December 6, 2023

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How desperate are the New York Yankees to retool their offense and restore some luster to a franchise in the midst of one of its longest championship droughts? The Bronx Bombers made a trade with their archrivals, the Boston Red Sox, acquiring outfielder Alex Verdugo in just the eighth player swap between the teams since the beginning of MLB’s divisional era in 1969. By comparison, Oakland and Toronto have made 27 trades just since 2001.

Most of those prior Yankees-Red Sox trades have been relatively minor deals, but the limited history of player movement between the teams still includes perhaps the most impactful deal in MLB history: when Boston sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Waiting Game: MLB Teams on Hold As Shohei Ohtani’s Big Decision Looms [[link removed]]

Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

The waiting is indeed the hardest part.

It wasn’t explicitly suggested in song by the late Tom Petty, but Shohei Ohtani’s ongoing delay in completing his record-setting deal is creating complications across the rest of baseball.

What had been expected [[link removed]] to be a busy Winter Meetings is wrapping up Wednesday with a marked dearth in player signings and trades, and there’s a clear reason why: Ohtani is holding up the market, even if unintentionally.

The two-way phenom is likely to sign a deal [[link removed]] worth at least $500 million and set a new player-contract record for U.S. team sports. But until he makes a decision on where he’s going, essentially every team is somewhat frozen [[link removed]] in how they’re conducting their roster development and budgeting.

Even if a particular team hasn’t actively courted Ohtani, whether or not the superstar ends up in that club’s division will carry some impact on its own baseball operations.

“It would be the best theory why this seems to be a slower-developing Winter Meetings,” said Orioles GM Mike Elias. “When you’ve got a generational — that’s probably not the right word, it’s like a century — Babe Ruth talent, it’s a pretty big deal. There are some really big teams that seem like they’re focused almost entirely on him right now, and that’s by nature going to clog things up.”

Meeting Reports

For much of his free agency, Ohtani and his agent, CAA’s Nez Balelo, have demanded secrecy among suitors, to the point where they will hold it against teams [[link removed]] that leak their meetings.

That demand has been largely in keeping with Ohtani’s more reserved nature, even if it has been viewed [[link removed]] as something of a missed marketing opportunity for the sport. But on Tuesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged his team has met with Ohtani.

“Yeah, we met with Shohei, we talked,” Roberts said, calling signing Ohtani the team’s “top priority.”

“I think it went well. But at the end of the day, he’s his own man. And he’s going to do what’s best for himself, where he feels most comfortable.”

The Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, Cubs, and Angels are seen as the leading candidates to land Ohtani.

EXCLUSIVE

Inside a Major Shakeup at Sports Illustrated

A week after an embarrassing AI scandal at SI, Front Office Sports has learned that the publisher jettisoned two execs, and on Wednesday the company’s latest leader laid down the law, telling employees to “stop doing dumb stuff” and that “the amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.”

Read more about this exclusive [[link removed]] story by Front Office Sports senior writer Michael McCarthy and senior reporter A.J. Perez.

Indigenous Lacrosse Team at Olympics? White House Backing Push for Solo Squad [[link removed]]

Haudenosaunee Nationals/Instagram

Just weeks after the announcement of lacrosse’s inclusion [[link removed]] in the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A., the sport’s leaders are pushing for a significant modification to the competition – one that honors lacrosse’s origins.

The Haudenosaunee, a group of six Indigenous nations formerly known as the Iroquois, is petitioning the IOC to compete as its own team, solely in this sport. Among those backing the push: the U.S. White House, the international governing body World Lacrosse, the LA28 organizing committee, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

President Joe Biden announced his support of the request Wednesday afternoon during the White House Tribal Nations Summit.

“Their ancestors invented the game. They perfected it for a millennium,” Biden said. “Their circumstances are unique and they should be granted an exception to field their own team at the Olympics.”

The move looks to reflect lacrosse’s creation by Indigenous people in what is now the U.S. and Canada, as well as the competitive status of the Haudenosaunee. An Indigenous team has been competing internationally in lacrosse since 1990. The men’s squad currently ranks third in the world, behind the U.S. and Canada, and the women’s squad is ranked eighth.

The IOC typically permits teams playing only as part of an official national Olympic committee such as the USOPC, and the request for Haudenosaunee inclusion is being framed as a “narrowly scoped exception” to those rules.

