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The Twins appear to be ready for the real games to begin. Bailey Ober and several relievers were sharp, Byron Buxton and Edouard Julien homered, and Minnesota beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 in the penultimate game of spring training on Monday afternoon in Fort Myers, FL.
The Twins broke this game open in the bottom of the second inning with five hits and four runs, all of which were charged to Pirates starter Thomas Harrington. Ryan Jeffers singled, Jose Miranda doubled, and Julien drove a fastball over the wall in left field for a three-run home run — his second big fly of the spring. Julien has had an encouraging spring (.799 OPS), and after injuries to Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, he'll be needed in a significant role early this season.
https://t.co/s843LrA0hU pic.twitter.com/WkmXm5WaDU
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) March 24, 2025
A Ty France double off the right-field wall and a Carlos Correa RBI single created a fourth run for the Twins in the frame. Then, in the fifth inning, Buxton demolished a David Bednar fastball for a long home run to left-center.
SZN!!! pic.twitter.com/h6nNmZORvt
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) March 24, 2025
It's the second titanic home run in as many starts for Buxton, who hit one an estimated 437 feet against the Blue Jays on Saturday. There was no Statcast distance on Monday's homer, but it appeared to be in that same range. Buxton is up to three home runs this spring, has an OPS of 1.007, and looks ready to go as the Twins' No. 3 hitter for Opening Day in St. Louis on Thursday. As has been the case for the past few years, he has MVP-level upside if he can just manage to stay healthy for a full season.
Jeffers had a pair of hits for the Twins and France went 3 for 3 at the plate, continuing his incredible spring training production. With one game left to play, France leads all Twins hitters with a .477 batting average and 1.261 OPS.
Ober got the start for Minnesota in a final tune-up before he makes his regular season debut at Busch Stadium this weekend. He allowed two hits, one walk, and one run across 3.1 innings, striking out two. He threw 43 pitches. Ober finishes his spring with an outstanding 1.77 ERA across 20.1 innings.
Six members of the Twins' projected Opening Day bullpen — Danny Coulombe, Louis Varland, Jorge Alcala, Cole Sands, Griffin Jax, and Jhoan Duran — combined to throw five scoreless innings with ten strikeouts. Encouragingly, Duran struck out three in the ninth inning and saw his fastball velocity peak at 101.3. He looks ready to go as well.
The Twins will conclude spring training against the Rockies on Tuesday afternoon. Then it's time to break camp and head to St. Louis to begin the 162-game marathon of the 2025 season.
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Five reasons why the Dodgers will three-peat as World Series champions
Game 7 of the World Series isn't even 24 hours old, and already the business of baseball has shifted to the 2026 season. Scores of players officially became free agents Sunday, while others are choosing whether to exercise or decline options for next season. But one thing is for sure: The Los Angeles Dodgers are the overwhelming favorite to win a third straight World Series. This might be obvious because the Dodgers will likely run MLB's highest payroll onto the field on Opening Day. But there is substance to go with the big bucks. Here are five reasons why the Dodgers will become the first team since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees to win three titles in a row: 1. The full Shohei Ohtani Shohei Ohtani didn't make his season debut as a pitcher until June 16, 73 games into the Dodgers' season, following his second major elbow surgery. Since it was impossible to send him out on a rehab assignment without removing him from the MLB roster, he rehabbed his way back by slowly building up. Well, that won't be necessary in 2026. Ohtani will be a full go right from Opening Day. He pitched just 47 innings over 14 regular-season starts, but was under no limits in the postseason, as we saw with the right-hander starting Game 7 on three days' rest. During the regular season, Ohtani posted a 2.87 ERA with 1.7 walks and 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings. 2. Starting rotation is stacked Ohtani probably won't even be the Dodgers' Opening Day starter, however. That honor should go to Yoshinobu Yamamoto following his World Series MVP performance. From there, the starting five will be Tyler Glasnow, two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki. As always, health will be the key for the rotation, especially with Glasnow, but there is plenty in reserve in Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan, Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone. 3. Mookie Betts is completely healthy One reason the Dodgers finished with the third-best record in the NL this season was because of the health of shortstop Mookie Betts to begin the season. Betts had an undisclosed illness that took nearly 20 pounds off his already-slight 180-pound frame. He didn't hit above .258 in any month, with a low of .208 in July, before finally getting back on track in August and September. Betts finished with a slash line of .258/.326/.406 while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense at short, but still short of his career slash line of .278/.363/.505. There is nothing more dangerous than a driven Betts, so he could put up big numbers in 2026. 