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MATT BOLDY LOVES playing hockey in Minnesota. The way the community supports the sport at all levels. The thousands of fans who watch the Minnesota Wild in warm-ups. And, if he’s being honest, the level of celebrity an NHL player can attain after just 47 games in the show.

“It’s crazy. Everyone’s a huge fan,” the 21-year-old told ESPN. “Can’t really go anywhere without getting recognized, which is pretty cool in a lot of ways.”

Of course, scoring 39 points in those 47 games can get one noticed. Being the rookie who helped power the Wild to their most successful regular season in franchise history will earn that recognition.

Marco Rossi watched from afar as Boldy, who was his linemate with the AHL Iowa Wild, lived the NHL dream. They’re both first-round draft picks and among the best young forward prospects in the league. Boldy was called up to contribute to the Wild while Rossi was getting his reps in the AHL, one year after COVID-19 complications nearly derailed his career.

Was it inspiring? Like, if Boldy could do that in the NHL, could Rossi do that?

“Yeah, of course,” Rossi said with a laugh. “But I don’t really like to focus too much about that.”

Rossi, 20, played two games with the Wild last season and hopes to play many more.

“Every hockey player dreams, like since day one, to play hockey one day in the NHL. That’s the best league in the world,” Rossi said. “It would mean a lot for me, but I know nobody’s gonna give it to me. You have to earn that spot.”

Boldy and Rossi are part of the wave of young players who have populated the Minnesota roster in recent seasons. Joel Eriksson Ek is 26. Jordan Greenway is 25. So is Kirill Kaprizov, the franchise’s biggest star and the face of that youth movement. One of the catalysts for the Wild’s recent success is striking that balance every NHL team seeks to strike: Talented kids meshing with productive veterans such as Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman and the majority of their defense corps.

“We’ve got a good balance. I think part of the beauty of it is that the older guys embrace the youth,” general manager Bill Guerin said. “They’re excited to have Boldy on the team. They’re excited about Marco. They’re excited to see Greenway and Ek take steps in their careers. They’re not threatened by them at all. They want them to be good and they help them. They just want to win. And they realize we all need each other to do that.”

Now it’s up to Boldy and Rossi to reward that excitement.


DID BOLDY OUTPERFORM Guerin’s expectations last season?

“One hundred percent,” the Wild GM said with a laugh.

Boldy was drafted 12th overall in 2019 as a highly skilled winger from the U.S. National Team Development Program. It was a banner year for that program, which produced Boldy, first overall pick Jack Hughes, Trevor Zegras and Cole Caufield, among others in that draft class.

He spent two seasons at Boston College, earning a spot in the final 10 for the Hobey Baker Award as a sophomore. He joined the Wild organization in March 2021 and was hyped as being part of that young wave of talented forwards set to power the roster.

“It’s so cool, honestly, just to be considered in that category with Kirill, watching him every day,” Boldy said. “You look up to those guys. You want to be as good as Kirill. You soak up everything they have to say. But you gotta go out there and earn that. It’s about going up there and earning your way into that spot.”

Last season, Boldy earned a valuable spot in the Wild lineup: playing the vast majority of his minutes with Kevin Fiala, the forward who posted 33 goals and 85 points. He won’t have the same luxury this season. Fiala was traded to the Los Angeles Kings; his next contract was going to be too rich for the Wild’s salary-cap situation.

“Kev’s awesome. I mean, I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t a little bit disappointed seeing him go,” Boldy said. “I get it. There’s a lot of business to hockey too. But he’s an awesome player. He’s an awesome teammate. So it’s tough to see him go, but that’s kind of the nature of the game. You gotta find different ways to score and build chemistry with different players. And we got plenty of players on our team that are really good and that can hopefully make me a better player.”

Guerin scoffed at the idea that Boldy might be negatively impacted by Fiala’s departure.

“I’m not worried at all. Kevin’s a good player,” Guerin said. “Look, I’m sure that Colorado would love to have [Nazem] Kadri back. I’m sure Calgary wanted [Johnny] Gaudreau and [Matthew] Tkachuk back. You lose good players. That’s what happens.

“Matt Boldy’s going to be fine. As much as Kevin helped him, he helped Kevin.”

What Guerin is more concerned about is how Boldy adjusts to his opponents’ adjustments.

