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SEATTLE — Justin Hollander just completed eight days of his baseball career that will be tough to forget.

The executive with the Seattle Mariners finished off a massive contract extension with staff pitching ace Luis Castillo last weekend. On Friday night, he was jumping into the arms and hugging everyone associated with the Mariners after Seattle clinched a playoff spot and ended the longest playoff drought in baseball.

And Sunday, the Mariners announced Hollander was being promoted to general manager, making official many of the responsibilities he has taken on over the past several years with the club.

“It’s been a great and incredible week, and this is obviously the cherry on top for me personally,” Hollander said Sunday.

Hollander, 44, said discussions about the promotion picked up in the past couple of weeks when team chairman John Stanton and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto approached him about the idea.

It was the continuation of talks that first started last offseason after Seattle made a late run and barely missed the postseason.

“Moving forward, the Mariners are simply a better organization with Justin in this role,” Dipoto said.

Structurally, not much will change for the Mariners. Hollander and Dipoto had already split many of the duties over the past year when it came to dealing with the day-to-day needs of the front office. But the title is recognition of the job Hollander has done and his value to the organization.

“I think it’s probably more of a codification of our present roles than it is a gigantic change. I get to have a cool title now,” Hollander said.

Hollander arrived in Seattle at the end of the 2016 season. He was promoted to assistant general manager before the start of the 2020 season and after that season was a finalist for the general manager role with the Los Angeles Angels.

That job went to Perry Minasian, and in hindsight, staying in Seattle was the result Hollander and his family preferred.

“I was surprised that I got that far in the search with them. And I really wasn’t sure whether I wanted to leave,” Hollander said. “But there’s 30 of these jobs in the world or so, and when someone wants to talk to you about one, you feel obligated to go through the process. And when it was all over, I think I felt mostly relieved. This is where I was most comfortable.”

Hollander started his career in baseball in 2008 with the Angels as a player development and scouting assistant. He remained part of the baseball operations staff when Dipoto and current Seattle manager Scott Servais arrived in as part of a new front-office regime with the Angels in 2011.

“He’s turned into what I call the glue guy in our baseball operations department. He’s the guy that keeps everything together,” Servais said.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

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