Santi Cazorla has become the latest person to shower praise on Pedri and has explained why he prefers the Barcelona midfielder to his team-mate Lamine Yamal.

After Barcelona met Real Oviedo earlier this season, Cazorla posted a picture of the two players on social media with the message “Can u give me ur shirt genius?”

Cazorla has been asked about Pedri and has explained why he’s such a fan of the Barcelona star.

“He’s already one of the best in the world, at that age. He’s a different kind of player, one we all enjoy every time he plays. I think Barcelona really misses him when Pedri isn’t there,” he told Sport.

“They have some fantastic players in that position, but I think Pedri gives the team a different touch, and above all, he seems like a very, very down-to-earth, very normal guy, and I really like that. I think the more normal someone is, the better player they are. I have a huge crush on Pedri, and that’s why I asked him for his shirt.”

Cazorla also spoke about why he prefers Pedri to Yamal and says it’s purely because they play the same position.

“Well, yes, because of the position he plays. It’s the position I’ve always played,” he added.

“I love watching Lamine, he’s a different and exceptional player in that position, but since I’ve played a bit in Pedri’s position, I have a bit more admiration for him for that reason, not for any other.”

Pedri and Yamal are currently away with the Spain squad on international duty and are set to feature on Tuesday in a friendly against Egypt.

Mike Vrabel Raves About Romeo Doubs Ahead Of First Season With Patriots originally appeared on NESN.
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The New England Patriots made a major change to their wide receiver room this offseason by moving on from Stefon Diggs and signing Romeo Doubs.

Doubs signed a four-year, $68 million deal with the Patriots in the offseason. He had spent all four years of his career with the Green Bay Packers, playing in a very deep wide receiving corps. Now, he will get the opportunity to be a top option for Drake Maye. Even though he has never been a true No. 1 in his NFL career, Mike Vrabel raved about his football IQ and desire to learn the offense so that he can thrive in that role.

“First of all, he loves football,” Vrabel said on “Patriots Unfiltered” on Monday. I mean, he is a football junkie. He loves talking football. From the time that we were able to sign him and have him come into the building, he didn’t really want to see any of the new building. He really wanted to meet with Josh (McDaniels) and talk, and meet with Todd Downing, and meet with me about football, and all the things that he wants do to continue to improve his skillset and his impact on the team. He’s a player who’s been really consistent over the first four years of his career. Showed up in the redzone, showed up on third down, he’s got a good savvy to him, runs a full route tree, he has good, I would say play strength at the catch point.”

Doubs’ biggest impact on the team may come in the red zone. He has scored 19 of his 21 career touchdowns in the red zone. Last season, the Patriots ranked 20th in red zone touchdown percentage.

Doubs has 2,424 career yards. He has played with both Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love, and now he will get to play with an MVP candidate in Drake Maye.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Toronto Maple Leafs fired general manager Brad Treliving late into his third season in charge, with the team set to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president Keith Pelley announced the abrupt change Monday night before Toronto played at Anaheim.

It’s unclear what moving on from Treliving means for the future of coach Craig Berube.

The Leafs are on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention. Pelley said the decision was made after deep analysis and that it was time to change course under new hockey leadership.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired general manager Brad Treliving late in his third season.

The College Football Playoff committee is getting a new face on the lineup this coming season.

According to a report from On3, former Auburn Tigers and UCF Golden Knights head coach Gus Malzahn will be added to the committee in 2026, along with Louisiana athletic director Bryan Maggard and former head coach Jeff Tedford, beginning a three-year term.

Malzahn recently served as the offensive coordinator for the Florida State Seminoles in 2026, but coached at Auburn for eight years and at UCF for four years. He went 105-62 in his 13 years as a head coach in total. Earlier this year, Malzahn announced his retirement from coaching, but he will be staying in the college football world, at least for the next three years.

As a member of the playoff committee, Malzahn will be responsible for ranking the top 25 teams each week and ultimately helping to select the 12-team playoff field at the end of the year. There has been some increased attention and scrutiny on this over the past couple of years in the expanded CFP era.

Contact/Follow@College_Wire on X and@College_Wires on Threads. Like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of college sports news, notes, and opinions. 

This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Former Auburn, UCF coach Gus Malzahn to join CFP selection committee

Cody Ponce had to be carted off the field on Monday in Toronto, spoiling what was his first Major League Baseball appearance since 2021.

Ponce tried to field a short ground ball off the mound in the third inning of the Blue Jays’ matchup with the Colorado Rockies at Rogers Centre on Monday night. But as Ponce started to field the ball, which was hit by Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy, he suddenly pulled up and started hopping, clearly in a lot of pain.

