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MILWAUKEE — Brewers right-hander Aaron Civale is moving to a bullpen role for the first time in his seven-year career. His next move could be out of Milwaukee entirely.

One day after the Brewers announced they were shifting him to the bullpen to make room for flame-throwing prospect Jacob Misiorowski in the rotation, Civale said he wants to continue starting, even if that means getting traded.

“We’re exploring opportunities for me to get back into a rotation, whether that’s here or elsewhere,” Civale said Thursday. “That type of decision is out of my hands. We’re exploring the options to give me the chance to do what I do best, and that’s to go out there and start.”

Civale’s agent, Jack Toffey, made the trade request to Brewers general manager Matt Arnold shortly after the team informed Civale he was moving to the bullpen. Toffey said the conversation was “very professional” and that Civale is merely examining his options.

“Aaron is not angry or banging his fist on the table,” Toffey said, according to The Athletic. “But it’s a little confusing because he did not pitch his way out of the rotation whatsoever. It’s more of a subjective choice the organization is making.”

Civale, who turned 30 on Thursday and is eligible for free agency after the season, spoke to the media before Misiorowski made his major league debut in the opener of a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Misiorowski’s arrival gave Milwaukee a surplus of starting pitchers. Civale (1-2, 4.91 ERA) was the odd man out when the Brewers opted to go with a rotation of Misiorowski, Freddy Peralta (5-4, 2.69), José Quintana (4-1, 2.66), Quinn Priester (4-2 3.65) and Chad Patrick (3-6, 3.25).

“I’m not trying to leave this organization,” Civale said. “I’m in a position physically where I feel like I can contribute best as a starting pitcher. Right now, that’s not in my plans here. That’s not to say that can’t change, but the reason that would change is not necessarily a good thing. That means something happened to somebody else.”

Although Civale has made two career postseason relief appearances in 2022 with Cleveland and 2024 with Milwaukee, he has been a starter for all his regular-season performances in the major leagues and minor leagues. Civale said his last regular-season relief performance came in college at Northeastern.

“Whatever’s next, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on,” said Civale, who owns a 40-37 carer record with a 4.06 ERA. “This is typically early in the season for a trade to go down, but I know what I can do. I think a lot of people know what I can do. Whatever the next steps are, they are. Go from there.”

Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said he doesn’t believe Civale’s disenchantment should cause a distraction that might hinder the Brewers.

“We deal with players being unhappy all the time,” Murphy said. “That’s their right to do. Aaron’s got a great history. He’s performed well for this organization. He’s got a right to feel the way he wants to feel. Now it’s time for him to go behave, and he’s got to go pitch for us if we ask him to pitch for us. And I think he will. He’s that type of guy. I respect him a great deal.”

Civale said he will do what the team wants from him. Civale said he’d be ready to work out of the bullpen as early as Saturday, since that would be five days after his last start.

“If I end up finding my way back to the rotation here, that’s awesome,” Civale said. “If it’s somewhere else, that’s awesome, too. But for the time being, I’ll do what’s asked of me, go out there and compete . That’s what I do best.”

The Brewers acquired Civale from the Tampa Bay Rays last July, and he signed a one-year, $8 million contract in the offseason that enabled him to avoid arbitration. Civale had joined Tampa Bay a year earlier in a trade-deadline deal with the Cleveland Guardians.

Civale went on the injured list thsis year after straining his hamstring in his first start of the season, a 12-3 loss to the New York Yankees before going on the injured list with a hamstring strain. He returned to action May 22 and has allowed seven runs over 19 innings in four starts since.

“This is not a situation where I’m trying to leave this team,” Civale said. “The other guys are great. The coaching staff’s great. The players are great. I really love competing with all of them. It’s just I feel like I still have more to contribute and more to this game, and I feel like I’m best suited to do that as a starting pitcher. I’ve worked very hard to get to this position.

“There’s no ill will toward anybody. This city has been a great home to me and my wife for the past year. I know there’s probably going to be some animosity towards this type of thing. There’s a negative connotation when this type of thing comes around, but I’m just trying to do what’s best.”

The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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Florida freshman WR Wilson to debut vs. Texas

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Florida freshman WR Wilson to debut vs. Texas

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has offensive help on the way with a freshman receiver who just might make a difference against No. 9 Texas on Saturday.

Dallas Wilson is practicing for the first time since injuring his left foot in training camp and is scheduled to make his collegiate debut against the Longhorns, coach Billy Napier said Monday.

Napier called Wilson’s availability “a big deal.”

“Three good days of work last week, and I thought he handled the load well,” Napier said. “He feels really good. So far, so good.”

Wilson, a 6-foot-3, 213-pound newcomer from Tampa, was the star of Florida’s spring game in April. He caught 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and all indications in fall practice pointed to it not being a fluke.

But Wilson injured his foot late in camp, spent weeks in a protective boot and watched from afar as the Gators (1-3, 0-1 SEC) struggled to move the ball and find the end zone. Florida scored 16, 10 and 7 points, respectively, in consecutive losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami, raising speculation about Napier’s future in Gainesville.

