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The Pittsburgh Pirates unveiled their City Connect uniforms Thursday, a yellow and black look that pays homage to the city’s bridges and exemplifies the city’s shifting from the steel industry toward medicine and technology.

“We anchored in this idea, this transition this city is going through, an evolution,” Pirates executive vice president of marketing and fan engagement Stephen Perkins said. “While the steel industry is here, this city is becoming a technology center.”

On the front of the uniform is a PGH graphic featuring a structural font meant as a nod to the city’s bridges. Each letter contains a texture also found on the Roberto Clemente Bridge, which connects downtown Pittsburgh to PNC Park, home of the Pirates.

“We wanted this to be a forward looking view of what Pittsburgh is,” Perkins said. “We didn’t want to do the obvious thing and make it look like steel or like the bridge.”

Across the uniform is a subtle pattern that features an astroid design, an iconic shape for the Pittsburgh steel industry, a three rivers shape nodding to the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers meeting and a checkered look, which is a reference to the seal of the city. On the sleeve is a patch of the Pirates “P.”

“Pittsburgh has a blue-collar, heads-down mentality,” Perkins said. “We aren’t boisterous, so the design inspiration was subtlety and trying to tell the story that the beauty is in the details, there’s more than meets the eye.”

Above the jersey’s jock tag is the phrase, “We bleed black and gold.” The uniform also features black pants, a growing trend among baseball uniforms since the start of the City Connect series in 2021. While the Pirates did look at other colors and nicknames for the city used by other teams and schools, the team landed on this design.

“We’re the only city where all teams wear the same colors. Black and gold is the city,” Perkins said. “You don’t make design decisions for design’s sake.”

The Pirates will wear the uniform Friday nights at home, debuting the look on June 27 against the San Diego Padres.

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Chavez, 41, signs minor league deal with Rangers

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Chavez, 41, signs minor league deal with Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez has agreed to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to spring training with the Texas Rangers, the team that drafted the 41-year-old pitcher nearly 23 years ago.

The Rangers also on Monday signed right-hander David Buchanan, outfielder Cody Thomas and catcher Chad Wallach to minor league deals with invitations to big league spring training.

Chavez was 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 46 games last season for Atlanta. He has a 51-65 record with a 4.25 ERA in 653 career games (85 starts) over 17 seasons with nine different teams. He was a World Series champion in 2021 with the Braves.

Texas took Chavez in the 42nd round of the 2002 amateur draft, and traded him four years later to Pittsburgh, where he made his big league debut in 2008.

He was 6-6 with a 4.58 ERA in 96 games (nine starts) for the Rangers from 2018-20. He signed with Texas as a free agent before the 2018 season, was traded to the Chicago Cubs later that summer and then re-signed with Texas in free agency before the 2019 season.

The 35-year-old Buchanan made one relief appearance for Cincinnati last season, his first MLB game since 36 starts for Philadelphia from 2014-15 until pitching three seasons in Japan and four in Korea.

Wallach hit seven home runs in 65 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 2023, and spent all of last season with their Triple-A team. Thomas, a left-handed hitter who played in 29 games for Oakland in 2022 and 2023, hit .263 with two homers and 19 RBI in 79 games in Japan last year.

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Rangers create TV network to produce, air games

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Rangers create TV network to produce, air games

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have created a new company to oversee production and distribution of their game broadcasts.

The MLB team on Monday unveiled the Rangers Sports Media & Entertainment Company. That company will include the new Rangers Sports Network (RSN) and the existing REV Entertainment that is the team’s official sports and entertainment partner and official booking agent for events at its current and former stadiums.

“One of the main goals when seeking solutions for Rangers television broadcasts was to give fans more access to our games,” Rangers majority owner Ray Davis said. “We determined that the best path toward providing our fans with more options is to handle many of the broadcast obligations in-house.”

The Rangers earlier this month entered into a multiyear agreement with A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC) to stream Rangers regional games directly to consumers on the Victory+ service starting this year. The team said then that service, which will cost $100 to access games for a full season, was the first step in providing multiple viewing options after several seasons of access issues, but still hasn’t revealed details about additional options.

Formation of the Rangers Sports Network comes before the anticipation of deals for local TV rights to have games air through traditional cable providers along with some limited over-the-air broadcasts. The Rangers have more than 16 million households in their broadcast territory over parts of five states.

Neil Leibman, who is part of the team’s ownership group, will be chairman of the Rangers Sports Media & Entertainment Company, relinquishing his previous team responsibilities as COO and president of business operations. Jim Cochrane, a 28-year veteran of the Rangers front office, was promoted to executive vice president and chief business officer.

The Rangers previously had their regional broadcasts on Bally Sports Southwest, part of the financially troubled Diamond Sports Group that went through a bankruptcy reorganization. The team’s deal with Diamond expired at the end of last season. Bally Sports Southwest was not available through some cable companies and many popular streaming platforms.

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Orioles agree to 1-year deal with OF Carlson

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Orioles agree to 1-year deal with OF Carlson

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles agreed to terms with Dylan Carlson on a $975,000, one-year contract Monday, a couple of months after the outfielder was non-tendered by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Carlson was a first-round draft pick in 2016 by the St. Louis Cardinals, and he hit 18 home runs in his first full season in 2021. Since then, however, he’s hit only 16.

Carlson hit .209 with three home runs and 25 RBIs in 96 games for the Cardinals and Rays in 2024, but at age 26 the switch-hitter may still have some upside and can play all three outfield spots.

The Orioles lost right fielder Anthony Santander to Toronto via free agency, and they’ve added outfielder Tyler O’Neill. Also in the mix for playing time in the Baltimore outfield are Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad.

Carlson’s deal includes a $25,000 bonus if he reaches 200 plate appearances.

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