Mets free agency and trade buzz: NY not among teams who met with Framber Valdez at GM Meetings

Here’s the latest Mets free agency and trade buzz during the 2025-26 MLB offseason…

Nov. 20, 5:53 p.m.

While the Mets are undoubtedly looking to rebuild their starting rotation, it doesn’t seem like free agent Framber Valdez is near the top of their wish list.

Appearing on Wednesday’s Mets Hot Stove, SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino reported that the Mets were not among the teams that met with the southpaw at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas.

Martino notes that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns prefers to develop his own ace-level pitchers in-house and does not typically spend huge money for top-of-the-rotation starters, though Stearns could be flexible on that point. At 32, Valdez is likely looking for a lucrative multiyear contract.

Valdez is a two-time All-Star with the Astros and has pitched to a career 3.36 ERA, but he also seemed to intentionally cross up his catcher in September to hit him with a pitch, which raised some red flags.

Nov. 10, 4:26 p.m.

While the Mets are expected to be aggressive in their pursuit of starting pitching this offseason, one of their current rotation arms is already receiving some outside interest.

According to Will Sammon of The Athletic, right-hander Kodai Senga is considered a buy-low trade target among some teams, although it’s unclear if the Mets are legitimately open to moving him.

The report also notes that Senga’s contract no longer includes a full no-trade clause — he can now block deals to only 10 clubs.

The 2025 season was a confounding tale of two halves for Senga, who resembled an ace for the Mets through June and ultimately lost a big-league roster spot by September. In between his peaks and valleys was a summer hamstring injury that required rehab starts and caused mechanical headaches.

Still, he posted a solid 3.02 ERA with 109 strikeouts across 22 outings (113.1 innings).

There’s reason to believe that Senga can re-channel that Cy Young-caliber version of himself, and his contract is by no means an albatross to the reported suitors. The 32-year-old is set to make just $28 million combined over the next two seasons, with a club option for 2028.

Since joining the majors from Japan in 2023, Senga owns a career 3.00 ERA with 209 strikeouts over 52 starts (285 innings). He also placed top 10 in NL Cy Young voting as a Rookie of the Year runner-up.

Kings star Domantas Sabonis out 3-4 weeks with partially torn meniscus, per report

It hasn’t been a good start to the season for the Sacramento Kings, and now they’re going to have to figure out life without Domantas Sabonis for a while.

The All-Star center has suffered a partially torn meniscus in his left knee and will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The Kings entered Thursday with a 3-12 record, the second-worst record in the Western Conference, and were coming off a 113-99 drubbing by the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Sabonis sat out that game with what had only been described as a knee issue.

The injury doesn’t help Sabonis’ trade value, an area where there has been plenty of speculation due to Sacramento’s slow start.

This is already the third injury that has forced Sabonis to miss time this season. He was absent for the team’s season opener due to a hamstring strain sustained in preseason and missed two games earlier this month with a rib injury.

Sabonis’ form hasn’t been the Kings’ main issue, but his 17.2 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 0.2 blocks per game all represent his worst numbers in his Kings career, as does his 51% field-goal percentage. Around him, the roster is built on talented but aging ball-handlers DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schröder.

The end result has been a team that ranks 25th or worst in the NBA in offensive rating, defensive rating and rebounding percentage, a trio also known as “everything a team does on a basketball court.” Without Sabonis, a turnaround just became a bit more difficult.

Kings star Domantas Sabonis out 3-4 weeks with partially torn meniscus, per report

It hasn’t been a good start to the season for the Sacramento Kings, and now they’re going to have to figure out life without Domantas Sabonis for a while.

The All-Star center has suffered a partially torn meniscus in his left knee and will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The injury doesn’t help Sabonis’ trade value, an area where there has been plenty of speculation due to Sacramento’s slow start.

Lakers fire executives Joey and Jesse Buss and members of scouting staff

Joey, left, and Jesse Buss (in black hat) sit during a news conference introducing Darvin Ham as the Lakers’ new coach on June 6, 2022 in El Segundo. The two Lakers executives have been fired by the team. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

The Lakers confirmed that Joey and Jesse Buss, who both had been executives with the team, are no longer with the franchise.

The announcement was made Thursday in a move many figured would come later with changes to the Lakers’ basketball operations department after Mark Walter became the majority owner. The sale was at a $10-billion valuation and was approved by the NBA board of governors in October.

According to a person not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, everything with the Lakers is being evaluated and that included firing scouts on Thursday.

It was felt that starting the process now was the best course of action to take, according to one person aware of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly, rather than wait.

Joey Buss was an alternate governor and vice president of research and development with the Lakers while Jesse was the team’s assistant general manager.

“We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons,” Joey and Jesse Buss said in a statement to ESPN, which first broke the story. “Thank you Laker Nation for embracing our family every step of the way. We wish things could be different with the way our time ended with the team. At times like this, we wish we could ask our Dad what he would think of it all.”