4. Room for more players While some pending free agents — think Enrique Hernandez and Miguel Rojas — will return, the Dodgers may be making free-agent additions and even a trade or two as they shed some contracts this offseason. A big outfield bat would be the biggest priority, likely a left fielder. A wild card in the outfield scenario would be whether the Dodgers opt to play Ohtani in the outfield on occasion. Ohtani had played in just seven games in the outfield, all coming in 2021, when he was in right field for six games and left for one. This could allow Ohtani to DH on the day before and after he pitches and give the other veterans a chance to just hit when he plays the outfield. 5. Dave Roberts at the helm Managing a superstar-studded roster like the Dodgers takes a unique skillset, one that Dave Roberts has navigated pretty well in recent years. He now has three World Series rings in six years. Roberts has shown the ability to adjust to circumstances, like last year with a bullpen-centric pitching staff, to this year with the bullpen a liability and the rotation a strength. Also, his feel for the game was on display with the insertion of Rojas into the lineup for Games 6 and 7 and putting Andy Pages in for defense in the ninth inning of Game 7 before his amazing catch.
Titans Shopping Receiver That Would Be Perfect Fit For Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a great defensive game in Week 9 against the top-seeded Indianapolis Colts. While the offense barely had to do anything in that game, it's still obvious that there are still some issues with the unit. The group only had 225 yards of total offense, and all but one of the scoring drives came on ridiculously short fields. That is not sustainable at all. It worked in this case, but the collective still has to do everything it can to improve, which may result in General Manager Omar Khan getting involved. There are numerous options for the Steelers to get a wide receiver, but one name that has been circulating recently has been Calvin Ridley of the Tennessee Titans. Insider Mike Florio recently reported that he is being shopped around, and Justin Melo of TheDraftNetwork wrote about how he would be a great fit for Pittsburgh at this point. "Local reports indicate the Titans are listening. That makes sense," Melo said. "They're 1-8 and rebuilding around rookie quarterback Cam Ward. Ridley is on a bloated contract that makes him a potential offseason cap casualty. The Pittsburgh Steelers upset the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, ending a two-game skid. Ridley would be an outstanding fit in Arthur Smith's offense opposite D.K. Metcalf. There's a hole at WR2, and Aaron Rodgers is playing well enough to warrant a deal." At this stage of the season, there should be nothing stopping the Titans from blowing up their flawed core. They have been the epitome of Murphy's Law in recent years. Anything that could go wrong has gone wrong in Nashville. It seems like every decision the front office has made is the incorrect one, and that includes the massive contract that Ridley signed. Ridley is a very boom-or-bust option. He either has a great game or terrible one. In 2025, it has been more of the latter, but he has not even played since Week 6 due to a hamstring injury. He is projected to return for Week 10, but will he still be a Titan by that time? If the answer is yes, then it's because teams were turned off by his recent injury and his overpriced contract. At this point, Ridley is at his lowest value possible. Even if Tennessee eats a lot of his salary for 2025, it will be hard for them to get anything more than a late-round pick. He still has talent, but has not been a good fit with the Titans. It would not be surprising to see Khan give up almost nothing to bring in the former first-round pick to Pittsburgh to help give the offense a boost. Steelers' Probable Details Of Potential Trade The Steelers already dealt away a sixth-round pick in 2026 in the recent Kyle Dugger trade. The team could give up a different day three selection, and there is always the option to make a pick conditional in some way. Whether it's snaps, stats, or even if he's on the team in 2026, adding in some sort of condition could nudge the Titans to trade him away for practically nothing, as opposed to just cutting him at season's end and eating more dead cap. The Titans would have to eat a bunch of his salary in 2025 to make this deal work. Of course, they would have to take on his signing bonus proration, which means the only guarantees that the Steelers would have to worry about is his roster bonus and remaining guaranteed money in 2026. If Ridley does not perform well in Pittsburgh, they could easily cut him at just a $3.02 million dead cap hit. Either way, Ridley will not be a Titan for long, so trading him now for anything would be a win for Tennessee.
