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President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Gail Slater, an antitrust veteran and economic adviser for JD Vance, to lead the Department of Justice’s antitrust division and take charge of a full docket of blockbuster monopoly cases against companies including Google, Visa and Apple.

Slater is expected to continue the department’s crackdown on Big Tech, including cases brought during Trump’s first term in the White House, Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform.

“Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector and, as we all know, using its market power to crack down on the rights of so many Americans, as well as those of Little Tech!” Trump said.

Slater served on the White House’s National Economic Council in 2018, where she worked on Trump’s executive order on national security concerns over Chinese telecommunications equipment.

Before joining Vance’s office, Slater worked at Fox Corp. and Roku.

Vance, the vice president-elect, has said antitrust officials should take a broader approach to antitrust enforcement, and praised the work of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan.

Slater grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and began her law career in London at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which brought her to Washington.

She spent 10 years at the FTC, first as an antitrust attorney where she brought cases to block mergers including Whole Foods’ acquisition of organic grocer Wild Oats, and later as an adviser to then-commissioner Julie Brill, who later became an executive at Microsoft.

Slater also represented Big Tech companies including Amazon and Google at a now-defunct trade group called the Internet Association.

She is still viewed as an antitrust hawk among Washington tech skeptics, who welcomed her appointment.

Garrett Ventry, a former adviser to Republicans in Congress and founder of GRV Strategies, said Slater’s nomination shows Trump is “serious about taking on Big Tech.”

“Antitrust enforcement is here to stay,” Ventry said.

The Tech Oversight project, a group that backed the work of Biden’s DOJ antitrust chief, Jonathan Kanter, said the nomination shows antitrust has staying power as a bipartisan political issue.

“Gail Slater is a strong candidate to continue that work,” said Sacha Haworth, the group’s executive director.

Slater will take over a number of high-profile cases in which some of the world’s largest companies are accused of illegally building and protecting monopolies.

Trump said Slater will “ensure that our competition laws are enforced, both vigorously and FAIRLY, with clear rules that facilitate, rather than stifle, the ingenuity of our greatest companies.”

The appointment would put Slater in charge of the DOJ’s bid to make Google sell off its Chrome browser and take other measures to curb its dominance in online search.

The DOJ filed the case in 2020, during the first Trump administration. But the proposals for fixes came under Kanter.

The judge overseeing the case has said Trump officials will not get extra time to reevaluate the proposals ahead of an April trial.

Google faces a second battle with the DOJ over its online advertising technology, while Apple faces allegations that it monopolized the US smartphone market.

Kanter also filed the DOJ’s first case alleging algorithmic price fixing against property management software company RealPage.

In another case, the DOJ is seeking to break up LiveNation and TicketMaster over practices that prosecutors say harm eventgoers and artists.

Slater would have wide latitude over the cases, though most are also being pursued by bipartisan state coalitions.

A case the DOJ brought in September alleging Visa unlawfully dominates the market for debit card payment processing does not involve state antitrust regulators.

Slater would also be in a position to continue or end probes, such as an investigation into Nvidia, the chip company that rode the artificial intelligence boom to become one of the world’s most valuable companies.

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Judge ties Berra on Yankees’ career HRs list

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Judge ties Berra on Yankees' career HRs list

CHICAGO — When Aaron Judge returned to the dugout after his first-inning homer, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone yelled “Yogi!” in the direction of his star slugger.

Yogi indeed.

Judge moved into a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth in franchise history when hitting his 358th career homer during Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

“Not getting [the win] kind of stings,” Judge said, “but you know, get a chance to tie one of the greatest if not the greatest Yankee in homers is, it’s pretty special. The way Yogi played the game, what he meant to these pinstripes, you knew how much it meant being a New York Yankee to him. I feel the same way.

“I’m honored to wear this jersey, so it’s pretty cool to be on that list with him.”

Judge drove an 0-2 cutter from Martin Perez deep to center for a one-out solo shot. Judge’s 43rd homer of the season had a 112.6 mph exit velocity and traveled 426 feet.

He made a bid for another homer in the third, but his drive went off the wall in center for a double. He also singled in the fifth and popped out for the final out of the seventh.

Batting with a runner aboard and one out in the ninth, he flied to center.

