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The New York Mets began a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. This is a rematch of last year's National League Championship series that LA won in six games. Both teams entered this series just 5-5 in their last 10 contests.
As for the Mets, a recent skid has seen them fall two games back of the first place Philadelphia Phillies after leading the NL East almost all season. New York still owns an impressive 30-20 record which is good for the top NL Wild Card spot.
Ahead of Friday's series opener, the Mets also made a trade.
Per MLB's official transactions page, the Mets have dealt shortstop Diego A. Castillo to the Kansas City Royals. The return for New York was not listed on the transaction, but it is presumably in exchange for cash considerations (h/t MLB Trade Rumors).
Castillo has appeared in 101 MLB games across three seasons. Debuting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022, Castillo has also spent time with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins. He signed with the Mets as a free agent in March, but never made a big league appearance after posting .479 OPS in Triple-A Syracuse.
Per the Omaha Storm Chasers, Kansas City's Triple-A affiliate, Castillo has been assigned to them.
The following roster move was made:
— Omaha Storm Chasers (@OMAStormChasers) May 23, 2025
- INF Diego Castillo was traded to Kansas City from the New York Mets and assigned to Omaha. pic.twitter.com/2mot7gnjcQ
In 269 career MLB at-bats, Castillo is hitting .208 with 11 home runs. He will provide Kansas City with organizational infield depth, and also has 22 career appearances in the outfield. The 27-year-old is a native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela.
More must-reads:
- Blue Jays' Trey Yesavage is already making the rest of MLB look foolish for passing on him
- Nationals set to hire MLB's youngest manager in over 50 years
- The 'World Series walk-off home runs' quiz
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George Springer's status for Game 6 is becoming more clear
George Springer’s status for Game 6 of the World Series is becoming more clear. Springer has missed the last two games of the World Series after hurting his side on a swing in his Toronto Blue Jays’ 18-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3. The Blue Jays were able to win Game 4 on Tuesday and Game 5 on Wednesday despite the outfielder’s absence. On Thursday, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that Springer is physically ready to play in Game 6. “He’s checked every box physically so far,” Schneider said of Springer. Getting Springer back would be a nice boost to the Blue Jays’ lineup, which has performed well even without him. Springer went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in Game 3 before leaving the game. He’s batting .246 with an .884 OPS this postseason and has mashed 6 doubles and 4 home runs in 57 at-bats. Springer went 1-for-3 in Game 2 against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is the Dodgers’ scheduled starter for Game 6. Springer’s double was the Blue Jays’ only extra-base hit of the game, and he scored their only run that contest. His presence would be a big help for Toronto.
Cowboys WR George Pickens has telling response to question about contract
George Pickens is having an outstanding first season with the Dallas Cowboys, and the career-best pace has come at a time when he is preparing for potential free agency. Is it possible the star wide receiver could sign an extension before he gets to that point? Pickens says that is up to his boss. Pickens, who was drafted in the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, is in the final season of his rookie contract. He was asked on Thursday if he would consider signing a new deal with the Cowboys before he becomes a free agent after the season. He had a noteworthy response. "That’s kinda up to what (Jerry Jones) wants to do. All I can do is perform at my best," Pickens said. George Pickens has earned No. 1 wideout money Pickens has 685 receiving yards through the first eight weeks of the season, which ranks third in the NFL. His six touchdown catches are already the most of his four-year career. CeeDee Lamb missed several games this season with an ankle injury, and Pickens showed during that time that he is more than capable of being the featured wideout in a quality offense. That should go a long way toward setting his market, whether he re-signs with the Cowboys or becomes a free agent. With Lamb making an average of $34M per year, the Cowboys probably cannot afford to keep Pickens. For now, the 24-year-old is at least giving off the impression that he is open to the possibility. He also suggested recently that money is not the most important thing to him with his next contract, which could keep Dallas in the running.
Charles Barkley knows the real problem with LeBron James
LeBron James may be out due to sciatica, but Charles Barkley is not buying it. He thinks he knows what is really going on with the Los Angeles Lakers star. Barkley was goofing around during “Inside the NBA” on ESPN Wednesday and talked about the Lakers, who had several players out for their game at the Minnesota Timberwolves. James was listed as out due to sciatica, which is a nerve issue. Barkley thinks the sciatica injury is a cover for something else. “First of all, LeBron doesn’t have a sciatica. They just put ‘old.’ O-L-D, with an extra ‘D,’ too,” Barkley joked. An update on James’ condition came out this week, saying that the Lakers forward could return in a few weeks. The Lakers have seemed to suggest that there is no urgency to rush James into action. However, Luka Doncic also getting hurt recently may have changed things for the team. For now, the Lakers are 3-2 and have been relying on Austin Reaves to do plenty of scoring. He is averaging 34.2 points per game this season. James is 40 years old and entering his 23rd NBA season. He’s allowed to have “old” or sciatica as an injury issue. As Barkley knows and often says, Father Time is undefeated.
Steelers' Massive Communication Issues Point Directly To 2 Men
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had constant issues with the defense, but the single biggest one is the miscommunication. That has been an issue for at least two seasons now, and possibly more. That should most likely be priority number one for the team, as that could potentially solve some of the issues with the secondary and linebackers. Once that gets fixed, then it will be easier to see which players are at fault for their on-field performance, as there are currently no answers for what is going on each week. While making an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, insider Ray Fittipaldo explained where all the blame goes for the miscommunications in this scenario. "It's been going on for years," Fittipaldo said. "A lot of people said, 'Oh, Minkah [Fitzpatrick]'s the problem.' Minkah's not here; Minkah's not the problem. 'Oh, Cam Sutton's the problem last year.' Cam Sutton's not here. Every team has some problems relaying the signals, but it's an ongoing issue here. Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin are the coaches. They're the ones that need to accept the full blame here, but I'm sure it's on the players too." Sure, the players are part of the question, but like Fittipaldo said, the ones that run this unit need to take some blame and they need to be the first ones to take action to finally stop this problem for good. Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin combine to do most things for this unit, so they need to be more accountable in the eyes of many fans. Tomlin's defense is known to be one of the more difficult ones to learn in the NFL, especially for newcomers. When the Steelers overhauled their defense in 2025, they had to teach so many players his complicated schemes in a very short period of time, and it has not worked well. His unit needs more stability for this defense to have any chance of working. Meanwhile, Austin has not done particularly well with calling this complicated gameplan, and he knows it. The problem is that he's not calling his defense, so it's a bit harder for him to adjust on the fly when he has to stay within his head coach's scheme and guidelines. Even if it's difficult, he still has to do it. He needs to find some way to make life easier on his players and get them in the right spots. That's a coordinator's job. Unfortunately, the Steelers made their defense even older from a player age perspective, so the most likely scenario is that everything gets overhauled again in the near future. On top of that, Austin's contract expires at season's end. With how bad his unit has been, he may be let go. If all that truly does happen and the miscommunications remain, it becomes even more obvious that Tomlin is the main issue here. Austin has not been great either, but he is merely a symptom of the problem, not the primary cause. There is not a Minkah Fitzpatrick to trade away anymore. There's just a bunch of veterans that could get cut and/or retire at season's end. Steelers Fixed One Communication Issue, But It's Not Enough So far, it seems like linebacker Patrick Queen has been much better at barking out the signals to his teammates on the field. He struggled to pick up on the plays in his first season in Pittsburgh, and it ended in disaster. Obviously, there are more issues with miscommunications, but Queen is not part of it anymore. He has done his job well so far.
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