“I can’t think of a more worthy candidate for inclusion than a confederation that literally invented the sport and has some of the most elite men and women in the sport in their nation,” Tom Perez, White House senior advisor and director of intergovernmental affairs, told [[link removed]] the Associated Press.

Fast-Moving Development

The Haudenosaunee effort represents a major acceleration of typical timetables for efforts within the Olympic movement. Lacrosse’s general inclusion in the Games required [[link removed]] nearly two decades of active lobbying. But the Indigenous movement has developed largely in a matter of weeks, and advocates are pressing for an answer from the IOC well in advance of finalizing the lacrosse qualifying process in early 2025.

“I know it’s a bit of a challenge,” said Leo Nolan, executive director of the Haudenosaunee national team. “We want to make sure that [the IOC] understands the importance of lacrosse to our communities and to the world.”

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY

Major Changes Coming for Athletes?

Front Office Sports reporter Amanda Christovich joins us to break down [[link removed]] a letter written by NCAA president Charlie Baker proposing a set of changes that could allow college athletes to get paid while preserving amateurism. Plus, David Levy — former president of Turner — joins to share his thoughts on the NBA’s upcoming media rights negotiations in 2025.

🎧 Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]].

Going Bananas: Barnstorming Baseball Team Proves Too Big For MLB Parks [[link removed]]

Bryon Houlgrave / USA TODAY NETWORK

Even a move to play in MLB stadiums isn’t nearly enough to satisfy fans’ intense demand for Savannah Bananas tickets.

The independent barnstorming baseball team said it received more than 2 million lottery entries for tickets to its 2024 Banana Ball World Tour. That tour will include six stops at MLB stadiums, including in Houston, Boston, Washington, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Miami. That’s a quantum leap, given its history of playing solely in minor-league and college ballparks.

In several instances, the Bananas received more than 100,000 lottery entrants for tickets to games at stadiums that seat less than half that many people.

Houston, for example, saw 158,255 entries, whereas Minute Maid Park seats 41,000; and Boston received 145,080 entries for a game at the 37,755-seat Fenway Park.

The 2024 Banana World Tour starts Feb. 8 in Tampa and runs until October.

Cultural Phenomenon

Loosely described as baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters, the Bananas became [[link removed]] a cultural force in 2023, drawing more than 550,000 fans to games, building a ticket waiting list beyond 1 million names, and boosting its TikTok following past 7.8 million, surpassing even MLB’s official feed.

“Now the real hard work begins,” team owner Jesse Cole said in an Instagram post [[link removed]]. “While over 1 million people will not be able to experience a show, we still will have 1 million fans and many first-timers … We have to deliver on that experience.”

Conversation Starters Music superstar and noted Kansas City Chiefs fan Taylor Swift is Time’s 2023 Person of the Year. In addition to all her other recent accomplishments, perhaps her most surprising [[link removed]] contribution was helping fuel a spike in NFL viewership. Rich Paul’s Klutch Athletics has signed [[link removed]] its first high school player and first female NIL athlete: USA Women’s Basketball U16 gold medalist Aaliyah Crump. In 2018, Dodger Stadium’s gondola project [[link removed]] was first proposed at an estimated $125 million. In ’23, the projected cost has soared to $500 million.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Top Picks From Your Favorite Athletes

Introducing the Front Office Sports inaugural Holiday Gift Guide [[link removed]]!

Elevate your gifting game with curated picks from premier athlete-owned and partnered brands in the world of sports. Featuring products from your favorite athletes and executives like Chris Paul, Renee Montgomery, Maria Sharapova, the Kelce brothers, and more.

Our guide is a slam dunk for sports enthusiasts and fans alike offering gift ideas for your corporate athlete friend, your PTO-loving coworker, or your most fashionable colleague.

Don’t miss out – explore [[link removed]] the FOS Holiday Gift Guide and make this gifting season a victory for every sports fan on your list!

Editor's Picks Five Pro Sports Unions Endorse College Athlete Employment [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The MLBPA, NFLPA, NBPA, NHLPA, and MLSPA weighed in. Josh Harris Doubles Down on Sports as an Asset Class with Latest Investment [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Shaun White is partnering with Washington Commanders owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer to purchase an action sports camp. Eagles-49ers Achieves Fox’s Highest Sunday Viewership of Season [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Fox's broadcast of 49ers vs. Eagles pulls in 27.7M viewers. Careers in Sports

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