“The thing about these second-year players is that you’re not a secret anymore. Everyone knows how good you are,” Guerin said. “A veteran defenseman knows that if he doesn’t play Matt Boldy hard, he’s going to get burned. Sometimes that takes a second for a second-year forward to learn. It’s like, ‘Hey, these guys are playing me differently.’ And it’s like, yeah, because you’re good.”


MARCO ROSSI DOESN’T want to be defined by COVID-19. That much is clear.

“We don’t try to think too much about what happened like last year,” he said. “I focus and think more in the future than the past right now.”

Rossi left Wild training camp in February 2021 because of complications from COVID-19, for which he had tested positive the previous November. Rossi was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. He returned to Austria to recover with family and resumed training in June 2021. He played 63 games in the AHL along with his brief stint with the Wild in January.

“The hardest part was to stay patient. It’s not gonna be done in two weeks or something like that,” he said. “After the recovery time, you gotta come back to training and try to get better and that’s not easy.”

Rossi said that in the beginning of his comeback, he worried too much about his heart. Was it really healthy? He’d feel something in his chest during training and worry. It took a while for him to fully believe that he was 100 percent as the doctors were telling him.

“Health-wise, it was a scare. But he’s come back from it. He’s healthy,” Guerin said.

Rossi was drafted No. 9 overall in 2020 by the Wild as a dynamic offensive center for the OHL Ottawa 67’s. Born in Austria, Rossi remembers navigating through some cultural differences in North America. Like, for example, the affinity for one of his favorite sports.

“Three years ago, I was talking in Ottawa that I like to watch Formula One,” he recalled. “Not many guys knew what that really was or how it worked.”

Things change.

“They promote it so good right now,” Rossi said. “I mean, with the Netflix show, it’s now something that so many people watch.”

Rossi has his engine primed for the NHL but doesn’t know if he’s in the race yet. The expectation is that he’ll make the leap to the main roster, but both Guerin and Rossi said that’s contingent on a strong training camp.

“I think he’ll do very well. He’s a smart kid. He analyzes where he’s at. There’s no secret to his work ethic and his competitiveness,” Guerin said. “I think his game will transition well, but he has to do it right off the hop. He has gotta come in and prove himself.”

Boldy, his friend and potential linemate, thinks he will.

“He can play,” Boldy said, laughing. “I think he’s just a really, really good skater. Really good on his edges. He’s got a lot of speed. He’s smart and scores goals. He can pass. He’s kind of got it all. He’s definitely got every tool that you need to be successful.”

The Wild have the tools now, too, thanks to this balance between established talents and emerging ones such as Boldy and Rossi.

“It’s really good. It’s a good mix between us,” Rossi said. “Because like the younger kids can learn a lot from the older guys and even like the older guys can learn a lot from the young guys. You can see everyone likes each other. That helps a team to push it all the way to the end.”

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Sovereignty rallies to win Jim Dandy at Saratoga

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Sovereignty rallies to win Jim Dandy at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes champion Sovereignty rallied after losing position heading into the final turn to win the $500,000 Jim Dandy by a length at Saratoga on Saturday.

Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty ran nine furlongs in 1:49.52 and paid $3 to win as the 1-2 favorite against four rivals, the smallest field of his career.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said Sovereignty would be pointed toward the $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 23 at the upstate New York track.

Approaching the turn, there were a few tense moments as it appeared Sovereignty was retreating when losing position to the advancing Baeza and deep closers Sandman and Hill Road, leaving Sovereignty in last for a few strides.

Alvarado said he never had a doubt that Sovereignty would come up with his expected run.

“It was everybody else moving and at that time I was just like, ‘Alright let me now kind of start picking it up,'” Alvarado said. “I had 100% confidence. I knew what I had underneath me.”

Baeza, third to Sovereignty in both the Derby and Belmont, finished second. Hill Road was another 9¼ lengths back in third. Mo Plex was fourth and Sandman fifth.

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Briscoe wins Brickyard 400 pole, his 5th of season

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Briscoe wins Brickyard 400 pole, his 5th of season

INDIANAPOLIS — Chase Briscoe became the first driver to win poles at NASCAR’s first three crown jewel races in one season Saturday, taking the Brickyard 400 pole with a fast lap of 183.165 mph.

His late run bumped Bubba Wallace out of the top starting spot.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won nine career poles, five coming this season including those at the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and now the only race held in Briscoe’s home state. He’ll have a chance to complete a crown jewel sweep at the Southern 500 in late August.

Briscoe has the most pole wins this season, his latest coming on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval. It also came on the same weekend his sister was married in Indiana. Briscoe has never won the Brickyard.

Wallace starts next to Briscoe on the front row after posting a lap of 183.117 mph. Those two also led a pack of five Toyotas to the front of the field — marking the first time the engine manufacturer has swept the top five spots.

Qualifying was held after a brief, rescheduled practice session. Friday’s practice was rained out.

Briscoe’s teammate, Ty Gibbs, has the early edge in the championship round of NASCAR’s first In-Season Challenge. He qualified fifth at 182.445. Ty Dillon starts 26th. The winner will be crowned champion and walk away with $1 million.

Last week’s race winner Denny Hamlin faces a major hurdle in winning his first Brickyard title. He crashed hard during qualifying and will start from the back of the field, 39th, as he tries to become the fifth driver to complete a career sweep of the Cup’s crown jewel races. The 44-year-old Hamlin signed a two-year contract extension with JGR on Friday.

Defending race winner Kyle Larson starts 13th.

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Building the perfect trade deadline for the Mets and Phillies

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Building the perfect trade deadline for the Mets and Phillies

There’s plenty of history in the rivalry between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. It’s about 116 miles from Citi Field to Citizens Bank Park. The two teams been competing for the NL East since 1969. Star players from Tug McGraw to Jerry Koosman to Lenny Dykstra to Pedro Martinez to Zack Wheeler have played for both franchises. Mets fans loathe the Phanatic, and Phillies fans laugh derisively at Mr. Met.

Despite this longevity, the two teams have rarely battled for a division title in the same season. The only years they finished No. 1 and 2 or were battling for a division lead late in the season:

  • 1986: Mets finished 21.5 games ahead

  • 2001: Both finished within six games of the Braves

  • 2006: Mets finished 12 games ahead

  • 2007: Phillies finished one game ahead

  • 2008: Phillies finished three games ahead

  • 2024: Phillies finished six games ahead of Mets and Braves

So it’s a rare treat to see the Mets and Phillies battling for the NL East lead in as New York faces the San Francisco Giants on “Sunday Night Baseball” this week. This season has also been a bit of bumpy ride for both teams, so there is pressure on both front offices to make trade deadline additions in hopes of winning the World Series that has eluded both franchises in recent years despite high payrolls and star-laden rosters. Let’s dig into what both teams need to do before Thursday.

The perfect trade deadline for the Mets

1. Bullpen help

The Mets already acquired hard-throwing lefty Gregory Soto from the Orioles, but David Stearns will likely look for another reliever, given that the Mets’ bullpen has struggled since the beginning of June with a 5.02 ERA. In my grade of the trade, I pointed out the importance for the Mets to add left-handed relief. Think of potential playoff opponents and all the key left-handed batters: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on the Phillies; Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy on the Dodgers; Kyle Tucker, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong on the Cubs.

Soto has held lefties to a .138 average this season, and it does help that the Mets have two lefty starters in David Peterson and Sean Manaea. They also just activated Brooks Raley after he had been out since early 2024. If he is back to his 2022-23 form, when he had a 2.74 ERA and held lefties to a .209 average, maybe the Mets will feel good enough about their southpaw relief.

They could still use another dependable righty reliever. Mets starters were hot early on, but they weren’t going deep into games, and outside of Peterson, the lack of longer outings is a big reason the bullpen ERA has skyrocketed. Carlos Mendoza has overworked his setup guys, including Huascar Brazoban and Reed Garrett. Brazoban has never been much of a strike thrower anyway, and Garrett similarly faded in the second half last season. Adding a high-leverage righty to set up Edwin Diaz makes sense. Candidates there include David Bednar of the Pirates, Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, Griffin Jax or Jhoan Duran of the Twins, or maybe a longer shot such as Emmanuel Clase or Cade Smith of the Guardians.

2. Think big, as in Eugenio Suarez

Mark Vientos was a huge key to last season’s playoff appearance and trip to the NLCS, hitting .266/.322/.516 with 27 home runs after beginning the season in Triple-A. He hasn’t been able to replicate that performance, though, hitting .224/.279/.354. That has led to a revolving door at third base, with Vientos, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio starting games there in July. Overall, Mets third basemen ranked 24th in the majors in OPS entering Friday.

Lack of production at third is one reason the Mets’ offense has been mediocre rather than very good — they’re averaging 4.38 runs per game, just below the NL average of 4.43. They could use another premium bat, given the lack of production they’ve received from center field and catcher (not to mention Francisco Lindor‘s slump since the middle of June). Maybe Francisco Alvarez‘s short stint back in Triple-A will get his bat going now that he’s back in the majors, but going after Suarez to hit behind Juan Soto and Pete Alonso would lengthen the lineup.

3. Reacquire Harrison Bader to play CF

Tyrone Taylor is a plus defender in center and has made several incredible catches, but he’s hitting .209/.264/.306 for a lowly OPS+ of 65. Old friend Bader is having a nice season with the Twins, hitting .251/.330/.435. Maybe that’s a little over his head, given that he had a .657 OPS with the Mets last season, but he would still be an offensive upgrade over Taylor without losing anything on defense — and he wouldn’t cost a top-tier prospect. The Mets could still mix in Jeff McNeil against the really tough righties, but adding Suarez and Bader would give this lineup more of a championship feel.

The perfect deadline for the Phillies

1. Acquire Jhoan Duran

Like the Mets, the Phillies already made a move here, signing free agent David Robertson, who had a 3.00 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 72 innings last season with the Rangers. On paper, he should help, but he’s also 40 and will need a few games in the minors to get ready. Even with Robertson, the Phillies could use some more help here. They’ll eventually get Jose Alvarado back from his 60-game PED suspension, but Alvarado is ineligible for the postseason. At least the Mets have an elite closer in Edwin Diaz. Jordan Romano leads the Phillies with eight saves and has a 6.69 ERA. Matt Strahm is solid, but more useful as a lefty setup guy than a closer (think of all those left-handed batters we listed for the Mets, then sub out Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo for Harper and Schwarber).

And the Phillies’ bullpen has consistently come up short in big games. Think back to last year’s NLDS, when Jeff Hoffman lost twice to the Mets. Or 2023, when Craig Kimbrel lost two games in the NLCS against the Diamondbacks. Or the 2022 World Series, when Yordan Alvarez hit the huge home run off Alvarado in the clinching Game 6.

So, yes, a shutdown closer is a must. Maybe that’s Bednar, maybe Clase if he’s available (although he struggled in last year’s postseason), maybe Helsley. But the guy Dave Dombrowski should go all-in to get: Duran. The window for the Phillies is slowly closing as the core players get older. Duran is under control through 2027, so he’s a fit for now and the immediate future. The trade cost might be painful, but with his 100 mph fastball and splitter, he has the elite stuff you need in October.

2. Add Ryan O’Hearn

The Phillies have received below-average production from both left field (mostly Max Kepler) and center field (Brandon Marsh/Johan Rojas platoon). The center-field market is pretty thin except for Bader or maybe a gamble on Luis Robert Jr. I’d pass on Robert, stick with the Marsh/Rojas platoon and upgrade left field with O’Hearn, who is hitting .281/.375/.452 for the Orioles. He isn’t the perfect fit since, like Kepler, he hits left-handed and struggles against lefties, but he’s a patient hitter with a much better OBP, and he’s passable in the outfield.

3. Acquire Willi Castro

Here’s the bottom line: The Phillies have to admit that some of their long-term position players aren’t getting the job done — such as second baseman Bryson Stott, who has a 77 OPS+. Third baseman Alec Bohm has been better but also has a below-average OPS.

That makes Castro a nice fit. He’s not a star, but he’s an above-average hitter, a switch-hitter who plays all over the field for the Twins, having started games at five different positions. He could play second or third or start in left field against a lefty. Philadelphia could even start him in center instead of Rojas, although that would be a defensive hit. Bottom line: Castro would give the Phillies a lot more versatility — or a significant offensive upgrade over Stott if they start him every day at second.

Note as well: Stott has hit .188 in 33 career postseason games. Bohm has hit .214 with two home runs in 34 postseason games. The Phillies need a different offensive look for October.

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