Their dad was Dr. Jerry Buss, who transformed the Lakers into a global franchise after buying the team, along with the Kings and the Forum, in 1979 for $67.5 million. Both Joey and Jesse worked alongside their sister, Jeanie Buss, who will continue to be the Lakers’ primary team governor for the foreseeable future.

Joey was team president and chief executive of the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, and Jesse was the Lakers’ director of scouting. Each, along with their siblings, are still minority owners of the franchise.

The two were given a lot of credit for helping the Lakers find and develop Austin Reaves, Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Max Christie.

The Lakers didn’t have a comment about the Buss brothers no longer being with the team.

“Yeah, I found out this morning that it was going to happen,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after practice. “But I don’t have any comment on personnel decisions as it relates to the organization.”

The Lakers signed general manager Rob Pelinka to a contract extension in April and extended Redick’s contract in September.

The sale of the Lakers was finalized on Oct. 30.

Fresh off winning a World Series with the Dodgers, Walter, who had been a minority owner of the Lakers since he bought 27% of the franchise with Todd Boehly in 2021, promptly sat courtside for the next Lakers home game on Nov. 2. He looked on when the Lakers honored the world champion Dodgers at a home game on Nov. 5.

Walter was part of the group that purchased the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012. Since then, the team has won three World Series titles in five appearances with 13 consecutive playoff berths.

The swift reorganization process with the Lakers differs from Walter’s history with L.A.’s other pro sports headliner. After Walter bought the Dodgers, general manager Ned Colletti stayed with the organization through the 2014 season.

In addition to becoming the highest-spending team in baseball under the new ownership group, the Dodgers also bolstered their analytics department, improved nutrition programs for major and minor league players, and expanded clubhouses with the latest physical therapy technologies.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Lakers guard Bronny James heading to play for South Bay Lakers in the G League

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James has been designated by the team for assignment with its G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

Less than 48 hours after father LeBron James made his season debut against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday in a 140-126 victory, Bronny has been sent back to the G League. Father and son got one more game together and combined for 14 points against the Jazz. The elder James missed the first 14 games of the 2025-26 campaign while he was dealing with sciatica. In his first game of the year, LeBron finished with 11 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds and made 2 of 3 attempts from 3-point range.

Bronny has played in 10 of the Lakers’ first 15 games this season and even started one. His minutes have nearly doubled in Year 2, averaging 11.1 minutes per game while averaging 2.1 points and 1.8 assists.

LeBron practiced with the South Bay Lakers on his ramp-up to making his season debut Tuesday night. Now, Bronny will essentially replace his father with the G League squad, although he’ll get a lot more run while there. In 11 G League appearances last season, Bronny averaged 21.9 points, 5.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

Senior is giving that word a whole new meaning in NBA terms as he embarks on his record 23rd NBA season. LeBron is coming off a year where he averaged the fewest points (24.4) since his rookie year way back in 2003-04. Now, James is back riding alongside Luka Dončić in hopes of making one more deep playoff run with the Lakers.

The Lakers are off to a hot start despite LeBron missing the first month of the season. Los Angeles is 11-4 and had won 10 games without James in the lineup. L.A. currently sits in fourth place in a crowded Western Conference. They have another game against the Jazz on Sunday and then meet the Clippers on Tuesday on NBC.

Lakers guard Bronny James heading to play for South Bay Lakers in the G League

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James has been designated by the team for assignment with its G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

Seattle Mariners will retire Randy Johnson’s No. 51 during 2026 season

SEATTLE — Hall of Fame left-hander Randy Johnson will have his No. 51 retired by the Seattle Mariners during a pregame ceremony on May 2, 2026, the club announced Thursday.

In June, the Mariners said Johnson’s No. 51 would become the fifth number retired by the franchise, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (No. 24), Edgar Martinez (No. 11) and Ichiro Suzuki, who had his No. 51 retired this summer. All MLB teams have retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42.

Johnson went 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA across 10 seasons with the Mariners.

“I’m happy that my contributions over the 10 years that I was there are being acknowledged now,” the 62-year-old Johnson said via Zoom in June. “It’s been a long time, that’s for sure.”

Johnson enjoyed more success with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he won four consecutive Cy Young Awards in addition to a World Series in 2001. However, the lanky left-hander nicknamed the “Big Unit” because of his 6-foot-10 frame fondly remembers his Seattle tenure.

Johnson made his major league debut in 1988 with the Montreal Expos and was traded to Seattle in 1989. After some initial control issues with the Mariners, he found his stride with a breakout season in 1993. He went 19-8 with a 3.24 ERA that year, the first of his six 300+ strikeout seasons.

The year Johnson looks back on with particular fondness is the 1995 season, during which he went 18-2 with a 2.48 ERA and won his first of five Cy Young Awards. The Mariners’ future in Seattle was cast into doubt when in September of that year, King County voters rejected subsidy taxes to build a new stadium.

