San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee was briefly detained at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday after a flight from South Korea, his agent told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Giants said in a statement that Lee, 26, either misplaced or forgot part of his travel packet upon landing at LAX from Seoul, South Korea. The issue was quickly handled, and Lee was released and allowed to enter the United States legally.
Giants general manager Zack Minasian said there were no political motivations behind Lee’s brief detainment.
“Earlier today, Jung Hoo Lee experienced a brief travel issue at LAX due to a paperwork issue,” the Giants said in a statement, via The Athletic. “The matter was quickly clarified with the appropriate authorities, and he has since been cleared to continue his travel. We appreciate the professionalism of all parties involved.”
Lee is scheduled to appear at a Giants fan event on Saturday in San Ramon, California.
Lee spent the past two seasons with the Giants. He recorded a .266 batting average with eight home runs and 55 RBI last season, all career highs for the 27-year-old.
He signed a six-year, $113 million deal with the Giants ahead of the 2024 campaign after a huge run in the Korean Baseball Organization. Lee’s father, Jong Beom Lee, was often regarded as the best all-around player in the KBO in the 1990s, and he earned the nickname “Son of the Wind.”
Spring training for the Giants begins next month in Scottsdale, Arizona, though Lee isn’t expected to be there long. He will play for Korea in the World Baseball Classic in March, and his team will open the event with an exhibition game against Czechia on March 5 in Tokyo.
The Giants, who went 81-81 last season and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year, will open the 2026 MLB campaign against the New York Yankees on March 25.
Adding Jimmy Butler fundamentally changed who the Warriors were last season — the way they played, the heights they could aspire to, their chances of playing meaningful basketball deep into springtime once again. Losing Butler on Monday to a torn right ACL — a devastating blow that sapped every ounce of sweetness out of Golden State’s fourth consecutive double-digit win — fundamentally changes who the Warriors are this season, and threatens a devastating alteration to who they could conceivably still be in the “fading dynasty” stage of the Stephen Curry/Draymond Green/Steve Kerr era.
Even at age 36, a crisp 15 years and nearly 35,000 NBA minutes into his career, Butler remains one of the league’s best all-around players — a high-efficiency, low-mistake offensive connector; a versatile and disruptive defender; a high-IQ adaptor able to fit neatly into the flow when playing alongside Curry and scale up into a larger, more central role when Steph’s off the floor; a consistently high-floor contributor with few peers at his position.
(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports illutration)
Butler is second on the Warriors in scoring, third in assists and rebounds, and leads them in steals and total minutes played. There are four players in the NBA this season averaging at least 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal per game while making at least half of their shots: Butler, perennial MVP favorite Nikola Jokić, and ascendant All-Star-caliber bigs Alperen Şengün and Jalen Johnson.
Butler had averaged just under 22-5-5 on pristine .649 true shooting over the past month prior to exiting early against Miami. He was playing some of the best ball of his career, and with it, the Warriors had started to stabilize: Golden State has won four straight and 12 of its last 16, with the NBA’s second-best record and fifth-best net rating in that span.
Combine that with the degree to which Golden State had struggled to tread water in non-Jimmy minutes even with Steph on the floor — just plus-1.1 points-per-100 over nearly 500 minutes this season — and the Warriors have a pretty gnarly puzzle to solve over the second half of the season if they hope to have any chance of remaining in postseason position.
After Tuesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, Golden State sits at 25-20, in eighth place in the Western Conference — in line for their third straight trip to the play-in tournament. With Butler in the fold and playing at an All-Star level, Kerr, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Co. could reasonably harbor hopes of erasing the two-game gap between them and the fifth-place Houston Rockets, putting themselves in position to not only avoid the play-in but potentially challenge for home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Now, though, the Warriors braintrust has to consider whether it’s likelier that they rise or fall — they’re three games ahead of ninth-place Portland, five games up on the 10th-place Clippers, and 5.5 clear of 11th-place Memphis — and how their internal projections will inform their decision-making ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Five days past the NBA’s most closely watched trade eligibility date, Jonathan Kuminga remains a member of the Warriors. Twenty-four hours ago, it seemed likely that Dunleavy would keep beating the bushes in search of a deal that could turn the out-of-favor 23-year-old into something, anything, that could improve the Warriors’ chances of making a deep playoff run. But with Golden State now in desperate need of a wing-sized person capable of putting the ball in the basket, even if it’s not in precisely the way Kerr prefers, and with the most frequently stated reason for shelving Kuminga — effectively, we can’t play three not-really-shooters who need the ball in their hands, and Jimmy and Draymond are better than Kuminga is — now a moot point, does that calculus change?
If and when Kerr turns back to Kuminga — which he did at least on Tuesday — how might the fifth-year forward respond? It seems like an awful lot, asking someone who has essentially been out of the rotation for two months to suddenly start replicating the production of a top-20 player — especially considering lineups where he’s had to carry the offensive workload without Steph or Jimmy have gotten drilled over the past two seasons. If a reintroduced Kuminga struggles under these adverse conditions, does it become even more difficult to move him for a return of noteworthy value? And if he doesn’t — if he looks great — well, then what do you do with a guy you’ve signaled in every way possible that you’re ready to drive to the airport at the earliest opportunity, but who’s suddenly become a load-bearing column in your current build?
The $11 billion question hanging over all of this, in the hours after Butler’s grim diagnosis: Just what is that “current build,” now?
The premise behind the Butler trade and subsequent extension was clean, clear and evident to all who observed it. Golden State had lined up the contracts of Curry, Butler and Green to take aim at a title run in 2024-25 and 2025-26, with a possible third in 2026-27, when Green holds a $27.7 million player option. It was an unmistakable declaration of intent: As long as we have Steph playing LIKE THIS, we’re going to go for it.
And it worked, and it looked great … until it didn’t. The first run ended in the second round, after Steph hurt his hamstring against the Timberwolves; with Butler’s season now over, the second one appears to have ended before it could even get started. And now, the Warriors find themselves back where they were this time last year: with Curry still playing like this, but without a supporting cast commensurate with the frankly unbelievable level at which he continues to produce.
Maybe that gives the rest of Golden State’s roster short shrift. De’Anthony Melton is finally healthy again and playing great. Al Horford’s starting to show signs of coming around. Podziemski’s in the midst of his best run of play of the season. Moody and Buddy Hield are shooting better than 40% from 3-point land over the last month. Maybe they keep rolling, and Kerr’s able to find enough contributions from elsewhere — from rookie Will Richard, from Quinten Post, from Trayce Jackson-Davis, and on, and on — to keep the Warriors in the fight, where they’re forever one Curry flurry from delivering a knockout blow.
And maybe the injury doesn’t necessarily preclude one last big comeback run. The average return-to-play following an ACL tear is about 11 months, according to Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes; that would put Butler’s return somewhere around Christmas, meaning he’d miss roughly the first quarter of the 2026-27 season, giving Golden State a lot of runway to get up to full strength before mid-April. Maybe there are still two real bites at the apple here.
