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4 months ago

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  • Associated Press

Sep 22, 2024, 02:15 PM ET

Tennessee moved up to No. 5 in the Associated Press college football poll on Sunday as the Volunteers continued to surge up the rankings, and No. 25 Boise State returned to the AP Top 25 for the first time in four years.

Texas was No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving 44 of 62 first-place votes as the top four teams remained the same. The Longhorns won a game as the top-ranked team in the country for the first time since 2008, cruising past UL Monroe in quarterback Arch Manning‘s first career start.

Georgia held at No. 2, receiving 13 first-place votes, and Ohio State is No. 3 with five first-place votes. Alabama is No. 4.

The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide were each off this past weekend as they prepare to meet next Saturday in Tuscaloosa for a top-5 matchup.

The Volunteers welcomed Oklahoma to the SEC with a 25-15 road victory that helped Tennessee rise in the rankings for the fourth straight week. The Vols started the season ranked No. 15 then went to No. 14 after Week 1, No. 7 after Week 2 and No. 6 last week.

Tennessee was last in the top five in 2022, peaking at No. 2 on Oct. 30.

Ole Miss slipped a spot to No. 6, and No. 7 Miami, No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Penn State all moved up one place.

No. 10 Utah moved up two spots after beating Oklahoma State on the road in a matchup of ranked Big 12 teams.

Boise State is making its first poll appearance since a two-week stay in early November 2020. The Broncos, two weeks removed from losing at Oregon on a last-second field goal, improved to 2-1 with a blowout of Portland State on Saturday.

POLL POINTS

The SEC’s stranglehold on the top of the rankings loosened a little, with Missouri‘s overtime victory against Vanderbilt dropping the Tigers four spots to No. 11. The conference still reached another milestone.

The SEC had gone two straight weeks holding down six of the top seven spots in the rankings, a first for one league in poll history. No conference previously even held five of the top seven spots, which the now 16-team SEC still has this week.

With Missouri slipping, the SEC still holds five of the top six spots, and it’s on a three-week streak of owning four of the top five. That streak is another AP poll first.

The only other time in the 88-year history of the poll that a conference had four of the top five ranked teams was the SEC on Oct. 19, 2014 (No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Auburn). That lasted a week.

WHO’S IN, WHO’S OUT

Boise State’s absence from the AP rankings had been notable after the Broncos became a poll fixture for nearly two decades.

Boise State went 19 straight seasons making at least one appearance in the AP Top 25, from its first-ever appearance in 2002 to 2020. The Broncos finished the season ranked 13 times during that span.

No. 22 BYU also made its season debut in the rankings. The Cougars (4-0) are in for the first time since Oct. 2, 2022, after routing Kansas State at home Saturday night. The loss dropped the previously unbeaten Wildcats 10 spots to No. 23.

Exiting the rankings this week after brief stays and their first losses of the season were Nebraska and Northern Illinois.

The Cornhuskers fell in overtime to Illinois, a victory that helped the Illini move up five spots to No. 19.

NIU, which had not played since upsetting Notre Dame two weeks ago, lost in overtime to Buffalo in a Mid-American Conference game.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC: 9 (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 14, 21, 24)
Big Ten: 6 (Nos. 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 19)
Big 12: 5 (Nos. 10, 18, 20, 22, 23)
ACC: 3 (Nos. 7, 15, 17)
Mountain West: 1 (No. 25)
Independent: 1 (No. 16).

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 2 Georgia at No. 4 Alabama: Bulldogs and Tide played eight times between 2012 and 2023 but only twice in regular-season meetings on each other’s home field. The other six were two national title games and four SEC championships.

No. 19 Illinois at No. 9 Penn State: Last time the Big Ten rivals met as ranked teams was 2008.

No. 20 Oklahoma State at No. 23 Kansas State: Second straight game against a ranked Big 12 opponent for the Cowboys. Only third time in 68 meetings both are ranked.

No. 15 Louisville at No. 16 Notre Dame: Second straight season the Cardinals-Fighting Irish is a ranked matchup.

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Sources: IF Kim, Rays agree to 2-year, $29M deal

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12 hours ago

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January 29, 2025

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Sources: IF Kim, Rays agree to 2-year, M deal

Infielder Ha-Seong Kim and the Tampa Bay Rays are in agreement on a two-year, $29 million contract that includes an opt-out after the first season, sources told ESPN, adding a Gold Glove winner to a Rays team that places significant emphasis on defense.

Kim, 29, who is expected to return from shoulder surgery in May, likely will start at shortstop but also has played second and third base, with his Gold Glove coming in a utility role.

The deal, which will pay Kim $13 million this season, is the most Tampa Bay has guaranteed in free agency for a position player since signing outfielder Greg Vaughn for four years and $34 million in 1999.

Before the partial tear of his right labrum required surgery, Kim was expected to land a free agent deal in the nine-figure range. With his opt-out, he can join a free agent class next year that’s thin on infielders, with shortstop Bo Bichette and second baseman Luis Arraez the only players of Kim’s caliber.

