SMU’s Lashlee: End ‘terrible’ Dec. portal window
-
Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee suggested the December portal window should be eliminated, decrying that players have to make decisions about whether to transfer or play in the College Football Playoff.
Speaking Tuesday during his news conference before a CFP first-round matchup against Penn State on Saturday, Lashlee said having an open portal window while prepping for postseason games is “terrible,” while also noting the decision that Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula made to enter the portal.
“I feel so awful for our kids and kids around the country,” Lashlee said. “There’s no other sport at all that has free agency in the season. It’s sad. It’s terrible. You hear the story about their backup quarterback saying, ‘I don’t have a choice.’ That’s wrong. That’s unacceptable. That’s not OK. He shouldn’t have to make that decision.'”
SMU backup quarterback Preston Stone, who lost his starting job in Week 3, has chosen to stay with the Mustangs for their playoff run, but Lashlee said, “We’re working with him, but it’s still a juggling act.”
The December portal window opened Dec. 9 and closes Dec. 28 — although players whose teams made it to the CFP have a five-day window to enter, starting the day after their season ends.
“The real easy thing is you don’t have a transfer portal in December. That’s the real easy answer, and it solves all the problems,” Lashlee said. “Why in the world would we put kids in a position where they’ve got to decide, do I transfer or play in the playoff? Do I transfer or play my bowl game? Scholastically, it doesn’t make sense either, because your years end in May, not in December.”
Lashlee said college football has to take another look at the calendar to help alleviate what is happening now. In addition to players who may be considering a transfer, Lashlee said, “People are bombarding our roster, trying to pick people off our roster, and we’re trying to focus on the playoff. So yeah, it’s real easy: Don’t have a transfer portal in December. Go to the spring.”
If that were to happen, Lashlee said they should also consider moving more toward an NFL model when it comes to spring practices, which would begin after the portal closes — like OTAs in the NFL.
“We talk about making a system that is all great for [players], but we haven’t,” Lashlee said. “That’s part of your job as adults, is do what’s best for young people, not what they want necessarily, and they don’t want this. Yes, they want the ability to transfer and go where they want to go if they don’t like their situation. Yes, they want the ability to make money on their name, image and likeness. Neither one of those are bad things.
“We coaches have been saying this for the last three or four years with all these changes, and what happens is we just make all these random changes because we don’t want to get sued, or we don’t want to do this, we don’t want to do that. We don’t think about the long-term effects it has on the young people that we’re supposed to be serving.”
-
Jeff Passan, Senior MLB Insider
The New York Yankees acquired outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, continuing to stock up on high-end talent in the wake of outfielder Juan Soto‘s free agent defection to the New York Mets, sources told ESPN.
In the deal, the Yankees will receive $5 million to offset Bellinger’s salary — he will make $27.5 million in 2025 and has a player option for $25 million in 2026 — and will send right-hander Cody Poteet to the Cubs, sources said.
Bellinger, 29, is a former National League MVP whose father, Clay, played for the Yankees from 1999 to 2001. His return to form after three substandard seasons came in 2023 with the Cubs, and he agreed to a three-year, $80 million free agent contract with Chicago in March.
After hitting .266/.325/.426 with 18 home runs and 78 RBIs this year, Bellinger declined to opt out of the rest of his deal. Chicago will pay $2.5 million to cover part of Bellinger’s $27.5 million salary this season. The remaining $2.5 million will either cover the contract buyout if Bellinger does not exercise his player option or go toward his $25 million salary in 2026, according to a source.
New York’s acquisition of Bellinger follows the free agent signing of left-handed starter Max Fried and the trade for All-Star closer Devin Williams. Coming off a World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees have spent the week since Soto’s signing fortifying themselves for another run.
Bellinger’s versatility fits perfectly to fill holes in New York’s lineup. He is an above-average center fielder and can either play there or in left field if the Yankees prefer to use rookie Jasson Dominguez in center. He also is a top defensive first baseman, and while Anthony Rizzo‘s free agency opened the position, New York could opt for an in-house option in Ben Rice or pursue Pete Alonso or Christian Walker in free agency.
At his best, Bellinger is a middle-of-the-lineup force whose bat-to-ball skills should help buttress the loss of Soto. When he won the MVP as a 24-year-old in 2019, Bellinger hit .305/.406/.629 with 47 home runs. Over his eight-year career, he has batted .259/.334/.484 with 196 home runs and 597 RBIs in 1,005 games.
The Cubs had spent the winter seeking a trade partner for Bellinger, looking to free up payroll in hopes of improving a team that went 83-79 this year. The teams spent significant time haggling over the amount of money the Cubs would include in a potential deal.
Ultimately, they settled on the $5 million figure and the 30-year-old Poteet, who started four games for the Yankees this year. In 24⅓ innings, Poteet struck out 16, walked eight and posted a 2.22 ERA. In three major league seasons split between starting and relieving, Poteet has a 3.80 ERA with 69 strikeouts, 35 walks and 13 home runs allowed in 83 innings.
NEW YORK — The New York Mets signed infielder Jared Young to a one-year contract Monday, adding depth at first base after star slugger Pete Alonso became a free agent this fall.
Young is a .210 career hitter with two homers, eight RBIs and a .725 OPS in 22 major league games and 69 plate appearances with the Chicago Cubs from 2022-23.
He was claimed off waivers by St. Louis in November 2023 and batted .285 with 11 homers and a .917 OPS at Triple-A Memphis this year before being released by the Cardinals in July.
Young then played 38 games for the Doosan Bears in Korea, hitting .326 with 10 homers, 39 RBIs and a 1.080 OPS.
A left-handed hitter, the 29-year-old Young was born in Canada and selected by the Cubs in the 15th round of the 2017 amateur draft out of Old Dominion in Virginia.
All 12 of his big league starts have come at first base. He has played every position in the minors except catcher and center field.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway