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The Rays are borrowing the Yankees’ spring training home this season, but Pete Fairbanks wants to make sure the Yankees aren’t borrowing anything back.
Because Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay is calling George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ Grapefruit League facility, home this season. That means enjoying the Yankees' newly renovated clubhouse, complete with its four-story workout facility, cafe, the Florida humidity and bugs.
Or maybe bugs of a different kind.
Fairbanks, the always wry Rays reliever, cracked a joke Wednesday about the possibility of hidden microphones being left behind by the Yankees. On the Foul Territory podcast, he quipped:
“I think we did a full sweep, kind of like Man from U.N.C.L.E. style. We had to, like, buzz around, (go) around. And how many did we find? You know… anything we found, we’ll just take on our plane when we head up to New York on Friday.”
While it was clearly tongue-in-cheek (and something that had been joked about when the Yankees were in town earlier in the month, it also adds a little spice to what’s already a strange, made-for-TV wrinkle in the Yankees-Rays rivalry.
The Rays are set to face the Yankees this weekend in the Bronx, so the timing of Fairbanks’ jab couldn’t have been better. One minute you’re scouring lockers for bugs like a Cold War spy, the next you’re flying to Yankee Stadium to face Aaron Judge.
Fairbanks side-stepped the question if they actually found any bugs in the lockers, laundry bins, or perhaps hidden under a stray torpedo bat. But in a rivalry already full of tension, whispers, and weird moments, his deadpan delivery only adds to the theater.
Friday night, we’ll see if the Yankees can get some payback on the field, not through a wiretap.
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Aaron Boone Makes Feelings Clear After Yankees’ Big Trade
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Seattle Storm Get Big Boost for Sky Game Amid Unexpected Angel Reese News
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Raiders Add Former Chiefs, Texas DT After Christian Wilkins Release
The Las Vegas Raiders signed former Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to a four-year, $110 million deal last offseason. Unfortunately, he only played in five games during the 2024 NFL season due to an injury. Wilkins had not yet returned to the offseason program for the Raiders this year, as he suffered a setback in his recovery process. A bitter, ongoing debate between him and the franchise about how best to rehabilitate his injury led to his release on Thursday. After this sudden move, Las Vegas needed to act quickly to add another defensive tackle to the roster. On Friday, NFL Insider Aaron Wilson reported that the team had been awarded Keondre Coburn off waivers. "#Raiders awarded DT Keondre Coburn off waivers, per a league source," Wilson wrote. Coburn played his college football with the Texas Longhorns and was drafted in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. There, he only played in one game during his rookie season, but won the Super Bowl with the Chiefs. He spent the last one and a half seasons with the Tennessee Titans, where he saw his role marginally increase. Coburn played in 15 contests last season for the Titans, starting one game and recording 14 tackles. The new regime in Las Vegas, spearheaded by head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek, will give Coburn another chance in the NFL. He is just 25 years old and lands with the Raiders after being waived by Tennessee the day prior.
'It's the violence of the cuts' – Dan Quinn details special traits of Commanders' rookie breakout candidate that can help the offense
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