Baseball Archives - Page 9 of 49

February 4, 2025February 4, 2025

What are the 10 most shocking trades of all time?

FOX Sports Research

Every once in a while, there’s a trade in the sports world that makes everyone stop in their tracks and dive into their group chats to share the shock of the deal.

Saturday night, NBA fans experienced a different kind of alarm, wondering if reports of a Luka Dončić–Anthony Davis blockbuster trade were real. There was no hacking involved, though, and once reality set in, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks had agreed to a three-team deal that stunned the sports community.

Days later, even as more details emerge, the trade still seems outrageous.

But is it the most shocking in sports history? Here’s our list of 10.

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10 most shocking trades

Junior Griffey was arguably the biggest star in baseball when he was unexpectedly traded by the Mariners at the peak of his career. Already a 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner before turning 30, Griffey appeared destined to break the all-time home run record and was in the midst of one of the greatest ever starts to a career.

But behind the scenes, Griffey wanted out of the Pacific Northwest for family reasons. He’d grown up in Cincinnati and welcomed the idea of raising his children there. Moreover, his father was a bench coach with the Reds.

Griffey got his wish after the 1999 season. After vetoing a trade to the Mets, he was sent to Cincinnati — in exchange for Mike Cameron and Brett Tomko — where he quickly signed a long extension. Alas, Griffey wasn’t able to stay healthy and his play soon declined. A compromised second half of his career has perhaps dampened the memory of how much this trade rocked the baseball world at the time.

After two unfulfilling seasons in Oakland, the Raiders and Moss were more than ready to part ways. The Packers were ready to pounce in hopes of pairing the future Hall of Famer with Brett Favre. Green Bay offered a young Aaron Rodgers, who’d attempted all of 31 passes after two seasons in the league.

The Raiders declined, however, and drafted JaMarcus Russell instead. That allowed the Patriots, who were annual contenders and coming off an AFC title game appearance, to swoop in and acquire Moss during the draft for a mere fourth-round pick. Moss later shared that he got a surprise phone call from Bill Belichick in the middle of the night, asking him to fly from Texas to Foxborough and clear a physical that day.

Moss and the Pats made history a few months later. New England became the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season, setting the record for points in a season, while Tom Brady broke the TD passes mark and Moss the TD receptions mark. The Pats experienced a shock of their own in the playoffs when their perfect season was spoiled by the Giants in the Super Bowl. Moss would play two-and-a-half more seasons in New England, but nothing matched his connection with Brady during that 2007 campaign.

Rodriguez was just three years into his landmark 10-year, $252 million deal when the Rangers, who’d finished in last place all three years, surprisingly began to shop the reigning MVP. The shock lies in what happened next.

The Red Sox orchestrated a three-team deal that also included the Chicago White Sox that would’ve involved A-Rod, Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Jon Lester and Magglio Ordonez switching teams. The deal was nixed at the 11th hour, however, when the MLBPA wouldn’t allow Rodriguez to take the pay cut that he and the Red Sox had agreed to.

As Rodriguez remained with the Rangers late in the 2003-04 offseason, Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone tore his ACL playing basketball right before spring training. That prompted the Yankees to gauge A-Rod’s interest in playing in the Bronx. With Derek Jeter entrenched at shortstop, and Rodriguez having just won back-to-back Gold Gloves and widely regarded as the best all-around player in baseball, the thought of A-Rod switching positions and joining the Yankees seemed unfathomable.

But he consented, and the Yankees sent fellow young star Alfonso Soriano to Texas.

The move added a fascinating wrinkle to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry just months after the two heavyweights squared off in the postseason. They would, of course, meet again the following October, with Boston rallying back from the first 0-3 deficit in MLB history. Rodriguez would go on to earn two more MVPs and eventually win a World Series with the Yankees while spending the final 13 years of his career in New York.

7. Shaquille O’Neal to Miami Heat (2004)

Shock waves were felt across ther NBA landscape in the summer of 1996 when the Orlando Magic allowed O’Neal to sign with the Lakers just four years after making him the No. 1 pick in the draft. Predictably, he became a cultural icon and grew into the most dominant player in basketball. But while leading the Lakers to a three-peat and winning Finals MVP for each series, he and Kobe Bryant began to feud publicly. The situation had became untenable by the summer of 2004, and the Lakers had to decide which of them they were keeping.

Bryant figured it would be Shaq and had already begun exploring his options in free agency. That plan was put to an immediate halt when the Lakers stunningly sent O’Neal to the Miami Heat in exchange for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a first-round pick.

The Heat were initially the big winners, as a motivated Shaq finished second in MVP voting the following season and helped lead Miami to its first NBA crown in Year 2. The Lakers, meanwhile, scuffled for three seasons before executing another stunning trade, acquiring Pau Gasol in 2008. His arrival gave Kobe the support he needed to lead the Lakers to back-to-back titles (and three consecutive Finals appearances). He’d spend his entire 20-year career with the Lakers.

Three years after an MVP season and a deep playoff run, and Minnesota in desperate need of a rebuild, Garnett and the Timberwolves agreed it was time to part ways. The only question was where he’d land. The Lakers and Phoenix Suns were initially at the forefront of the sweepstakes, with each offering a budding star (Los Angeles offered Andrew Bynum, Phoenix offered Amar’e Stoudemire) to try to form a top-tier contender in the West. The Suns eventually bowed out, which seemingly gave the edge to the Lakers.

Boston, which was coming off two losing seasons, wasn’t an attractive destination for KG. Years later, Garnett shared that the Lakers were his first choice, only he was unable to get in contact with Kobe Bryant despite numerous attempts. The Celtics, meanwhile, acquired perennial All-Star Ray Allen in a draft-day deal to pair alongside Paul Pierce, tipping the scale enough for Garnett to eventually sign off on a trade to Boston. The Celtics gave up a five-player package centered around young center Al Jefferson plus two first-round picks for Garnett, marking the largest deal for a single player in NBA history.

More importantly, the transaction unofficially ushered in the modern superteam era. The three stars proved to be a perfect fit and took the league by storm, winning 66 games in their first season before toppling the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Boston would remain a title contender for four more years and appear in another Finals with Garnett. The Timberwolves went another decade without making the playoffs.

The Cowboys became the NFL’s team of the ‘90s thanks in large part to one trade.

In the middle of the 1989 season, first-year Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson decided to part ways with their best player, two-time Pro Bowler Herschel Walker, in order to rebuild a roster that would finish the year 1-15. After creating a bidding war behind the scenes and nearly trading the running back to the Cleveland Browns, the Cowboys took advantage of an opportunistic Vikings team seeking to make a title run and parted with Walker for three draft picks and five players.

Dallas then utilized a loophole by cutting four of those players to recoup four conditional picks (two firsts, one second and a third) and trading Darrin Nelson to the Chargers for another conditional pick (1992 second round). The Cowboys turned all that draft capital into future standouts Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, Clayton Holmes and Darren Woodson, and would soon become a dynasty.

Walker, meanwhile, helped the Vikings reach the playoffs in 1989 but would spend just two more years in Minnesota before bouncing around the league and eventually ending up back with the Cowboys.

The deal that saw the San Francisco Warriors trade Chamberlain to the 76ers might be the NBA trade most comparable to the Dončić deal.

The move came during All-Star weekend in 1965, with the Warriors trading a 28-year-old Wilt after he helped them reach the NBA Finals the season prior. The Warriors’ poor start to the season and Chamberlain’s unpopularity in San Francisco made him expendable in the eyes of management, which moved him for three players that had a combined one All-Star appearance (with one of the players retiring shortly after the trade) plus $150,000.

The Hall of Fame center responded by winning three consecutive MVPs with the 76ers and leading them to the title in 1967, all while the Warriors struggled. Wilt wasn’t long for Philadelphia, however, despite having started his career there with the Warriors before the franchise moved to the Bay. After four seasons with the Sixers, he orchestrated a trade to the Lakers in what some regard as the first example of the player empowerment movement.

