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Its also quite a turnaround from last year, when the Texas Rangers’ title over the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games averaged a record-low 9.11 million. The Dodgers-Yankees series was a 67% increase over that mark. 

Additionally, the complete 2024 MLB Postseason on FOX and FS1 averaged 7,485,000 viewers, up +42% over last year’s average (5,265,000) and FOX Sports’ best Postseason through Game 5 of the World Series since 2017, per FOX Sports PR. There was also a 101% increase in viewership among adults 18-34. 

The audience Wednesday peaked at 21.27 million from 11:15-11:30 p.m. EDT.

Dodgers vs. Yankees: MINI-MOVIE of 2024 World Series | MLB on FOX 🎥

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The game had a 21.1 rating and 55 share in Los Angeles and 14.8 rating and 39 share in New York.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to a percentage of the audience viewing it at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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What does Shohei Ohtani still have to accomplish? A look at his high school goal list

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Shohei Ohtani added the one major accomplishment that had eluded his already illustrious career on Wednesday night.

The two-way superstar won his first World Series title, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers take down the New York Yankees in five games. As Ohtani suffered a shoulder injury late in Game 2, he didn’t have his best showing at the plate in the Fall Classic. He went 2-for-19 (.105) at the plate, failing to register a home run or an RBI.

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Of course, Ohtani was arguably the biggest reason why the Dodgers were even in the World Series to begin with. He became the first player in MLB history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a regular season, making him the likely NL MVP winner. He also hit .364 with two homers in the Dodgers’ NLCS win over the New York Mets.

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At 30, Ohtani has already built a strong case as one of the best players in MLB history. He’ll obviously have plenty of time to add to his case as well, and he’ll make his return to the mound in 2025 after rehabbing from elbow surgery he underwent in late 2023.

As Ohtani looks to add to his legacy, the future Hall of Famer actually mapped out his career when he was a high schooler in Japan. In the list, Ohtani wrote down each goal he’d like to accomplish at each age. The list included professional and personal goals, which could maybe serve as a guideline for what Ohtani still wants to accomplish in his career.

Here’s a complete look at Ohtani’s goal list:

• Age 18: Join an MLB team
• Age 19: Master English and reach AAA
• Age 20: Called up to the Majors, make 1.5 billion JPY (translates to $13 million in US)
• Age 21: Starting rotation, 16 wins
• Age 22: Win the Cy Young Award
• Age 23: Member of Japan WBC team
• Age 24: Throw a no-hitter and 25 wins
• Age 25: Throw fastest pitch in the world 175 kph (or 108 mph)
• Age 26: Win the World Series and get married
• Age 27: Member of Japan WBC team & MVP
• Age 28: 1st son is born
• Age 29: Throw 2nd no-hitter
• Age 30: Get most wins by a Japanese pitcher
• Age 31: 1st daughter is born
• Age 32: Win 2nd World Series
• Age 33: 2nd son is born
• Age 34: Win 3rd World Series
• Age 35: Member of Japan WBC team
• Age 36: Break the strikeout record?
• Age 37: 1st son starts baseball
• Age 38: Stats drop, start to think about retirement
• Age 39: Decide to retire at end of next season
• Age 40: Throw no-hitter in my very last game
• Age 41: Return to Japan
• Age 42: Introduce the American system to Japan?

So far, Ohtani has accomplished six of those items on the list. He made his MLB debut in 2018, checking off another goal when he earned $30 million in arbitration when he was with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023. He made Japan’s World Baseball Classic team in 2023, winning the MVP of the tournament with his two-way prowess helping his native country beat the USA in the final.

Ohtani was a few years off on when he would win his first World Series, predicting he’d win it as a 26-year-old in 2020. However, he was correct that he would win the World Series within a year of getting married, as he wedded Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka ahead of the 2024 offseason. 

Dodgers vs. Yankees: MINI-MOVIE of 2024 World Series

Even though most of the records Ohtani has made have come at the plate or on the basepaths, many of his individual goals list were focused on the mound. He rose to prominence in high school due to his pitching ability, throwing the fastest pitch ever for a Japanese high schooler at 99 mph. 

As Ohtani prepares to return to the mound in 2025, some of those pitching goals seem obtainable while some of them might be a bit out of reach. His career-high in wins is 15, which he accomplished in 2022. So, 16+ wins in a season seems doable. But 25 wins in a season is probably unlikely, as former Athletics pitcher Bob Welch was the last pitcher to reach that number, doing so in 1990. 

