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There are nine more players on the MLB free agent market, including some superstars.

The Major League Baseball Players Association announced Friday that Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Jacob deGrom, Carlos Rodón, Nelson Cruz, Zach Davies, Jurickson Profar, Robert Suarez and Taijuan Walker resolved option decisions in their contracts and are now free agents.

The opt-out decisions from Bogaerts, Correa, deGrom and Rodón were expected, as all four are likely to get substantial contracts on the open market.

Three seasons into his six-year, $132 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, Bogaerts opted out after hitting .307/.377/.456 with 15 homers and 5.7 bWAR in 2022, finishing as a finalist for the Gold Glove. Bogaerts previously signed an extension prior to the 2019 season and has become a fan favorite in Boston since rising through the farm system as one of the top prospects in baseball. He has helped lead the team to two World Series titles in 2013 and 2018 and has four All-Star appearances and Silver Sluggers.

The decision for Correa felt like a foregone conclusion after he signed a three-year, $105.3 million contract with the Minnesota Twins that included opt-outs after the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Correa has said he hopes to remain in Minnesota on a long-term contract after posting a strong 2022, hitting .291/.366/.467 with 22 homers and 24 doubles while earning a 5.4 bWAR.

Correa and Bogaerts will join a packed shortstop free agent market that also features Dansby Swanson and Trea Turner.

DeGrom opted out of the final year of his contract, a player option worth $30.5 million for the 2023 season. After missing the first half of the season, deGrom posted a 3.09 ERA in 11 starts for the Mets in 2022, striking out 102 batters in 64⅓ innings while earning a victory for the Mets in Game 2 of their wild-card series against the San Diego Padres.

Rodón opts out of the second year of a two-year, $44 million contract he signed with the San Francisco Giants prior to the 2022 season. The lefty will be in line for one of the biggest contracts on the free agent market as a 29-year-old pitcher who posted a 2.88 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 237 strikeouts in 178 innings in 2022 while leading the league with a 2.25 FIP. Rodón made a career-high 31 starts, calming concerns over his left shoulder, which limited his free agent market last year.

DeGrom and Rodón join a free agent class of pitchers that includes Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and Nathan Eovaldi.

The Nationals declined a mutual option on the 42-year-old Cruz, who had a down season in 2022. In 507 plate appearances, Cruz hit .234/.313/.337 with 10 home runs as the oldest qualified hitter in baseball. He signed a one-year, $12 million contract prior to the season with a $16 million option or a $3 million buyout.

Both Profar and Suarez opted out of contracts with the Padres, taking $1 million buyouts. Profar opted for free agency, leaving $7.5 million on the table, while Suarez left behind $5 million. Profar — a former No. 1 overall prospect in baseball — had one of the best seasons of his career in 2022, hitting .243/.331/.391 with 15 homers and 36 doubles in 152 games with 3.1 bWAR. Suarez also had a strong year, with a 2.27 ERA in 45 games out of the bullpen, including 11 holds and a 1.05 WHIP. He signed a one-year deal with a player option for 2023 in December 2021 after spending 2016 through 2021 with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Walker opts out after signing a two-year, $20 million contract with the Mets before the 2021 season. The 30-year-old had a solid season, posting a 3.49 ERA, 1.19 WHIP while striking out 132 batters in 157⅓ innings, posting a 2.6 bWAR as one of the Mets’ back-of-the-rotation starters.

The Diamondbacks also declined their end of a mutual option with Davies, making him a free agent. The righty will receive a $250,000 buyout. Davies signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract prior to the 2022 season and posted a 4.09 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 102 strikeouts in 134⅓ innings in 27 starts.

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D-backs lose Gurriel to season-ending ACL tear

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D-backs lose Gurriel to season-ending ACL tear

The Arizona Diamondbacks placed left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 10-day injured list due to a torn right ACL injured the previous night in a 7-5 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Gurriel was hurt in the sixth inning after he jumped awkwardly out of the way to avoid center fielder Blaze Alexander, who made a diving catch on a line drive by Rowdy Tellez for the third out of the inning.

Alexander was playing his first game in center field as a big leaguer.

Gurriel stayed on the ground for several minutes while medical staff attended to him. The 31-year-old eventually got up and walked to a cart before being driven off the field.

Additional tests confirmed the torn ACL.

Gurriel is batting .248 this season with 19 homers and 80 RBIs.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Buckeyes seize No. 1; LSU, Canes rise as Tide fall

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Buckeyes seize No. 1; LSU, Canes rise as Tide fall

Ohio State climbed to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll on Tuesday, LSU and Miami moved into the top five, and Florida State jumped back into the rankings at the expense of Alabama, which plummeted to its lowest spot in 17 seasons.