You know a trade is controversial when the government tries to get involved. That was the case when the Edmonton Oilers moved Gretzky shortly after winning their fifth Stanley Cup with the all-time great in 1988. The trade had actually been in the works for much longer than anyone had known at the time, with Gretzky’s father informing him just hours after their Cup win that he learned months prior that Gretzky was on the market. As Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was in financial trouble, they agreed to deal Gretzky to the Kings for center Jimmy Carson, left wing Martin Gélinas, two first-round picks and $15 million in cash. The Oilers also gave up a pair of lesser players (Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski) at Gretzky’s wish.

The deal proved traumatic for Gretzky, who tearfully said goodbye to the Oilers in a press conference. Edmonton wound up having more team success than L.A. in the immediate aftermath, winning another Stanley Cup two years later (while sweeping the Kings in the process). Still, it’s hard not to imagine the Oilers’ dynasty lasting into the ‘90s had they not traded Gretzky, who won an MVP and led the league in scoring three more times after the deal. He eventually led the Kings to their first Stanley Cup. More importantly, he helped popularize the sport in the United States, as the NHL has added 11 franchises stateside since Gretzky’s monumental transfer.

2. Babe Ruth to New York Yankees (1920)

The baseball player many regard as the best of all time was moved for a sum of cash to help finance a theater play. No, really. Ruth was only 24 years old at the time, had just set the single-season home run record and had already helped the Red Sox win three World Series, thanks to his two-way exploits. But new team owner Harry Frazee was facing financial pressure and agreed to sell Ruth’s contract to the Red Sox for $100,000 along with a $325,000 loan from Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert ahead of the 1920 season.

The stunning swap changed the fortunes of the two franchises overnight.

Boston, which had won five of the first 16 World Series, didn’t make the playoffs again for 26 years. The Yankees, who had never played in the postseason, appeared in 29 of the next 45 World Series. Ruth would play 15 years in New York, winning four titles and becoming the all-time home run leader. (He also started just four games on the mound while in pinstripes.) It would be 86 years before the Red Sox finally won a World Series, while the Yankees lead all North American pro franchises with 27 championships.

That’s why they call it the “Curse of the Bambino.”

1. Luka Dončić to Los Angeles Lakers (2025)

Dončić is, conservatively, one of the five best basketball players in the world. Many would assert he’s behind only the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić. Whatever the case, the 25-year-old Slovenian superstar was assumed to be untouchable. Dončić had just won the scoring title and led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last summer.

So, calling their decision to trade the perennial MVP candidate to the Lakers a shock actually feels like an understatement. The move, which featured future Hall of Fame center Anthony Davis in return, came completely out of nowhere and involved zero speculation prior. Credit to the Lakers on that front. As Dallas general manager Nico Harrison confirmed, he contacted the Lakers a few weeks back to gauge their interest in Dončić. There were seemingly no leaks, as other teams and the players directly involved in the eventual swap were completely unaware of these conversations.

While the deal — and the Mavericks not holding a bidding war before unloading Dončić — still has the NBA community reeling, one potential motivating factor for them might have been Dončić being eligible for a $345 million extension this summer. Time will tell if the Mavericks’ bet on a soon-to-be 32-year-old Davis, promising guard Max Christie and a future first-round pick pays off.

Dončić, meanwhile, like so many of the greatest players in basketball history, will play for the Lakers.

HONORABLE MENTION

Mike Piazza to the Marlins/Mets
Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors
Jon Gruden to the Buccaneers
Matthew Stafford to the Rams
Chris Paul to the Clippers
James Harden to the Rockets
Curt Schilling to the Red Sox
Justin Verlander to the Astros
Eric Dickerson to the Colts
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers
Chris Webber to the Bullets
Marshall Faulk to the Rams
Ricky Williams to the Saints
Frank Robinson to the Orioles
Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins

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February 2, 2025February 2, 2025

Shohei Ohtani looks ‘really strong,’ could make pitching return in May for Dodgers

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Shohei Ohtani pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in May is “about right,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday at the team’s annual fan fest.

He reiterated Ohtani won’t pitch in the season-opening Japan Series against the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19 in Tokyo.

The two-way superstar hasn’t pitched in the majors since August 2023, when he was with the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander had surgery on his left shoulder on Nov. 5 after dislocating it on a stolen base attempt in Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees.

“He looks really strong,” Roberts said. “I saw some videos recently and you just wouldn’t think that there was any shoulder surgery this past winter.”

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The Dodgers begin reporting to spring camp in Arizona on Feb. 10.

“As of now, it seems like I’m on schedule,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I’ve been able to work out every day and I’m really looking forward to being on time for spring training and the season.”

However, Ohtani said he cannot pinpoint when exactly he will take the mound.

Jack Flaherty on playing with Shohei Ohtani, the ‘Ohtani Rule’ & his mental toughness

“The shoulder surgery is a complicated surgery compared to the elbow,” he said, referring to his right elbow surgery in September 2023. “I had to work on the range of motion. There’s some residual effect in the labrum.”

Ohtani said he’ll know more after he throws his first bullpen session.

“Then I think we’re going to really get a feel for when I’ll be able to be on a big league mound,” he said.

Freddie Freeman

World Series MVP Freddie Freeman said he started hitting this week for the first time since having ankle surgery on Dec. 5. The first baseman partially chipped off cartilage, which floated to his Achilles tendon right above his ankle.

“It was quite a nasty injury I had,” he said.

Freeman has yet to be cleared to start running and doesn’t think he’ll appear in early spring training games. “As of right now, I’m on track to be able to play in Tokyo,” he said.

Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw has begun a throwing progression and he and the team are in contact to finalize a contract for the upcoming season.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner, who turns 37 next month, had foot and knee surgeries on Nov. 7. His season ended early because of a left big toe injury, which never got better and kept him out of the postseason.

Days before the operations, he declined his player option for this year and became a free agent.

Kiké Hernández

Dodgers fans registered their support to bring back utilityman Kiké Hernández by chanting his name during fan fest.

General manager Brandon Gomes indicated the team is still considering signing him.

“Obviously, we’ve never closed the door to Kiké,” Gomes said. “A lot of it is just making sure he and his family feel like it’s the best position for him. We’ll have those conversations.”

Roberts extension

Roberts is heading into the final season of his current contract and the team is talking to him about an extension, Gomes said.

Los Angeles Dodgers: MINI-MOVIE of 2024 Postseason | MLB on FOX 🎥

He last signed a three-year deal with the team in March 2022. He won NL manager of the year honors in 2016, his first season with the Dodgers. Roberts has a regular-season record of 851-506 and has led the team to the postseason every year since he joined the team. They’ve won four NL pennants and two World Series titles.

Roberts was heavily criticized after consecutive first-round playoff losses in 2022 and 2023. But overcoming a slew of injuries and then beating the Yankees in the World Series last year has alleviated that.

“It’s good to be liked,” he said.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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February 1, 2025February 1, 2025

11-year-old says his ‘brain pooped’ when he opened rare Paul Skenes baseball card

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Last month, Topp revealed that an 11-year-old boy in Los Angeles pulled “The Paul Skenes 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card.”

How did the boy, who collects baseball cards, and his family come across the card for the Pittsburgh Pirates star, and what was the moment like when he realized what he had just opened?

“It wasn’t even on my mind that I would pull it [the Skenes card],” the boy said about opening up the card on Christmas Day in an interview with The Athletic. “I thought it would go to some big breaker [someone who opens boxes of cards online in large quantities and typically sells the contents by team or player]. So I’m like, ‘Dad, I pulled the Paul Skenes.’ And he was like, ‘No you didn’t.'”

The boy’s father described his favorite part of his son getting the Skenes card.

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“I said, ‘So if you share this with the world, you really want to tell the world that your brain pooped?,” the father recalled telling his son, who said his “brain pooped” upon opening up the card. “And he smiled, and I think that was, to be honest, his favorite part.”

The boy turned down an offer from the Pirates for the card that included 30 years’ worth of season tickets to sit behind home plate.

Paul Skenes Postgame Press Conference

As for the player on the card, Skenes just put together a spectacular rookie season for the Pirates. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of LSU, Skenes reached the big leagues in less than one calendar year after being drafted, making his first MLB start on May 11, 2024.