Throwing a 108 mph pitch is also probably unlikely to happen. He threw a 102 mph pitch during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which was the fastest pitch he’s ever recorded. For perspective, the fastest pitch ever recorded in the modern era belongs to a 105.8 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman in 2010. Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Ben Joyce is one of the few who has even come close, firing a 105.5 mph pitch in September.

Ohtani will almost certainly not set the strikeout record, either, especially if he plans to retire at 40. He’s recorded 608 career strikeouts, which is 5,000 fewer than Nolan Ryan’s record (5,714). Ryan played for an MLB record 27 years. 

A few of the other pitching goals seem plausible, though. If Ohtani averaged roughly nine wins per season over the next 10 years, he’d break Hideo Nomo’s record for most wins ever by a Japanese pitcher (123). He finished fourth in the AL Cy Young vote in 2022, showing he has the upside to possibly win the award. Ohtani has only thrown one complete-game shutout in his career, but he only allowed one hit in that start. So, he’s already come within reach of pitching a no-hitter.

Shohei Ohtani joins ‘MLB on Fox’ crew to discuss Dodgers winning the 2024 World Series

Of course, the other professional goals that Ohtani had on his list were to win a second and third World Series title. He seemed to amend those goals following the Dodgers’ World Series victory on Wednesday.

“In his first year [with the Dodgers], he won a championship,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters of Ohtani. “He’s like, ‘This is easy. We’re just gonna do it again nine more times.'”

As Friedman is referring to, Ohtani still has nine seasons remaining on the 10-year, $700 million contract he signed with the Dodgers last offseason. If Ohtani miraculously wins a title in each season remaining on his contract, it won’t matter if he accomplishes the individual goals on his list. He’d almost certainly be viewed as the best player in baseball history if he won 10 titles in a row. 

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World Series games averaged 3:19 in second year of pitch clock, up from 3:01

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Nine-inning games in the World Series averaged 3 hours, 19 minutes in the second year of the pitch clock, up from 3:01 in 2023.

The Series average was 3:24 in 2022 and 3:38 in 2021, the last season before the PitchCom electronic pitch-calling device. The 2023 average was the fastest since 1996.

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Mid-inning pitching changes increased to 5.2 from 3.8 in 2023 and 2.5 in 2022. World Series runs per game rose to 10.0 from 9.3 in 2023 and 5.8 in 2022. Pitches increased to 315 from 298, the highest total since 2018.

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[Related: Full coverage of the World Series]

The overall postseason game average remained at 3:02, down from 3:23 in 2022 and 3:37 in 2021.

This season’s regular-season average of 2:36 declined four minutes from 2023 and 28 minutes from 2022. It had not been this low since 1984’s 2:35.

MLB shortened the pitch clock with runners on base by two seconds to 18 ahead of the 2024 season while keeping it at 15 seconds without runners on base.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Juan Soto next team odds: Where will free agency take the Yankees star?

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Things move fast in the world of professional sports. 

Not even a day after the 2024 season came to an end, with the Dodgers winning the World Series over the Yankees 4-1, it’s time to turn the page to free agency.

And the biggest free agent on the market is Yankees superstar Juan Soto.

During the Yankees’ postseason run, Soto hit four home runs and totaled nine RBIs in 14 games. 

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Who will next acquire Soto’s services? Let’s take a look at the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Oct. 31.

Juan Soto next team:

Yankees: -225 (bet $10 to win $14.44 total)
Mets: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Dodgers: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Blue Jays: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Cubs: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Giants: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Red Sox: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Nationals: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Mariners: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Padres: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)

Soto is a four-time All-Star and twice was named to the All-MLB first team. He played for the Washington Nationals from 2018-2021 and part of 2022, before being traded to the San Diego Padres, where he finished the 2022 season and played a full season in 2023. 

Soto was once again traded, this time to the Yankees, and he’s spent the last two seasons in New York.

Over the last two seasons, he’s hit 76 home runs and amassed 218 RBIs. He was walked more than any other player in the major leagues in 2023, and in 2024, he led the American League in runs.

