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Afternoon Edition

June 2, 2025

Colorado is on pace for the worst season in MLB history, highlighting an MLB competition gap—and raising questions about how the Rockies can recover.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Rockies Hit New Low With No Clear Answers in Sight [[link removed]]

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Another month, another big step toward ignominy.

The Rockies were swept over the weekend by the Mets and now have a 9–50 record, setting a new low for the worst record after 59 games in baseball’s modern era starting in 1901. After ending April with a 5–25 record [[link removed]], Colorado doubled that up by losing 24 more games in May and another to start June. The club has been swept 10 times in its 20 series thus far, and has four separate losing streaks of at least eight games, including its current one.

During the last month, the Rockies fired manager Bud Black and bench coach Mike Redmond and are now led on the field by interim manager Warren Schaeffer. The club, however, remains just as lost and is at or near the worst in the league in nearly every facet of the game, including team run differential, batting average, fielding percentage, and earned run average.

The Rockies are currently on pace to finish with a 25–137 record, which would smash the modern-era record of 121 losses set just last year by the White Sox. Since May 2, the Rockies are tied with golfer Scottie Scheffler with three victories [[link removed]], despite the daily nature of MLB’s schedule.

Off the field, the Rockies also have several major obstacles. The club is facing the tightest concentration of big spending of any of MLB’s six divisions, with its four National League West rivals all ranking in the top 13 in luxury-tax payroll. Rockies owner Dick Monfort, meanwhile, has been an outspoken critic of MLB’s widening economic gap [[link removed]], saying recently, “Something’s got to happen. The competitive imbalance in baseball has gotten to the point of ludicrosity now.”

Colorado, meanwhile, has few pieces on its roster coveted by contenders, such as Pirates star Paul Skenes [[link removed]], meaning an accelerated teardown at the trade deadline is unlikely, and that a rebuilding effort almost certainly will be slow and painful.

The Rockies also have not fully sought a new approach, as the club hasn’t hired a GM from outside the organization since 1999. Current GM Bill Schmidt has been with Colorado for 26 years, during which there have been just six winning seasons, and none since 2018.

The team’s historic losing has begun to show its impact at the turnstiles. After starting up strongly in attendance, the club is now trailing its 2024 pace by 1.3%, and now averages 26,635 per game, 18th highest in the league. MLB overall remains up by 2%, buttressed in part by some strategic scheduling [[link removed]] and the fan appeal of major stars such as the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Yankees’ Aaron Judge.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS HONORS

Is Your Team Award-Worthy?

The Most Innovative Teams Award [[link removed]] will recognize sports organizations revolutionizing the fan-team relationship through innovative, personalized, and multidimensional engagement.

They’re the teams breaking new ground in fan connection—both digitally and in person—by championing their players, embracing diverse fan identities and fluid fandom, and leveraging their platforms and partnerships to leave a positive impact on the communities they represent and serve.

Nominations for Most Innovative Teams will be evaluated on areas including fan experiences, partnerships, athlete resources, and data and analytics.

Think your team deserves to be recognized? Nominate them now [[link removed]]. Nominations are open through June 22.

Bears Suburban Stadium Deal Inching Forward Despite Cost Questions [[link removed]]

Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

More clues are emerging that the Bears have made more progress on funding their new stadium than previously believed.

Just days after news of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker working with an outside legal consultant [[link removed]] to aid talks with the Bears, a state representative said property tax legislation that would aid a team move to suburban Arlington Heights neared completion.

“We were super close and just ran out of time,” Rep. Mary Beth Canty, whose district includes Arlington Heights, told the Chicago Tribune [[link removed]].

The Bears, who last month shifted their focus [[link removed]] from a downtown stadium proposal to 326 acres the team owns at the former Arlington International Racecourse, have sought legislation that would freeze property tax assessments and negotiate payments with local authorities.

The state’s spring legislative session, however, ended over the weekend without any conclusion on that front. That means the team will need to revisit the political push in the fall, but after Pritzker had previously and tersely said [[link removed]], “Right now, there’s no building any new stadiums” in Illinois, discussion on the hot-button topic remains active.

“We’re going to keep working all through the summer,” Canty said.

The Bears are looking for taxpayer help for roughly half of a proposed $4.7 billion project [[link removed]] to build a domed stadium and mixed-use development. The situation in Illinois has had many similarities to what’s happening in Missouri [[link removed]], where there is a divisive debate unfolding on funding for new or renovated stadiums for the NFL’s Chiefs and MLB’s Royals.

Pritzker, meanwhile, reiterated his preference for the Bears to stay downtown—even as both financing and land-use hurdles have significantly complicated that notion.

“Just on a personal level, I would like them to stay in the city of Chicago,” Pritzker said at a press conference marking the end of the legislative session. “Having said that, as a private business, they’ll choose to do what they like.”

Indiana Fever’s Mounting Injuries Highlight WNBA Roster Size Problem [[link removed]]

The Indianapolis Star

Caitlin Clark is out for at least another week [[link removed]], and injuries continue to pile up for the Indiana Fever. Sydney Colson, Clark’s backup, and Sophie Cunningham both went down with injuries [[link removed]] in a loss Friday to the Connecticut Sun, leaving just eight healthy players on the Fever roster.

Due to the mounting injuries, the WNBA granted Indiana a hardship exception, which, per the CBA, allows teams with “fewer than ten (10) players on its roster who are able to play” to temporarily sign a player until they have ten active players again.

The Fever used the exception to sign guard Aari McDonald [[link removed]], the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft, on Monday.