In the 23 MLB starts that he made, Skenes posted a 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 214 ERA+ and 170 strikeouts over 133 innings; he pitched through six innings in 16 of those 23 starts.

Furthermore, Skenes started for the National League in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game and pitched a scoreless inning. He went on to win National League Rookie of the Year honors at the end of the season.

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February 1, 2025February 1, 2025

What are the 100 best athlete nicknames of all time?

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There are countless athletes that have legendary nicknames attached to their brand, but which ones are the best?

Here are the 100 best athlete nicknames of all time.

100 best athlete nicknames of all time

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10. William Perry: “The Fridge”

Perry was thrown into the fire as a rookie (1985) on an elite Chicago Bears defense. Totaling five sacks and two fumble recoveries, Perry held his own on a Chicago defense that led them to a Super Bowl triumph. Of course, that’s not all the defensive lineman did, as “The Fridge” punched in two rushing touchdowns in the regular season and another in Super Bowl XX. Perry spent the bulk of his 10-year NFL career with the Bears, with whom he’s ninth in franchise history with 456 solo tackles.

9. Jerome Bettis: “The Bus”

It’s not wise to get in the way of “The Bus.” A six-time Pro Bowler, Bettis was a force to be reckoned with for the Pittsburgh Steelers — and the Rams for the first three years of his career. Surpassing 1,000 rushing yards in eight seasons, six of them coming in Pittsburgh, Bettis is second in Steelers history with 10,571 rushing yards and 78 rushing touchdowns. In his final season (2005), Bettis rushed for nine touchdowns in the regular season and three in the postseason, helping the Steelers win Super Bowl XL.

8. Walter Payton: “Sweetness”

“Sweetness” is how someone could define Payton’s voice. A five-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler, Payton has a case for being the best running back in NFL history. Surpassing 1,000 rushing yards in 10 of his 13 seasons in the sport, Payton is second in league history with 16,726 career rushing yards and fifth with 110 rushing touchdowns. Payton played his entire career with the Bears, with whom he won Super Bowl XX.

7. Wayne Gretzky: “The Great One”

Gretzky, or “The Great One,” was majestic on the ice. A career that saw Gretzky win four Stanley Cup titles in five seasons with the Edmonton Oilers saw him finish as the NHL‘s all-time leader in points (2,857), goals (894) and assists (1,963) by a wide margin. Gretzky led the sport in goals five times, points 11 times and assists 16 times across his 20-year NHL career. Furthermore, Gretzky claimed nine NHL Hart Memorial Trophy honors in the span of 10 years.

6. Calvin Johnson: “Megatron”

When you’re 6-foot-5, have great hands and run like a freight train, you get nicknamed after the leader of the Decepticons. A three-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler, Johnson was arguably the best wide receiver of his generation. Spending his entire nine-year NFL career with the Detroit Lions, “Megatron” became the franchise’s all-time leader in receptions (731), receiving yards (11,619) and receiving touchdowns (83). Johnson led the NFL in receiving yards twice and posted 1,000-plus receiving yards in seven of his nine seasons.

After a respectable six-year stint with the Minnesota Twins (1997-2002), Ortiz came to the Boston Red Sox in 2003 and became one of the greatest players in franchise history. Earning the nickname “Big Papi,” Ortiz was money for Boston in the postseason, helping it win three World Series (2004, 2007 and 2013). He posted 30-plus home runs and 100-plus RBIs, respectively, in 10 of his 14 seasons with the Red Sox. Ortiz is 17th in MLB history with 541 career home runs.

4. Michael Jordan: “Air Jordan”

Nike saw greatness in Jordan, enough to give him his own signature shoe in 1984, and he shattered the hype. Jordan, who won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, finished his career as a five-time MVP, 10-time scoring champion and 11-time All-NBA honoree. Across his 15-year career, “Air Jordan” finished with a career average of 30.12 points per game, which stands as the best in NBA history.

3. Jerry West: “The Logo”

The NBA logo looks a little bit like West, doesn’t it? An All-Star in each of his 14 seasons in the NBA, which was spent entirely with the Los Angeles Lakers, West — who isn’t what the NBA logo was designed after, wink-wink — helped Los Angeles win the NBA Finals in the 1971-72 season. West is second in Lakers history with 25,192 career points.

2. Deion Sanders “Prime Time”

Sanders was one of the best defensive backs in NFL history, held his own as an MLB player and has coached at the collegiate football level since 2020. Everywhere one looks, Sanders is on in “Prime Time.” An eight-time Pro Bowler, Sanders won the Super Bowl in back-to-back years with two different teams (San Francisco 49ers in 1994 and Dallas Cowboys in 1995) and is tied for fifth in NFL history with nine career pick-sixes.

1. Earvin Johnson: “Magic”

Johnson was “Magic” with the Lakers. He was as gifted of a facilitator as anyone in league history, hit the boards at a high level and was smooth off the dribble as a scorer. The 6-foot-9 floor general was a three-time NBA MVP who led the league in assists four times, averaged double-digit assists per game in nine of his 13 seasons in the sport and was a 10-time All-NBA honoree. Johnson won five NBA titles with the Lakers.

11. Michael Irvin: “The Playmaker”

12. Giannis Antetokounmpo: “The Greek Freak”

13. Jason Williams: “White Chocolate”

14. George Gervin: “The Iceman”

15. Tyrann Mathieu: “Honeybadger”

16. Derek Jeter: “The Captain”

17. Paul Pierce: “The Truth”

18. Allen Iverson: “The Answer”

19. O.J. Simpson: “The Juice”

20. Julius Erving: “Dr. J”

21. Shaquille O’Neal: “Diesel”

22. George Herman Ruth: “Babe” or “The Great Gambino”

23. Darryl Dawkins: “Chocolate Thunder”

24. Kobe Bryant: “Black Mamba”

25. Larry Bird: “Larry Legend”

26. Charles Barkley: “The Great Mound of Rebound”

27. Gilbert Arenas: “Agent Zero”

28. David Robinson: “The Admiral”

29. Gary Payton: “The Glove”

30. Shohei Ohtani: “Sho-time”

31. Larry Bird: “The Hick from French Lick”

32. Kevin Garnett: “The Big Ticket”

33. Rafer Alston: “Skip to my Lou”

34. Vince Carter: “Half Man Half Amazing”

35. Kevin Durant: “Slim Reaper” and “Durantala”

36. Nikola Jokic: “The Joker”

37. Dominique Wilkins: “Human Highlight Reel”

38. Hakeem Olajuwon: “The Dream”

39. Karl Malone: “The Mailman”

40. Mike Tyson: “Iron Mike”

41. Pete Maravich: “Pistol Pete”

42. Tyson Fury: “The Gipsy King”

43. Steve Francis: “The Franchise”

44. Terrell Suggs: “T-Sizzle”

45. Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin: “Run T-M-C”

46. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson: “The Splash Brothers”

