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The Pac-12 filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the legality of a “poaching penalty” included in a football scheduling agreement it signed with the Mountain West Conference in December.

With Oregon State and Washington State scrambling late last year to fill their 2024 football schedules in the wake of the Pac-12’s collapse, they came to terms with the Mountain West on a one-year agreement that added six MWC opponents to each remaining Pac-12 school’s schedule this season.

As part of the agreement, the Mountain West included language that requires the Pac-12 to pay a fee of $10 million if a school left the MWC for the Pac-12, with escalators of $500,000 for each additional school.

“This action challenges an anticompetitive and unlawful ‘Poaching Penalty’ that the MWC imposed on the Pac-12 to inhibit competition for member schools in collegiate athletics,” the suit says. “The ‘Poaching Penalty’ saddles the Pac-12 with exorbitant and punitive monetary fees for engaging in competition by accepting MWC member schools into the Pac-12.

“The MWC imposed this Poaching Penalty at a time when the Pac-12 was desperate to schedule football games for its two remaining members and had little leverage to reject this naked restraint on competition.”

When Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State announced Sept. 12 they were leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12, there was an expectation the Pac-12 would be required to pay $43 million in fees, as outlined in the scheduling agreement. That number jumped to $55 million on Monday after Utah State also accepted an offer to leave the Mountain West for the Pac-12.

On the same day the announcements were made, Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez sent an email to Scott Petersmeyer, the Pac-12’s chief legal officer, noting the Pac-12’s “obligation” to pay the $43 million within 30 days.

Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould responded to Nevarez’s email Tuesday to inform her of the lawsuit, noting the conference’s stance that the fees are unlawful.

“Fundamentally, these provisions seek to inhibit competition by placing exorbitant and punitive monetary fees on the Pac-12 simply for engaging in competition by accepting MWC member schools into the Pac-12,” Gould’s letter said. “As you know, the MWC imposed these improper penalties over the Pac-12’s objection at a time when the Pac-12 was desperate to schedule football games for its two remaining members and had little leverage to reject this clear restraint on competition.”

The Mountain West was reviewing the lawsuit when contacted Tuesday by ESPN and did not have an immediate comment.

The lawsuit also noted the roughly $18 million in exit fees each of the departing schools will be required to pay the Mountain West.

“To the extent the MWC would suffer any harm from the departures of its member schools, these exit fees provide more than sufficient compensation to the MWC,” the lawsuit says. “There is no reason why the schools’ new conference should be responsible for compensating the MWC further, or why such penalties should apply to only one competitor conference: the Pac-12.”

Negotiations between the Pac-12 and Mountain West this summer to extend the scheduling agreement for the 2025 season ended with a significant gap between what the Mountain West wanted and what the Pac-12 was willing to pay.

“The conferences’ negotiations broke down after the MWC demanded $30 million from the Pac-12 for the 2025- 2026 season, more than double the already exorbitant price the MWC charged the Pac-12 for games during the 2024-2025 season,” the lawsuit said. “After the parties were unable to reach agreement in the face of the MWC’s financial demands, the MWC Commissioner broke off further discussions, stating, ‘I think we have to move on.'”

With both conferences at seven schools — starting with the 2026 season — more movement is inevitable, as the NCAA requires a conference to have eight football-playing schools. UNLV is on the proverbial clock having reaffirmed its commitment to the Mountain West on Monday, only to back away from that commitment upon learning Utah State was leaving for the Pac-12.

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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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