July 2025

There were 1,817 posts published in July 2025 (this is page 3 of 182).

Rays All-Star 1B Jonathan Aranda exits game after collision with Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton

The Tampa Bay Rays got hit by rain and bit by the injury bug during Thursday’s series finale in New York.

Three Rays players — first baseman Jonathan Aranda, designated hitter Yandy Díaz and left fielder Chandler Simpson — left the ultimately rain-delayed game with injuries.

Aranda’s looked the most serious.

It occurred in the top of the fifth inning, half an inning before the delay in the Bronx. With rain dressing the infield, Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton hit a soft ground ball to third base, where Junior Caminero scurried to make a play on the slow roller. 

Caminero, who came into the day with 10 errors at third base this season, rushed the throw to first. It was off the mark, and Aranda extended to reel it in for the putout. As the first-time All-Star reached to catch the ball, he made contact with a sprinting Stanton.

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Aranda’s glove, and left wrist, collided with the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Stanton. Aranda dropped the ball and then his mitt before clutching his wrist, hopping in pain and then crouching and falling to the ground. He was attended to by an athletic trainer and Rays manager Kevin Cash. 

The 27-year-old entered the afternoon slashing .315/.393/.478 with 12 home runs and 53 RBI. He added an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning, helping Tampa Bay chip away at a then-7-0 Yankees lead.

Following his injury, Aranda eventually left the field and was replaced by Brandon Lowe, who began the game at second base. José Caballero took Lowe’s spot at second.

Díaz sustained a right forearm contusion in the top of the fourth inning, when he was struck by a pitch from Yankees righty Marcus Stroman.

Simpson left the game in the bottom of the third with a left hand injury. He had grounded out in the top half of the frame but didn’t remove himself from the contest until he was in left field on the other side of the inning.

LeBron James, Nikola Jokić reportedly meet over $5bn upstart to rival NBA

LeBron James, right, and Nikola Jokić look on during the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah.Photograph: Jesse D Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

A high-profile meeting last week in France between LeBron James, his business partner Maverick Carter and Nikola Jokić’s agent Miško Ražnatović was about plans for a new $5bn international basketball league, according to a report by Front Office Sports, which cited multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The proposed league, spearheaded by Carter, would feature six men’s and six women’s teams that travel together to eight global cities in a touring format. Inspired by LIV Golf and Formula One, the league aims to offer players equity stakes, something NBA rules currently prohibit for active athletes.

Ražnatović, a powerful figure in European basketball, posted a photo of the meeting on Instagram over the weekend. The caption, tagged in Saint-Tropez, teased: “The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026.” That photo fueled speculation about a potential team-up between James and Jokić, but sources confirmed to Front Office Sports the meeting was unrelated to the NBA.

Carter began pitching the league earlier this year, with Bloomberg reporting in January that he is seeking to raise $5bn in funding. Backers already include the Singapore government, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, SC Holdings, UBS and investors such as Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett.

Unlike the WNBA-adjacent Unrivaled league, which allows dual participation, Carter’s venture is expected to require full-time commitments, effectively ruling out NBA participation unless league rules change.

The NBA, meanwhile, is pursuing its own expansion into Europe. Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum met with UK prime minister Keir Starmer in London last week to discuss plans for a Europe-based NBA league in partnership with Fiba. As part of that effort, the NBA announced that the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies will play regular-season games in Berlin and London in January 2026.

EuroLeague officials have pushed back against the NBA’s expansion talks. “We said to them, like we said publicly, we don’t believe that the new league is something that would help the market,” EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas told the Athletic on Tuesday.

MLB trade deadline: Orioles reportedly trade slugger Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano to Padres

One of the more coveted power bats on the free-agent market has found a new home. Baltimore Orioles slugger Ryan O’Hearn was dealt to the San Diego Padres on Thursday, along with outfielder Ramón Laureano, per multiple reports.

In return, Baltimore reportedly receives a slew of Padres prospects — six in total, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. Pitchers Boston Bateman, Tyson Neighbors and Tanner Smith, infielders Cobb Hightower and Brandon Butterworth, and infielder/outfielder Victor Figueroa will all join the Orioles as part of the deal.

It’s the latest move in what has been a very busy trade deadline for Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. Prior to picking up O’Hearn and Laureano, Preller acquired catcher Freddy Fermin, closer Mason Miller and starter J.P. Sears earlier on Thursday.