47. Marshawn Lynch: “Beast Mode”

48. Damian Lillard: “Dame Time”

49. Mariano Rivera: “The Sandman”

50. Johnny Manziel: “Johnny Football”

51. Reggie Jackson: “Mr. October”

52. Joe Namath: “Broadway Joe”

53. Dick Lane: “Night Train”

54. Raghib Ismail: “Rocket”

55. Israel Adesanya: “Stylebender”

56. Shawn Marion: “The Matrix”

57. Daryl Johnston: “Moose”

58. Robert Horry: “Big Shot Bob”

59. Joe Montana: “Joe Cool”

60. Kenny Stabler: “The Snake”

61. Chauncey Billups: “Mr. Big Shot”

62. Christian Okoye: “The Nigerian Nightmare”

63. LeBron James: “King James”

64. Kemba Walker: “Cardiac Kemba”

65. Tyreek Hill: “Cheetah”

66. Carnell Williams: “Cadillac”

67. Diana Taurasi: “White Mamba”

68. Bryant Reeves: “Big Country”

69. Chang Sung Jung: “The Korean Zombie”

70. Chad Johnson: “Ochocinco”

71. Javier Hernandez: “Chicharito”

72. Tim Duncan: “The Big Fundamental”

73. Muhammad Ali: “The People’s Champ”

74. Ronda Rousey: “Rowdy Ronda”

75. Dwyane Wade: “Flash”

76. Bartolo Colon: “Big Sexy”

77. Ed Jones: “Too Tall”

78. Vinnie Johnson: “The Microwave”

79. Anfernee Hardaway: “Penny”

80. Gabbi Douglas: “The Flying Squirrel”

81. Adam Jones: “Pacman”

82. Ray Leonard: “Sugar Ray”

83. Reggie White: “The Minister of Defense”

84. Peyton Manning: “The Sheriff”

85. Wilt Chamberlain: “Wilt the Stilt”

86. Pete Rose: “Charlie Hustle”

87. Eldrick Woods: “Tiger”

88. Ivan Rodriguez: “Pudge”

89. Earl Monroe: “The Pearl”

90. Clyde Drexler: “The Glide”

91. Jon Jones: “Bones”

92. Randy Johnson: “Big Unit”

93. Alex Morgan: “Baby Horse”

94. Mohamad Salah: “The Pharaoh”

95. Donovan Mitchell: “Spida”

96. Dennis Rodman: “The Worm”

97. Frank Thomas: “Big Hurt”

98. Joe Greene: “Mean Joe”

99. David Jones: “Deacon”

100. Conor McGregor: “Notorious”

Honorable mentions:

Damon Stoudamire: “Mighty Mouse”
Nick Young: “Swaggy P”
Nate Archibald: “Tiny”
Russell Maryland: “The Kitchen”
Chris Anderson: “Birdman”
Oscar De La Hoya: “The Golden Boy”
Lou Gehrig: “The Iron Horse”
Elroy Hirsch: “Crazy Legs”
Ted Williams: “The Splendid Splinter”
Marvin Hagler: “Marvelous Marvin”
Elbert Woods: “Ickey”
Andrei Kirilenko: “AK-47”
Marquise Brown: “Hollywood”
George Foreman: “Big George”
Willie Mays: “The Say Hey Kid”
Hank Aaron: “Hammerin’ Hank”
Fred McGriff: “Crime Dog”
Tim Howard: “The Secretary of Defense”
Evander Holyfield: “Real Deal”
Joel Embiid: “The Process”
Sean O’Malley: “Suga Sean”
Stephen Thompson: “Wonderboy”
Quinton Jackson: “Rampage”
Jeremy Lin: “Linsanity”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “The Tower from Power”

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January 31, 2025January 31, 2025

What were the 10 biggest storylines in sports in January?

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The new year is already in full swing, with the month of January having come to a close.

It’s been an eventful month to say the least, with a few teams winning championships in some sports and others making playoff runs elsewhere. But what were the absolute biggest storylines in sports over the past month?

We dove into what’s transpired in college football, the NFL, college basketball, the NBA, MLB, and soccer in January and gave you the biggest headlines to follow.

Let’s take a look:

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10 biggest storylines in sports in January

10. Ichiro Suzuki and C.C. Sabathia headline baseball Hall of Fame class

Ichiro Suzuki became the first player from Japan to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2025 class, and was just one vote shy of being a unanimous selection. Suzuki came to Major League Baseball from Japan as a 27-year-old in 2001 and joined Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in the same season. Falling just short of the unanimous vote, Mariano Rivera remains the only player to be unanimously selected for induction in Cooperstown.

C.C. Sabathia received 86.6% of the vote in his first year on the ballot. He was a six-time All-Star, won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and a World Series title in 2009. He went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), the Milwaukee Brewers (2008) and New York Yankees (2009-19).

9. Manchester City and PSG avoid elimination in new Champions League format

There were several questions about how the new UEFA Champions League format would pan out, with 36 teams battling to make the knockout stages. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain struggled in the league phase, recording eight points and 10 points respectively and tinkering on the brink of elimination. But on the final matchday, both teams pulled out convincing victories to remain in the competition.

Pep Guardiola led City to a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge, despite going down 1-0 early in the match. The four-time defending English Premier League champions went on to score three unanswered goals. As for the French powerhouse, Ousmane Dembélé netted a hat trick in an easy 4-1 win over Stuttgart to secure them a spot in the knockout phase. Manager Luis Enrique engineered quite a turnaround over the last few months, leading them to three victories with 11 goals scored in that span. So, while some of the biggest clubs in the world were in danger of missing the cut in the new format, the final field still resulted in very familiar faces.

8. Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey continue to dominate

There was a lot of hype surrounding these three freshman heading into the college basketball season, and so far they’ve absolutely lived up to it.

Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey have each all but guaranteed themselves a top five draft spot in the 2025 NBA Draft. January has been especially kind to Flagg and Bailey, who rank third and sixth in the country respectively in scoring for the month — with the Duke product putting up 25.4 points per game and the Rutgers big man putting up 24.3. While Bailey’s January hasn’t been quite as prolific, he’s still averaging 18.6 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per outing.

Below are some nuggets that highlight just how incredible the true freshman have been this year:

Flagg averaged 25.4 points per game on 57.9% shooting in January; the only other Division-I freshman in the last 15 years to average 25 points on that high of a shooting percentage in any month with five-plus games is Zion Williamson, who did it in January and March 2019.
Flagg came a single assist shy of averaging 25-5-5 in January; he would have had the highest field goal percentage by any Division-I player averaging 25-5-5 in any month over that same span.
Flagg had 42 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds against Notre Dame on 11-of-14 shooting (78.6%) and 16-of-17 from the free throw line (94.1%) on Jan. 11; his shooting percentage in this game was the highest of any Division-I player with at least 40 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds in a game this century.
Harper joined De’Aaron Fox as the only Division-I freshmen over the last 15 years with a 35-point game and a triple-double in the same season.
Harper is the first Division-I freshman to score 35+ points in consecutive games over the last 15 seasons.
Harper had 37 points against No. 9 Alabama, the most by a freshman vs an AP Top-10 opponent since Cade Cunningham had 40 at Oklahoma in February 2021.
Bailey had 37 points against Northwestern on Jan. 29, two points shy of tying the Rutgers single-game freshman record.
Bailey and Harper are the second pair of freshman teammates over the last 15 years to each post 35-point games in the same season; they joined Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, who did it in 2016-17.

7. Miami lands Carson Beck for $4M in transfer portal

Former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck announced that he’d be returning to school for a sixth season, after committing to play for Miami (Fla.) in 2025 despite recently declaring for the NFL Draft. Beck is reportedly set to receive a little over $4 million to transfer, roughly double the $1.6 million Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward earned through Miami’s collective, according to FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman. The senior signal-caller spent five seasons at Georgia, serving as a backup to Stetson Bennett on the school’s 2021 and 2022 title teams before spending the past two as the Bulldogs’ starter.

Beck completed 68% of his passes for 7,912 yards, 58 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his college career. He appeared in 39 games for Georgia, 27 of them in the past two seasons, leading them to a combined 24-3 record. The Hurricanes will look to replicate the success they had with Ward under Beck’s command, coming off a 10-3 record.

6. Jimmy Butler wants out in Miami

The saga of Jimmy Butler wanting to leave the Miami Heat seems never-ending, as signs of disagreement first came to light when the two parties failed to reach an extension in June of 2024 ahead of the season. On January 2nd of this year, Butler stated, “I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball. Wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon.”

Over the next three weeks, Butler reiterated his desire to be traded multiple times to the front office, and has been suspended by the Heat on several different occasions in that span due to a “disregard of team rules.” He is currently suspended indefinitely, and Miami is still searching for the right trade partner to unload the six-time All-Star.

5. Saquon Barkley’s remarkable season lands Philly back in Super Bowl

It’s not often that a player gets to make the Super Bowl in their first season with a new team, but Saquon Barkley did just that in his first campaign with Philly. Highlighted by leading the league with 2,005 regular-season rushing yards, Barkley has been the driving force of a Philadelphia running game that ranked second in the league (179.3 rushing yards per game) and was strong enough to catapult the Eagles to Super Bowl LIX. His postseason run has been absolutely electric, with 442 rushing yards— the second-most by a player in a single playoff run before reaching the Super Bowl.

