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SAN FRANCISCO — Minutes after Taylor Rogers insisted that he and identical twin Tyler are way past their days of pulling pranks, his brother did just that.

“We’re not tricksters,” Taylor had declared.

Then, just as Taylor began to finish his introductory video call with the Giants, joining the same San Francisco bullpen as Tyler, his brother came on under the screen name of Brennan Huff.

“Is it safe to say the Giants have the best looking bullpen in the National League West?” asked Huff, AKA Tyler.

“Absolutely, absolutely. It just got a whole lot better as of Wednesday when you officially signed Taylor Rogers,” his good-natured twin replied, playing along nicely.

Yep, Tyler failed mightily in pulling a fast one this time.

“You just let anybody on these Zooms, huh?” Taylor cracked to a Giants media relations executive.

Taylor, the lefty, will be pitching alongside Tyler, the righty, after Taylor Rogers signed a $33 million, three-year contract this week. Also Friday, President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said outfielder Michael Conforto‘s agreement on a $36 million, two-year contract will be finalized “imminently,” and he has gone through a successful physical.

The Rogers brothers didn’t plan on this happening, even after both pitching in the same game April 11 at San Francisco’s Oracle Park, Taylor then for San Diego. They went out to exchange the lineup cards in a special moment — just the second time in major league history that twins pitched in the same game and the first time on opposing teams.

“This was something we never really wanted to fully think that this could happen,” Taylor said. “It just always felt like it was a too-good-to-be-true type of thing and then going into the offseason this year I had a discussion with Ty and he said, ‘You know what, this is your free agency, you need to do what’s best for you.’ And he said, ‘If it happens to be the Giants, great, if not, that’s great, too.'”

It is great for the parents and family members of he 32-year-old twins, born Dec. 17 in Littleton, Colorado: one-stop watching and cheering.

“We’re going to have family around way more often now, bugging us,” Taylor said. “They are all totally excited and same thing, they never allowed themselves to think that was a possibility either. It always just felt like a movie.”

Taylor Rogers, a 2021 AL All-Star for Minnesota, went 4-8 with a 4.76 ERA and 31 saves over 66 appearances in 2022 with San Diego and Milwaukee. His 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings is a career best over a full season – 84 batters in 64 1/3 innings.

Tyler Rogers uses a unique sidearm delivery and went 3-4 with a 3.57 ERA over 68 outings and 75 2/3 innings last season as San Francisco missed the playoffs a year after winning the NL West with a franchise-best 107 victories.

Zaidi is thrilled to have them both as he looks to build one of the best bullpens in the league like the Giants had two years ago. He called it an “interesting negotiation.”

“He didn’t want us to think that he would just sign with us no matter what, and we didn’t want them to necessarily think that he was our only option, so we kind of danced around each other for a lot of the offseason,” Zaidi said, chuckling. “He’s such a great fit beyond the great story of these brothers getting to play together, which I just think is awesome.”

Taylor Rogers reached the big leagues in April 2016, nearly 3 1/2 years before his brother, yet they refuse to make comparisons given their respective organizations had different needs at the time.

He sure appreciated his brother’s support on whatever decision he made this winter.

“The best part of this is that we weren’t trying to make this happen in the beginning, I was just going in as clean slate, free agent, see kind of what would fit for me,” Taylor said. “This happened because the Giants needed a left-handed pitcher and it’s just gravy on top that Ty’s here, too. I think that’s what’s cool about it, is it happened naturally, we weren’t forcing it.”

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SEC outlines discipline for fake injury ‘nonsense’

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SEC outlines discipline for fake injury 'nonsense'

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent a memo Friday to league athletic directors and head football coaches outlining punishment if players continue to fake injuries in games.

“As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create time-outs,” Sankey wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN.

He ended the memo by writing: “Play football and stop the feigned injury nonsense.”

Increasingly over the past few years, coaches have repeatedly accused opposing teams and coaches of faking injuries to disrupt the rhythm and flow of offenses, especially those that are up-tempo and rarely huddle. Broadcasters have pointed out several obvious cases this season when players flopped to the ground near the sideline claiming to be injured just as the opposing offense was about to snap the ball.

Each play where a fake injury might have occurred must be submitted to the SEC for review. Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of football officiating, will determine what constitutes a fake injury. According to Sankey’s memo, those guidelines will range from Shaw determining that a feigned injury has occurred, that it is more likely than not that a feigned injury has occurred, that a player attempted to feign an injury or any other general statement from Shaw establishing the probability of a feigned injury.