O’Hearn, 31, is enjoying arguably the best season of his career. The slugging first baseman and designated hitter is slashing .284/.375/.452 with 12 home runs. That performance earned O’Hearn his first All-Star nod in July. He started the contest for the American League, going 0 for 2 in the National League’s win. 

It has been quite a road for O’Hearn to reach this point. After an excellent rookie season with the Kansas City Royals in 2018, in which he slashed .262/.353/.597 in 44 games, O’Hearn saw his numbers crater. He hit just .211/.282/.351 over his next four seasons, and it looked like his major-league career was in jeopardy. 

But a 2023 trade to the Orioles resurrected his bat. Utilized as a platoon player, O’Hearn hit .275/.329/.450 in his first two years in Baltimore, and his slugging numbers might’ve been better over that period if not for the Orioles’ raised outfield wall in 2024. The team reverted that change for the 2025 season, and then O’Hearn’s home slugging numbers took a big step forward. 

As for Laureano, this marks the third straight year the right fielder has been traded midseason. After time with the Cleveland Guardians and Atlanta Braves last year, Laureano signed a one-year deal with Baltimore in the offseason.

The outfielder has a .290 batting average and .884 OPS in 259 plate appearances this year, putting him on pace for a career season.

O’Hearn was far from the biggest name on this year’s trade market. Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor and even Luis Robert Jr. have overshadowed O’Hearn’s production in recent seasons. But of that group, only Suarez has a higher wRC+ in 2025. Because of that, O’Hearn could prove to be an underrated trade-deadline acquisition.

If O’Hearn’s production can carry over to the Padres, he stands to benefit quite a bit. He’ll be a free agent at the end of this season and could earn himself a significant payday if he can continue to excel in the NL West.

AJ Preller has never seen a big trade he didn’t like, and that continued Thursday. After acquiring closer Mason Miller and starter J.P. Sears at the beginning of the day, Preller took care of his team’s other needs, adding both outfielder Ramon Laureano and first baseman/designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn from the Baltimore Orioles.

O’Hearn was one of the best hitters in the American League this season, and while he doesn’t have the power of some other DHs, his strength is his ability to get on base at a high clip. He gives San Diego a player who can be extremely productive at the DH spot.

And Laureano is the perfect fit in left field for the Padres. San Diego has been looking for anyone to take its left-field job, and finally they have a player who not only can field the position well but also has grown into a strong player offensively. The new Padres outfielder is a reverse-splits guy, ranking 13th in MLB with a .930 OPS against right-handed pitching. — Dorsey

Peloton’s Little-Known Strength Training Device Is Dead

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Pour one out for a friend gone too soon: Peloton has stopped selling its Guide device. There’s a chance you didn’t know anything about this equipment—a webcam-type device that was meant to help you with strength training—because it never really had the name recognition the brand’s famous at-home Bikes, Treads, and Rows did. Nevertheless, it had a small, core audience of dedicated users. If you were among them, fret not, as you’ll still be able to use yours.

The Guide is gone

On Peloton’s website, the listing for the Guide is no more. You can try clicking this link, where the listing used to be, but it’ll just redirect you to the home page. Previously, the AI-powered tool started at $145. It connected to your TV with an HDMI cable and, basically, watched you while you lifted, tracking your reps and monitoring your form. It was a pretty cool idea and something that could be really beneficial for novice lifters—doesn’t matter, though! It’s gone!

Well, sort of. A rep tells me this: “The Guide is not being sold anymore, but it will still be fully usable for those that already have one, and it will still be compatible with the hardware. We are just discontinuing new sales.”

So, if you have a Guide, you can still totally use it. There won’t be anything new coming out for it, but it will still function. There’s also no news about any kind of replacement coming down the pipeline.

What if you suddenly want a Guide?

Peloton’s own resale platform, Repowered, does not sell Guides, either. That doesn’t mean you can’t find a used one out there somewhere if, for some reason, you’d like to get your hands on discontinued equipment that will never get an update again. Buying used Peloton equipment is pretty common.

eBay has a load of listings ranging from around $10 to $60. Check Facebook Marketplace, too. But be wary of price-jacking in the wake of the discontinuation; try to use platforms where you can negotiate and communicate with sellers. And, as always, keep an eye out for the usual scams you might expect to see on any online resale platform.