Barkley also became the sixth player in NFL history to have 120 scrimmage yards and three rushing scores in a conference championship game, joining Adrian Peterson, Emmitt Smith, LeGarrette Blount, Raheem Mostert, and Thurman Thomas. And to cap it off, Barkley has been the most dangerous big play threat in the postseason— recording three rushing touchdowns of 60+ yards in the 2024-25 playoffs. He is the first player in NFL history with three rushing scores of 60+ yards in a playoff career, let alone a single postseason! Entering the Super Bowl, he is just 30 rush yards shy of breaking the single-season record held by Terrell Davis (including the playoffs), and three scrimmage yards shy of breaking that record as well (also held by Davis).

4. Roki Sasaki signs with Dodgers

Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old right-hander whose fastball tops 100 mph, announced that would join fellow Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a move many baseball executives had long expected. The San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays were said to be the other finalists still in pursuit of Sasaki. The Dodgers are planning to use a six-man rotation, which could ease his transition to Major League Baseball, as Los Angeles attempts to become the first repeat champion since the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000. Sasaki was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year, striking out 129 hitters in 111 innings during a season limited by shoulder inflammation. He went 7-4 with a 1.78 ERA in 15 starts in 2023, when he had an oblique injury. He has a 29-15 career record with a 2.10 ERA over four seasons with the Marines and pitched a perfect game against Orix in April 2022.

3. Ohio State wins first 12-team CFP

Ohio State and Notre Dame made history even before kickoff of the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish were the first two teams to reach the inaugural 12-team playoff title game. Ohio State built a 31-7 lead in the third quarter before Notre Dame came charging back. The Buckeyes held on for the 34-23 win, thanks in part to a 56-yard completion from quarterback Will Howard to freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith late in the fourth quarter. The win gave Ohio State head coach Ryan Day his first national title in his second appearance in a championship game. It’s also the first national championship for the Buckeyes since the 2014 season.

Smith broke the Big Ten single-season record for receiving yards by a freshman with 1,315, passing Purdue’s Rondale Moore (1,258 in 2018), while Quinshon Judkins is the sixth player in the CFP era to have three scrimmage touchdowns in the national championship, joining Ezekiel Elliott, Travis Etienne Jr., Najee Harris, Derrick Henry and DeVonta Smith. The Buckeyes roster was truly a special one, boasting four 1,000-yard performers— the first time that’s happened in a single season in Buckeye history (Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins).

Ohio State finished the year with five wins vs. AP top-five opponents this season, not only the most since the FBS/FCS split in 1978, but also the most in the AP poll era (since 1936)— with four of its five wins came in the CFP.

2. Jayden Daniels’ historic playoff run

Jayden Daniels was absolutely stellar in the month of January, leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship before ultimately falling to the Eagles. It was Washington’s first NFC title game appearance since the 1991 season, the same year in which they won the Super Bowl.

In three playoff games, the former Heisman winner recorded 822 pass yards, five pass touchdowns, 135 rush yards, and a rushing touchdown— all the highest marks by a rookie quarterback in a playoff run ever. While his January was something to remember, below we’ve listed out all the records he broke throughout the season just to emphasize how unprecedented his season was:

Jayden Daniels Rookie QB Records Broken 2024 Season, Including Playoffs

1st to lead team in rush yards in regular season and make playoffs
1st to throw 2+ pass TD in road playoff win (Tampa Bay)
1st to lead team in pass and rush yds in playoff win (Tampa Bay)
1st to defeat No. 1 scoring offense in playoffs (Detroit)
1st to defeat multiple top five scoring offenses in playoffs (Tampa and Detroit)
1st to defeat multiple No. 1 overall drafted QBs in playoffs (Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff)
1st to have 300+ offensive yards in multiple playoffs games
1st to have 100+ passer rating in multiple playoff games
1st to win multiple playoff games without a top three scoring
Most offensive yards in rookie season
Most offensive touchdowns in rookie season
Most pass yards in a rookie postseason
Most pass touchdowns in a rookie postseason

1. Chiefs meet Eagles in Super Bowl rematch; K.C. looking to record first three-peat

Could we have asked for a better Super Bowl? A rematch of a game that ended 38-35 just a few years ago, with Patrick Mahomes & Co. looking to make history— going up against arguably the most talented team in the league in the Eagles.

No team has ever won three Super Bowls in a row, with the Packers having come the closest— winning the 1965 NFL Championship before winning Super Bowls I and II. The Chiefs are the first team ever to make five Super Bowls in a six-year span, and also the fourth team in league history to reach three consecutive Super Bowls.

The AFC title game was a thriller, with Kansas City coming out on top 32-19. It was their 17th straight win in a one-possession game, the longest such winning streak in NFL history when including the playoffs. Mahomes joins Tom Brady (10) and John Elway (five) as the only starting quarterbacks in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl five times, and he’ll be the only one to start five Super Bowls before age 30.

As for Philly, they’re looking for their first title since the 2017 season— having taken down Brady’s Patriots in a 41-33 barn-burner. Their NFC title game performance was beyond dominant, scoring 55 points and rushing for seven touchdowns— both NFL conference championship records. The two teams have a combined 10 All-Pro selections, which should make this an incredible game.

One fact we’ll leave you with: Andy Reid vs Nick Sirianni will be the fifth head coach rematch in a Super Bowl all-time. The head coach that won the first meeting also won the second meeting in all of the previous four instances. Can the Birds break the curse?

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January 30, 2025January 30, 2025

What are the 10 most unbreakable records in sports?

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Sports are truly amazing for a lot of reasons. For example, just when you think there will never be anyone better, along comes another player who makes you question everything.

After Michael Jordan, it was almost a certainty that there would be no one who could come close to him, and then came LeBron James. After Babe Ruth, there was Barry Bonds and then Shohei Ohtani. Sports continue to evolve and record books continue to be rewritten.

But which records are ones we should etch in stone? Let’s take a look:

10 most unbreakable sports records

10. Rickey Henderson: 1,406 career stolen bases

Henderson’s larger-than-life personality was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to his career. He was unstoppable on the basepaths. Never before had a player reached base and so quickly turned a single into a double or triple as often as Henderson did. His 1,406 steals are 468 more than Lou Brock’s 938 steals, the second-most in MLB history.

If you add up the top four players in steals active today, they equal just 1,191 career steals, 215 fewer than Henderson. Take into account that no active player has had 75 steals in a season and only one has had 70 or more steals in a season (Ronald Acuna, 73 in 2023) and this record looks impossible to surpass.

9. Pete Maravich: 44.2 PPG career average and 44.5 PPG single-season average at LSU

Maravich was a special talent and his scoring prowess knew no bounds. He currently owns the top three single-season scoring averages in college basketball history, giving him a career average of 44.2 points per game. His best season came in 1969-70, when he put up an eye-popping 44.5 points per game while playing for LSU. Only one player other than Maravich has averaged 40 points per game in a season: Johnny Neumann, who put up 40.1 points per game for Mississippi during the 1970-71 season, one year after Maravich’s last season in college.

Since 2000, only one player has been able to average even 30 points per game in a season — Chris Clemons, who recorded 30.1 points per game during the 2018-19 season for Campbell. That puts both Maravich’s career and single-season averages well out of reach for anyone in the foreseeable future.

8. John Stockton: 15,806 career assists and 3,265 career steals

Stockton was a maestro on offense and a pest on defense. Combine that with his longevity, and you get two of the most incredible records in basketball history. His passing ability led him to compile 15,806 assists in his 19 seasons in the NBA, 3,500+ more than Chris Paul, who is currently second on the list. That is a massive gap that feels unreachable, but looking closer it is even more unlikely than that. No player has had 1,000 assists in one year since Stockton did so in the 1994-95 season. The highest in the last 20 years was Paul in 2007-08 with 925. That means the 39-year-old Paul would need four more full seasons at his career high in assists to top Stockton.

Paul is also just under 600 steals behind Stockton, who is the only player in basketball history to record 3,000 thefts. That number seems unfathomable in today’s game; Paul is the only active player with 200 or more steals in a single season, which he did twice (2007-08 and 2008-09).

