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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays are in agreement on a trade to send frontline starter Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN on Thursday. The deal is contingent on Glasnow signing a contract extension with Los Angeles, which the parties are hopeful will happen by Friday, according to sources.

The window for the extension opened Thursday morning, sources said, and if completed, the Dodgers will acquire Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot and send right-handed starter Ryan Pepiot and outfield prospect Jonny Deluca to the Rays.

One of the prized starting pitchers on the trade market, Glasnow is among the game’s most dominant — and if not for injuries would be regarded as one of the best starters in baseball. In a career-high 120 innings this year, the hard-throwing right-hander struck out 162 and walked just 37, going 10-7 with a 3.53 ERA. Should the deal go through, Los Angeles would add a front-of-the-rotation arm just days after signing Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract, with the vast majority of the money deferred.

Some of the freed-up cash flow can go to Glasnow, a Southern California native who is set to make $25 million this season and could wind up with an extension that takes him into his mid-30s and exceeds nine figures. Currently, only Ohtani and fellow stars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are signed by the Dodgers beyond 2025.

Tampa Bay explored trading Glasnow, 30, from the early part of the offseason, and while the Rays considered keeping him even at a $25 million salary they awarded him as part of a contract extension in August 2022, the value in the trade market progressed to the point that they dealt away their expected Opening Day starter.

Pepiot, 26, was expected to be part of the Dodgers rotation. In parts of two seasons with the Dodgers, he has thrived, posting a 2.76 ERA shuttling between the rotation and the bullpen. Pepiot was particularly sterling in 2023, with a 2.14 ERA and 38-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 42 innings, with his lone blemish seven home runs allowed. He enters the season with just one year of service time, giving Tampa Bay five years of control before he reaches free agency.

Deluca, 25, made his big league debut this year after consistently crushing minor league pitching over four seasons after the Dodgers took him in the 25th round of the draft out of Oregon. Capable of playing all three outfield positions, Deluca hit .271/.357/.526 in the minor leagues with strong walk and strikeout rates.

Accompanying Glasnow is the 29-year-old Margot, a highly regarded defender who will make $10 million this season and joins a Dodgers outfield that currently features James Outman, Chris Taylor and Jason Heyward. Betts is expected to move to second base full-time, leaving potential at-bats for Margot against left-handed pitchers, where his career OPS is nearly 100 points higher than against righties.

Glasnow had been with the Rays since 2018, when they acquired him, outfielder Austin Meadows and top prospect Shane Baz for right-hander Chris Archer. In his six seasons with the Rays, the 6-foot-8 Glasnow — whose high-90s fastball, low-90s slider and big-breaking curveball led to him striking out more than a third of hitters he faced in 2023 — went 27-16 with a 3.20 ERA over 388⅓ innings.

A variety of injuries have limited Glasnow. After 14 starts laced with dominance in 2021, he underwent Tommy John surgery. Glasnow returned for a pair of starts in 2022 and pitched in 21 games in 2023, increasing his career strikeout rate to 11.5 per nine innings, the second-highest mark among pitchers who have started at least two-thirds of their games and thrown 500-plus innings.

Other trade candidates include Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease, who’s expected to be dealt in the coming weeks; Milwaukee‘s Corbin Burnes, who has been considered in trade discussions with no momentum toward a deal; and Cleveland‘s Shane Bieber, who, like Glasnow and Burnes, is due to hit free agency after this season.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

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