Ask for the serial number and photos of the ports and various surfaces. It’s useless if it can’t connect to your TV, so the ports are crucial. Ideally, ask for a video of it working, to ensure the camera and movement-tracking features are still in working order. Finally, double-check it’s been unlinked from any previous Peloton accounts, since you can’t activate it otherwise.

There’s Already a Class Action Lawsuit Against the Viral ‘Tea’ App

Last week, a sequence of events happened pretty quickly: The Tea app—like Yelp, but for rating and reviewing men under the guise of promoting safety—rocketed to the top of Apple’s App Store as women sought to determine, anonymously, whether the guys in their lives were “green flag men” or “red flag men.” Then, there was a backlash that included a data breach which revealed thousands of user verification images to the public. Then, there was a second breach that compromised millions of direct messages sent and received on the app.

This week, a new development: Some of the women involved have filed a class action against the app. (Reps for Tea tell me they have no comment on that at this time.)

The class action against Tea

Earlier this week, a Tea app user named Griselda Reyes sued Tea Dating Advice, Inc. for negligence, breach of implied contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unfair competition in a suit filed in California. She sued not only on behalf of herself, but “all others similarly situated,” accusing Tea of “failure to properly secure and safeguard” their personally identifiable information.

The complaint points out that Tea assured users that the verification images they submitted to prove they were women would be deleted. Obviously, since thousands of those images were leaked and the company issued a statement saying that the leaked images were two years old, there’s a disconnect between the assurance of deletion and the reality of what happened.

Per the complaint, Reyes has “spent time dealing with the consequences” of the data breach, verifying the legitimacy and impact of it while also looking into credit monitoring and theft insurance options. Lost time, annoyance, inconvenience, and anxiety are among the things Reyes says she suffered, along with “imminent and impending injury arising from the substantially increased risk of fraud, identify theft, and misuse” that arose from her personal information being “placed in the hands of unauthorized third parties/criminals.”

Again, reps for Tea told me they have no comment at this time. Interestingly, I already received a targeted ad on Instagram last night asking me to sign up for a class action if I had downloaded the app and been impacted, so the legal process is moving pretty swiftly.

What happened with Tea?

Tea is marketed as a safety tool that can help women conduct background checks, identify sexual predators, sleuth out cheaters, and keep themselves away from abusers—and to an extent, it is that. To a different extent, as its name implies, it’s a platform for gossiping about specific, real-life men, none of whom can gain access to the app to defend themselves or even determine if their photo is on it. It’s possible to use Tea to source information relevant to safety—but it’s also entirely possible to use it to defame a man whose worst crime is ghosting, being broke, or not texting back fast enough—or worse, whose crime is nothing at all.

It might be understandable why some people were mad about the rise of Tea’s popularity and even why some virtual vigilantes would want to leak photos and personal information—wrong though it is. An abusive man doesn’t want his MO out there and an innocent man doesn’t want to be slandered with no due process. A curious or cautious woman assured of anonymity doesn’t want her driver’s license photo showing up in a data dump. No one is really winning, here.

The first round of the data breaches made public thousands of verification images that included government identification cards and photos, but Tea was quick to say that those were all two years old, no recently created accounts were impacted, and they had enlisted cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to get to the bottom of what happened.

The second round involved much more recent—and, at times, sensitive—data: Direct messages that had been sent and received on the app as recently as last week. These were technically anonymous, as they’re not tied to users’ real names, but some include details personal enough to make their authors identifiable. Tea quickly shut down the DM feature last Friday in response to the breach and it remains inoperable today, though the rest of the app is still usable.

There’s no proof these messages were disseminated—rather, the breach was discovered by an investigator who took the findings to the press. The driver’s license photos from the first breach are another story—those were spread across forums and social media.

MLB trade deadline: Astros reportedly reunite with Carlos Correa in deal with Twins

The Houston Astros’ big move at the MLB trade deadline involves a familiar face.

The club has reached a deal to acquire Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, reuniting with a player who spent his first seven MLB seasons in Houston.

Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Correa will move from shortstop to third base to replace Isaac Paredes, who is feared to be out for the season due to a torn hamstring. It will be the first time in Correa’s MLB career that he plays a position other than shortstop.

Correa subsequently told McTaggart the Astros were the only team he would have waived his no-trade clause for:

“I let them know there was only one team I would allow that to happen.”