Maybe, though, Butler’s injury shakes the Warriors’ faith in the viability of that timeline — in the likelihood that, 14 months from now, a core of a 39-year-old Curry, a 37-year-old Green and a 37-year-old, post-ACL-reconstruction Butler will be good enough to win in the playoffs. If Dunleavy and Co. arrive at that conclusion, they’ll have to decide whether they’re comfortable continuing to ride what they’ve got into the sunset — appreciating that time comes for us all, that best-laid plans sometimes go awry, and that it’s worth allowing the Steph-Draymond-Jimmy core to run its course — or if it’s time to make even more drastic changes to the roster, in service of seeding the ground for the next era of Warriors basketball, whenever that might start.
The former path would be perfectly respectable, if not downright honorable. In a world that’s seen the Warriors try to pull off the two timelines plan and let Klay Thompson walk, though, the latter can’t be ruled out. I don’t think that means they’re going to trade Steph in the middle of the night. (Although, y’know: Luka.) I do think, though, it means that just about anything else could be on the table, one fundamental change begetting another.
With less than a month to go before spring training begins in Arizona and Florida, the final flurry of free-agent activity is underway.
The hitting market has begun to take shape, with star outfielder Kyle Tucker reaching a deal with the Dodgers, Bo Bichette joining the Mets, Alex Bregman landing with the Cubs, Cody Bellinger returning to the Yankees, and Pete Alonso (Orioles) and Kyle Schwarber (Phillies) also finding the big paydays they were looking for.
Earlier in the winter, the reliever market heated up first, with Edwin Diaz, Devin Williams and other top arms landing big contracts with new teams. Dylan Cease signed a megadeal with the Blue Jays before Thanksgiving, but the starting pitcher market has been relatively quiet besides Tatsuya Imai landing with the Astros and Ranger Suarez joining the Red Sox. Four players accepted qualifying offers: Trent Grisham (Yankees), Shota Imanaga (Cubs), Gleyber Torres (Tigers) and Brandon Woodruff (Brewers). And the NPB posting windows reached their end, with Munetaka Murakami, Imai and Kazuma Okamoto finding their MLB homes.
There’s still some offseason business yet to be done. Here’s our ranking of the 2025-26 free-agent class.
Note: An asterisk indicates a player received a qualifying offer. Ages listed are for the 2026 season (age on June 30, 2026). You can find a full list of free agents here.
Tucker was the consensus No. 1 player in this free-agent class and commanded a massive contract to back it up. That’s a product of his age — he doesn’t turn 29 until January — and long track record of offensive impact. Since 2020, Tucker’s first full MLB season, he is one of just six hitters to post an OPS above .800 every year. The others are all well-paid superstars: Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, José Ramírez and Juan Soto. Based solely on the bat, Tucker undoubtedly belongs in that group. Hitters like this don’t hit the open market often, and when they do, they make a killing.
That said, the low-talking Floridian reached free agency after an oddly paced walk year with the Cubs. Tucker was dealt from Houston, where he’d spent his entire career, to Chicago in a blockbuster deal last offseason. He got off to a scorching start with the Cubs, was named an All-Star starter and looked like a legit MVP candidate. As late as June 28, he sported a .933 OPS.
Then things got weird. Tucker’s power production cratered in July and August, as he managed just four homers across 211 plate appearances. It turned out he was playing through a hairline fracture in his hand for most of the summer. Just as he appeared to be shifting back into gear, he suffered a calf strain that kept him sidelined until the final week of the regular season.
It marked the second straight year that Tucker was significantly limited by injuries, but that didn’t prevent him from landing a massive payday with L.A. Tucker also tends to employ a more laid-back pregame routine that prioritizes preserving energy. That less-is-more approach has helped him ascend to All-Star status, but it raises a few concerns around the league about how he might age and how he’ll adapt if his body starts to need more maintenance. Signs of that physical decline have popped up in Tucker’s sprint speed and defensive metrics, areas in which his skills have dwindled precipitously over the past few seasons.
A free agent last winter, Bregman ended up in Boston on a three-year, $120 million deal with opt-outs after each season. And after a productive season at Fenway, he reentered the market. A quad issue robbed him of two months over the summer and intensified concerns about Bregman’s gradually deteriorating lower half, but the offensive profile remains incredibly strong. From a swing-decision standpoint, he’s about as good as anybody in the sport. And while the contact quality has dropped off since his MVP contender days, it’s more than good enough to make this version of Bregman an All-Star-level player. Plus, Bregman was heralded for his influence on Boston’s bevy of young players. The Cubs finally spent like a big-market team to add his bat to their lineup and his impact in their clubhouse.
What a season it was for one of the best true power bats of his generation: 56 home runs, 132 RBI and a .928 OPS. Sure, Schwarber is a flawed player — he’s limited to DH, strikes out a ton, doesn’t offer much on the bases and turns 33 in March — but it’s not worth overthinking this. The guy went deep 56 times. People don’t do that too often. For what it’s worth, Schwarber is also regarded as one of the few game-changing locker room presences in the sport. The Phils were front-runners to retain Schwarber’s services and ultimately got it done.
A knee sprain kept Bichette on the shelf from early September to the World Series, for which he came back and batted .348. Late-season injury woes aside, 2025 was an extremely successful campaign for the sweet-swinging shortstop. Bichette rebounded from a disastrous 2024 to post numbers more in line with his career norms, swatting 18 homers to go with a .311 batting average that ranked second in baseball.
Let’s get the elephant out of the way: Bichette is a bad shortstop. Last season, he ranked as the game’s worst every-day glove at the infield’s most important spot. A prudent team would probably move him to second or third, but Bichette probably wants to stick at short. His defensive inadequacies don’t overwhelm the value of his bat — this dude rakes — but it adds a wart to the profile.
Still, Bichette’s track record of performance and his age made him well worth it for the Mets at $126 million. That he managed to return to Toronto’s lineup for the World Series despite not being 100 percent and contributed multiple meaningful hits, including his jaw-dropping blast off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7, lent further credence to his toughness and talent. Optimistically, he should have at least a half-decade of prime left; he’ll spend the first three years of that in Queens.
Last winter, the Polar Bear and the only club he’d ever known engaged in a protracted stare-down that included a public besmirching from Mets owner Steve Cohen. In the end, Alonso’s market never materialized, and he returned to Queens on a lucrative, two-year deal with an opt-out that everyone expected him to exercise.
Unsurprisingly, that’s what happened after Alonso posted an OPS nearly 100 points higher than his 2024 total. The underlying numbers also rebounded, particularly his average exit velocities and his optimal launch angle percentages. Was that enough to reorient his value as a free agent and earn him the longer-term pact he was looking for a year ago? The Orioles answered with a resounding yes.
Alonso remains a horrid defender at first and a real liability on the bases. Still, he’s generally underrated, the type of needle-moving bat that would make every roster — including Baltimore’s — significantly better.
An unbridled force-of-nature at the plate since he became an every-day player in NPB at age 19, Murakami entered the posting system after seven seasons of legendary slugging in Japan. In 2022, Murakami made history by smashing 56 home runs in 141 games, an NPB record that stands as the most in a single season by a Japanese-born player. Having set an unthinkable standard of Barry Bonds-esque dominance in that 2022 season, with a mind-blowing 225 wRC+, Murakami’s merely outstanding encores in 2023 (31 HR, 150 wRC+) and 2024 (33 HR, 155 wRC+) were viewed as minor disappointments, despite still ranking as some of the best offensive seasons in the league.