“Just missed the last one,” Boone said. “I thought he made the right move on the pitch. Looked like he got a hanger there that I thought he put a great swing on. He got under it a little bit and hit it straight up in the air. So those things happen.”

Judge, 33, also connected for a solo homer in New York’s 11-inning victory at Chicago on Saturday night. The two-time American League MVP and seven-time All-Star batted .241 (20-for-83) with 6 homers, 12 RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 24 games in August.

Next up for Judge and the Yankees is four consecutive series against playoff contenders, beginning with the opener of a three-game set at Houston on Tuesday night.

“That’s what we want,” said Judge, who signed a $360 million, nine-year contract with New York in December 2022. “It’s coming down to the wire. We want to play the best teams and especially getting down the stretch here into the postseason, this is what it’s all about.”

Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (659 homers), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493) and Joe DiMaggio (361) are on top of the Yankees’ career home runs list. Judge’s drive produced the first change in the franchise’s top five since Mantle hit his 203rd career homer Aug. 7, 1957, snapping a tie with Bill Dickey.

Judge was selected by New York in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft and made his debut with the Yankees in 2016. Berra was 90 when he died in 2015.

“Didn’t get to see him too much. He was definitely around over at big league camp,” Judge said. “But he was a special individual. A lot of the veteran guys talk highly of him. It was probably some of their favorite memories, you know, coming to spring training was having a chance to talk with him during camp, just hear some of his stories.”

Judge was activated from the 10-day injured list Aug. 5 after being sidelined by a flexor strain in his right elbow. He has been serving as the team’s designated hitter, but he could return to the outfield at some point this season.

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Phillies sign veteran RHP Buehler to minors deal

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Phillies sign veteran RHP Buehler to minors deal

The Philadelphia Phillies signed veteran right-hander Walker Buehler to a minor league contract, the team announced on Sunday.

Buehler was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley by Philadelphia. The Phillies plan to use Buehler, who will be eligible to pitch in the postseason, in their starting rotation, a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Buehler, who got the final out in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ World Series victory last season and was expected to be a key member of the Boston rotation this year, was released on Friday after the Red Sox concluded he couldn’t help their playoff push from the bullpen.

Buehler, 31, has struggled since signing a $21.05 million contract with Boston, going 7-7 with a 5.45 ERA. He made 22 starts before he was demoted to the bullpen last week; in his only relief appearance since earning a save in Game 5 of the Series, he allowed two runs in 2⅓ innings in a loss to the New York Yankees.

A two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Buehler is 54-29 in 144 starts over eight major league seasons. He struggled last year coming off a second Tommy John surgery but pitched a perfect ninth in the Series clincher two days after pitching five shutout innings as the starter in Game 3.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Red Sox, Chapman agree on $13.3M deal for ’26

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Red Sox, Chapman agree on .3M deal for '26

BOSTON — All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman and the Boston Red Sox finalized a $13.3 million, one-year contract for 2026 that includes a 2027 vesting option.

Chapman will be guaranteed $26 million over two years if he pitches at least 40 innings next season. The team announced the deal Sunday following a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park.

Chapman, who earned his eighth All-Star selection this season, gets a $13 million salary next year. If the left-hander reaches 40 innings in 2026, he gets a $13 million salary again in 2027. If not, he would receive a $300,000 buyout unless both sides accept a mutual option, which would be unlikely.

The 37-year-old Chapman is having perhaps his best year, with a career-low 1.02 ERA during his 16th major league season and first in Boston. He converted his 27th save Sunday.

“This guy has been great for us, and not only on the field,” manager Alex Cora said before the game. “What he’s done on the field is amazing.”

After earning his 350th career save this season, the hard-throwing Chapman said his goal was to reach 400.

He extended his career-best hitless streak Sunday to 15 games, the longest in club history and tied for the third longest in the majors since 1901. Toronto’s Sergio Santos was the last to go that long, in 2013.

Chapman has 76 strikeouts in 53 innings this season. He hasn’t given up a hit to the past 44 batters he has faced.

Chapman is 59-47 with a 2.52 ERA and 362 saves for the Reds (2010-15), Yankees (2016-22), Cubs (2016), Royals (2023), Rangers (2023), Pirates (2024) and Red Sox (2025). He ranks third in strikeouts by a relief pitcher (1,322) and 13th on the career saves list.

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