Maple Leafs get boost for the long term with latest roster news
The Toronto Maple Leafs perhaps did not expect to start the season like this, with a record of 6-5-1, but it's a result of the offensive adjustments the team has been forced to make. Head coach Craig Berube lost star Mitch Marner to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the summer, so he had to reorganize roles and defensive responsibilities, impacting players like winger William Nylander. Nylander, 29, who is entering his second year of an eight-season deal with a cap hit of $11.5M, said on Monday that he is ready to play again after suffering a lower-body injury. Nylander practiced in the right wing of the second line with prospect Easton Cowan and John Tavares, per TSN's Mark Masters. That is not only good news for the Maple Leafs' upcoming games, but also for the long term. Why William Nylander is so important in Craig Berube's system Since the departure of Marner, Nylander has absorbed more volume of creation, passes in the offensive zone, controlled zone entries and shooting threat from the half-walls. This is reflected in his numbers to date, as he boasts 15 points in nine games played. Berube has asked for more shot volume and quick decisions, which favors Nylander, who also generates a significant impact in five-on-five. His mix of controlled entries, patience in the low circles and reading of the weak side stretches rival defenses, which allows for creating routes for Tavares and Cowan. Furthermore, in the first power play unit, the threat of Nylander's one-timer forces the closure of pass lines towards the bumper and the backdoor, opening clean shots for Auston Matthews, another key player for Berube. The most probable scenario is that Nylander continues being a primary offensive engine and stabilizes the power play. If he maintains entry success and increases his shot rate, Toronto could compensate for the departure of Marner.
Matt LaFleur spills the beans on what the Packers really plan to do ahead of the NFL trade deadline
Adam Schefter shares latest on potential Cowboys moves prior to NFL trade deadline
The Dallas Cowboys are gearing up for a primetime matchup with the Arizona Cardinals to close out the NFL's Week 9 slate. However, as fate would have it, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones decided to step in front of a microphone earlier today and dropped some surprising news. According to Jones, the Cowboys have a trade in place. When that trade is announced, I guess fans will have to anxiously wait. Prior to the game on Monday night, NFL insider Adam Schefter spoke with Scott Van Pelt during "Monday Night Countdown." During the conversation, Schefter revealed what he currently knows about a potential Cowboys trade. "Obviously the Dallas Cowboys are looking for some defensive help. So that is the expectation, that by 4 pm ET on Tuesday, the Cowboys will be able to pull off at least one trade," Schefter told Van Pelt. Schefter also added that the team is having "discussions" about other deals prior to the deadline. However, it appears nothing has materialized on another trade at this moment. It's no secret the Cowboys need help on the defensive side of the ball. Jones made a trade prior to the season that he expected to make his defense better. To no surprise, trading a player that is the caliber of Micah Parsons is not currently panning out for the team. More Moves? Still, I have a hunch that the outcome of Monday night's game will determine just how serious the front office is about making multiple moves before the trade deadline. A loss to the Cardinals may mean the Cowboys are building toward next season. But a win could be just the boost the front office needs to feel this team is still a threat to win a Super Bowl this season. Monday night's matchup with the Cardinals is the most important game the Cowboys will play in this season. — Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter for more free coverage from Dallas Cowboys on SI — 3 bold predictions for Dallas Cowboys-Cardinals on Monday Night Football Cowboys' final Week 9 injury report lists 6 players out, including 3 starters on D 3 keys to victory for Dallas Cowboys in pivotal Week 9 matchup vs. Cardinals NFL insider names Cowboys' potential trade deadline targets to bolster defense Cowboys-Cardinals MNF game gets streaming lifeline amid ESPN-YouTube TV dispute Meet Camille Sturdivant: Star of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Netflix docuseries
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