The arm injuries to pitchers and the Oakland Athletics relocation dilemma are at the forefront of the baseball world. The latter has made some speak out about how discussions went down before the A’s leaving for Sacramento. Now Sean Doolittle , who spent the first six seasons of his career in Oakland, was asked about how he feels about the entire situation on Foul Territory. Doolittle, who was part of Washington Nationals 2019 World Series run, has a new role with the club.
“It’s heartbreaking, man. It’s infuriating. I feel awful for the fans. I feel really bad for the people that work in that organization. They’re in limbo right now, and I don’t think that’s fair in everything that they do. The fans are in limbo because I don’t know if this Vegas, if it’s happening or not. I think they’re getting more pushback there than they thought they were gonna.
“From a fan standpoint, they lost the (Golden State) Warriors, they lost the (Las Vegas) Raiders in the last few years, and now it looks like they’re losing the A’s as well. I feel so lucky to have played in Oakland, for that fan base, for that organization. That organization gave me a shot to change the course of my career when I switched to pitching, so I’ll always be grateful for my time in Oakland and playing for those fans. It was a special time.”
The left-hander did mention that the Coliseum is well past its prime and that the players deserve a better ballpark. He believes that the way it’s being handled, by heading to Sacremnto then to Vegas or someplace else, “feels like a failure.”
The Nationals hired Doolitte as a pitching strategist in January, serving as a liaison between the pitching staff and the analytics department. He is assisting manager Dave Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey with mental preparation, strategy and mechanics.
“Sean Doolittle was always an extremly talented pitcher, but he is also one of the most intelligent baseball minds you can find,” general manager Mike Rizzo said in a statement.
After playing a key role on the 2019 World Series team, Doolittle returned to th club but battled injuries. While rehabbing from a left elbow injury on a minor league deal last season, he partially tore his right knee in late June. It was too late for a comeback to the majors at that point.
In addition to Doolittle pitching for the A’s and Nationals, he also pitched for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners. Doolittle ranks third in Nationals team history with 75 saves.
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The New York Yankees have made their 2025 goals abundantly clear: They're trying to return to the World Series and win it all. In an effort to do so, the Pinstripes traded pitcher Nestor Cortes and infielder Caleb Durbin to the Milwaukee Brewers this season, adding closer Devin Williams to the roster. Halfway into the season, it looks like that was a big mistake. The Yankees are now looking to fill gaps in the both the bullpen and the infield before the MLB trade deadline rolls around at the end of the month. Utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera was great at third base, but suffered a potentially season-ending injury in May. The Yankees tried to compensate by shifting Jazz Chisholm Jr. to third, but it was clear Chisholm excels at second, and he's since been moved back. Durbin, on the other hand, has only gotten better in Milwaukee. "Over 75 games this season, Durbin is slashing .265/.350/.382 with five homers and elite contact skills at the plate," Alexander Wilson of Empire Sports Media wrote. "He ranks in the 95th percentile in whiff rate and 98th in strikeout rate — rare company for a young infielder. Durbin’s advanced plate discipline would’ve been invaluable in a Yankees lineup that too often leans on boom-or-bust approaches." Then there's Devin Williams, who has been part of a shaky-at-best Yankees bullpen. He has certainly seen improvement since the beginning of the season, when he was pulled from closing duties after a blown save to the Yankees' division rival Toronto Blue Jays. However, it hasn't been quite enough. Toronto swept New York in a four game series earlier this month, securing their lead of the AL east over the Pinstripes. Williams pitched the final inning, giving up two earned runs. He has a 4.82 ERA over 37.1 innings pitched in 41 games. Williams keeps improving, and hopefully will prove that the Yankees made the right choice by acquiring him. However, that still doesn't fill the gaping hole New York has at third base, and they're likely missing Durbin's consistent abilities in the field and at the plate. The Yankees have until the July 31 MLB trade deadline to make any trades to address these issues. Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more! Cam Schlittler is Not Yankees Paul Skenes Yankees Fighting Red Sox for Diamondbacks Pitchers Yankees’ Aaron Judge Ties Alex Rodriguez on All-Time List Braves Troll Yankees' Jazz Chisholm With Walk-Up Song Yankees in Trade Talks With Pirates
Caitlin Clark might be the most popular figure in women's basketball right now, but she continues to draw shots left and right, both on and off the court. The Iowa product has stayed even keeled and mostly unrattled, but that doesn't mean she won't fight back. That's why, in the light of Kelsey Plum's recent comments, she decided to take matters into her own hands and clapped back at her with a simple, six-word message. Plum shared a picture of her during the WNBA's All-Star Weekend, which showed half of a Nike logo in the background. Clark was quick to spot it and just wrote "Thank u for the Nike ad." This happened just hours after Plum seemingly took a shot at Clark and her Team Clark teammates for reportedly not getting involved in their pre-game protest. “The T-shirt was determined this morning. Not to tattletale, but zero members of Team Clark were very present for that,” Plum revealed. “That really needed to be mentioned,” Sabrina Ionescu added while both laughed. WNBA All-Stars warmed up with a T-Shirt that read 'Pay us what you owe us,' ahead of their new CBA agreement, which is expected to be signed in the offseason. WNBA players get around 9 percent of the league's revenue, and they're asking for a bigger share since most of them also have to play overseas during the offseason because of the salary disparity. Plum is the vice president of the WNBPA, so it's not surprising to see her so involved in the protest and the demands. Then again, it's hard to understand the reasoning behind the tattle telling, as not only does it show that there might not be a united front ahead of these negotiations, but it also drives attention away from where it should be.
