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The Big Ten added Oregon and Washington as new members Friday, strengthening the Western flank of the rapidly growing conference while dealing a major blow to the Pac-12.

The league’s presidents and chancellors unanimously voted to add the schools, which, along with USC and UCLA, will officially join the Big Ten on Aug. 2, 2024. The Big Ten, which has expanded four times since 2010 after adding no schools the previous 21 years, is set to become the largest major athletic conference at 18 members.

“We are excited to welcome the University of Oregon and the University of Washington to the Big Ten Conference,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said in a statement. “We look forward to building long-lasting relationships with the universities, administrators and staff, student-athletes, coaches and fans. Both institutions feature a combination of academic and athletic excellence that will prove a great fit for our future.”

Unlike USC and UCLA, Oregon and Washington will not enter the Big Ten with full revenue shares. Sources told ESPN that both schools will receive approximately $30 million annually when they join the league, a share that will increase by $1 million during the current media contract with Fox, NBC and CBS, which runs through the 2029-30 athletic season. They then would be able to receive full shares. The other Big Ten members are expected to receive more than $60 million annually from the new agreement this year, an amount that will increase over the life of the deal. Previous Big Ten expansion additions Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland also did not receive full revenue shares immediately.

Factoring in other media revenue streams over a 10-year period, Oregon president Karl Scholz said, “We anticipate averaging over $50 million just from direct media rights.”

After a longer and secretive process to add USC and UCLA in June 2022, the Big Ten moved quickly on Oregon and Washington. The league had been focused on integrating USC and UCLA but mobilized after the Pac-12 lost Colorado to the Big 12 and could not gain enough traction for its streaming-heavy media rights deal, presented to presidents and chancellors on Tuesday morning. A sub-group of four Big Ten presidents and chancellors began exploring expansion possibilities Wednesday, focusing on Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford before refining their focus to the two Northwest schools.

“When considering the full spectrum of academic, athletic and research excellence, the alignment with our member institutions is extremely clear,” Illinois chancellor Robert Jones, chair of the Big Ten council of presidents/chancellors, said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome them and look forward to collaborating and competing with them in the years ahead.”

Despite some initial reluctance from members about the speed of the expansion push and the potential damage to the Pac-12, a historic partner in the Rose Bowl Game and other ventures, Big Ten leaders accelerated their efforts in the past day to land Oregon and Washington, according to sources. None of the departing Pac-12 schools will have to pay an exit fee to depart the league because of an expiring media rights deal in 2024.

The Big Ten had examined both Oregon and Washington as expansion candidates last fall, in the wake of the USC and UCLA additions, but then-commissioner Kevin Warren could not rally enough support among presidents and chancellors to approve them. Petitti, hired in April, told ESPN last week that he wasn’t focused on additional expansion beyond USC and UCLA but added: “There’s a flow of information, keeping people updated on what’s going on, how we see the landscape, trying to help predict what we think will be next.”

“We have tremendous respect and gratitude for the Pac-12, its treasured history and traditions. At the same time, the college athletics landscape has changed dramatically in recent years,” Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen said in a statement. “The Big Ten’s history of athletic and academic success and long-term stability best positions our teams for future success, and we are energized at the opportunity to compete at the highest level against some of the best programs in the country.”

The expansion additions mean the Big Ten will reissue its 2024 and 2025 football schedules, announced in early June. Sources say the league is expected to maintain the key elements of the “Flex Protect Plus” model, which set 11 annual matchups between rivals but increased the overall rotation of games, while eliminating divisions. The Big Ten based the model on overall flexibility in its nine-game league schedule, varying the number of protected games per team.

“Accepting membership into the Big Ten Conference is a transformational opportunity for the University of Oregon to change the short and long-term trajectory of our university and athletics department,” longtime Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a statement. “The stability and exposure of joining the Big Ten is of great benefit to the University of Oregon.”

Oregon and Washington give the Big Ten a more robust West Coast presence and potential travel partners for USC and UCLA. Although USC is the most decorated Pac-12 program set to enter the Big Ten, Oregon and Washington are the only Pac-12 teams to have appeared in the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten has had only one team, Ohio State, win or play for a national championship during the CFP or BCS eras.

“Today’s news is incredibly disappointing for student-athletes, fans, alumni and staff of the Pac-12 who cherish the over 100-year history, tradition and rivalries of the Conference of Champions,” the Pac-12 said in a statement. “We remain focused on securing the best possible future for each of our member institutions.”

It’s unclear how Oregon and Washington’s moves will impact their in-state rivalries with Oregon State and Washington State, though both schools indicated they would like to keep those rivalries alive.

When asked if Oregon would commit to playing home-and-home football series with Oregon State into perpetuity, Oregon AD Rob Mullens said, “Our goal would be to schedule Oregon State in every sport that’s possible. Football scheduling can be complicated because of how far out it is and the difficulty of playing nonconference games later in the year. But our goal would be absolutely to continue to play Oregon State.”

Washington president Ana Mari Cauce said that the Huskies hope to continue Washington State across all sports.

“Even with this move, we remain committed to the Apple Cup and to competing with WSU across all of our sports,” Cauce said.

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Cubs signing veteran 1B Santana, source says

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Cubs signing veteran 1B Santana, source says

DENVER — The Chicago Cubs are signing first baseman Carlos Santana, a source told ESPN on Sunday.

Santana, 39, hit .225 with 11 home runs in 116 games for the Cleveland Guardians this season before being released by the team Friday.