7. Michael Phelps: 28 total Olympic medals won, 23 Olympic gold medals won

The Olympic run put together by Phelps is one-of-a-kind. His 28 medals are 10 more than any other participant, but what separates him is his pure domination in the sport. His 23 Olympic golds are 14 more than any other athlete! No other athlete in history has even 10 gold medals in Olympic competitions. To put that in perspective, if you add together the gold medals of two other famous Olympic swimmers — Katie Ledecky and Mark Spitz, who had nine each — they would have a combined 18 Olympic golds.

6. Nolan Ryan: 5,714 career strikeouts

Everyone knows Randy Johnson was a strikeout machine and that Roger Clemens pitched, and with success, for a very long time. Despite that, neither one is even close to Nolan Ryan when it comes to strikeouts. Ryan’s 5,714 strikeouts are 839 more than Randy Johnson’s 4,875 K’s, the second-most in the game’s history.

If you factor in the current crop of MLB pitchers, the record looks even more unattainable. Justin Verlander leads all active players with 3,416 punchouts — 2,298 strikeouts fewer than Ryan’s pristine mark.

5. Jerry Rice: 22,895 career receiving yards

Easily the best receiver in NFL history, Rice is in a category all his own. He is the only player to surpass the 20,000-yard receiving mark and is 5,403 yards ahead of Larry Fitzgerald, who comes in at second on the all-time list. That means even if Fitzgerald came out of retirement and set the single-season record with 2,000 receiving yards in two straight years, he would still be 1,403 yards short of tying Rice.

4. Emmitt Smith: 18,355 career rushing yards

Smith, the longtime Cowboys running back, was impressively durable in his career. He played in 226 regular-season career games and finished with an absurd 18,355 rushing yards. That is 1,629 rushing yards more than Walter Payton for most in NFL history.

The logic says if a running back plays long enough, he could catch Smith, but that isn’t even true. One of the NFL’s longest-tenured backs was the recently retired Frank Gore, who trails him by 2,355 rushing yards, despite playing a full season longer than Smith.

Only one active running back has even 10,000 rushing yards: Derrick Henry, who ranks No. 19 on the NFL leaderboard with 11,423 rushing yards.

3. Wayne Gretzky: 2,857 career points and 1,963 career assists

Famously nicknamed “The Great One,” Gretzky was on a level all his own. Fantasy hockey used to have to split his player stats into assists and goals because he was too valuable as just one player. He could swing the entire league. To put the career points and assists record into perspective, Gretzky is the only player to reach 2,000 points in the history of the NHL and surpassed it by 857 points!

To put it in today’s terms, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin both have more than 1,580 points, while Jaromir Jagr sits in second place all-time with 1,921 career points.

Gretzky also holds the NHL record with 1,963 career assists. Only 14 players all-time have even registered 1,000 assists. No one, besides Gretzky, has passed 1,250 assists.

2. Tom Brady: 102,614 career passing yards, 737 career TD passes, oldest QB to win a Super Bowl (43 years, 6 months, and 4 days), 286 career wins; playoffs included

Patrick Mahomes has had an electric start to his career, but Brady has set an almost impossible bar to reach. The G.O.A.T’s 102,614 passing yards (regular season and postseason combined) are almost 17,000 more than Drew Brees for the second-most all-time and over 23,000 more than Peyton Manning for third all-time. He also has 129 more passing TDs than any other QB, playoffs included.

The most amazing thing, though, is he has 86 MORE all-time wins than any other quarterback. Second-place is Manning with 200, which means even if he came out of retirement and led a team to a perfect 20-0 record through the next four seasons, Manning would still be six wins short of tying Brady.

If Manning somehow did that, he’d also pass Brady as the oldest quarterback to win the Super Bowl, but it’s a tall task imagining anyone beating Brady in that regard, either.

1. Wilt Chamberlain: Highest PPG average in a season (50.4), highest MPG average in a season (48.5) and most points in a single game (100)

It should come as a shock to no one that Chamberlain holds the top spot in multiple places. His average of 50.4 points per game in a season is laughably good, considering no one but “Wilt the Stilt” has even averaged 40 points per game in a season. James Harden’s scoring surge during the 2018-19 season put him at 36.1 points per game, 14.3 per game fewer than Chamberlain’s best year.

Everyone also knows about his 100-point game, which is a remarkable feat; the only player to top 80 points was Kobe Bryant, with his 81-point barrage in 2006.

The most unbreakable, though, might be his average of 48.5 minutes per game, considering NBA games only last 48 minutes. There would need to be a lot of overtimes, and those players would need to play every minute of every game on top of that.

Honorable mentions:

Bill Russell: 11 NBA championships
Cy Young: 749 complete games
Barry Bonds: 73 home runs in a single season
Joey Chestnut: 83 hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes
Simone Biles: 23 gold medals at World Championships (next best is 9)
Cal Ripken Jr.: 2,632 consecutive games played
Usain Bolt: ran 100-meter dash in 9.58 seconds

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January 29, 2025January 29, 2025

Why Pete Alonso should prioritize the Mets over money

Deesha Thosar

MLB Writer

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Pete Alonso, a free agent for the first time in his career, is entitled to continue exploring the market to see what else is out there. He earned that right with his six years of MLB service time. But by now, he’s also likely been humbled by the lukewarm interest in his future services. He might not agree with the general assessment of his value, but as other free-agent first basemen have flown off the board, Alonso no longer has the upper hand or the luxury of competing for top dollar.

With his options dwindling, it’s long past time for Alonso to decide what is most important: his legacy or his contract.

The former involves breaking New York Mets records as a beloved homegrown slugger. The latter could mean making more money elsewhere, but perhaps at the expense of having a more memorable career.

Alonso has explored the market for three months, and we still have no evidence to suggest that any team has made him an offer that even sniffs Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s salary of $28.5 million in 2025, which is currently the highest average annual value for a first baseman in Major League Baseball. If Alonso and his agent Scott Boras thought they would set a new ceiling for first basemen, or even come close, they surely know by now that that won’t be the case. Really, they should have known that by August or September.

The Polar Bear picked a bad time to have a dull regular season. Prior to his series-winning home run versus Milwaukee, Alonso was stumbling into free agency by whiffing with the pressure dialed up. He batted just .191 in high-leverage situations, continuing a steady drop-off in such at-bats in recent seasons. He sported a career-best 1.099 OPS with runners in scoring position in 2022. That figure fell to a still-elite .918 OPS in 2023, followed by a career-worst .761 mark in 2024. For a slugger who doesn’t do much besides hit home runs, his career-high 42.1% ground-ball rate in 2024 was also an unfortunate uptick. He was streaky and inconsistent all season, as opposing pitchers grew increasingly successful with their adjustments against him.

That being said, Alonso is still a 40-home run hitter, and he can still change the game with one swing, like when he propelled the Mets to the NLDS with a three-run shot off star closer Devin Williams and the Brewers. His 226 home runs since 2019 are second-most in baseball in that span, just six behind Aaron Judge‘s total. And for all the talk about how his body might hold up long-term, Alonso still posts every day. After playing all 162 games last year, Alonso ranks third among all first basemen in games played, behind only Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson, since his 2019 rookie season.

So, how does Alonso’s value on the field fit in with the highest-paid first basemen in baseball?

After Guerrero, Freeman earns the second-most per year among MLB first basemen with a 2025 salary of $27 million, followed by Bryce Harper ($25.3 million AAV), who was playing right field when he signed his $330 million extension with the Phillies, and Olson ($21 million AAV), according to Spotrac. Alonso was always expected to earn more than Olson, and perhaps come close to Harper, in terms of AAV. But matching Freeman’s annual salary, or even surpassing it, seemed like a long shot before Alonso’s pedestrian 2024 regular season. After it, well, he’s seeing for himself how much he is (and isn’t) worth on the open market.

Two years ago, Alonso reportedly rejected then-GM Billy Eppler’s seven-year, $158 million extension offer. In retrospect, that decision was a massive miscalculation on Alonso’s part. This offseason, with president of baseball operations David Stearns calling the shots, the Mets have reportedly offered somewhere around three years, $70 million, with potential opt-outs built into the contract.

