Badgers’ Fickell hopes Vrabel can be around team
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell told ESPN on Thursday that he is hoping to have Mike Vrabel, his best friend and former teammate, “around as much as possible” with the team in an informal role the upcoming season.
Vrabel was fired by the Tennessee Titans last month and did not land an NFL job in this year’s hiring cycle. Vrabel and Fickell were teammates at Ohio State and coached together there as assistants.
“I love Mike and want him around as much as possible,” Fickell told ESPN. “I want to see how much he’d like to be around, in the spring for sure. And we’ll go from there.”
Fickell joked with ESPN that he is not intimidated by Vrabel’s 6-foot-4 frame, laughing as he referenced an anonymous quote to The Athletic that Vrabel’s physical presence could be intimidating to someone in an organization.
Fickell was a nose tackle at Ohio State. Vrabel played linebacker for the Buckeyes, and the two have remained close both personally and professionally since their time there in the 1990s.
It’s common in college football and the NFL for coaches who are out of work to spend time with friends and colleagues to offer opinions and an extra set of eyes.
Fickell first mentioned Vrabel’s potential presence in a radio interview this week.
“I talked to him, I think, on Saturday, and we hadn’t communicated for probably a week or so just because the process was going,” Fickell told ESPN Wisconsin’s “Wilde & Tausch.” “He sounded like a new man. And I’m not sure exactly if this was his choice, or what it is the future looks like, but I know that we’re going to have a visitor here that’s going to spend a little bit of time, hopefully around us. Starting, coming up in the spring and some things like that, see how much, how deep we can get involved with my buddy and get him around here.”
Fickell went 7-6 in his first season at Wisconsin. He led Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff in 2020.
TORONTO — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, two days after the third baseman left in the third inning because of a mild right ankle sprain.
The six-time All-Star was injured when he stumbled and fell while crossing first base on an infield single. Ramirez went down after being struck in the back by a throw from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Ramirez was batting third Sunday against right-hander Bowden Francis.
Ramírez sat out Saturday when Cleveland beat Toronto 5-3. He went 2 for 2 before departing Friday, boosting his average to .274. He has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.
In last Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Ramirez became the first primary third baseman to reach 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.
The New York Mets transferred Danny Young to the 60-day injured list on Sunday after team doctors recommended Tommy John surgery for the left-handed reliever.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters Sunday that the team is awaiting a decision from Young about the next step. The 30-year-old Young had been placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with an elbow sprain.
Young has appeared in 10 games this season, with a 4.32 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings. His most recent appearance came April 26. He pitched in 42 games in 2024, going 4-1 with a 4.52 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings.
Between Young’s injury and the left lat injury suffered last week by A.J. Minter, the Mets will be without their primary left-handed relievers for a significant length of time.
The Mets on Sunday called up right-hander Blade Tidwell from Triple-A Syracuse to make his major league debut in Game 1 on their doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Right-hander Austin Warren was optioned to Syracuse and appointed as the 27th player for both games of the doubleheader.
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