The spotlight grew brighter in 2025, as a potential move to MLB came into focus, but an oblique injury cost Murakami multiple months, shrinking the opportunities to scout him. Yet even in an abbreviated sample, Murakami put on a show, nearly returning to his 2022 power peak with a ridiculous .663 SLG% and a whopping 22 home runs in 56 games.
So what’s the catch? Why isn’t this left-handed slugger with prodigious power ranked closer to Tucker on this list? It’s simple: Murakami strikes out a lot. His 29% K rate over the past three seasons is exceptionally high relative to his NPB peers, and while that number might not stand out in MLB right now, it’s difficult for teams to be optimistic that he’s going to make more contact against superior arms stateside. If anything, the concern is that the opposite could occur, with the whiffs piling up to the point that Murakami’s power production is undermined, and he becomes a flawed slugger with volatile ups and downs, a la Joey Gallo.
It’s also entirely realistic to suggest that Murakami is young and talented enough to make the necessary adjustments to become a classic, power-and-patience superstar in the mold of Matt Olson or Max Muncy, with the high volume of walks and homers compensating for the sky-high strikeout totals. That Murakami is not considered especially likely to stick at third base adds even more pressure on his bat to live up to the hype in Chicago. His issues making contact likely spooked some teams in free agency, negating the upside of his youth and nearly unrivaled NPB résumé. As it turned out, there wasn’t a significant bidding war for his services, giving the White Sox an opportunity at a bargain in their rebuild.
No matter how you slice it, glassy-eyed Cody was the second-best position player on the 2025 Yankees behind Aaron Judge. After the Cubs essentially contract-dumped him for nothing last winter, Bellinger responded with his best all-around season since his 2019 MVP campaign. His offensive profile has changed quite a bit since then, but this version of Bellinger — allergic to strikeouts, hitting the ball in the air to the pull side just enough — is a really valuable player.
Add his superb defense in an outfield corner and his relative youth, and you’ve got a legitimate second or third option on a World Series team. Bellinger enjoyed his year in pinstripes, and the Yankees loved what he brought to the table. A reunion always made a lot of sense, and the two sides got it done, but this new deal with the Yanks does put pressure on Bellinger’s ability to play center field, where he’s more average than great at this point.
The Big Three arms
8. *Framber Valdez, SP, 32
You could make a strong argument that Valdez belongs in a category all his own, above this other group of arms. The dreadlocked lefty finished top-10 in Cy Young voting in 2022, ‘23 and ‘24. He’s also incredibly durable, as one of just two pitchers to toss at least 175 innings in each of the past four seasons (Logan Webb is the other). Then there’s the October experience: Valdez has 16 career postseason outings. The point is Valdez has been one of the more valuable starting pitchers of this decade. And while his numbers took a half-step back in 2025, he still boasted an elite groundball rate and kept hitters from squaring up the ball.
Valdez’s bizarre interaction with catcher Cesar Salazar in early September, in which Valdez appeared to purposefully cross-up Salazar with a fastball, amplified some previously held concerns about Valdez’s conduct as a teammate. That incident won’t tank his free agency, far from it, but it’s a data point worth noting.
Ranger’s sinker — his most used offering — averages a frosty 90.1 mph, firmly in the bottom 10% league-wide in velocity. Yet Suárez gets outs. A lot of ‘em. After missing the start of the year due to a back issue, the Venezuelan southpaw posted the best numbers of his career, finishing with a 3.20 ERA and just below a strikeout per inning. His postseason track record is notably robust, with a 1.48 ERA across 42 2/3 career innings. Do you feel excited about him starting Game 1 of a playoff series? Probably not. But Game 2 or 3? Definitely. There are some concerns about how he’ll age, particularly if the fastball velocity dips under 90 mph, as there simply aren’t many guys throwing this soft who get outs. But Suárez has been doing this schtick for a few years now, and the Red Sox felt good enough about it to add him on a nine-figure deal.
Unlike the southpaw groundball specialists such as Valdez or Suárez fronting their rotations, Cease represents an appealing alternative at the top of the starting pitching market. And a Toronto team fresh off a World Series appearance liked what it saw. While his run-prevention skills have fluctuated more in recent seasons than the two lefties in this tier, Cease has been one of the game’s premier strikeout artists for his entire career, thanks to a tremendous fastball-slider combo. His bouts of ineffectiveness are the product of too many walks and far more hard contact surrendered than you’d expect for someone with Cease’s swing-and-miss stuff, but Cease has been worth at least 3.0 fWAR for five consecutive seasons.
That consistency is rooted in nearly unrivaled durability: Cease leads all MLB pitchers in starts over the past five years and has never been on the injured list due to an arm injury. Pitcher health is fickle, of course, so there’s no guarantee Cease will remain uninjured for the duration of his Blue Jays contract; it’s also possible some teams viewed the mileage on his arm as problematic. But Toronto saw that longstanding reliability as worthy of committing heavily to him in free agency, and Cease’s demonstrated peaks — including top-four Cy Young finishes in 2022 and ‘24 — likely helped his cause.
The Mets’ embarrassing collapse does not fall on Díaz’s shoulders, as the lanky Puerto Rican was brilliant once again this year. Now that Emmanuel Clase has effectively been banished for his gambling-related malfeasance, there’s a strong argument that Díaz is the undisputed best reliever in the game. After a catastrophic leg injury during the World Baseball Classic robbed him of his entire 2023 season, Díaz is, amazingly, all the way back to his rip-roaring best.
That’s why, despite having two years and $37 million left on his deal, Díaz opted out to become a free agent. A reunion with the Mets remained likely, but there was no reason for Eddie-D not to try to squeeze out every last dollar that he has earned over the past few years, and the Dodgers were willing to pay Díaz like the elite closer he is.
Tier 2 starter
12. *Zac Gallen, SP, 30
It has been a troubling and confounding decline for Gallen since his third-place NL Cy Young finish in 2023. His first-half struggles in the final year of his Snakes contract were bad enough that no team was willing to meet the price to trade for him in July, despite the right-hander’s widely reported availability, and considering his 5.60 ERA at the deadline, it was tough to blame them.
Funnily enough, once the trade rumors were behind him and Gallen knew he was going to remain a D-back for the rest of the season, he started to pitch much better, posting a 3.32 ERA in 65 innings over his final 11 outings and restoring some optimism that he could warrant a sizable payday in free agency. It’s not like Gallen’s stuff and velocity are markedly different than during his peak, but regression with his command has caused all five of his pitches to perform worse, a trend that will need to be corrected if he is to reestablish himself as a quality starter whom teams are excited to have on the mound in important games.
A franchise staple for one of the most prominent organizations in NPB, the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants, Okamoto’s prospects of coming to MLB had long been clouded by Yomiuri’s longstanding reluctance to post its players. But Yomiuri will honor Okamoto’s desire to make the jump to the big leagues now, enabling the team to receive some financial compensation for his departure, rather than likely watching him leave for nothing after the 2026 season, when he’d reach the requisite nine years of NPB service to become an unrestricted international free agent.