There were whispers a day earlier that the Astros and Twins were discussing a deal, only for the talks to later be reported dead, with the Twins reportedly unwilling to cover around $50 million of the money left on Correa’s contract. Apparently, something changed between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon.

Correa began his career with the Astros as the first overall pick of the 2012 MLB Draft and was a star for the team from his Rookie of the Year-winning 2015 season to his Gold Glove-winning 2021, earning a since-tainted ring in the 2017 World Series. He was a franchise pillar for the Astros but opted to leave after 2021 for a short-term, high-salary deal with the Twins.

His current deal includes three more years after this season that will pay him an average of $32 million per year. He has four more years of team options after 2028, meaning this deal could keep him in Houston for a very long time.

Few teams have been reported to be in on more impact players at the trade deadline than the Astros, who sit in first place in the AL West with a 62-47 record. They entered trade season with a lengthy to-do list and have now made a few significant moves.

Houston appeared to address the hole left by Paredes by trading for Baltimore Orioles infielder Ramón Urías, but it now appears they have more of a utility role in mind for him. Minutes after the Correa deal, the Astros also acquired Jesús Sánchez from the Miami Marlins to add another bat to their outfield, per Rosenthal.

With less than two hours until the deadline, the ‘Stros probably still aren’t done. They’ve been reported to be pursuing one of Merrill Kelly, Dylan Cease and Sandy Alcantara, all of whom would add a big-time arm to their rotation.

The prodigal son returns.

Carlos Correa returning to the Houston Astros is a massive move. And it makes perfect sense for the Astros, as they had a huge need at third base with Isaac Paredes being out for the rest of the season. Correa, who knows Houston better than any player on the market, will go back home to the place where he made his name and became one of the franchise’s heroes.

This move makes Houston better in the short term, giving them the infielder they were working hard to acquire. And it also gives them a third baseman for the future, as Paredes could move across the diamond to first base when he returns in 2026. Correa was going to play third base when he signed with the Mets before failing his physical back in 2022.

Now, he can play third in Houston next to shortstop Jeremy Peña, whom he helped mentor prior to his departure. — Dorsey

I Figured Out How to Use the Spatial Audio Feature on the WH-1000XM6, and It Rules

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Sony’s WH-1000XM6 are my pick for the best premium headphones of 2025. When I reviewed them, I found they excelled in almost every category. But one way I think Sony could improve even these fantastic headphones (other than lowering the price), is by making them more user-friendly. When I was testing them, I couldn’t figure out how to use their version of spatial audio, the immersive movie mode that makes it sound like the audio is coming from all around you. So I reached out to Sony to figure it out.

Sony has its own name for spatial audio

Sony calls its spatial audio feature “360 Reality Audio Upmix,” but it’s essentially the same thing: The headphones upmix the audio you’re listening to and process it to create a 3D-like (or spatial audio) effect. This means you can listen to things that are not meant to be immersive and the headphones will do their best to make them sound like they are. And they do a very good job of it.

How to turn on Spatial Audio on WH-1000XM6

Three screenshots from the Sony app.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

To turn on the 360 Reality Audio Upmix feature, open the Sound Connect app (Sony’s app for managing the headphones) and head to “My Device” in the main menu. Under listening mode, select “Cinema.” That’s it. There is no indication within the app that you’re now using the 360 Reality Audio Upmix feature, but you’ll be able to hear the difference right away.

It’s more obvious when you pull up a movie with Dolby from a streaming channel like Netflix (or in YouTube audio tests like this one, which will sound pretty cool on your phone). It really should only be used for movies/shows or playing video games. It works with music too, but it might be better to stick with your customized EQ. The feature replaces whatever EQ you have in place, so you will notice the difference in sound.

That’s all it takes to set it up, but you’re not done yet. Next, you need a third-party app that Sony recommends to optimize the spatial audio. (I know, it’s a pain.)

Optimize the spatial audio

Screenshots of the hearing profile on the Sound Connect app.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Before we get to that other app, keep the Sound Connect app open. Follow the instructions there to create a hearing profile. It’s very simple, with questions about which sounds you prefer. This will tailor sound to your ears using a personalized hearing analysis. This helps with clarity and an immersive feel across all apps, not just with the spatial feature.

