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Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga and the Chicago Cubs are working toward an agreement, a source told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on Tuesday.

Imanaga, 30, excelled during eight seasons with the Yokohama Bay Stars in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, going 74-55 with a 2.96 ERA and striking out 1,183 in 1,129⅔ innings.

While his fastball averages only 92 mph, Imanaga generates a significant amount of carry on the pitch, leading to the gaudy strikeout numbers and general effectiveness not often seen in someone who stands 5-foot-10.

In 2023, Imanaga, recognizable for throwback-style high socks, posted a 2.80 ERA and had nearly an 8-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, punching out 174 and walking just 24 in 148 innings. He throws a variety of pitches — in addition to the fastball, he’s got a splitter, a traditional slider, a sweeper, a curveball, a cutter and a straight changeup — though he could lessen his arsenal as he transitions to a different ball in MLB as well as more frequent starts.

Imanaga would fit near the top of the Cubs’ rotation behind ace Justin Steele. Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks slot in next, with youngsters Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad in the mix at the back end.

Steele is under team control for several more years, while Taillon is on a long-term deal. Hendricks will be a free agent after the 2024 season.

Besides Wicks and Assad, the team is also banking on its farm system to keep churning out young pitchers, as highly touted prospects Cade Horton and Ben Brown could make their way to the big leagues next season.

The move would easily be the Cubs’ largest of the winter, as they were only showing up on the transactions page via minor league signings, outside of backup catcher Brian Serven, whom they claimed via the waiver wire from the Colorado Rockies.

The discussions with Imanaga come just days before Chicago’s annual winter fan convention, where the spotlight will be on new manager Craig Counsell.

Imanaga is seen as perhaps the best pitcher in the second tier of this free agent class, with countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto joining Blake Snell, Aaron Nola and Jordan Montgomery among the most sought-after arms.

Ohtani, the two-way star, agreed to a record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yamamoto set a record for a Japanese player coming to the United States, receiving $325 million from the Dodgers over 12 seasons.

Imanaga started the World Baseball Classic final for Team Japan and earned the win in the finals against the U.S., allowing one run over two innings while Team USA starter Merrill Kelly gave up a pair of runs in 1⅓ innings. In six innings at the WBC, Imanaga allowed two runs on seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

USA Today Sports first reported the progression in talks between Imanaga and the Cubs.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan contributed to this report.

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Ward breaks Keenum’s D-I passing TD record

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Ward breaks Keenum's D-I passing TD record

ORLANDO, Fla. — Cam Ward made NCAA history in his final college game.

The Miami Hurricanes quarterback threw a record-setting 156th touchdown pass of his college career Saturday, connecting with Jacolby George for a 4-yard score with 4:12 left in the first quarter of the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

That’s the Division I — FBS and FCS — record, one more than Houston‘s Case Keenum threw from 2007 through 2011.

Ward finished with three touchdown passes in the first half, pushing his total to 158. Emory Williams started the second half for Miami.

Ward might not hold the record for long. Oregon‘s Dillon Gabriel — whose team could play as many as three games in the College Football Playoff — has 153 touchdown passes so far in his career, spanning six seasons at UCF, Oklahoma and now Oregon.

Either way, Ward is assured of finishing college with one of the top careers by any quarterback at any level.

He entered Saturday with 17,999 yards — 6,908 at Incarnate Word, 6,968 at Washington State and 4,123 at Miami — for the third-most in NCAA history behind only Keenum (19,217) and Gabriel (18,423).

And when it’s all done, Ward will be on the touchdown list for a while as well.

The all-division NCAA record is 162 touchdown passes by John Matocha from Division II’s Colorado School of Mines from 2019 through 2023.

Tyson Bagent of Division II’s Shepherd threw for 159 touchdowns from 2018 through 2022. Braxton Plunk of Division III’s Mount Union threw for 158 from 2019 through 2023; North Central’s Luke Lehnen, whose team will play in the Division III national championship game next month, also has 158 in his career.

And now Ward has 158, as well.

Ward rewrote Miami’s record book in 2024, his lone season with the Hurricanes. He will leave as Miami’s single-season leader in yards, completions and touchdown passes. He was on pace entering Saturday to leave as the Hurricanes’ leader in completion percentage — for a season (65.8%, set in 2023 by Tyler Van Dyke) and for a career (64.3% by D’Eriq King in 2020 and 2021).

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UConn extends coach Mora through 2028 season

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UConn extends coach Mora through 2028 season

UConn football coach Jim Mora has agreed to a new contract that includes two additional years that will take him through the 2028 season, the school announced Saturday.

The deal includes a raise to an average of $2.5 million annually over the course of the deal. He made $1.81 million in base salary in 2024, and the new deal will increase that base to $2.1 million in 2025.

Mora’s deal comes after he revived UConn football in his first three years at the school. He took over a program that went 1-11 in the year before his arrival and has led it to two bowl games in three years.

That includes an 8-4 regular season in 2024, which earned UConn a spot in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl against North Carolina on Saturday.

“Three years ago, I tasked Jim Mora with the challenge of leading our football team back to success and through his experience, energy and leadership he has done just that,” UConn athletic director David Benedict said in a statement. “He has taken our program to post season bowl games twice and just guided our team to one of the best seasons in UConn football history, building a momentum to keep this program moving forward. I look forward to his leadership of our football team in the years ahead.”

If Mora leads UConn to a win over North Carolina, it will mark the Huskies’ first nine-win season since 2007 and just the third nine-win season in school history. UConn went to the Myrtle Beach Bowl in Mora’s first year in 2022, the school’s first bowl game since Bob Diaco led the Huskies to the St. Petersburg Bowl in 2015.

Mora is a veteran coach who had two stints in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks. He is in his ninth season as a college head coach, as he took the UCLA job in 2012 and had a successful stint there that included a pair of 10-win seasons. UCLA hasn’t won 10 games in a season since Mora left.

He mentioned at the Fenway Bowl news conference Friday that UConn went undefeated against Group of 5 teams this season, with its losses against Maryland, Duke, Wake Forest and Syracuse.

The 8-0 record against teams outside the power leagues, Mora noted, made UConn one of three Group of 5 teams to go undefeated against Group of 5 competition. He said that was a sign of UConn’s growth as a program.

“For this program, we want to start not just competing with but beating Power 4 teams,” Mora said, “and making the statement that we are becoming very relevant again on the football field.”

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Georgia QB Beck declares for 2025 NFL draft

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Georgia QB Beck declares for 2025 NFL draft

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, who underwent surgery earlier this week to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right, throwing elbow, declared for the 2025 NFL draft Saturday.

In a social media post, Beck thanked his Georgia teammates and coaches, calling his time with the program “an incredible journey” and writing that he will be around to support the Bulldogs during their College Football Playoff run, which begins Wednesday against No. 7 seed Notre Dame in a quarterfinal matchup at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Beck injured his elbow on the final play of the first half against Texas in the SEC championship game Dec. 7. Renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed Beck’s surgery Monday in Los Angeles. Beck is expected to make a full recovery, according to the school, and he will resume throwing in the spring.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback is in his fifth year at Georgia, but he had another year of eligibility because of the COVID year in 2020 and appeared in only three games in 2021.

Beck, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, went 24-3 as Georgia’s starter the past two seasons. He entered the fall as one of the top NFL prospects at quarterback. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. listed Beck and Colorado‘s Shedeur Sanders as the top quarterbacks for the 2025 draft entering the season. Kiper’s latest Big Board lists Beck as the No. 4 draft-eligible quarterback prospect, behind Sanders, Miami‘s Cam Ward and Alabama‘s Jalen Milroe.

Beck did not match his 2023 numbers this fall but still finished with 3,485 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, 11 of which he threw during a five-game midseason stretch. He had 7,426 passing yards and 52 touchdowns over the past two seasons for Georgia, and he was a two-time finalist for the Manning Award and was a second-team All-SEC selection in 2023.

Redshirt sophomore Gunner Stockton replaced Beck in the SEC title game, which Georgia won 22-19 in overtime, and will start against Notre Dame.

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