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TexasKelvin Banks Jr., a junior left tackle who is one of the most decorated linemen in Longhorns history, having won the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award this season, declared for the NFL draft Sunday.

Banks, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound All-American, is Mel Kiper Jr.’s top-rated tackle in this year’s draft and is projected as the No. 10 pick on Kiper’s most recent Big Board.

Banks was the No. 33 recruit in the 2022 ESPN 300 and originally committed to Oregon, but the Houston native signed with Texas, where he started 42 games. He was the anchor of a much-improved offensive line after Steve Sarkisian set out in search of “big humans” with the Longhorns making the transition to the SEC. He helped pave the way for the Longhorns to win the Big 12 last season, their first conference title since 2009, and play in two College Football Playoff semifinals in the past two seasons.

“I am eternally grateful for the impact The University of Texas and Longhorn Nation have had on my life,” Banks posted on Instagram. “From the moment I stepped on the Forty Acres, I knew I was part of something special. The support, passion, and pride of this community have shaped me both as an athlete and as a person, and will carry these memories with me forever.”

Senior Hayden Conner, a 6-5, 320-pound guard who started 43 games for Texas and had a year of eligibility remaining, also declared for the draft Sunday, along with junior running back Jaydon Blue. Blue ran for 730 yards and eight touchdowns this season and caught 42 passes for 368 yards and six more TDs.

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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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Reports: Brewers add depth with lefty Quintana

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Reports: Brewers add depth with lefty Quintana

Veteran left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana is joining the Milwaukee Brewers on a one-year, $4.25 million deal with $1 million in potential bonuses, according to multiple reports.

Quintana, 36, is coming off a 2024 season in which he went 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA in 31 starts for the New York Mets. He struck out 135 and walked 63 in 170⅓ innings. Over his past six regular-season starts, Quintana gave up four runs — three earned — in 36 1/3 innings.

He started the deciding game of New York’s NL Wild Card Series matchup with the Brewers and pitched six shutout innings in the Mets’ 4-2 victory, though he received no decision. Quintana had a total of three postseason starts, allowing six runs — five earned — over 14 1/3 innings.

Quintana now will compete for a spot in a Brewers rotation that returns right-handers Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers and Aaron Civale. The two-time defending NL Central champions also added left-hander Nestor Cortes in a trade that sent two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams to the New York Yankees.

The Brewers could use some rotation depth as two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff and Robert Gasser come back from injuries. Woodruff missed all of 2024 while recovering from shoulder surgery, and he won’t be ready for the start of the season. Gasser, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, isn’t expected to be available until late in the season.

Milwaukee got more bad news Monday night when left-hander Aaron Ashby, a candidate for a rotation spot, left his start against the Cincinnati Reds with an injury. Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Ashby appeared to have an oblique issue and would undergo an MRI.

When he makes his Brewers debut, Quintana will have pitched for every team in the NL Central. He was with the Chicago Cubs from 2017-20 and split the 2022 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.

Quintana owns a 102-103 record and 3.74 ERA in 359 career appearances, including 333 starts. He’s also had stints with the Chicago White Sox (2012-17), Los Angeles Angels (2021), San Francisco Giants (2021) and Mets (2023-24). He was selected to the All-Star Game in 2016.

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Nats, Orioles settle lengthy dispute over TV rights

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Nats, Orioles settle lengthy dispute over TV rights

NEW YORK — The Nationals and Orioles ended a legal fight over television rights dating to 2012 when Major League Baseball announced Monday that Washington will be freed from its deal with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network after the upcoming season.

MLB said Nationals games will be broadcast by MASN in 2025 under a new, one-year contract.

“After this term, the Nationals will be free to explore alternatives for their television rights for the 2026 season and beyond,” MLB said. “As part of the settlement, all disputes related to past media rights between the Nationals, Orioles and MASN have been resolved, and all litigation will be dismissed.”

MASN was established in March 2005 after the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington and became the Nationals, moving into what had been Baltimore’s exclusive broadcast territory since 1972. The Orioles were given a supermajority partnership interest in MASN, starting at 90%, and Washington made a $75 million payment to the network for an initial 10%.

The agreement called for the Nationals’ equity to increase 1% annually, starting after the 2009 season, with a cap of 33%. The network’s rights payments to each team were set at $20 million apiece in 2005 and 2006, rising to $25 million in 2007, with $1 million annual increases through 2011.

After that, the network was to pay fair market value with disputes over the Nationals’ rights to be resolved by MLB’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee, a group of three MLB club officials. The RSDC started to hear the case in 2012 and lawsuits over the decision were filed two years later in New York Supreme Court.

Litigation over the 2012-16 fees resulted in a 2019 RSDC decision that valued them at $296.8 million. After arguments that went to the New York Court of Appeals, the sides agreed to a settlement in June 2023.

A 2023 RSDC decision held Washington was owed about $304.1 million by MASN for 2017-21, after an adjustment downward of almost $45.5 million for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. That decision was confirmed in New York Supreme Court.

Another RSDC decision in December had awarded the Nationals approximately $320.5 million for 2022-26. The rights fee was set at about $72.8 million each for 2022 and ’23 — matching 2021 — and dropped to approximately $58.3 million annually from 2024-26, citing deteriorating economics of regional sports networks.

A court hearing on that decision had been scheduled for March 13.

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