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As the preferred structure of future NCAA governance remains debatable in college athletics, Washington State president Kirk Schulz on Thursday emphasized a need for the national organization and urged others to have patience as new leadership attempts to navigate its member schools through a critical and transformative time.

“It’s easy to throw hand grenades at the NCAA,” Schulz said on a Pac-12 media videoconference. “Schools do, presidents do, lots of people do. But at the end of the day, we need an organization that puts on championships, that does do some rules setting and handles enforcement. If you get rid of the NCAA — whatever that looks like — guess what? You’ve gotta stand up a separate organization that’s going to have those same functions and will have some of the same frustrations.

“As soon as anybody has to do enforcement, trust me — the school that is being investigated isn’t going to feel good about that,” he said. “I think the idea that we’re going to start seeing a bunch of conferences or schools break away from the NCAA and start their own grouping — whatever that is — I think at some point you just re-create the NCAA. Why not reform what’s there as opposed to let’s go re-create something?”

Schulz’s comments came one day after a high-ranking university official told ESPN there are some presidents and chancellors in the SEC and Big Ten who feel “very strongly” about pulling away from the NCAA.

“That’s an option that’s on the table,” the source said. “… It would be irresponsible on our part if we weren’t looking at a new governing process. There’s so much uncertainty happening in the world of college athletics. Do we want to continue this, or is there a better way of doing things? Yes, those conversations are out there.”

Those conversations tie into the ongoing discussions about the future of the College Football Playoff, as its leadership is considering what the format should look like starting in 2026. The CFP will have a 12-team playoff beginning this season and next, but the future is a blank slate. The CFP’s management committee is currently focused on a 14-team format. Before the presidents and chancellors can agree to a new TV deal with ESPN for the next eight years, they need to decide what the format will be, how teams will qualify for it and whether they are all working together under the NCAA umbrella.

Schulz, who represents the Pac-12 on the CFP’s board of managers, said his conversations with fellow university presidents over the past few months have reflected a general appreciation for new NCAA president Charlie Baker.

“Whether people like all of the proposals coming out or not, you’ve got to applaud the leadership there is saying, ‘Hey, we recognize people want to see something different out of the NCAA, and we’re going to respond to that,'” Schulz said. “It’s too early not to give Charlie the opportunity to continue to help lead and modify what the NCAA does and how it works with schools.”

New Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould, who now represents the conference on the CFP management committee, said the commissioners are “aligned” in their desire to develop a plan that has “adaptability.”

“I think none of us would have ever anticipated the amount of change that is going on right now,” she said in her introductory news conference. “Yesterday looks different than today. And who knows what the headline is going to be tomorrow. So our job collectively as the leadership of the CFP is to make sure that, whatever plan it is, that we have a plan that is adaptable and nimble to the changing times that we’re in. And that is one of the conversations that I want to make sure we continue to have in that room.”

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.

The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.

Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.

Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.

It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.

Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.

Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.

The deal was first reported by Fansided.

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Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

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Ohtani's pitching return might be coming soon

Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.

Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.

Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.

If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.

“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”

Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.

Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.

“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.

“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

BOSTON — Aaron Judge blamed himself for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as the New York Yankees were swept in a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

“You got to swing at strikes,” Judge said after going 1-for-12 in the series, which Boston completed with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Judge struck out three or more times in three straight games for only the third time in his major league career.

“That usually helps any hitter when you swing at strikes,” Judge added. “Definitely some pitches off the edge or off the edge in, you know, taking some hacks just trying to make something happen.”

Judge had a tying solo homer in the opener Friday night but struck out nine times as the Yankees were swept in a series for the first time this season.

New York scored only four runs in the three games, matching its fewest in a three-game series at Fenway Park, on June 20-22, 1916 and on Sept. 28-30, 1922.

“It’s very hard,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of facing Judge. “He’s so good at what he does. We used our fastballs in the right spots, we got some swing and misses.”

“Throughout the years we’ve been aggressive with him,” Cora added. “Sometimes he gets us, sometimes we do a good job with that. It’s always fun to compete against the best, and, to me, he’s the best in the business right now.”

Judge’s major league-leading average dipped to .378.

“I don’t think much of it,” teammate Ben Rice said. “If I could have that guy hitting every single at-bat even if he’s not at his best, I would do it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’ll be all right.”

Judge faced Garrett Whitlock with two on in the eighth Sunday and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in the world,” Whitlock said. “It’s special to watch him play and everything. We tried to execute and had some execution this weekend.”

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