Indiana isn’t the only team that’s been bitten by the injury bug. The Phoenix Mercury also used the hardship exception to sign Haley Jones on Sunday [[link removed]] after injuries to Kahleah Copper, Alyssa Thomas, and Natasha Mack dropped them to nine active players. The Los Angeles Sparks were the first team to use a hardship contract this season when they signed 2025 third-round pick Liatu King [[link removed]] on May 20.

Long-Term Solution

The hardship contract is a Band-Aid solution for teams dealing with injuries, and it’s alarming three teams have already needed the exception less than a month in to the WNBA season.

Cameron Brink, the Sparks big who has been sidelined due to an ACL tear, offered a solution last week [[link removed]] on her podcast Straight to Cam. “I think roster sizes need to be expanded before we add any more expansion teams,” Brink said.

WNBA rosters are limited to just 12 players, with some teams choosing to enter the season with the league minimum of 11 players, like the Fever, for salary or roster management.

NBA teams don’t need to access the hardship exception as frequently due to their roster sizes, which max out at 15 full-time players. NBA teams also have players on two-way contracts that can fill injury gaps, though those players spend most of their time in the G League, a developmental league that the WNBA does not have.

Roster expansion is another potential issue the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association can look to address in the next CBA that will begin next season [[link removed]], if the two sides can agree. Increased player salaries [[link removed]] are the hot topic in CBA negotiations, but roster expansion is tied into that discussion as larger contracts and additional players per team both affect the league’s salary cap.

Scheffler Closing Fast on Mickelson’s PGA Tour Earnings [[link removed]]

The Columbus Dispatch

Scottie Scheffler often says he doesn’t play golf for the money. But that certainly hasn’t stopped him from cashing in big time as the No. 1–ranked player in the world—and closing in on an all-time great.

After Sunday’s victory at the Memorial Tournament, Scheffler is now roughly $10 million behind the PGA Tour career earnings of Phil Mickelson, who is third on the list.

Tiger Woods: $120.99 million Rory McIlroy: $104.96 million Phil Mickelson: $96.68 million Scottie Scheffler: $86.35 million Dustin Johnson: $75.55 million

Career earnings reflect money won at tournaments and don’t include performance bonuses like the FedEx Cup, which paid Scheffler another $25 million [[link removed]] as last season’s champion.

Scheffler earned $4 million for winning the Memorial, his third victory of the season and also the third win in his last four starts, including the PGA Championship [[link removed]]. His prize money tally in 2025 now stands at a PGA Tour–leading $14.56 million.

While it may be tough to match his record season-long earnings mark of $29.22 million set in 2024, he has two more major championships and three more $20 million purse PGA Tour events on his schedule, in addition to any other tournaments he plays.

Chasing Tiger’s Tail

Two victories and some high finishes in those contests would likely take Scheffler past Mickelson’s $96.68 million career-earnings mark by season’s end. And if not, Scheffler will in all likelihood surpass Mickelson early in 2026. Mickelson’s money earned at LIV Golf events does not factor into his PGA Tour career earnings, but his performances in major championships still do.

McIlroy passed Mickelson to move to second on the prize money list earlier this season, and Scheffler passed Johnson to move into fourth. It also appears inevitable that, barring injury, both Scheffler and McIlroy will surpass Woods in PGA Tour earnings in the coming years, too.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY How Will Barkley and Shaq Fit in at ESPN? Plus, the ‘Paul George Finals’

FOS illustration

After 35 years, TNT has officially bid adieu to the NBA, with NBC and Amazon Prime Video taking over the network’s coverage next season. So what will Inside the NBA look like now that it moves to ESPN? FOS Tuned In reporter Mike McCarthy joins the show to chat about how Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley will coexist alongside Scott Van Pelt and other ESPN personalities.

Plus, is Paul George responsible for both the Pacers and Thunder making the NBA Finals? Baker Machado and Renee Washington break down how both teams built their current championship rosters from trades involving someone who doesn’t even play for either team anymore. And NFL global ambassador Diana Flores talks about the league’s move into flag football.

Watch the full episode here [[link removed]].

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Maja Stark ⬆ The Swedish golfer won her first major championship Sunday, the U.S. Women’s Open, earning $2.4 million from a record-tying $12 million purse [[link removed]], the highest in women’s professional golf.

Vanderbilt and Texas ⬇ The top two seeds in the NCAA baseball tournament were knocked out over the weekend, marking just the second time since seeding was introduced in 1999 that the two highest-ranked teams were eliminated in the regionals (Oregon State and Florida were the other two in 2014). The Commodores and Longhorns were among the record-tying eight SEC teams [[link removed]] that earned hosting rights (16 hosts total) during the regional portion of the tournament.

WNBA and ESPN ⬇ Paige Bueckers is expected to miss her second consecutive game Tuesday when the Dallas Wings face the Seattle Storm. The Wings announced Friday that the league’s No. 1 pick in 2025 was placed in concussion protocol. It was supposed to be Bueckers’s first professional game aired on an ESPN network.

Austin Ainge ⬆ The Jazz have hired the former Celtics assistant GM as their new president of basketball operations [[link removed]], ESPN reported Monday. He is the son of Danny Ainge, a former Celtics legend and Utah’s CEO, who was Boston’s president of basketball operations from 2003 to 2021. Jazz head coach Will Hardy, who in May signed a multiyear contract extension, was a former Celtics assistant.

Editors’ Picks Bill Belichick’s Buyout at UNC Dropped by $9 Million on Sunday [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Belichick’s buyout dropped from $10 million to $1 million on Sunday. House Settlement Is Supposed to Take Effect in July. It’s Still Not Approved [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]College sports awaits which athlete compensation rules will govern the 2025 season. Illinois Passes New Sports Betting Tax in Middle of the Night [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]] and Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]This is the second straight year Illinois approved a tax increase on sportsbooks. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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