(BASEBALL)—By the time we file our next entry, pitchers and catchers will be playing catch in Arizona and Florida.
(CARDINALS)—It appears, as we go to press, that the Cardinals have finally traded Brendan Donovan. USA Today reports Donovan is going to Seattle, which has lusted after him since November as a key man in a three-way trade also involving the Tampa Rays. The Redbirds pick up another prized pitching prospect in Jurrangelo Cijntje and minor league outfielder Tai Peete. The Rays get no Cardinals but the Cardinals get minor league outfielder Colton Ledbetter.
Ledbetter hit .265 with seven homers and 37 steals in 123 games in Double-A last year. He’s considered a candidate to move up to Memphis, in Triple-A, for 2026.
Peete was a first round draft pick for Seattle in 2023. MLB.com says he’s a “premium athlete,” bats left, has “immense raw power and showed flashes of it in 2024.” But he struck out 31% of the time. MLB projects him as a utility player if he makes it to the big leagues.
All of the trades depend on all of the players passing physicals.
(ROYALS)—The Royals have Vinnie Pasquantino through next year after signing him to an $11 million deal. He gets $4.2 million this year and $6.9 million in ’27. He had a career years last year with 32 homers and 113 RBIs. GM J. J. Picollo calls him “a premier run producer and someone our fans have really connected with.”
(MIZBB)—The problem with the Missouri Tiger basketball team this year is that nobody knows which team will show up for a game—one that simply cannot be beaten or, a few days later, one that has no chance.
Saturday, it was the focused Tigers that beat Mississippi State 84-79, running their home record to 13-1 this year. The Tigers are only 2-6 on the road or on neutral courts. They stayed above .500 by beating a team they were supposed to beat; State is 11-11 this year.
Missouri led by fifteen at one point in the second half but let Mississippi State get within one possession but didn’t fold in the closing minutes. Mark Mitchell finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. T. O. Barrett continued to be an offensive spark with 16-8-4. Trent Pierce and Jayden Stone also were in double figures.
The game against Alabama was a total reversal from the two buzzer-beaters game a few days earlier. Missouri couldn’t hit from outside the arc or from the free throw line—4/21 from outside and only 8/23 from the free throw circle.
Last Tuesday night, blown out at Alabama. Couldn’t hit the trey or the free throw…4/21 from outside and 8/23 from the line. Missouri got forty of its 84 points from inside the paint. Alabama outscored Missouri 45-12 from outside. But much of the credit for the win as from the free throw line from where one of the worst free throw teams in the SEC his 25 of 33. Despite the long-range game, Alabama out-assisted Missouri 19-10 and stole the ball 10 times to Missouri’s three. Missouri had 13 turnovers. Alabama had 7. Missouri’s largest lead was three points. Alabama’s larges lead was 29.
Alabama is a top 25 team. Missouri, before that game, had been considered one of the next four out of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers are off until Saturday when they take on South Carolina on Saturday. South Carolina is another 11-11 team, 2-7 in the conference.
(SPEAKING OF TOP 25 TEAMS)—St. Louis University is 21 and 22 in the polls after demolishing Dayton 102-71 in an Atlantic 10 game, running their season record to 21=1 and their winning streak to 15. They play Davidson tonight.
(CHIEFS)—The Kansas City Chiefs have added backup quarterback Jake Haener from the New Orleans Saints to their roster. Haener announced the signing of the reserve/future contract on his Instagram page. He spent most of the last season on the Saints’ practice squad, got into nine games last season, starting one, was 18/39 passing for 226 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked six times for 55 yards in losses.
He’s kind of insurance for KC. Gardner Minshew, the first string backup last season will be a free agent soon. Haener will compete with Chris Oladukin for the number two slot.
Going in circles, sometimes:
(INDYCAR)—President Trump has tossed a big plum IndyCar’s way by signing an executive order creating a race around the monuments in Washington, DC in August. It will be the 18 race of the year for IndyCar. The “Freedom 250,” part of the national celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, would be run on August 23 with pre-race events on the 21st and 22nd.
Trump and IndyCar owner Roger Penske have known one another for sometime. The President gave Penske a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, calling Penske a man who has “built a team and legacy that will endure forever.”
The route of the race is to be determined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
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It’s kind of a family reunion for the Penske racing family. Tim Cindric, fired last May as President of Penske Racing, is back in the fold as a strategist for Penske driver Scott McLaughlin. Cindric had been part of Penske racing for 25 years , twenty of them as team president.
In his quarter-century with the Penske, the team racked up ten Indianapolis 500 wins, more than 400 victories overall and 31 championships across various racing series.
(NASCAR)—NASCAR has had trouble getting its season started. Historic snowfall in North Carolina caused postponements of exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem during the weekend. Plans to hold the race on last night fizzled and the latest word is that the race will be run tomorrow night. Weather permitting.
The real stuff begins next week at Daytona with practice starting next Wednesday, qualifying that nails down the first two starting positions, and two races on Thursday that will determine the other starters. The Daytona 500 is slated to start at 1:30 our time on Sunday, the 15th.
(Photo credit: Penske/Trump: ESPN)