Quarterback DJ Lagway has been the focus of the team’s offensive woes. The sophomore who went 6-1 as a starter last season missed most of the year dealing with injuries and looked rusty when the season began.

Although Lagway’s mechanics seemed improved in the team’s 26-7 setback at Miami on Sept. 20, his offensive line got manhandled and allowed way too much pressure for anyone to notice. Lagway completed 12 of 23 passes for 61 yards against the Hurricanes.

Napier used the off week to get Lagway more live-action reps in hopes of getting him “caught up.” But he also reiterated the need to “play better around him.”

“Each position group needs to step up,” Napier said. “More detail, eliminate errors, eliminate penalties, whatever the case may be. I just think more detail and better overall play around him. And, obviously, he needs to continue to get back closer to being himself.”

Adding Wilson to the mix should help.

The Gators haven’t shown much depth at receiver. Freshman Vernell Brown III has been Lagway’s go-to guy, catching 18 passes for 219 yards. But Eugene Wilson III, J. Michael Sturdivant and Aidan Mizell have been mostly underwhelming.

Dallas Wilson has been unable to help — until now. The Gators are confident he will change the narrative against the No. 1 scoring defense in the SEC.

“Just having him out is going to be amazing for us,” Lagway said. “His ability to go deep, his ability to make plays underneath and be able to make miraculous plays with the ball in his hands, it’s going to be great to have him back.”

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Finebaum mulls leaving ESPN for U.S. Senate run

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Finebaum mulls leaving ESPN for U.S. Senate run

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said Monday that he would consider leaving ESPN to run for the U.S. Senate, representing Alabama.

The 70-year-old Finebaum said during a recent interview with Outkick that he’d run as a Republican to fill the seat vacated by former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, who has said he’ll run for Alabama governor in the 2026 elections. Tuberville’s current Senate term ends in 2027.

The qualifying deadline to run for Senate is Jan. 26, 2026. Finebaum said he would likely have to leave his hosting and analyst duties if he decided to run. He told Outkick he’d make a decision within the next 30-45 days.

Finebaum said he hadn’t seriously considered politics, but the assassination of Charlie Kirk was the impetus to give a run at politics further thought. He noted that he had received a “text” from “one or two people in Washington” gauging his interest in politics.

“[It was] something I never thought about before,” Finebaum told Outkick.

Finebaum is currently registered as a Republican in North Carolina, where he works for the SEC Network. He told Outkick he recently moved to Alabama, where he hosted a radio show for years, and would re-register there.

Finebaum hosted radio shows in Alabama for almost 30 years before joining ESPN and the SEC Network. He started his media career as a newspaper writer and columnist.

“Alabama has always been the place I’ve felt the most welcome, that I’ve cared the most about the people,” he said. “I’ve spoken to people from Alabama for 35 years, and I feel there is a connection that is hard to explain.”

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

Bobby Petrino has fired three defensive assistants just one day after being named interim head coach at Arkansas as part of an overhaul of the Razorbacks’ coaching staff.

Petrino dismissed defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and defensive assistant Marcus Woodson in the latest moves after being appointed interim coach for the rest of the season to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired Sunday following five-plus seasons as Arkansas’ head coach.

“I just felt like how we performed on Saturday gave me an indication that maybe Sam had lost the team a little bit because they generally had played really hard for him throughout his tenure,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said of the move, which came on the heels of a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame.

Petrino, 64, returned to Arkansas in 2023 as offensive coordinator after serving in a number of jobs. In four years as the Razorbacks’ head coach, he went 34-17, including consecutive seasons with double-digit victories in 2010 and 2011.

“Coach Petrino, as we met yesterday, he accepted this opportunity with the understanding that he also wanted an opportunity to formally be a candidate for our head coaching position, and he will have that opportunity, but we’ll also subsequently run a search for our next head coach at the same time,” Yurachek said.

Pittman’s dismissal, Petrino’s temporary promotion and the defensive assistant dismissals weren’t the only changes. Chris Wilson was named the team’s interim defensive coordinator.

Petrino had high praise for Wilson, who was in his first year with the Razorbacks as an assistant defensive line coach.

“My experience [with Wilson] goes way back to having to battle against him when he had all the great defensive linemen at Mississippi State,” Petrino said. “Very, very impressed with what he’s done throughout his career. Guy’s got a Super Bowl ring. He brings a lot of credibility into the room.”

Several defensive players posted cryptic messages on social media following the firing of Williams, who had served as the team’s defensive coordinator since 2023. Yurachek and Petrino encouraged players to welcome change amid a 2-3 start to the season.

“The No. 1 thing is, you have to get used to change. You know, your whole life there’s going to be change. So how we handle that, our attitude on how we handle that, will determine how quickly we improve,” Petrino said.

Petrino was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in April 2012 that left him with four broken ribs. At first, he said he was riding alone, but a police report revealed a woman was riding with him. The woman turned out to be a former Arkansas athlete who was in a romantic relationship with the married Petrino. The coach had given her a job in the football program and a $20,000 gift.

Petrino was fired by then-athletic director Jeff Long for misleading his bosses about what happened with the accident and his relationship with the football staffer.

Pittman, 63, went 32-34 with the Razorbacks.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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