Simultaneously, the Mariners enjoyed a prosperous season on the field at the Kingdome, which culminated in reaching the AL Championship Series before falling to Cleveland. Ultimately, the King County Council approved funding for a new stadium,

“Looking back at it now and that story being documented by the Mariners, it worked out,” Johnson said. “I’m just thankful that I was a big part of that and everybody else was a big part of it, and everything just kind of gelled for all the players.”

Johnson was traded to the Houston Astros midway through the 1998 season and spent the remainder of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks (1999-2004, 2007-08), New York Yankees (2005-06) and San Francisco Giants (2009).

The 10-time All-Star finished his 22-year big league career with a 303-166 record, 3.29 ERA and 4,875 strikeouts, second only to Nolan Ryan’s 5,714. Johnson is among just four pitchers in MLB history with at least 300 wins and 4,000 strikeouts, joined by Ryan, Roger Clemens and Steve Carlton.

Johnson is second in Mariners franchise history in strikeouts and wins, as well as third in innings pitched. He was retired into the Mariners Hall of Fame in 2012, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. The Arizona Diamondbacks retired his No. 51 in 2015.

Jonathan Kuminga reportedly ‘feels like the scapegoat again’ with move to Warriors’ bench

To open the season, Jonathan Kuminga seemed to have found a groove with the Warriors. Through the season’s first nine games, he averaged 17.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and shot 41.4% from 3-point range. Coach Steve Kerr said Kuminga was the team’s fourth full-time starter.

In the last five games, he has fallen off to 9.6 points and five rebounds a game, shooting 15.4% from beyond the arc, with almost as many turnovers (2.7) as assists (2.8). With that, Kerr moved Kuminga to the bench, but that has brought up old feelings from a long and rocky relationship with his coach, reports Anthony Slater at ESPN.

“He feels like the scapegoat again,” one team source said …

Kuminga, team sources said, had voiced to Kerr a desire to be coached harder. There was even a meeting about it in their Sacramento hotel prior to the ninth game of the season and Kerr appeared to make it a point during the Kings game to call Kuminga over and get on him constructively several times.

But 4-1 became 6-6. Kuminga’s knees began bothering him. His defensive juice and burst to the rim lessened. He went 1 of 9 shooting at home against the Pacers, missing all five of his 3s. Coaches dinged him for his perimeter shot selection as a reason for his minute reduction (season-low 20).

The cloud over all of this is that, as of Jan. 15, Kuminga becomes trade eligible, and the Warriors are expected to test the trade waters. Part of the point of the two-year, $46.8 million contract (with a team option the second year) was that it was very tradable. This is a case where it feels like a fresh start somewhere else would be good for Kuminga, but the Warriors are not going to get much value back in a trade if he is struggling in a bench role. Kuminga has been out of the last four games with knee tendonitis, and the Warriors went 2-2 during that part of the road trip.

At some point in the next month, Kerr is going to lean on Kuminga again — the Warriors could use his athleticism — but if he is going to prove to other teams he deserves the opportunity he feels he is not getting in Golden State, he has to be more consistent. And stay healthy.

He has to look like the guy from the first nine games of the season.

Lakers reportedly fire Joey and Jesse Buss from front-office positions as part of restructure

The Los Angeles Lakers are reorganizing the front office, terminating two members of the Buss family. Joey and Jesse Buss, two of the younger siblings in the Buss family, have been fired by the team as part of the restructure, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.

In a statement shared with Charania, the Buss brothers invoked their father, Lakers patriarch Jerry Buss, who died in 2013.

“We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons,” they wrote. “Thank you to Laker Nation for embracing our family every step of the way. We wish things could be different with the way our time ended with the team. At times like this we wish we could ask our Dad what he would think about it all.”

Joey and Jesse held scouting roles for the Lakers, with Charania reporting the two helped find and secure players such as Austin Reaves, Kyle Kuzma and more. They will maintain their minority ownership with the team, per Charania.

The Lakers are terminating executives Joey and Jesse Buss from their respective front office positions, effective immediately, per @ShamsCharania.

The brothers have held key Lakers scouting roles for the last decade, and they will maintain their minority ownership shares within… pic.twitter.com/HzFo3C53Yr

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 20, 2025

The Buss family entered an agreement this summer to sell the Lakers’ majority stake, giving majority ownership to Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter. Under the deal, the Buss family will reportedly keep a 15% minority share.

The deal, which is valued at approximately $10 billion, is the largest sale of a professional sports franchise worldwide.

Prior to Joey and Jesse’s termination, six of Jerry’s children worked in the Lakers’ organization. Jeanie Buss, the oldest daughter, took over as Los Angeles’ team governor following Jerry’s death in 2013; she will remain in that role for the foreseeable future, even with the sale. Johnny and Jim, Jeanie’s two older brothers, previously held executive roles but now hold advisory positions. Janie works with the Lakers’ charitable services department.

Johnny, Jim, Jeanie and Janie are all the children of Jerry’s ex-wife, JoAnn, while Joey and Jesse have a different mother.