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Quarterback Carson Beck‘s college career might not be over yet.

The Georgia starter came into this past season as one of the top-rated passers available for the 2025 NFL draft, and an early favorite to go No. 1 overall. But after a season in which he threw nine interceptions during a four-game stretch (and three more in a 41-34 loss at Alabama) and struggled mightily in other games, his draft stock fell sharply.

Making matters worse, Beck was injured on the final play of the first half in Georgia’s 22-19 overtime victory against Texas in the Dec. 7 SEC championship game. Beck had season-ending surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right, throwing elbow on Dec. 23. Five days later, he announced he was entering the NFL draft.

Then on Thursday, Beck entered the transfer portal. On Friday, Beck committed to Miami, where he’ll replace record-setting QB Cam Ward. Due to his injury, Beck, however, isn’t expected to resume throwing until sometime this spring. — Mark Schlabach

Why is he heading to Miami?

There were lots of rumors linking Beck to Miami back in December, which he briefly put to rest when he declared for the draft. But just as they did last year with Cam Ward, Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes stayed patient and eventually won out for one of the top quarterbacks in the portal.

Ward was worth every penny with the remarkable season he put together in 2024 and the leadership he brought to the program. He seriously boosted his NFL draft stock as a result of his 2024 season and could end up being the No. 1 overall pick. If you’re Beck, that’s the goal in coming back for an extra season. Miami won’t have the same supporting cast of playmakers back for 2025, but they had a lot to sell as Beck’s ideal destination.

Beck won a lot of games with the Bulldogs but never got an opportunity to start in a College Football Playoff game. Two November losses knocked Miami out of the ACC title game and the 12-team CFP this season. Both sides are highly motivated to make the most of 2025, and Beck’s arrival will once again mean big preseason expectations for this program. It’s fair to call this another playoff-or-bust season for Cristobal and the Canes. — Max Olson


What’s next for Georgia?

Beck’s replacement, third-year sophomore Gunner Stockton, played well enough in the second half of the SEC championship game and in a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at the Allstate Sugar Bowl that he’ll likely go into spring practice as the favorite to replace Beck.

Stockton, one of the most productive quarterbacks in Georgia high school history, led the Bulldogs back from a 6-3 deficit in the second half to defeat Texas in Atlanta. In his first college start, he completed 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against a very good Notre Dame defense.

Stockton should improve with a full offseason to prepare as the starter. He’ll have to hold off freshman Ryan Puglisi, the No. 9 pocket passer in the class of 2024, according to ESPN. The Bulldogs signed two quarterbacks in their most recent recruiting class: Ryan Montgomery of Findlay, Ohio, and Hezekiah Millender of Athens, Georgia.

The Bulldogs might still bring in another experienced quarterback from the portal. They were linked to former Alabama backup Dylan Lonergan and Cal starter Fernando Mendoza before those two signed with Boston College and Indiana, respectively. — Schlabach


Did Beck fall out of favor with NFL scouts?

After entering the season as a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in 2025, Beck didn’t live up to expectations, finishing with solid statistics — 28 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and 3,485 yards — but up-and-down performances. He had three games at midseason in which he threw a combined eight picks, which raised eyebrows among NFL scouts. I dropped him in my rankings to the No. 5 quarterback in the 2025 class.

Speaking to evaluators in the league, Beck’s draft grades were all over the place, as some thought he would go in Round 2, while others thought he could go as low as Round 5. After his announcement that he was declaring for the draft, one scout said: “I was surprised.”

At Miami, Beck should have an opportunity to recapture his 2023 form, when he threw just six interceptions. Drew Allar (Penn State) is the early headliner of the 2026 class, and Beck needs a big season to get back into the Round 1 discussion. — Jordan Reid


What’s the latest with Beck’s injury?

On the day of Beck’s surgery, a Georgia statement indicated the procedure was successful, and he was expected to begin throwing again in the spring. Not much else — about the severity of the injury or his recovery time — is publicly known.

According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, UCL injuries are common among gymnasts, wrestlers, football players and baseball pitchers. The length of Beck’s recovery would depend on whether he partially or completely tore the ligament and where it was torn (proximal, distal or mid-substance).

“For patients who have full thickness tears and need to return to high demand throwing type activities, surgery may be considered,” the Mayo Clinic website says. “Surgery typically entails either a repair (fixing your current ligament by sewing and anchoring it back down to the bone) or reconstruction (replacing your injured ligament) of the UCL.”

Beck wouldn’t be the first quarterback to come back from UCL surgery. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy injured the UCL in his right, throwing elbow against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 29, 2023. He had surgery to repair his UCL on March 10, 2023, and returned to throwing less than three months later. He started the 49ers’ opener on Sept. 10, 2023.

The Mayo Clinic website said athletes who experience UCL injuries have a 95-100% return rate to athletics for non-throwers and 85-95% for throwers. — Schlabach


What are the rules about entering the portal after declaring for the draft?

Beck announced his intentions of entering the NFL draft, but he has until Feb. 7 to remove his name from the draft by sending an opt-out letter to the league office.

