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Morning Edition

December 19, 2024

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How does a juggernaut make up for losing a cornerstone player? The Yankees’ theory: adding multiple players and hoping they can approximate his impact together.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

The Yankees’ Expensive Effort to Replace Juan Soto’s Production [[link removed]]

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The Yankees missed out on retaining free-agent outfielder Juan Soto [[link removed]], but they are now well on their way toward rebuilding the departed superstar’s impact—both on and off the field—in the aggregate.

Since Soto agreed to a record-setting, $765 million contract with the Mets [[link removed]], the Yankees have acquired pitcher Max Fried in an eight-year, $218 million pact [[link removed]], traded for star reliever Devin Williams and outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger in separate deals with the Brewers and Cubs, respectively, and remain on the hunt for at least one more impactful corner infielder.

Collectively, Fried and Bellinger will cost the Yankees about $47 million in 2025 salary and signing-bonus outlays. That spending is very close to the nearly $48 million in annual average salary contemplated in a 16-year, $760 million offer made to Soto. Williams, meanwhile, is eligible for arbitration that could be mooted with a lucrative new contract.

On the field, Fried, Bellinger, and Williams had a combined Baseball Reference wins above replacement (WAR) of 7.1 in 2024, similar to the 7.9 Soto had alone, MLB’s sixth-best figure.

The Yankees formally introduced Fried during a Wednesday afternoon press conference, and GM Brian Cashman said they are far from done reshaping their roster for next season.

“We’re getting after it,” Cashman said. “Our intention is to find a way back to the World Series. Stay tuned.”

The heightened offseason activity by both New York clubs marks the latest chapter in a local baseball hierarchy that’s traditionally been dominated by the Yankees but is now being challenged in perhaps unprecedented ways [[link removed]] by the Mets.

Payroll Considerations

The particularities of both the Yankees’ and Mets’ spending this offseason have resulted in a somewhat surprising situation: The Yankees’ current 2025 player payroll of $286.6 million [[link removed]], by competitive balance tax calculations, is higher than the Mets’ $252.8 million. That’s due in no small part to the several hefty contracts newly removed from the Mets’ ledger [[link removed]] that account for more than what they’re spending on Soto.

But the Yankees are also nearing their comparable 2024 outlay of almost $314 million, with many roster decisions still to make.

“Every year, your team is different,” Cashman said. “[We’ve] got a lot of heavy lifting that we’re doing currently, but [there’s] more to be done.”

NFL’s 12 Days of Christmas: Stretch Includes 9 Different Days of Games [[link removed]]

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Think of it as the NFL’s version of the 12 days of Christmas.

When the Broncos and Chargers face off Thursday night, they’ll not only be kicking off Week 16 of the regular season but also an unprecedented run of game days for the league.

Over this next 12-day stretch, the NFL will play games on nine different days—a unique circumstance created by the league’s tricky schedule maneuvering to facilitate two Christmas Day matchups [[link removed]], despite the holiday falling on Wednesday this year.

In addition to regular Sunday afternoon games in Weeks 16 and 17, there will be 13 standalone national TV broadcasts featuring 20 of the NFL’s 32 teams at least once, and two teams twice:

Thursday: Broncos-Chargers (Amazon) Saturday: Texans-Chiefs (NBC), Steelers-Ravens (Fox) Sunday: Buccaneers-Cowboys (NBC) Monday: Saints-Packers (ABC/ESPN) Christmas Day: Chiefs-Steelers, Ravens-Texans (Netflix) Dec. 26: Seahawks-Bears (Amazon) Dec. 28: Chargers-Patriots, Broncos-Bengals, Cardinals-Rams (NFL Network) Dec. 29: Falcons-Commanders (NBC) Dec. 30: Lions-49ers (ABC/ESPN)

Not featured among those 20 teams are the Bills (11–3) and Eagles (12–2). But Buffalo will be featured in the 4:25 p.m. ET national window of games on CBS on Sunday, and Philadelphia in Fox’s late afternoon slot on Dec. 29.