Okamoto has been one of the best hitters in Japan for a while — he homered against Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic championship — but he leveled up in a meaningful way in 2025. Although he missed two-plus months in the middle of the season due to a left elbow injury, Okamoto was tremendously productive at the plate when healthy.
He hit .327/.416/.598 with 15 HR in 293 plate appearances across 69 games, good for an astonishing 214 wRC+ that ranked first among NPB hitters with at least 200 plate appearances — yes, even ahead of Murakami (208 wRC+). Okamoto’s 11.3% strikeout rate and 90% in-zone contact rate were both career-best marks, and he is exceptionally adept at pulling the ball in the air, enabling his power to manifest regularly in games.
He’s also a better bet to stick at third base long-term than Murakami, and he has experience at first base and in left field, offering several paths for him to fit on the Blue Jays’ roster. He’s four years older, right-handed and doesn’t possess quite the eye-popping raw power of Murakami, but it’s entirely reasonable to suggest that Okamoto is more likely to succeed in MLB right away and possibly in the long term as well.
Joining Murakami and Okamoto in this winter’s class of Japanese stars making the jump to MLB is Imai, who was posted by the Seibu Lions following a monster season in which he led all NPB starters in WHIP (0.89) and strikeout rate (27.8%) while posting a 1.92 ERA in 163 ⅔ innings. Relative to nearly every other NPB pitcher who has come to MLB in recent years, Imai’s pitch mix is notably more shallow — for now, anyway. His 95-mph four-seam fastball (48%) and 86-mph slider (33%) accounted for more than three-quarters of his pitches thrown in 2025, with the changeup (9%), splitter (5%) and sinker (4%) usage lagging behind.
That’s not to say there aren’t successful MLB starters deploying a heavy dose of heaters and sliders — Cease, Hunter Greene, and Spencer Strider say hello — but it remains to be seen if Imai’s stuff is good enough at present for him to follow suit or if his arsenal will need adjusting once he arrives stateside. Age is on Imai’s side — he doesn’t turn 28 until May — but there are enough questions that the financial outlay is closer to what Kodai Senga got than Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Also of note: While Murakami is represented by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management (the same agency that represents Kyle Tucker and Kyle Schwarber), Imai and Okamoto are Scott Boras clients.
Traded by Cleveland last winter after his first All-Star appearance, Naylor raked for the D-backs before being dealt to Seattle at the deadline and becoming a key contributor during the Mariners’ postseason run. Don’t be fooled by his burly build and high-effort hacks into thinking that Naylor is a one-dimensional slugger; there’s a lot more finesse to his game than meets the eye.
That was most evident in his shocking success stealing bases in 2025, despite his third percentile sprint speed, but it’s also relevant in the batter’s box, where Naylor’s excellent contact ability keeps his strikeout totals low while enabling his power to play to all fields and against various pitch types. He has also turned himself into a rock-solid defender at first base. It appears Naylor’s relative youth and positive recent trajectory helped land him a deal longer than the three-year, $60 million contract Christian Walker secured last offseason as one of free agency’s top available first basemen. By getting Naylor into that fifth year, the Mariners got a manageable $18.5 million AAV.
16. *Trent Grisham, OF, 29
UPDATE: Grisham accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Yankees at $22.025 million.
Arguably no player climbed these rankings more dramatically over the course of the season than Grisham, who exploded into relevance as a key member of the Yankees’ position-player group after being a virtual afterthought in his first season in the Bronx. To wit: Despite being on the roster for the entire season and every round of the postseason during New York’s run to the World Series in 2024, Grisham appeared in just 76 regular-season games and zero in October.
This year, Grisham’s 581 plate appearances marked a career high and ranked fourth on the team. Center fielders with Grisham’s power (34 HR) and patience (14.1% walk rate) are rare, and that he’s still just 29. It’s possible some teams viewed him in a fairly skeptical light, considering his timely career year follows a much longer major-league track record of mediocrity, but there are real skills to be excited about here for the Yankees.
17. *Gleyber Torres, 2B, 29
UPDATE: Torres accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Tigers at $22.025 million.
Torres hit free agency last winter as one of the youngest position players available but ultimately settled for a one-year deal with Detroit, with hopes of bolstering his value with a stronger 2025 showing than in his last hurrah as a Yankee. He generally succeeded, exhibiting elite plate discipline while improving both his hard-hit and barrel rates. He was especially terrific early on for the Tigers (.284/.386/.437 in 72 games through the end of June) but notably faded as the season went on, a decline perhaps explained by a hernia Torres revealed he was playing through after Detroit’s season ended in October.
He underwent surgery to address the issue, and that rehab is not projected to impact his availability to start 2026. Although his defense continues to rate as comfortably below-average, Torres gives an offensive boost at the keystone for Detroit.
Polanco entered free agency a year ago on a decidedly dour note, having just endured the worst campaign of his career in his first year as a Mariner before undergoing knee surgery at the outset of the offseason. Even still, Polanco’s longstanding track record of production before his injury-marred 2024 earned him a spot toward the end of our free-agent rankings, with the idea that a bounce-back could be in store if he could get healthy.
After staying in Seattle on a one-year deal, Polanco did exactly that, turning in an excellent regular season at the plate (26 HR, 132 wRC+) and delivering several of Seattle’s biggest swings during its run to Game 7 of the ALCS. That strong showing was enough to garner a multiyear deal from the Mets for Polanco in his second trip to the open market. Still, he is a poor defender with a troubling injury history, an indicator of why the deal was relatively short.
A breakout 2024 had King primed for a massive platform year in 2025, and his first 10 starts of the season (2.59 ERA in 55 ⅔ innings) suggested he was firmly on track to pitch his way into the top tier of free-agent starters. Then a shoulder injury put him on the shelf for all of June and July, and a left knee injury derailed him shortly after he returned to the mound in August. King was healthy enough to make four September starts and a one-inning relief appearance in the wild-card series, but with just one fully healthy season as a major-league starting pitcher on his résumé (2024), his durability remains a considerable red flag for the Padres, who nonetheless decided to keep him around.
20. *Shota Imanaga, SP, 32
UPDATE: Imanaga accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Cubs at $22.025 million.
The complex, four-year contract Imanaga signed with the Cubs two years ago featured a crucial decision point following the 2025 season, when Chicago could opt to guarantee Imanaga three more seasons at $57 million or decline to do so, instead affording Imanaga the opportunity to exercise a $15 million player option for 2026. On Nov. 4, Chicago declined to extend Imanaga for three more years, and Imanaga then declined his own one-year option, briefly adding him to the intriguing pool of free-agent starting pitchers before he accepted his QO.
Brilliant as a 30-year-old rookie in 2024, Imanaga regressed in his second major-league season in terms of both durability and effectiveness, missing several starts due to a hamstring strain midsummer and seeing his ERA rise from 2.91 to 3.73. While Imanaga remains an elite strike-thrower who doesn’t allow a boatload of baserunners — his WHIP actually improved in his second season — he’s troublingly susceptible to opponents’ slugging, with a 1.93 HR/9 that ranked second-highest among pitchers with at least 100 innings thrown in 2025. That bugaboo proved costly in the postseason, when he surrendered two key long balls against Milwaukee in NLDS Game 2.