The recent underwhelming contract structures must be abhorrent to Boras. But while Alonso can listen to his camp, he can also pick up the phone and speak to Mets ownership himself. That’s not unprecedented, as Judge finalized his contract with the Yankees by speaking to Hal Steinbrenner directly and ending his free agency. Currently, fellow Boras client Alex Bregman remains unsigned, and reports indicate José Altuve has been involved in negotiations, trying his best to bring Bregman back to the Astros while possibly circumventing Boras in the process. Both Alonso and Bregman don’t have much leverage, and Boras doesn’t seem to excel in those situations.

Steve Cohen made it clear this past weekend while speaking at the Mets’ FanFest event that he is unhappy with the Alonso negotiations. His comments, refreshingly transparent and seemingly off the cuff, showed contempt towards Boras, and sent a message to Alonso with nobody else interfering.

“Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation,” Cohen said. “I mean, Soto was tough. This is worse. I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it’s highly asymmetric against us and I feel strongly about it.

“I will never say no. There’s always a possibility. But the reality is, we’re moving forward. We continue to bring in players. As we continue to bring in players, it’s harder to fit Pete in. I’m being brutally honest. I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us. Maybe that changes. And certainly, I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we’re going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players we have.”

What Cohen shrewdly withheld was how much the Mets need Alonso. That’s why he left the door open.

The Mets arguably won the offseason when they signed Juan Soto to a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract in December, but the best version of their roster includes building strength around him. Infielder Mark Vientos showed a ton of promise last year, belting 27 home runs with a .837 OPS after being left off the Opening Day roster in the spring. But he’s still young, and lacks the experience to be counted on consistently.

Soto needs protection in the Mets lineup, and we saw first-hand last season how much he benefits from batting in front of a talented slugger. Soto posted a career-high 179 OPS+ while batting ahead of Judge, despite his walk rate being at its lowest since 2019. Similarly, the Mets want Soto swinging, and Alonso’s presence in the lineup would force pitchers to throw more strikes to their best hitter. Soto, of course, propelled the Yankees to the World Series after several Judge-only lineups failed to break through; the Mets would love for their new superstar to do the same for them.

So, all that booing you heard from the Citi Field crowd at FanFest because Alonso remains unsigned came from a place of love. That’s how New York fan bases roll. People are upset that their team and one of its best players can’t agree to a deal, especially when he’s homegrown and beloved around Queens. It’s an intangible quality that other interested teams don’t possess. Cohen, a fan-oriented owner since the beginning of his reign, has a track record now that illustrates the lengths to which he’ll go to make the fan base happy. He seems to understand that signing Alonso would uplift the organization and its goals, but he also wants a fair shake.

Alonso might have sour grapes with Cohen and the Mets for offering a contract that’s less than he expected or believed he deserved. So, maybe he’ll continue holding out. If he doesn’t sign with a team in the next couple of weeks, he could miss the start of spring training. It’s understandable if Alonso is upset with teams, particularly the Mets, for failing to recognize and appreciate his value the way he does.

But at this point, he has to move on and accept that his market is what it is, and he can’t change it this winter. It’s disappointing that he played his entire career looking forward to reaching this point, to enter free agency and finally earn what he believes he deserves, only to be underwhelmed by the negotiations. The only thing he can control now is playing better in 2025 in hopes of resetting his market. Alonso is 27 home runs away from surpassing Daryl Strawberry as the Mets’ all-time leader. He’s one signing away from cementing himself as a franchise legend versus an unpopular mercenary. The choice is his, but the ending to this saga always seemed like it was painted in orange and blue.

It’s time for Alonso to accept that his destiny is calling him back to Queens.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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January 28, 2025January 28, 2025

MLB The Show 25 cover stars revealed, features three players for first time ever

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For the first time in its history, MLB The Show will have multiple players on its cover.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz and Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson will appear on the cover of MLB The Show 25, it was announced Tuesday.

The decision to name Skenes, De La Cruz and Henderson the cover athletes follows a recent trend by San Diego Studio, the game’s developer, to place rising stars on the cover of MLB The Show. Its decision to focus on young stars in this year’s edition of the game was intentional.

“Historically, we’ve chosen a single cover athlete for MLB The Show, someone who is at the pinnacle of the sport,” The Show global marketing group manager Todd Liss told MLB.com. “However, with the unprecedented young talent coming into the league, we wanted to represent the changing current climate of baseball and showcase it on our cover. These three players are changing what’s possible in baseball, and we’re changing how many players can be on the cover of The Show.”

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr. was on the cover of last season’s game while then Miami Marlins star Jazz Chisholm appeared on MLB The Show 23, with each making their cover debut relatively early in their careers.

Skenes, De La Cruz and Henderson seem like logical successors to be cover athletes based on the starts of their careers. Skenes lived up to the hype as one of the top pitching prospects in recent memory after getting called up in May 2024. The 22-year-old won National League Rookie of the Year and finished third in NL Cy Young voting after going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA, 170 strikeouts and a 0.947 WHIP.

De La Cruz has arguably become one of the league’s most electrifying players in recent memory. He became the fifth player since 1901 to have at least 20 home runs and 60 stolen bases in a single season last year, recording 25 homers to go with his MLB-high 67 stolen bases. That came after he recorded 13 homers, seven triples and 35 stolen bases in 98 games as a rookie in 2023.

Finally, Henderson has been one of the keys to the Orioles’ back-to-back playoff appearances over the last two years. The 23-year-old was one of the best hitters in the American League last season, hitting .281 with 37 homers, 92 RBIs and a .893 OPS. He also had 21 stolen bases after winning AL Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Unlike its NFL counterpart, there hasn’t been much of a curse associated with being on the cover of MLB The Show. Last season, Guerrero actually had a bounceback year after appearing on the cover, hitting .323 with 30 homers and a .940 OPS. Chisholm missed some time due to injury in 2023, but he still hit a career-high 19 homers that year. Shohei Ohtani also had another stellar two-way season after appearing on the cover in 2022, finishing second in AL MVP voting.

MLB The Show 25 will mark the 20th edition of the game. Former Boston Red Sox star and Hall of Famer David Ortiz appeared on the first cover of the game in 2006, hitting a career-high 54 homers that season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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January 28, 2025January 28, 2025

2025 MLB Opening Day: Schedule, times, dates, how to watch, starters

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The MLB regular season is scheduled to start in Tokyo, Japan on March 18, with MLB’s traditional Opening Day scheduled for Thursday, March 27. This is the earliest Opening Day in MLB history. Check out the complete details on how to watch this year’s Opening Day games, including teams, times and TV channels — all times Eastern.

When does the 2025 MLB season start?

The 2025 MLB season is scheduled to begin overseas with a two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo, Japan. The Dodgers and Cubs will play on Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 19. This is the sixth time that a MLB season opener has taken place in Tokyo, Japan.

2025 MLB Opening Day Schedule

A week after the games in Japan, MLB Opening Day is slated for Thursday, March 27, 2025. Below are the matchups scheduled for that day:

How to watch 2025 MLB Opening Day games

Where can I watch MLB Opening Day games? What channel will they be on?

Most Opening Day games will be played on the regional sports networks affiliated with each baseball club. MLB’s Opening Night game will be broadcast on ESPN. For each specific channel, check out our MLB Schedule.

How can I stream MLB’s Opening Day games or watch them without cable?

Streaming services that carry ESPN and RSNs can be used to stream the games. You can also stream MLB games on MLB.TV with local blackout restrictions.

Which MLB teams play on Opening Day?

28 of the 30 MLB clubs will be in action on Opening Day. The Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays will start their season on March 28, after their game was moved in order to provide more time to prepare George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL, the field that will serve as the Rays’ home park for the 2025 season.

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January 28, 2025January 28, 2025

Who are the 10 best father-son sports duos of all time?

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Sometimes, greatness runs in the family.

Several players in sports history have followed in their father’s footsteps to become stars of their own. In fact, some of the greatest players in major North American sports are sons of former professional athletes.