He arrived from Korea in 2021, signing with the San Diego Padres as a bat-first middle infielder. While the power Kim displayed in Korea didn’t show up as frequently as it did with the Kiwoom Heroes, his glove was a revelation, and in four seasons with the Padres, he posted double-digit wins above replacement despite never slugging above .400.

Tampa Bay enters the 2025 season with playoff aspirations but had been relatively quiet over the winter, signing catcher Danny Jansen and trading left-hander Jeffrey Springs to Oakland. The Rays used Jose Caballero and Taylor Walls at shortstop last season and are expected to do the same this year before the return of Kim.

Their infield already was a strength, with first baseman Yandy Diaz, second baseman Brandon Lowe and star-in-the-making Junior Caminero at third, with Christopher Morel, Curtis Mead, Jonathan Aranda and Richie Palacios also capable to playing on the dirt.

Shortstop Wander Franco, who was expected to be the Rays’ long-term solution at the position after signing an 11-year deal, remains on the restricted list while facing charges in the Dominican Republic of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation against a minor and human trafficking.

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Fantasy baseball rankings, projections, strategy and cheat sheets

Published

12 hours ago

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January 29, 2025

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Fantasy baseball rankings, projections, strategy and cheat sheets

  • ESPN Fantasy

Jan 29, 2025, 06:53 AM ET

All of your fantasy baseball draft preparation needs collected in one place! Here you’ll find rankings, projections, cheat sheets, analysis and strategy. Check back every day for new content through Opening Day of the 2025 season. If this is your first time playing fantasy baseball, might we recommend starting with the basics: The Playbook: How to play fantasy baseball.

Don’t have a team yet? Create or join a league and then dive into the latest draft-prep material tailored for whatever format you prefer.

The Playbook: Become an expert in 9 innings

•Inning 1: How to play fantasy baseball

•Inning 2: League Formats: Which is right for you?

•Inning 3: Everything you need to know about salary-cap drafts

•Inning 4: How to create the ultimate cheat sheet

•Inning 5: Roster optimization

•Inning 6: Nine must-follow tips

•Inning 7: Staying ahead of league trends

•Inning 8: Using advanced stats to get ahead

•Inning 9: Mastering the 2025 player pool

Rankings and cheat sheets

• Cockcroft: Points-league rankings

• Karabell: Head-to-head categories/rotisserie rankings

Advice from our experts

• Karabell: The top 10 fantasy baseball prospects for 2025 (1/29)

• Karabell: News or Noise (1/24)

• Zola: What to expect from Roki Sasaki and other Asian newcomers (1/15)

• Cockcroft: Reaction to Juan Soto signing with the New York Mets (12/9)

Roster-building essentials

• 2025 Player Projections and Outlooks

• “Hot stove” free agent and player movement tracker

• Live Draft Results

• Closer depth chart

• MLB depth charts

For Dynasty Leaguers

• Dynasty Top 300 (2025 edition coming soon!)

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Steinbrenner: ‘Difficult’ to spend like Dodgers

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18 hours ago

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January 29, 2025

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Steinbrenner: 'Difficult' to spend like Dodgers
Jan 29, 2025, 09:16 AM ET

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner weighed in on the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ offseason spending spree, saying it will be even more “difficult” to keep up with the reigning World Series champions.

The Dodgers have spent more than $450 million guaranteed this offseason, pushing their 2025 luxury tax payroll to approximately $390 million.

With the penalties for exceeding the $241 million threshold, the Dodgers’ total payroll for this year likely will be in excess of $500 million.

“It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they’re doing,” Steinbrenner said during an interview with the YES Network that aired Tuesday. “We’ll see if it pays off.”

Despite losing superstar Juan Soto as a free agent to the crosstown rival Mets, the Yankees also have had an active offseason, headlined by Max Fried‘s eight-year, $218 million deal.

The Yankees currently have Major League Baseball’s third-highest luxury tax payroll at just under $303 million. The Phillies are second at just under $308 million, more than $80 million behind the Dodgers.

The Yankees were listed in March 2024 by Forbes as MLB’s most valuable franchise, worth an estimated $7.55 billion, while the Dodgers were the second-most valuable at approximately $5.45 billion.

Los Angeles’ latest free agent addition, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan, is reliever Kirby Yates, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $13 million.

The Dodgers also have signed free agents Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Roki Sasaki, Michael Conforto and Hyeseong Kim; they re-signed Teoscar Hernandez and Blake Treinen; and they reached a multiyear extension with Tommy Edman.

Steinbrenner, whose Yankees lost to the Dodgers in last season’s World Series, added Tuesday that Los Angeles’ busy offseason does not guarantee another championship.

“They still have to have a season that’s relatively injury-free for it to work out for them,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s a long season as you know, and once you get to the postseason, anything can happen. We’ve seen that time and time again. We’ll see who’s there at the end.”

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