It’s an imperfect profile, but there is still a lot to like about what Imanaga brings on and off the field for the Cubs.
21. Lucas Giolito, SP, 31
Giolito was one of baseball’s most durable starting pitchers until elbow surgery wiped out the entirety of his first year with the Red Sox in 2024. He bounced back with a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings in 2025 but finished the year on a sour note when he reported elbow discomfort that made him unavailable for Boston’s wild-card series against the Yankees. The Red Sox didn’t rule Giolito out for future postseason rounds, but their early elimination left his status uncertain at the outset of the offseason.
By reaching 140 innings in the regular season, Giolito converted his $19 million team option for 2026 into a player option, which he declined. If he is fully healthy, Giolito remains an alluring option for teams searching for stability in the rotation, though without sizable upside.
22. *Brandon Woodruff, SP, 33
UPDATE: Woodruff accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Brewers at $22.025 million.
Before shoulder surgery put him on the shelf for a year and a half, Woodruff was one of the best starers in MLB: His 2.93 ERA in 595 innings from 2019 to 2023 was fourth-lowest among qualified starters. But returns from major shoulder injuries tend to be more tenuous than returns from elbow surgery, and the results of Woodruff’s reacclimation to the Brewers’ rotation were extraordinary and unusual. Despite his fastball velocity averaging closer to 93 mph than the 96 he sat at pre-surgery, Woodruff was as dominant as ever, registering a career-high strikeout rate (32.3%) and career-low walk rate (5.4%) while posting a 3.20 ERA in 64 ⅔ innings. He ditched his slider in favor of a cutter, both his two-seam and four-seam fastballs continued to perform well even with diminished velocity, and his changeup remained an excellent swing-and-miss offering.
Thirty-one catchers compiled at least 1.0 FanGraphs WAR in 2025. Only two of them, Realmuto and Danny Jansen, hit free agency. Despite Realmuto’s advanced age, he was far and away the best backstop available this winter. The muscled Oklahoman isn’t what he once was — the best catcher in the world — but he’s still a valuable player. He was essentially a league-average hitter last season and remained impressively durable, leading the league in games started behind the dish. A reunion with the Phillies always felt like the most likely outcome; he’s too valuable a cog in their pitching operation to let walk. And he got the three-year deal he sought.
Hitters with difficult markets to project
24. Eugenio Suárez, 3B, 34
Suárez hit 49 home runs in 2025 for the second time in his career and returned to the Mariners via midseason trade after a year-and-a-half as a D-back, enabling him to take part in Seattle’s memorable October run, which included one of the biggest swings in franchise history: his go-ahead grand slam in ALCS Game 5. For as feel-good of a story as the Suárez-to-Seattle reunion was, it’s difficult to ignore his sharp decline in production post-trade, and that sours some of the optimism for his market as he enters free agency for the first time.
Suárez’s issues making consistent contact likely aren’t going to magically improve as he enters his mid-30s, which puts immense pressure on his prodigious slugging to continue if he is to remain a viable every-day player, especially if his defense at third base continues to trend in the wrong direction. That said, Suárez’s overwhelmingly positive clubhouse reputation should earn him some additional interest from clubs looking for a quality veteran presence in addition to the high-end slugging he offers.
Kim played only 48 games this year — 24 each for Tampa Bay and Atlanta — after signing a two-year free-agent deal with the Rays last winter. Tampa left him on waivers, and the Braves pounced, despite being light-years out of contention, hoping Kim wouldn’t activate his opt-out and they could scoop up an every-day shortstop for 2026 on the cheap. The South Korean infielder declined his $16 million option to reenter the market. He ended up back with the Braves, but for a bit more money. Kim is the only true shortstop in this class, even though he projects to be a well-below-average hitter.
26. Luis Arraez, INF, 29
Arraez promises to inspire a wide array of opinions as one of baseball’s most unique players. Traditionalists might look at his multiple batting titles and microscopic strikeout rates as outstanding and appealing outliers in an era defined by swing-and-miss, but the modern game prioritizes players who are far more multidimensional than what Arraez currently offers. It’s not just that Arraez rarely produces extra-base hits; it’s that he barely reaches. His walk rates have plummeted recently, and his defense doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
While there still will (and should) be an appetite for a player with one truly elite skill, it’d be misleading to suggest that Arraez’s hitting alone is worth a massive long-term contract. He’s an exceptionally fun and singular player but also a limited one. How his free agency unfolds will be one of the more intriguing storylines of the winter.
It was a tumultuous year for Williams, who was dealt to the Bronx last winter after spending the entirety of his career in Milwaukee. Handed the closer role out of spring training, Williams and his airbender changeup had a cataclysmic April, in which he was booed multiple times by the Yankees faithful and booted from the ninth inning by skipper Aaron Boone.
Things gradually got better over the summer, as Williams regained his manager’s trust and slotted back into a high-leverage role by the playoffs. In fact, he didn’t allow a run in 22 of his final 23 outings, postseason included. With Edwin Diaz leaving Queens, the Mets are likely paying Williams to close, and the airbender is still a special pitch, but Williams’ stock has fallen significantly since this time last year.
The flame-throwing Venezuelan had two years and $16 million left on his deal with the Padres, a nice haul for a reliever his age, but opted out. He got a higher AAV from the Braves after posting another dominant season for the Padres. That 2.97 ERA looks great, not spectacular, but if you overlook two disaster outings in which Suarez recorded one out and surrendered five runs, that figure drops to 1.70.
There are certainly concerns about whether Suarez’s elite fastball velocity (98.5 mph) will sustain as he creeps closer to 40, especially because of how much he leans on that pitch (60% usage), but this is one of the truly elite relievers in the game.
The first-time All-Star tailed off slightly after a deadline deal sent him from Baltimore to San Diego, but the overall numbers were unavoidably impressive for a guy who was left to rot on the waiver-wire scrap heap just a few years ago. O’Hearn’s peripheral numbers were strong for a third straight season and secured him a two-year deal with a Pirates team trying to upgrade this winter. After missing out on the upper crust of Alonso, Schwarber and Naylor, O’Hearn is a perfectly competent consolation prize for Pittsburgh. He also earns rave reviews for his clubhouse presence.
30. Harrison Bader, OF, 32
When Bader went from Minnesota to Philadelphia at the deadline, it wasn’t even the biggest Twins-Phillies deal of the week. But the luscious-locked center fielder energized the Phillies’ lineup, offering a much-needed contact-oriented profile. His groin injury in Game 1 of the NLDS turned out to have an enormous impact on that series, as the Phillies sorely missed his presence in the lineup. Given the likelihood that the team moves on from right fielder Nick Castellanos, Bader could make some sense as a versatile fourth outfielder. But a two-year deal might be in order for the 32-year-old, who just posted the best offensive season of his career. Bader will find a sturdy market for his services.
Having not debuted in the big leagues until age 28 with the Giants, Yastrzemski finally entered free agency at age 35 coming off a sneaky stellar post-trade run with Kansas City, during which he slugged .500 with more walks (25) than strikeouts (22) across 50 games. His raw power is modest, but Yastrzemski has a knack for pulling the ball in the air and just had a career year from a plate-discipline standpoint, making more contact than ever and drawing walks at a 12.9% clip. He remains subpar against left-handers, but Yastrzemski should be quite productive if deployed properly by the Braves.