The move is expected to become official Monday.

The 16-year veteran has a career .778 OPS while playing for seven teams, though most of his time was spent with the Guardians, whom he rejoined this year after spending a decade there to start his career.

Though he is a switch-hitter, Santana is likely to see at-bats as a right-hander almost exclusively as the Cubs are 17-19 this season when a left-hander starts against them. Left-handed hitter Michael Busch is the regular starter at first base, but he has been spelled by veteran Justin Turner often this season.

It’s unclear what Santana’s signing means for the immediate future of Turner, who is considered the clubhouse leader on the team. With rosters expanding to 28 on Monday, the Cubs have several options open to them to keep Turner if they desire.

In other moves Sunday, the Cubs claimed right-hander Aaron Civale off waivers from the Chicago White Sox, recalled right-hander Porter Hodge from Triple-A Iowa, optioned left-hander Jordan Wicks to their top farm club and designated left-hander Tom Cosgrove for assignment.

The Cubs also are calling up outfielder Kevin Alcantara and sending down Owen Caissie, a source told ESPN.

Civale, 30, is 3-9 with a 5.26 ERA in 18 starts for the White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers this season. The Brewers traded him to the White Sox in June to acquire first-baseman Andrew Vaughn.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Civale is expected to come out of the bullpen for the team.

“It’s just length options in case we need it,” Counsell said. “It’s just to be covered with another guy that can start.”

Hodge is 2-1 with a 6.85 ERA and two saves in 26 appearances for Chicago this year. In his past nine appearances with Iowa going back to Aug. 1, he struck out 20 and allowed six hits over 12 scoreless innings.

The 25-year-old Wicks, a first-round pick in the 2021 amateur draft, is 0-1 with an 8.71 ERA in six relief appearances with the Cubs this year.

Cosgrove has a 2.25 ERA in two appearances for the Cubs this season.

The Cubs will enter the final month of the season as the No. 1 seed in the National League wild-card race, trailing the first-place Milwaukee Brewers by 6.5 games in the NL Central entering Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Guardians pitchers on leave ‘until further notice’

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Guardians pitchers on leave 'until further notice'

Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz will remain on nondisciplinary paid leave “until further notice” while a gambling investigation continues, Major League Baseball announced Sunday.

MLB said in a statement Sunday that the league and players’ association had agreed to extend the leaves of Clase and Ortiz, adding, “We will not comment further until the investigation has been completed.”

The investigation stems from unusual betting interest in individual pitches by Ortiz in two Guardians games in June. A sportsbook reported “suspicious betting” on the first pitch thrown by Ortiz to be a ball or hit batsman to begin the second inning of a June 15 game against the Seattle Mariners and again in the third inning of a June 27 game against the St. Louis Cardinals. In both instances, Ortiz threw a first-pitch slider that was well outside the strike zone.

Integrity firm IC360, which works with sportsbooks, sports leagues and state regulators to monitor the betting market, sent out an alert to clients regarding the unusual activity involving Ortiz’s pitches on June 27. Ortiz was placed on nondisciplinary paid leave July 3.

Clase, the Guardians’ closer, was put on nondisciplinary paid leave weeks later, on July 28.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission, which oversees the state’s sports betting market, has said it is investigating the situation alongside and independently of MLB.

Betting on the result of pitches is a niche market, offered by only a select few U.S. sportsbooks. New Jersey and Ohio have taken steps to prohibit state-licensed sportsbooks from offering such markets, commonly referred to as microbetting, but for now, some sportsbooks continue to offer betting on the result of individual pitches.

Clase, the American League leader in saves in 2024, had 24 saves and was 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA this season. Ortiz, meanwhile, was 4-9 with a 4.36 ERA in 16 starts.

Entering Sunday, the Guardians are three games back in the American League wild-card race.

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Duran keeps going as inside-the-park HR lifts Sox

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Duran keeps going as inside-the-park HR lifts Sox

BOSTON — Jarren Duran was running to third base when he realized he needed to pick up the pace again and head for home.

Duran’s inside-the-park homer Sunday, a three-run shot, gave Boston the lead in the fifth inning and helped the Red Sox avert a three-game sweep with a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park.

With Carlos Narvaez on third and Alex Bregman on first, Duran lined the first pitch from starter Mitch Keller into the right-center gap.

The ball got past right fielder Alexander Canario, who tried to cut it off, and rolled into the Fenway triangle. Then it caromed off the side wall of Boston’s bullpen and briefly got past center fielder Oneil Cruz near the 420-foot sign in right-center.

As the crowd roared, the speedy Duran raced around third and easily beat a wide relay throw to the plate standing up.

“When I was starting to round second, I was like, OK, I’ve got to make sure I get to three,” Duran said. “I thought I was going to be standing up [at third]. I found myself kind of lay back a little bit, then [third base coach Kyle Hudson] came back to me waving and I was like, ‘I’ve got to get going again.'”

It was the second inside-the-park homer by the Red Sox at Fenway Park this season. Wilyer Abreu hit one on June 30 and became the sixth player in major league history with a grand slam and an inside-the-park homer in the same game.

“I was just happy I didn’t have to slide after all,” Duran said. “I was like, this is going to be more of a fall than a slide.”

Duran’s inside-the-park shot was the first of his career.

“Everybody’s doing the same thing in the dugout,” Boston manager Alex Cora said, comparing his players and coaches to the cheering crowd.

“We become fans. Everybody’s loud, everybody’s sending him.”

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