Screenshots of the hearing profile on the 360 Reality Audio Live app.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Then, you will need to download the 360 Reality Audio Live app to finish optimizing your spatial audio. This is one of the few apps that support 360 Reality Audio. You know you’ve completed the optimization when you see the “optimization completed for WH-1000XM6” screen. Once you’re finished, your headphones will be optimized to your ears for spatial audio, and you can try some of the videos in the app that support 360 Reality Audio to see how it works.

At this point, you’ll be able to enjoy the spatial audio to its fullest. While the 360 Reality Audio Upmix feature will never match true surround sound, it does a very good job at upmixing non-immersive sound. Just be mindful that the optimization on the 360 Reality Audio Live app will only work with compatible apps. But the hearing profile you created will work for anything, like watching Netflix or other media. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well it works—I just wish Sony would make its app more user-friendly so it would be easier to set up.

Knicks closing in on adding Brendan O’Connor to top position on Mike Brown’s staff

The Knicks are closing in on a deal to add Clippers assistant Brendan O’Connor to a top position on Mike Brown’s staff, league sources tell SNY.

O’Connor, a longtime assistant coach, has a strong defensive acumen. He’s worked for the Clippers under both Ty Lue and Doc Rivers. He will be Brown’s top assistant on defense. The Knicks have been looking to add two coaches to Brown’s staff, and their next hire will presumably be Brown’s associate head coach.

Brown will keep some coaches from Tom Thibodeau’s staff, including Darren Erman, Mark Bryant, Maurice Cheeks, Rick Brunson and Jordan Brink.

New York has been denied permission to speak to several assistant coaches the club had interest in. The Knicks were in touch with Pablo Prigioni for a top assistant spot, but Prigioni decided to stay in Minnesota.

Sirius XM’s Frank Isola first reported that the Knicks and O’Connor were close to a deal. The New York Post first reported that O’Connor will be the top defensive assistant in New York.

Your Echelon Gym Equipment Is Now Useless Without a Subscription

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In a move that pretty much exemplifies everything wrong with modern smart device ownership, Echelon has effectively rendered thousands of its home gym machines useless without an internet connection and monthly subscription. This firmware update has stripped away offline functionality, forcing users into a $39.99/month subscription model just to use equipment they already own.

What Echelon’s update means for you

Like with , Echelon has a always had “smart connect” platform that includes video classes for a subscription fee.

This news came to light earlier this week via blog post by Roberto Viola, developer of the popular QZ Fitness app that connects Echelon machines to third-party fitness platforms like Peloton, Strava, and Apple HealthKit. According to Viola, the firmware update fundamentally changed how Echelon devices operate, creating what amounts to a digital hostage situation. Users are rightfully annoyed.

The new system works like this: when users start up their Echelon equipment, the device must now log in to Echelon’s servers before any functionality becomes available. The servers send back a temporary, rotating unlock key that grants access to the machine’s features. Without this server back-and-forth, the device becomes completely bricked—no manual workouts, no Bluetooth pairing, no basic exercise metrics display.

The subscription trap

This new server-dependency conveniently funnels users toward Echelon’s subscription service, which starts at $39.99 per month (with the first month free). This way, what was once a one-time equipment purchase with full functionality is now yet another source of subscription rot. And you know how I feel about that. It sure does feel like a scam when features that were once included with purchase are being carved out and sold as ongoing services.

If you ask me, this update is a collision of two of the most infuriating trends in modern technology: the unnecessary internet-dependency of basic appliances and the creeping subscription-ization of features that should be included outright. I shouldn’t need to connect my dishwasher to the Cloud, you know? I find these “smart” features frequently make devices less reliable and more vulnerable to failure, as a simple network outage can render perfectly functional hardware unusable.

Now, Echelon users can no longer exercise during internet outages, a basic expectation for home gym equipment. More troubling, if Echelon were to go out of business or decide to discontinue server support, all updated machines would be useless, regardless of their physical condition.

The bottom line

Current Echelon users face limited options. You can pay the monthly subscription fee, attempt to avoid the firmware update (though this may become increasingly difficult), or consider their equipment partially bricked. New buyers should carefully consider whether they’re willing to commit to ongoing subscription payments for basic functionality.

The situation also serves as a cautionary tale for all smart device purchases. Before buying any connected device, consumers should ask: What happens if the company goes out of business? What happens if my internet goes down? What happens if the company decides to change its business model? Sometimes you’re better off with “dumb” devices that can’t be remotely disabled.

Call me a Luddite, but I think your stationary bike should work even if your wifi is out. You know, like the pilgrims used to say.