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Imagine a new MLB dynasty with the Dodgers — and Juan Soto

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The Los Angeles Dodgers already crushed the New York Yankees‘ spirit by rallying from a five-run deficit Wednesday to clinch the 2024 World Series in five games. It was a series in which the Dodgers outplayed the Yankees in all facets, according to FOX Sports analyst and Yankees legend Derek Jeter, a point driven home by New York’s stunning defensive miscues in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s Game 5.

But there is one way in which the Dodgers could really pour salt into the Yankees’ wounds — by signing Juan Soto in free agency — and Colin Cowherd argued Thursday that it would be great for the sport if L.A. did just that.

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[Freddie] Freeman, [Mookie] Betts, [Clayton] Kershaw, Soto — it would be the ultimate villain [team] outside of Los Angeles,” Cowherd said. “Couldn’t take your eyes off it. Major League Baseball has not had a dynasty since the early 2000s and, by the way, go look at the NBA. Last time they got great ratings — [Michael Jordan’s] Bulls, [the] Kobe [Bryant]-Shaq [O’Neal Lakers], Steph [Curry]’s Warriors. I think the Dodgers should make a run this [offseason]. The Dodgers led baseball in home attendance, and they also led it in road attendance. They’re interesting. It’s a star-studded machine. Add another star. We’re all distracted — you have to create urgency.”

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Cowerd continued to talk about the value of the sport having a villain.

“[It] would create a special and unique experience you can’t get anywhere else. Everybody got mad when [Kevin Durant] went to the Warriors — they watched. [The Warriors] were a villain. It was unique. We were calling them the greatest basketball team of all time. There’s a million platforms, a million channels, a million places for your eyeballs to go. People are not watching good — they’re watching Caitlin Clark because there’s never been anything like it in women’s basketball.”

Cowherd’s argument is rooted in the belief that the only way for MLB to make a resurgence in popularity is to have a dynasty like the NBA teams he outlined, or the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots and Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL. MLB has not had back-to-back World Series champions since the Yankees won three World Series in a row from 1998-2000.

Dodgers win World Series 4-1 over the Yankees

“Mahomes and Brady’s dominance has not hurt the NFL whatsoever,” Cowherd said. “I think Major League Baseball needs a dynasty, and nobody has the wherewithal and the passion and the attendance and the inertia and the momentum and already a launching pad of a franchise like the Dodgers. I would go after Soto. You’ll probably have to let somebody go. Okay, but when the Warriors went and got KD, Adam Silver was very uncomfortable, and then people stopped watching the Denver Nuggets win a title. I know it makes you uncomfortable — that’s an unfair advantage. Sports is all unfair.”

Ironically, it’s the Yankees who have established themselves as MLB’s preeminent team because of the dynasties they’ve enjoyed virtually constantly from the 1920s to the late 1970s, and again in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They’ve won 27 World Series titles in the process, way more than anybody else — the St. Louis Cardinals are a distant second, with 11.

Keeping Soto in the fold would give the Yankees a much clearer path for a return to that former glory, after they just snapped a 15-year streak of not even reaching the World Series.

Soto is fresh off a superstar first season in the Bronx after arriving in a trade with the San Diego Padres last winter, and is expected to earn one of the biggest contracts in MLB history this offseason. It was a common occurrence to hear Yankees fans, both in Yankee Stadium and at road games, chant “re-sign Soto” during the latter part of the regular season and throughout the Yankees’ playoff run.

The reasons are obvious — Soto, who was already a superstar before arriving in New York, put up the best numbers over a 162-game season in his career this past season. He slashed .288/.419/.569 with a .989 OPS and had the fifth-lowest strikeout rate among all MLB hitters. His Wins Above Replacement on Fangraphs, or fWAR, was the fourth-highest in the majors behind only current Yankees captain Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, and Ohtani.

Dodgers vs. Yankees: MINI-MOVIE of 2024 World Series

And that was all before a postseason in which he improved on those numbers, including a 1.102 OPS, and hit four home runs, including the decisive blast in the 10th inning of a clinching Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

But while Soto has expressed fondness for his time as a Yankee, he also spoke about the team in the past tense when talking to reporters after New York’s Game 5 loss and said he would “be available for all 30 teams” in free agency. And the Dodgers are reportedly interested in Soto.

Could he take Cowherd’s advice and spurn baseball’s so-called “Evil Empire” to create a new dynasty out West? 

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