Candy Canes and Chaos

As part of the scheduling oddity, the Chiefs, Ravens, Steelers, and Texans have begun the dreaded three games in 11 days, which Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes bemoaned last week before injuring his ankle on Sunday against the Browns [[link removed]].

On Wednesday, the NFL announced [[link removed]] those four teams will wear a festive, holiday-inspired uniform patch (warning: there are candy canes involved) for their games on Saturday, and then four days later, Christmas. The league is dubbing the quartet of games the “NFL Holiday Remix.”

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ONE BIG FIG The Lion’s Share

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91.5%

The percentage of money Texas Tech plans to pay players on its football and men’s basketball teams [[link removed]] as part of revenue-sharing set to begin in 2025. With schools allowed to share up to $22 million of revenue, the Red Raiders forecast allocating:

$15.1 million to football $3.6 million to men’s basketball $410,000 to women’s basketball $390,000 to baseball

Additionally, $920,000 will be split among other sports.

LOUD AND CLEAR Season of Change

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“I did not want to do this.”

—Now-retired Wake Forest football coach Dave Clawson, on his decision to step down. Speaking to the media [[link removed]] Tuesday, Clawson, 57, hinted the shifting landscape of college sports, including NIL (name, image, and likeness) rules and the transfer portal, factored into his move. “I just looked at kind of where the industry is right now, and I just felt like it was time.”

Clawson’s retirement mirrors Tony Bennett’s departure from the Virginia men’s basketball team [[link removed]]. In October, the national-championship-winning coach, 55, stepped down and said the NCAA is “not in a healthy spot.”

Clawson was 67–69 in his tenure at Wake Forest. “I tried to embrace it; I tried to fight through it,” he said of the new-age college football world. “I tried to get in the mindset with it. I could do it, I just don’t want to do it. It’s really where I am. It’s not the way I’m wired. It’s not how I build programs. It’s not why I got into coaching.”

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The WNBA announced its first-ever regular-season international game will be played in Vancouver in August 2025.

The Atlanta Dream and Seattle Storm will play in the third WNBA Canada Game on Aug. 15 at Rogers Arena. The 2023 Toronto and 2024 Edmonton games, which both sold out, were held during the preseason. The Storm lost to the Los Angeles Sparks 84–79 in that Edmonton game. The WNBA also played international preseason games in Mexico in 2004 and England in 2011.

Check out the Women’s Sports content hub [[link removed]] to read the full article [[link removed]], and stay up to date on all things women’s sports.

TRIVIA

Test your skills in our new daily sports trivia game [[link removed]]! We’re giving our newsletter subscribers a hint for today’s question: A’ja Wilson is one of the answers in the top five.

Conversation Starters USC is building a new stadium for its baseball team. Take a look [[link removed]]. UW-Green Bay head coach and sports-talk radio host Doug Gottlieb referred to Michigan Tech as “Nobody U,” and then lost to the Division II program 72–70 [[link removed]]. Shaquille O’Neal has built a business empire that includes a production company, restaurant ownership, and a long list of endorsement deals. Check it out [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Michael Jordan’s Team Secures Injunction Against NASCAR [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]The teams will be allowed to compete as normal in 2025. Louisiana AG Sets Up NIL Deal for LSU Athletes From Juul Settlement Money [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Louisiana is using money from a settlement with Juul for NIL deals. Ivy League Takes Rare Step Into Modern Era of College Sports With FCS Playoff Berth [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The conference champion will be an automatic playoff team starting in 2025. Question of the Day

Do you like that NFL games are more spread out than they used to be, or would you prefer games to be concentrated on Sundays?

SPREAD OUT [[link removed]] CONCENTRATED [[link removed]]

Wednesday’s result: Only 3% of respondents have purchased season tickets for a team specifically because of a free-agent signing.

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