The defending national champion Buckeyes received 55 of 66 first-place votes to move up two spots after their win over preseason No. 1 Texas. Ohio State is at the top of a regular-season poll for the first time since November 2015.

The Longhorns dropped to No. 7 as the media voters shuffled the rankings following a topsy-turvy Labor Day weekend. It was only the second time — and first since 1972 — that two top-five teams lost in Week 1 and the first time that four top-10 teams lost.

Only three teams in the Top 25 are in the same spot they were in the preseason poll.

Penn State got seven first-place votes and remained No. 2. LSU, which received three first first-place votes, was followed by Georgia and Miami to round out the top five.

Oregon got the other first-place vote and was followed by Texas, the Clemson Tigers, Notre Dame and South Carolina.

LSU jumped six spots after winning at Clemson and Miami got a five-rung promotion for its victory over Notre Dame.

The biggest movers in the poll were Florida State and Alabama after the Seminoles’ 31-17 victory in their head-to-head matchup.

The Seminoles, who were 15 spots outside the Top 25 in the preseason, are now No. 14. The Crimson Tide fell all the way from No. 8 to No. 21 — their lowest ranking since Bama was No. 24 in the 2008 preseason poll. That was the second of Nick Saban’s 17 teams in Tuscaloosa.

It’s been quite a turnabout for Florida State. The Seminoles were No. 10 in the 2024 preseason, lost their first two games, finished 2-10 and weren’t ranked again until now.

Utah, at No. 25, joins Florida State as the only newcomers to this week’s poll. The Utes are ranked for the first time since last October, when they were at the front end of a seven-game losing streak.

Utah had received the second-most points, behind BYU, among teams outside the preseason Top 25, but the Utes got more credit for beating UCLA on the road than the Cougars received for hammering FCS foe Portland State.

Boise State, which had been No. 25, received no votes following its 34-7 loss at South Florida. The Broncos had appeared in 14 straight polls.

The other team to drop out of the poll was No. 17 Kansas State, which followed up its season-opening loss to Iowa State with a last-minute home win over FCS team North Dakota.

Ohio State is the first team to take over the top spot in the first regular-season poll since Alabama in 2012. It was the biggest jump to No. 1 in the first regular-season poll since USC was promoted from No. 3 in 2008.

Texas’ fall was the biggest for a preseason No. 1 since Auburn dropped to No. 8 in the first regular-season poll of 1984.

LSU has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 3 in 2012, and Miami has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 5 in 2004.

South Carolina is in the top 10 in the regular season for the first time since it was No. 8 in December 2013.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC: 10 (Nos. 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)

Big Ten: 6 (Nos. 1, 2, 6, 11, 15, 23)

ACC: 4 (Nos. 5, 8, 14, 17)

Big 12: 4 (Nos. 12, 16, 24, 25)

Independent: 1 (No. 9)

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma: This weekend’s game will be the first meeting since Oklahoma beat the Wolverines in the Orange Bowl to win the 1975 national championship. Wolverines freshman QB Bryce Underwood gets put to the test in his second start.

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Hold that, Tiger: Kelly asks if Dabo saw 2nd half

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Hold that, Tiger: Kelly asks if Dabo saw 2nd half

While Dabo Swinney isn’t inflating LSU‘s grade for beating his team in Saturday’s season opener, Brian Kelly is ready to give the Clemson coach an incomplete for his evaluation.

Both coaches weighed in Tuesday on how LSU’s 17-10 win at Clemson should be viewed. After trailing 10-3 at halftime, LSU outscored Clemson 14-0 in the second half and finished with significant edges in both total yards (354-261) and first downs (25-13).

LSU rose six spots to No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll Tuesday, while Clemson dropped four spots to No. 8.

“It was a helluva game, down to the last play,” Swinney said in his weekly news conference. “Right out of the gate. It’s like getting the final exam [on] Day 1 of class. They made a 65; we made a 58. Neither one of us were great.”

Kelly had not won a season opener at LSU before Saturday, and the victory was his first with the Tigers against an AP top-5 opponent.

“I thought we dominated them in the second half, so he’s really a really good grader for giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us,” Kelly said in his news conference when told about Swinney’s comment.

“Or he didn’t see the second half, which, that might be the case. He might not have wanted to see the second half.”

Kelly added that LSU is moving on to this week’s game against Louisiana Tech.

“Clemson is a darn good football team,” Kelly said. “That’s a top-notch team, and they’re going to be a team in the hunt for [the] playoff picture. We hope we are, too. But it was only one game. So I don’t know if he’s a hard grader or an easy grader, but I like the way that we played in the second half.”

Clemson visits LSU to open the 2026 season.

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