Sankey wrote that creating injury timeouts, on offense or defense, is “not acceptable and is disrespectful to the game of football.”

Punishments laid out in Sankey’s memo include the following: for the first offense, a head coach receives a public reprimand and a $50,000 fine; for the second offense, another reprimand and a $100,000 fine; for a third offense, another reprimand and the coach will be suspended for his program’s next game.

Any staff member found to be involved in signaling or directing a player to feign an injury will face the same measures, including financial penalties and a suspension. A player cited for feigning an injury also may be subject to a public reprimand.

Sankey told reporters a few weeks ago at the Oklahoma-Texas game that he was concerned about the growing accusations of faking injuries.

“If somebody’s injured, we need to take that seriously,” Sankey said. “But creating the questions — and I mean this all across the country — needs to stop.”

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Sources: Top Michigan CB Johnson out vs. Oregon

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Sources: Top Michigan CB Johnson out vs. Oregon

All-American Michigan cornerback Will Johnson is out against No. 1 Oregon on Saturday, sources confirmed to ESPN, leaving the Wolverines without their top defensive player.

Johnson left the Illinois game on Oct. 19 with a lower-body injury and missed the Michigan State game last week. He’s still recovering from that lower-body injury, and his timeline to return is uncertain.

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said this week that Johnson is expected back at some point this season “for sure” but didn’t specify when.

Johnson is considered the top cornerback prospect for the upcoming NFL draft. He has delivered two pick-sixes this year for the Wolverines, returning interceptions 86 yards against Fresno State and 42 yards against USC.

Last season, he snagged four interceptions for the Wolverines and earned defensive MVP honors for the 2023 national championship game.

247 Sports first reported Johnson’s expected absence.

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Baffert’s horses 1-2 in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

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Baffert's horses 1-2 in Breeders' Cup Juvenile

DEL MAR, Calif. — Citizen Bull won the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 1½ lengths and Gaming was second at Del Mar on Friday, giving Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a 1-2 finish and his record sixth career victory in the race for 2-year-olds.

Ridden by Martin Garcia, Citizen Bull ran 1¹⁄₁₆ miles in 1:43.07. He paid $33.80 at 15-1 odds.

Citizen Bull earned 30 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, where Baffert will return next year for the first time since 2021. His three-year ban by Churchill Downs ended in July.

Gaming was the 6-1 third choice. Baffert’s other entry, Getaway Car, named for the Taylor Swift song, finished fourth at 25-1 odds.

“It’s exciting when your horses show up,” Baffert said. “I was hoping they’d run 1-2-3.”

It was Baffert’s 19th career Cup win and he broke a tie with D. Wayne Lukas for most Juvenile victories. Jockey Martin Garcia earned his fifth career Cup win.

“He always comes through. He’s a big-time rider,” Baffert said of Garcia. “He told me, ‘I’m going to win it.'”

East Avenue, the 8-5 favorite, stumbled out of the starting gate and nearly went down to his knees. He finished ninth in the 10-horse field. Chancer McPatrick, the 5-2 second choice, lost for the first time in four career starts and was sixth.

Racing resumes Saturday with nine Cup races, highlighted by the $7 million Classic.

In other races:

– Immersive won the $2 million Juvenile Fillies by 4½ lengths, giving trainer Brad Cox at least one Cup win in each of the past seven years. Ridden by Manny Cox, Immersive ran 1¹⁄₁₆ miles in 1:44.36 to remain undefeated. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite, she paid $6 to win.

– Lake Victoria overcame a challenging trip to win the $2 million Juvenile Fillies Turf by 1¼ lengths. The 2-year-old filly ran 1 mile in 1:34.28 and paid $3.40 as the 3-5 favorite. Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore earned the win.

– Magnum Force rallied to overtake leader Governor Sam and win the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint by a quarter-length. The 12-1 shot ran five furlongs in 56.36 seconds and paid $27 to win. Irish trainer Ger Lyons and jockey Colin Keane earned their first Cup victories. Governor Sam, co-owned by Houston Astros free agent Alex Bregman, finished third.

– Henri Matisse won the $1 million Juvenile Turf, with Moore and O’Brien teaming for their second win of the day. Moore won his 16th career Cup race. It was O’Brien’s 20th career Cup win and seventh in the race. Sent off as the 7-2 favorite, Henri Matisse ran 1 mile in 1:34.48. Iron Man Cal was second and Aomori City third. There was a lengthy steward’s inquiry involving New Century, who finished fourth, and Dream On, who was fifth, but there was no change to the order of finish.

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