Not many father-son duos get the opportunity to play together, though — like what LeBron and Bronny James did with the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of the 2024-25 season.

That said, here are the 10 best father-son duos in sports history.

The elder Long had an unusual path to a Hall of Fame career, playing at Villanova right before its college football program briefly shut down. But as he emerged as a standout there, the Raiders selected him in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He went on to become one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL in the 1980s, making eight Pro Bowls and helping the Raiders win Super Bowl XVIII.

Long’s eldest son, Chris, followed in his footsteps. The second overall pick in 2008, Chris Long had several solid seasons with the Rams before winning a Super Bowl title with the Patriots in 2016 and the Eagles a year later. Long, who finished his career with 70 sacks, was one of the few players in NFL history to win back-to-back Super Bowls with different teams. He and his father also became the first father-son duo to ever win a Super Bowl.

Kyle Long, meanwhile, played on the other side of the ball. The three-time Pro Bowl guard was a first-round pick of the Bears, and he spent most of his career in Chicago, losing to the Eagles (and his brother) in the memorable “Double Doink” playoff game. He joined the Chiefs for a season in 2021 after a one-year retirement but did not appear in any games with them due to injury.

9. Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder

A pair of Fielders are among the top power–hitting father-son duos in MLB history. Cecil Fielder was an All-Star for the Tigers in the early 1990s after stints with the Blue Jays and in Japan, leading the American League in homers in back-to-back seasons. He also became the first AL player since Babe Ruth to lead the league in RBIs for three straight seasons. He later won a World Series with the Yankees, finishing his career with 319 homers and three All-Star nods.

The younger Fielder was every bit the slugger that his father was. He quickly emerged as one of the game’s top sluggers when he was with the Brewers in the mid-to-late 2000s, hitting 50 homers in his third season. He later joined the Tigers, nearly helping them win a World Series in 2012. A six-time All-Star, Fielder’s 50-homer season made the Fielders the first father-son duo to record at least 40 homers in a season. He also hit the same number of homers as his father did in his career.

Decades before Klay Thompson was a centerpiece of the Warriors‘ dynasty, his father was a key contributor to the Lakers’ dynasty in the 1980s. He helped Los Angeles win a pair of titles, averaging over 10 points per game off the bench in those championship seasons. Prior to that, Thompson was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft by the Trail Blazers, enjoying eight solid years there before joining the Spurs in 1986.

Klay Thompson made up half of the “Splash Brothers” twosome that won four titles between 2014-22. The five-time All-Star averaged over 20 points per game in each of Golden State’s title-winning seasons, with the Warriors reaching the NBA Finals two more times during his tenure with the team. The Thompsons are one of five father-son duos to have ever won an NBA title.

The other half of the “Splash Brothers” was the son of an NBA standout, too. Dell Curry broke out as one of the first great 3-point shooters in the league, making 40.2% of his shots from deep over his 16-year career. He also won Sixth Man of the Year in 1994 and is second on the Hornets‘ all-time points leader list.

Of course, Steph Curry took his father’s 3-point prowess to a whole other level. The Warriors star revolutionized the game with his 3-point shooting, winning two MVPs (including the first unanimous one in league history) en route to guiding Golden State to four championships. Curry set the NBA’s all-time record for 3-pointers made in 2021, six months before he won his first Finals MVP.

The Earnhardts are two of NASCAR‘s most iconic drivers. The elder Earnhardt participated in 676 Winston Cup races, winning 76 of them. Earnhardt’s career came to an end after he was involved in a fatal crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. He was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2010.

Earnhardt Jr. won 26 Cup Series races, including the Daytona 500 twice (2004, 2014). He had 260 top-10 finishes in Cup races in his career and was named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2021.

5. Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds

Before Barry Bonds reset the record books, his father also joined the record books in a unique way. Bobby Bonds, a three-time All-Star, was just the second player to hit 300 career home runs and steal 300 bases, recording 332 homers and 461 stolen bases.

Three decades after Bonds emerged as a young star with the Giants, his son added to his already Hall of Fame career in a big way during his time in the Bay Area. He won five of his seven NL MVPs during his 15 seasons with the Giants, including four in a row at the start of the century. Bonds broke a couple of home run records as well, hitting 73 homers for the most in a single season ever in 2001 and setting the all-time record for homers with 762.

The Guerreros have left their mark on Canadian baseball history. The elder Guerrero was a four-time All-Star with the Expos, finishing in the NL’s top 10 in homers four times during his eight seasons in Montreal. He added to his historic career in his first season with the Angels, hitting 39 homers in 2004 to win his first and only MVP. The nine-time All-Star became a Hall of Famer on the second ballot.

As for the younger Guerrero, he turned into one of MLB’s best power hitters in just a short time. He hit 48 homers in his third season in 2021, which marked his first of four straight All-Star nods. Guerrero Jr. is only 25 years old, so it’s possible this father-son duo could climb the list.

3. Bobby Hull and Brett Hull

The Hull family produced two of the greatest players in NHL history. Bobby Hull was arguably the best player in the history of the sport during his prime, leading the league in goals seven times and finishing second all-time in goals scored (610) at the time of his retirement. The two-time MVP winner also led the league in scoring three times.

The younger Hull might have been an even better player than his father. Brett Hull scored 741 goals in his career, the fifth-highest in league history. He also won Stanley Cups in 1999 with the Stars and in 2002 with the Red Wings. A nine-time All-Star, Brett Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father to become the Hall’s first father-son duo.

2. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. notably made history when they became the first father-son duo to play together in the majors. Before they appeared in 51 games together in the early 1990s, Griffey Sr. played a key role in the Reds‘ World Series triumphs in the 1970s. He was one of the best contact hitters in the game when they won it all in 1975 and was an All-Star a year later when the Reds claimed the World Series again. Griffey Sr. ended his career as a three-time All-Star.

The younger Griffey is known as one of the greatest players in MLB history. He was a 13-time All-Star and an MVP winner, leading the AL in homers four times. Junior, who mostly starred for the Mariners and Reds, also won 10 Gold Gloves in his career. He ranks seventh all-time with 630 career home runs, and he set a record at the time for the highest Hall of Fame voting share in 2016.

1. Archie Manning and Peyton Manning, Eli Manning

Most families would love to have one quarterback good enough to make the NFL. The Manning family not only had three (likely to be four soon), but all three also became top quarterbacks in the league.

Archie Manning was a two-time Pro Bowler over his 14-year NFL career, spending most of it with the Saints in their early seasons as a franchise. While the Saints never had great team success with Manning, he was widely viewed as one of the best passers of the 1970s.

Manning’s two quarterback sons wound up having even better careers than he did. Peyton Manning, the elder of the two, lived up to the hype as a generational prospect when the Colts selected him first overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. He won four MVPs during his time in Indianapolis and brought the Colts a Super Bowl title in 2006. Manning continued his all-time career with the Broncos in 2012, adding another MVP award and Super Bowl championship in the final four seasons of his career. He still holds several NFL records, including MVP wins, and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2021.

Eli Manning could become a first-ballot Hall of Famer soon, too. The Giants‘ decision to trade up and nab him with the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft paid dividends. While the youngest Manning didn’t have the individual prowess that his older brother had, he led the Giants to a great deal of success. He helped them pull off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history in the 2007 season, giving the then-undefeated Patriots their first loss in dramatic fashion. Manning took down the Patriots in the Super Bowl again four years later, making him one of a handful of quarterbacks to start in two Super Bowl wins.

Honorable mentions:

Sandy Alomar, Roberto Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr.
Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders
Doc Rivers and Austin Rivers
Joe Bryant and Kobe Bryant
Clay Matthews Jr., Clay Matthews III and Casey Matthews
Ed McCaffrey and Christian McCaffrey
Marvin Harrison and Marvin Harrison Jr.
Peter Schmeichel and Kasper Schmeichel
Tim Hardaway and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Bill Walton and Luke Walton
Bruce Matthews and Jake Matthews
Richard Petty and Kyle Petty
Calvin Hill and Grant Hill
LeBron James and Bronny James

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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