Weaver was handed the ninth inning after his teammate Williams hit the schneid in April. He was magnificent through the season’s first two months, with just two earned runs to his name on May 26. Then he hit the shelf due to a hamstring injury that derailed his year. Weaver returned in late June but wasn’t the same, posting a 5.31 ERA the rest of the way before rough outings in AL wild-card Game 1 and ALDS Game 1 pushed him out of Boone’s bullpen trust circle. Just a year ago, this guy was the most trusted arm on a World Series team, so the Mets will be hoping that he bounces back and that his late-season struggles were injury-based, rather than a more concerning harbinger.
The hard-throwing closer had an ERA of 3.00 when he was traded from St. Louis to Queens on deadline day. Helsley had a multiyear track record of high-leverage success, built on one of the hardest heaters in the sport. But his Mets tenure will go down as one of the all-time reliever disasters, as Helsley posted an abhorrent 7.20 ERA in 22 outings in blue and orange. His late-summer implosion was crucial in the Mets’ shocking tumble down the standings.
Helsley compiled the second-most fWAR among relievers between 2022 and ‘24 — 5.7, with a 1.83 ERA in 167 2/3 innings — but his 2025 was so weird, bad and ugly that it might’ve scared some teams off. In the end, though, he got a two-year contract as projected, with a reported opt-out after the first year.
Mullins spent a decade in the Orioles organization before being dealt to the Mets at the deadline. His production had been closer to league average in the years since his star-level 2021 campaign, in which he hit 30 homers, stole 30 bases and finished ninth in AL MVP voting. His particularly poor showing with New York (.565 OPS including a brutal 6-for-55 skid to finish the season) pushed Mullins much further down these rankings than we expected him to be a few months ago.
An All-Star in 2024 known for his unrivaled defensive versatility, Castro was having another stellar season before he was shipped to Chicago as part of Minnesota’s epic fire sale at the trade deadline. And while he continued to provide value as a competent defender at multiple positions, Castro’s bat completely disappeared as a Cub, posting a paltry .485 OPS and not registering a single plate appearance across Chicago’s eight postseason games. His relative youth and flexibility with the glove still made him a fairly alluring free agent, and the Rockies picked him up on a two-year deal.
That the Rangers were willing to send three solid prospects to Arizona for two months of Kelly suggests that he is still well-regarded within the industry, but free agency is a different equation, especially for a pitcher this old. Without plus velocity, Kelly gets by on great command of a six-pitch repertoire, headlined by an excellent changeup. Like most of the pitchers in this tier, he’s more likely to provide value in the regular season than as a no-doubt postseason starter, but that’s not something to sneeze at. Clearly, the Diamondbacks had enough faith in Kelly, based on his previous stint with the team, to bring him back on a two-year pact.
Mahle was absolutely brilliant through the end of May (1.64 ERA in 66 innings across 12 starts) before fading in June and landing on the injured list due to shoulder fatigue, which kept him out until mid-September. It was encouraging to see him finish the season healthy, but Mahle hasn’t thrown more than 100 innings since 2022.
Recurring back injuries limited Eflin to 14 ineffective starts (5.93 ERA) for Baltimore in 2025, but he was a mid-rotation workhorse the previous two seasons (3.54 ERA in 343 innings) and could prove to be a nice buy-low option for an Orioles team that needed rotation reinforcements. We’re only two years removed from Eflin finishing sixth in AL Cy Young voting — let’s not forget about this guy.
39. Zack Littell, SP, 30
The good: Littell’s 3.73 ERA ranks 17th out of 37 qualified starters over the past two seasons, his 1.65 BB/9 is bested only by Tarik Skubal over that same timeframe, and among free-agent pitchers, only Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen threw more innings in 2025 than Littell’s 186 2/3 frames.
The bad: Whiffs are hard to come by for Littell (17.1% strikeout rate ranked 47th out of 52 qualified starters in 2025), and he’s particularly susceptible to the long ball, making his next home ballpark a crucial variable when projecting his effectiveness moving forward.
40. Griffin Canning, SP, 30
After allowing the most earned runs in the American League with the Angels in 2024, Canning was enjoying a nice bounce-back season in his first year with the Mets, leaning heavily on his slider and changeup to keep hitters off-balance. But his season ended abruptly when he ruptured his left Achilles on a non-contact play in June, starting a rehab process that could stretch into 2026. A team that believes in Canning’s revamped form with New York and his ability to rebound from serious injury could target the right-hander as a low-cost rotation option.
Hitters who confuse us
41. Max Kepler, OF, 33
Kepler struggled badly out the gate in his first year as a Phillie but settled into being a useful contributor and finished the regular season strong, hitting .262/.322/.505 with seven home runs over his final 30 games. Kepler still exhibits decent power and plate discipline, but his earning potential will depend on whether teams view him as a viable every-day player or more in a predominantly platoon role, like Philadelphia did. Not helping Kepler’s free-agent case is an 80-game suspension for testing positive for PEDs, which the league announced Jan. 9.
42. Miguel Andujar, OF/DH, 31
Albeit in a smaller sample, Andujar quietly posted one of the better offensive seasons of any free-agent bat available. Among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances in 2025, Andujar’s .318 average ranked second in MLB behind only Aaron Judge, and he was one of the most productive trade-deadline acquisitions in the league after being dealt by the A’s to the Reds. He remains a poor defender who doesn’t draw walks, but he crushes lefties and makes a ton of contact. He’s a sneaky target for teams on a tight budget looking for offense.
This isn’t just any platoon bat. The degree to which Refsnyder demolishes left-handed pitching puts him in some truly outrageous company. Among hitters with at least 250 plate appearances against southpaws over the past two seasons, Refsnyder’s .949 OPS ranks fifth behind Aaron Judge, Ketel Marte, José Ramírez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That’s ridiculous. He’s essentially unplayable against right-handers and a below-average corner-outfield defender, but his special skill still makes Refsnyder an appealing pickup for the Mariners.
An unremarkable starting pitcher for the first six years of his career, Keller broke out in a big way in the Cubs’ bullpen in 2025, throwing harder than ever and posting a sterling 2.07 ERA in 69 2/3 innings with underlying data that strongly supports his performance as legitimate. Keller cost considerably less than the top relievers who already have a boatload of saves on their résumés, but he could offer similar or even greater upside for the Phillies if he can sustain the gains he made in Chicago.
Iglesias had a catastrophic start to his season, allowing seven home runs across his first 25 appearances after allowing four total in 66 games pitched in 2024. That left him with an unsightly 6.75 ERA in early June, but after that, Iglesias got back on track and was generally the elite game-ender we’ve long known him to be, posting a 1.25 ERA over his final 43 1/3 innings, a dominant stretch that went somewhat unnoticed amid a lost Braves season.
Iglesias and Keller are our picks to squeeze into the end of our Top 50 among a deep free-agent class of accomplished righty relievers that also includes Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, Emilio Pagán, Phil Maton and Tyler Rogers.