Ponce’s right leg buckled awkwardly as he was trying to pick up the ball, and he eventually fell down deep in the infield dirt as McCarthy made it to first safely. Kyle Karros scored for the Rockies during the sequence, too, putting them up 1-0 at the time.

Ponce remained down for quite some time while the team’s medical staff tended to him. He was eventually carted off, and did not return. 

Specifics of his injury are not yet known. The Blue Jays said that he was removed from the game with “right knee discomfort.” 

Ponce returned to MLB this season after spending the past three campaigns in Asia. He posted a 1.89 ERA with 252 strikeouts last season with the Hanwha Eagles in South Korea, which led to him receiving a three-year, $30 million deal with the Blue Jays. Ponce posted a Triple Crown, won KBO MVP honors and led Hanwha to the Korean Series.

Monday marked his first start of the season, and his first MLB appearance since the 2021 campaign when he was still with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Blue Jays entered Monday night with a 3-0 record after they swept the Athletics in their first series of the season over the weekend.

Cody Ponce had to be carted off the field on Monday in Toronto, spoiling what was his first Major League Baseball appearance since 2021.

Ponce tried to field a short ground ball off the mound in the third inning of the Blue Jays’ matchup with the Colorado Rockies at Rogers Centre on Monday night. But as Ponce started to field the ball, which was hit by Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy, he suddenly pulled up and started hopping, clearly in a lot of pain.

Ponce’s right leg buckled awkwardly as he was trying to pick up the ball, and he eventually fell down deep in the infield dirt as McCarthy made it to first safely. Kyle Karros scored for the Rockies during the sequence, too, putting them up 1-0 at the time.

Ponce remained down for quite some time while the team’s medical staff tended to him. He was eventually carted off, and did not return. 

Specifics of his injury are not yet known. The Blue Jays said that he was removed from the game with “right knee discomfort.” 

Ponce returned to MLB this season after spending the past three campaigns in Asia. He posted a 1.89 ERA with 252 strikeouts last season with the Hanwha Eagles in South Korea, which led to him receiving a three-year, $30 million deal with the Blue Jays. Ponce posted a Triple Crown, won KBO MVP honors and led Hanwha to the Korean Series.

Monday marked his first start of the season, and his first MLB appearance since the 2021 campaign when he was still with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Blue Jays entered Monday night with a 3-0 record after they swept the Athletics in their first series of the season over the weekend.

The Mariners draw a tough opponent in their quest for their first series win of 2026. The Yankees of New York, New York look every bit the force of nature they’ve been the past few years, with Aaron Judge already climbing the home run leaderboard.

In their attempt to win game one, Seattle will hand the ball to Luis Castillo for his first start of the season. It’s a compelling first opponent for Castillo, who’s pitched some gems against the Yanks, most notably his home debut after being traded to Seattle in 2022, when he pitched eight shutout innings.

His counterpart will be Ryan Weathers, who was picked directly after Jarred Kelenic in the 2018 Draft. He’s looked the part of a fifth/sixth starter when he’s been healthy, though his CSW% (called strikes plus whiffs divided by total pitches) has always run ahead of his strikeout rate, even though those stats are generally tightly correlated. Maybe there’s still more in there. FanGraphs has a write-up of his new pitch this week.

Lineups!

Facing the lefty Weathers, the Mariners will turn back to their righty platoon bats, with Rob Refsnyder and Víctor Robles getting starts at DH and right field. Cal will get his first off day, which makes sense to do today, since it means Garver will face a lefty and Cal will face the top of the Yankees’ rotation over the next couple days. Cal’s absence means we will not see the Refsnyder-Cal-Julio top three that we saw Saturday night against a lefty starter, but I’ll still plug my proposal to shuffle the top three against lefties to be Julio-Refsnyder-Cal.

Aaron Judge is having the worst season of his career with a 53.8% strikeout rate. Pathetic. The Yankees seem to feel this is just the result of only having played three games so far, so it hasn’t cost him his spot in the lineup yet. He’ll bat second tonight.

Pre-Game Reading

• More on the Yanks in the series preview from Jake
• Max’s Minor League Roundups are back baby! We do a lot here at LL, but I think this is something you truly can’t get anywhere else.
• KING 5 (KGW in Portland, KREM in Spokane, and KTVB in Boise) will broadcast ten games this season for free on basic cable. They will still be simulcast on Mariners TV
• Kate’s recap of yesterday’s coming out party for Emerson Hancock
• The story on the Mariners new Sunday Steelhead uniforms

Game Info

First pitch: 6:40 PDT
TV: Mariners TV, which you can a subscription to online or watch on several cable networks. Kate’s got the details.
Radio: 710 KIRO, in Rick Rizzs’s final season

San Francisco Giants (0-3) at San Diego Padres (1-2), March 30, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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