Micah Parsons is not holding back on his feelings regarding his lack of a long-term deal with the Dallas Cowboys. One of the best pass-rushers in the league, Parsons is heading into the fifth and final year of his contract with the Cowboys. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in 2026 and, right now, he has no guarantees of a long-term contractual future with the Cowboys. After practice on Tuesday, Parsons gave a frank answer when asked about his lack of a long-term deal. The long and short of it is that he's looked around the NFL and has seen top pass-rushers getting massive contracts. The question is, why hasn't Dallas and owner Jerry Jones put that same type of investment into him just yet? "When you go around the league and you see these other teams taking care of their best guys, I seen T.J. [Watt] gotten taken care of. Maxx [Crosby] got taken care of. Myles [Garrett] got taken care of, [and] he's got two years left on his deal," Parsons said, according to Todd Archer of ESPN. "You see a lot of people around the league taken care of, and you wish you had that same type of energy." Parsons has notched 52.5 sacks over his first four seasons. For comparison's sake, Watt has 58.5 sacks in the same time period and Garrett has notched 60. Watt and Garrett are two of the best pass-rushers in recent memory, and Parsons is right there alongside them. As far as how he sees it, he, of course, believes he's the best in the world at what he does. "I feel like I'm the best at what I do," Parsons said. "You can argue whoever, but stats, numbers don't lie. The consistency is there, and the availability is there." Watt just signed a three-year, $123M contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while earlier this offseason, the Browns signed Garrett to a four-year, $160M extension with $123.5M of that guaranteed. The Cowboys and Jones have a reputation for being stingy negotiators, and they've taken many of their top players to the limit in the past before signing deals. To that point, Parsons seems to be aware that he's not in a unique situation. "This is not like I'm getting treated differently than anybody else. I don't take it personal. I just don't understand," he said. With that said, Parsons is clearly frustrated about the lack of long-term guarantees of his future in Dallas. So much so that he went as far as to say that if the Cowboys don't want him in Dallas, he's happy to move on and take care of business elsewhere. It's worth noting that Jones hasn't helped ease the tension, either. At the start of training camp on Monday, he went as far as to suggest that even if the Cowboys do sign Parsons, that doesn't mean he'll be available because of injury. Jones said that Parsons was injured for six games last season, while in reality, the star pass-rusher missed only four. "I've been pretty consistent. If they don't want me here, they don't want me here and I'll go about my business. I understand the nature of the business," Parsons said. "Like I said, as far as I'm here and under contract, I'll do what I have to perform at the highest level but at the end this is the business. Same way Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and the other Jerry Jones take care of their family is the same way I need to take care of my family. I've got three kids of my own, so we all need to take care of our own family at the end of the day."
Through much of his time with the New York Rangers, Mika Zibanejad has been too good to be a second-line center, yet not quite a top liner for a contender. Now aging out of his prime, his play has dropped off the past two seasons, only rebounding when moved to the wing next to midseason acquisition J.T. Miller. That presents a problem for New York. The Rangers are not deep down the middle. Moving Zibanejad back to center provides that depth, putting Vincent Trochek back in his appropriate 3C role. But does Zibanejad again suffer without Miller? It also leaves the Blueshirts thin on the right side. Zibanejad can’t play two positions at once and the Rangers cannot rob Peter to pay Paul. There is a solution, however: Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish. Anaheim and New York already have strong front office ties, with a pair of trades in the past eight months. The cross-continental line should be open. McTavish is precisely the player archetype that Rangers general manager Chris Drury has sought in this past year. The 22-year-old possesses good size (6-foot-1, 219 pounds) and plays with a grit that Drury adores. An old-fashioned power forward in the making, McTavish hunts bodies, making life miserable for defenders on the forecheck and finds pockets of space when off the puck, where he unloads a cannon of a shot. An all-situations player, McTavish digs in the corners and is developing nicely as an offensive driver. McTavish is a hard worker who shows leadership traits. New Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan loves to play with speed and relentless pressure, a mantra that suits McTavish down to the ground. For a second-line center, McTavish’s numbers don’t exactly pop off the page, but 52 points (22 goals) in 76 games for a bad Ducks team is nothing to sneeze at. In New York, he would also presumably get to play with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. Given the playmaking ability of those wingers and McTavish’s heavy shot, 30-plus goals could be on the cards. Bleacher Report has stated that the Ducks are unlikely to extend McTavish an offer sheet, instead willing to match whatever offer comes his way. Does that mean he is on the trade block? At the very least it means that Anaheim will likely be willing to listen to offers. That said, it would take an almighty package to pry the former No. 3 pick out of Orange County. The Ducks would rightly command a first-round pick — if not two — and a highly-rated prospect. New York has its own first-rounders in store, as well as a, likely, late first-rounder next year, with second-round picks each year except 2027. Would New York part with a first, a second and a pair of its top prospects? The Rangers are loaded with left wing prospects. Whilst Gabe Perrault is likely off the table, Brennan Othmann, Adam Sykora and Brett Berard should be discussed, as should defenseman E.J. Emery. Would picks and a pair of prospects be enough for Anaheim, though? Here’s a thought experiment: a deal centered around Will Cuylle. As mentioned, the Rangers have a raft of left wingers coming through and Lafreniere is also a natural left winger. Would trading Cuylle for McTavish solve the Rangers' issues at the pivot, allowing Zibanejad to help fix the right-hand side and give the team room to develop more youngsters on the left? Could this solve three issues in one swoop? It would be a, potentially, seismic move, but it might just make sense for both teams, especially if the Ducks are not looking to keep McTavish around long-term. It would complete a remarkable offseason for Drury.
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