Veteran starters
46. Chris Bassitt, SP, 37
After another year of sturdy work in the rotation — Bassitt is one just seven pitchers to make at least 30 starts in each of the past four seasons — the 36-year-old right-hander made a successful transition to the bullpen for Toronto’s World Series run. He allowed just one run across his eight relief outings in October, demonstrating versatility that could prove valuable as teams project his role as he enters the latter stages of his career.
It’s also worth a mention that the Blue Jays’ clubhouse absolutely adores this guy, and Bassitt has not been shy in expressing his desire to stay put. Sentimentality and postseason bullpen cameos aside, Bassitt’s durability would seem to be his most appealing trait as a free agent for teams looking to solidify their rotations. Whether that leads him back to Toronto remains to be seen..
47. Jose Quintana, SP, 37
Quintana has delivered a better-than-league-average park-adjusted ERA in 12 of his 14 major-league seasons, including 2025, when he helped stabilize an injury-ravaged Brewers rotation. The stuff unsurprisingly isn’t getting any better — he just posted a career-low 16% strikeout rate — but he still seems to have the guile to get outs in a bulk role and thus deserves a nod toward the end of this list.
48. Justin Verlander, SP, 43
It took until mid-July for Verlander to record his first win as a Giant, but he managed to find his groove down the stretch, posting a 2.60 ERA in 72 ⅔ innings over his final 13 starts. Even at age 42 (his birthday is in February), Verlander is still innovating, adding an 80-mph sweeper to complement his traditional slider and curveball, a pitch that performed as his most effective by run value. While his goal of reaching 300 wins feels farfetched at this point (he’s at 266), he pitched well enough in 2025 to earn the chance to continue that chase.
A probably washed guy who used to rake
49. Marcell Ozuna, DH, 35
For the first two months of the season (.883 OPS), Ozuna resembled the impactful slugger he was the previous two years in Atlanta. But in early June, the burly Dominican revealed that he’d been battling a tear in his right hip. He never ended up on the injured list, but his performance plummeted as the season went on, with a .673 OPS after June 1.
While Ozuna’s overall offensive résumé should garner some interest, there are ample reasons for teams to find production elsewhere: He’s a full-time DH in his mid-30s with lingering injuries issues, and he has a history of multipleoff-field incidents.
A first-round draft pick by the Mets in 2016, Kay was dealt to Toronto in the Marcus Stroman trade in 2019 and appeared with the Blue Jays in parts of four seasons. After brief cameos with the Cubs and then back with the Mets in 2023, Kay took his talents overseas, where he became an impact starter for the Yokohama Bay Stars in NPB.
Kay was solid in his first year in Japan but really leveled up in 2025, adding an equally effective two-seamer to complement his 94-mph four-seam fastball and three solid secondary offerings (slider, cutter, changeup). Among qualified NPB starters, Kay ranked fifth in ERA (1.74), fifth in WHIP (0.98), and first in ground-ball rate (55.8%), a stellar résumé of dominance in the second-best league in the world that could earn him a much more significant opportunity stateside than he got earlier in his major-league career.
Kay is one of several pitchers with MLB experience who have blossomed overseas recently ahead of making a return to the majors. Right-hander Cody Ponce (1.89 ERA in 180 ⅔ innings with 252 strikeouts for the Hanwha Eagles in the Korean Baseball Organization) landed a three-year, $30 million deal with Toronto. And left-hander Foster Griffin (2.57 ERA in 315 ⅔ innings for the Yomiuri Giants the past three seasons) signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Nationals.
The Minnesota Vikings are keeping around a key member of their coaching staff – for now.
Brian Flores has signed an extension to stay with the Vikings as their defensive coordinator, the team announced on Jan. 21.
Flores is still a candidate to fill the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ and Baltimore Ravens‘ head coaching vacancies, and his new contract extension does not preclude him from taking a job as either team’s head coach. If the Steelers, Ravens or another team hires Flores as head coach, Minnesota would need to find a new defensive coordinator.
Flores, 44, joined Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell’s staff as defensive coordinator before the 2023 season. His contract with Minnesota expired at the end of the 2025 season, allowing him to sign on as a defensive coordinator with any other team. Instead, he’s sticking around with the Vikings on a new contract extension unless he finds a head coaching job elsewhere.
The length of Flores’ new deal in Minnesota has not yet been reported.
Over Flores’ first three seasons as Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, the Vikings’ defense grew into one of the league’s best units. Minnesota went from ranking 30th in points allowed per game in 2022 (25.1) to 14th in Flores’ first season in 2023 (21.3), fifth in 2024 (19.5) and seventh (19.6) in 2025.
The Vikings also finished the 2025 season third in expected points added (EPA) per play allowed (-0.087) and sixth in success rate allowed (41.6%).
Minnesota’s pass defense was a particular strength in 2025, as Flores’ unit finished second in the NFL with an average of 158.5 passing yards allowed per game. According to an official press release from the Vikings, that mark was the lowest by a Minnesota defense in a season since 1989 (156.3).
The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.
Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.
To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.
And for today’s article, we will continue with the ninth of 14 people to wear the No. 40 jersey, big man alum Earl Williams. After ending his college career at Winston-Salem State, Williams was picked up with the 49th overall selection of the 1974 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns.
The Levittown, Pennsylvania native played the first seasons of his pro career with Phoenix. He also played for the Detroit Pistons before he signed with the (then) New York (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 1976 for a single game, leaving the league afterward.
During his time suiting up for the Nets, Williams wore only jersey No. 40 and put up 3.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and as many blocks per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
Yoane Wissa completed a protracted £55m move from Brentford on deadline day [Getty Images]
Yoane Wissa does not have to look too far for inspiration.
Alan Shearer, Jackie Milburn, Andy Cole, Malcolm Macdonald and Les Ferdinand are just some of the prolific strikers who have worn Newcastle United’s iconic number nine shirt.
On a night supporters unfurled a banner urging their side to “write the next headline”, Wissa certainly did so.
Not only did he open the scoring after just eight minutes, the forward also set up his side’s second goal with the aggressive manner in which he pressed slack PSV defender Yarek Gasiorowski.
No wonder the man of the match left the field to a standing ovation after he was taken off by head coach Eddie Howe midway through the second half.
The prospect of sampling such moments under the lights had long served as inspiration after Wissa suffered a knee injury while on international duty with DR Congo back in September.
“It’s been a tough start for him here,” Howe said. “For any new player to come and get a serious injury, having not even done a training session, that’s really tough mentally.
“So it’s taken us a while to get him to a level that’s close to his best, and I still feel he’s got some more to come.
“A big night for him tonight because in part that’s why he came to the club – for these nights – and I’m just pleased that he’s made a positive impact.”
‘I loved his attitude and the determination and aggression that he played with’
It has taken Wissa time to deliver such performances.
Wissa, who had already had a disrupted pre-season, following his protracted departure from Brentford, has only scored three goals since making his debut for Newcastle last month.
The forward has looked rusty at times, failing to take a big chance to open the scoring in the defeat against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-finals last week.
But Wednesday night showed what he can bring to this side.
Howe had called on Wissa to “max out” before the game, and he led the press effectively against a naive PSV side, who repeatedly played out from the back.
That certainly did not go unnoticed by fellow goalscorer Harvey Barnes.