College football players whose teams’ seasons had already ended had until Jan. 6 to declare for the draft. Players on teams that are still competing in the CFP (Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas) have until Jan. 27 to decide whether to leave their names in the draft. — Schlabach

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Moustakas will sign 1-day deal, retire as Royal

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Moustakas will sign 1-day deal, retire as Royal

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Mike Moustakas will retire with Kansas City after spending 13 years in the majors and winning the World Series with the Royals in 2015.

The Royals announced Moustakas’ retirement Monday. The 36-year-old infielder will sign a one-day contract with his first big league team on May 31, and he will be honored before Kansas City’s home game against Detroit that day.

Moustakas hit .247 with 215 homers and 683 RBIs in 1,427 games, also playing for Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels. The three-time All-Star appeared in his last major league game with the Angels on Sept. 30, 2023.

Moustakas was the No. 2 pick in the 2007 amateur draft. He broke into the majors with Kansas City in 2011.

He became a key performer for the Royals during a memorable stretch for the franchise. He hit .284 with 22 homers and 82 RBIs in 147 games in 2015, helping the team win the AL Central. Then he drove in eight runs in the postseason as the Royals won the World Series for the first time since 1985.

Moustakas bashed a career-high 38 homers for Kansas City in 2017. He set a career best with 95 RBIs while playing for the Royals and Brewers in 2018.

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Astros planning to play Altuve mostly in left field

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Astros planning to play Altuve mostly in left field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Houston Astros are planning to play Jose Altuve mostly in left field this season, manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle on Monday.

A nine-time All-Star, three-time batting champion and the 2017 AL MVP, Altuve has played all but two of his 1,767 major league games at second base. He won the Gold Glove in 2015, and in 2020, he led the American League with the fewest errors, with four.

“Right now the plan is for him to play the majority of his games in left field,” Espada said, adding that moving Altuve “back and forth is something that I am going to avoid.”

The idea of moving Altuve to left was first broached when the team was looking to keep third baseman Alex Bregman, who wound up signing with the Boston Red Sox. If Bregman had returned to Houston, it might have forced newly acquired Isaac Paredes to shift to second base and Altuve to the outfield.

“Whatever I have to do for [Bregman] to stay, I’m willing to do it,” Altuve said at the team’s FanFest in January.

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Yanks’ Gil (lat strain) shut down at least 6 weeks

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Yanks' Gil (lat strain) shut down at least 6 weeks

TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil has been diagnosed with a high-grade lat strain in his right shoulder and will be out at least a couple of months.

Manager Aaron Boone did not disclose a specific timeline, but he said before Monday’s spring training game against Pittsburgh that Gil won’t throw for at least six weeks, after which he would need to fully build back up again.

Gil’s injury likely means Marcus Stroman — who entered camp seemingly as the odd man out in the rotation but also said he had no interest in going to the bullpen — will open the season as the team’s fifth starter. The Yankees also have veteran starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco in camp as a non-roster invitee, in addition to young starters Will Warren and Brent Headrick on their 40-man roster.

“You know these things are going to unfortunately come and pop up,” Boone said. “They do at different times of the year. Hopefully, overall, you can stay fairly healthy, but unfortunately these things are inevitable, and that’s why … every team tries to build in some depth. We feel like we’re in a good spot with who we have. It’s part of it.”

Gil, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, experienced shoulder tightness during a bullpen session on Friday and underwent an MRI over the weekend that revealed the strain, though Boone said he still needs to undergo further examination. The hope is that Gil, 26, would return at some point in the first half, but that is unknown at the moment. Fellow starter Clarke Schmidt had a similar lat strain last year and missed about three and a half months, from late May to early September.

For optimism, the Yankees can look to last spring. Their ace, Gerrit Cole, missed the first two and a half months with nerve irritation and edema in his pitching elbow, but the rest of the rotation stepped up in his absence, posting a 3.47 ERA through the end of June and ultimately playing a big part in the Yankees winning the AL East. Now Cole, Stroman, Schmidt, Carlos Rodon and newcomer Max Fried must step up in similar fashion.

“It sucks, man; I don’t even know what to say to put it into words,” Stroman said after his Grapefruit League start against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, which saw him allow four runs and record eight outs. “He was a huge part of this team last year. Incredible, incredible season, and we’re going to need him. We’re going to need him at some point in order to go where we want.”

Gil spent most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery, then won a spot in the rotation the follow spring and put together a sensational 2024, going 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 151⅔ innings. Gil walked 12.1% of the hitters he faced, by far the most among those with at least 150 innings, but he also compiled 171 strikeouts.

Most notable, though, was a significant workload bump for a pitcher who hadn’t previously reached 110 innings in pro ball and wound up pitching for a team that reached the World Series. Boone said it was “tough to say” whether that innings jump triggered injury.

“It’s pitching,” Boone added. “Different things crop up. It’s why we put so much value in what these guys do in their throwing programs and when they start, and we’re methodical in how they go about it. I feel like we’ve started to turn a corner there, but it’s certainly one of the things that is troubling in our game.”

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