“He’s had a tough start since he’s come here,” he told TNT Sports.
“Obviously injured for a long time. I had a similar start here. I know how tough it is just watching from the stands, so I know how delighted he will be.
“A first Champions League goal. I thought he played really well so I’m buzzing for him.”
The challenge for Wissa, of course, is to start scoring more regularly.
But he is a poacher in a differing mould to the towering Nick Woltemade, who likes to come in deep.
Of those forwards to have played a minimum of 250 minutes in the Premier League this season, Wissa ranks first for cross option runs per game.
These are defined by Opta as runs to get into the penalty area to make yourself available for a cross while your team-mate has the ball in a wide area.
Wissa also ranks 15th for runs in behind.
Given their differing qualities, Howe felt it was “transformative” to have Wissa available after Woltemade had to shoulder the burden up front in his absence.
It had always been the plan for the pair to share the load after Newcastle lost top scorer Alexander Isak to Liverpool last summer, and Wissa’s Premier League experience helps explain why Newcastle paid such a hefty £55m fee.
“Yoane’s career at Brentford was brilliant to watch from afar because I thought he was outstanding for them, scoring a number of massive goals,” Howe said.
“I loved his attitude and the way that he played, the determination and aggression that he played with.”
A showdown in Paris awaits
Such aggression is one of the reasons Wissa is likely to line up from the off against holders Paris St-Germain next week.
Newcastle are in a strong position going into that final game of the league phase, and sit in seventh place in the standings.
Newcastle have already secured a last 16 play-off spot, and still have the chance to reach the knockout stages automatically with a landmark result in the Parc des Princes next week.
While Howe refuted talk of “revenge” after a controversial stoppage-time penalty was awarded against his side on their last visit to the French capital in 2023, the visitors certainly won’t need any added motivation.
“We know what we can do when we turn up against teams,” Barnes added.
“We had a sour taste after the game a couple of years ago, and it’s one we will want to go and put right.
“It’s a massive challenge – they’re a quality side – but why not?”
But this week, everyone is talking about the Denver Broncos‘ backup QB, because he’s not the backup anymore. Stidham will start the AFC Championship Game in place of second-year quarterback Bo Nix.
Nix fractured his ankle on the game-winning drive of the Divisional Round against the Buffalo Bills, so he won’t play the rest of the way.
If the Broncos win the Super Bowl, it’ll be with Stidham.
That has created some amusing moments, including when radio host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo began to talk about Stidham.
He did not pronounce his name correctly.
He was not close.
Here’s the audio:
If I gave you a hundred guesses on how Chris “Mad Dog” Russo just pronounced Jarrett Stidham’s name, I guarantee you wouldn’t get it right. pic.twitter.com/5xHLrMoc2f
Last year, the NBA and the sports world in its entirety were shaken to their core when the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks engaged in a trade, sending Luka Dončić to LA and Anthony Davis to Dallas.
It was a mind-boggling move on the part of the Dallas Mavericks as they parted ways with their hometown 25-year-old superstar, who the fans, as well as Luka Dončić, wanted to retire a Maverick.
In such a wild trade, everyone instantly wanted to put in their two cents on who the winner of the trade was, but as most know, you rarely know that immediately. While it seemed fairly clear at the time, this season has only exacerbated that sentiment.
Dončić just came in as the overall All-Star vote leader amongst all NBA players and also leads the NBA in PPG.
Yes, the season Dončić is having is individually phenomenal as he seems to be the only thing carrying a currently struggling Lakers team, but there’s one specific stat that proves without a shadow of a doubt that the Lakers won the trade.
Luka Dončić vs Anthony Davis this year is no contest
The Mavericks didn’t just get Anthony Davis in the trade; they also got talented young wing Max Christie, some draft capital, and were able to acquire Cooper Flagg with the first overall pick.
None of that makes the trade even, however. Now we could look back five years from now as Cooper Flagg is likely an All-NBA caliber player, and Dončić could have suffered a brutal injury, but with the new way he’s taking care of his body, that’s unlikely.
This one stat proves, at least for now, who the clear winner of the trade was. This season, Anthony Davis has 407 total points, while Luka Dončić has 408 points just in the first quarter of games alone.
The Mets and White Sox were in contact for a long time.
New York showed interest in dynamic center fielder Luis Robert Jr. ahead of last year’s deadline, but Chicago ultimately decided to hold onto him and exercise his club option.
Talks reignited this winter with the Mets still in search of outfield help, and the two sides were finally able to come to terms on an agreement on Tuesday night.
In exchange, New York sent Luisangel Acuña and RHP Truman Pauley to Chicago.
While there are some red flags in his profile, the 28-year-old Robert brings an intriguing change of scenery candidate into the everyday role in center in Flushing.
For the White Sox, the deal not only opens up some financial flexibility, but it also adds another intriguing young piece in Acuña to their up-and-coming roster.
The 23-year-old is someone GM Chris Getz says they’ve been tracking for a long time.
“It really is about being able to bring in Acuña,” Getz told reporters Wednesday. “We’re talking about a player that comes with five-plus years of control. One of the younger, more exciting players in our game who hasn’t really gotten a runway at the major league level.
“I know over in New York, they did not want to get rid of him, that’s because of how valuable he can be with a team. Now, he was on a roster that didn’t really allow him to show what he could do on a regular basis, and we’re going to be able to provide that.”
Acuña showed flashes of that upside the White Sox value, but he was ultimately never able to carve out a consistent everyday role with the crowded infield in the Big Apple.
He has just 13 XBH’s and a .640 OPS over his first 214 big-league at-bats.
The youngster wasn’t going to receive that opportunity again with the Mets adding Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette this winter, but now he’ll get his shot in Chicago.
The Mets and White Sox were in contact for a long time.
New York showed interest in dynamic center fielder Luis Robert Jr. ahead of last year’s deadline, but Chicago ultimately decided to hold onto him and exercise his club option.
Talks reignited this winter with the Mets still in search of outfield help, and the two sides were finally able to come to terms on an agreement on Tuesday night.
In exchange, New York sent Luisangel Acuña and RHP Truman Pauley to Chicago.
While there are some red flags in his profile, the 28-year-old Robert brings an intriguing change of scenery candidate into the everyday role in center in Flushing.
For the White Sox, the deal not only opens up some financial flexibility, but it also adds another intriguing young piece in Acuña to their up-and-coming roster.
The 23-year-old is someone GM Chris Getz says they’ve been tracking for a long time.
“It really is about being able to bring in Acuña,” Getz told reporters Wednesday. “We’re talking about a player that comes with five-plus years of control. One of the younger, more exciting players in our game who hasn’t really gotten a runway at the major league level.
“I know over in New York, they did not want to get rid of him, that’s because of how valuable he can be with a team. Now, he was on a roster that didn’t really allow him to show what he could do on a regular basis, and we’re going to be able to provide that.”
Acuña showed flashes of that upside the White Sox value, but he was ultimately never able to carve out a consistent everyday role with the crowded infield in the Big Apple.
He has just 13 XBH’s and a .640 OPS over his first 214 big-league at-bats.
The youngster wasn’t going to receive that opportunity again with the Mets adding Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette this winter, but now he’ll get his shot in Chicago.
