Over the past few seasons, Tarik Skubal has been one of the best, if not the best, pitchers in the sport. Since 2023, Skubal has the second-lowest ERA among pitchers with at least 50 starts and ranks 9th in total strikeouts, despite having 13 fewer starts than every pitcher above him on that list. The two Cy Youngs are a culmination of his continued dominance, but now his upcoming free-agent decision looms large for the Detroit Tigers.
Skubal is a Scott Boras client. If you know anything about Boras guys, it’s not common for any of them to take team-friendly deals to stay in smaller markets, so this could very well be his final season in Detroit.
At this moment, the Tigers are 44-52, good for 4th in the AL Central, but are still only 3.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot. Detroit closed out the first half of the regular season strong, going 9-3, and got as close as 4.5 games of the Central division.
In a normal year, the season would be all but over for the Tigers, but fortunately they’re playing in one of the worst American Leagues we’ve ever seen. The trade deadline is August 3rd, so Detroit has five series to decide whether to make a playoff push or sell. Only one of those series is against a team over .500, and three of the other four series are against the three worst teams in the American League.
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Detroit isn’t out of it yet
Detroit is finally getting healthier, and a playoff push isn’t out of the question, but that doesn’t make them a contender. Skubal and Casey Mize make one of the best 1-2 punches in baseball, but the lineup is terrible.
Last season blinded Detroit to a flawed lineup. Most of the lineup outperformed their expected stats and have plummeted back to Earth this year. Kevin McGonigle, Riley Greene, and Dillon Dingler are a very solid top of the order, and Gelyber Torres should return from injury soon, but I’m just not very sold on this team.
The return you can get on a guy like Skubal can change the long-term direction of your organization. Mason Miller was dealt at the deadline for four players who are now the first, fourth, and twelfth-ranked players in the Athletics farm system. Skubal would only be a rental, but if you could land a top 10-20 prospect in the sport, I think you have to do it.
Unless Detroit is going to shock the world and pay Skubal’s massive extension, I think the Tigers should start preparing for a world without their ace. This team’s not strong enough to contend and will only set themselves back if they hold on to Skubal.
This time of year, come Open Championship week, it’s trendy to pick gritty golfers. Or low-ball hitters or great wind players or guys who can move it both ways. It’s easy to like the Matt Fitzpatricks and Justin Roses and Tyrrell Hattons — the guys who grew up on this side of the Atlantic and are familiar with links golf.
But what about relatively unknown, links-golf rookies? Because one of them is leading the 154th Open Championship.
Jackson Suber, the 26-year-old second-year PGA Tour player, played the back nine at Royal Birkdale in five-under 31 on Thursday to shoot 65 and steal the Round 1 clubhouse lead from Sungjae Im and Daniel Brown (66).
Forget golf, this week is his first time in Europe. His practice round at Royal Birkdale on Monday was the first links golf he ever played, and he had 27 holes under his belt before he teed off Thursday.
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How did he adjust so easily?
“I’m not really sure,” he said, “but I feel like I’ve just been playing good the last few months and just knowing that good golf is going to take care of everything, and really trusting my caddie to figure out where we’re going to hit it.”
Suber knew to avoid the pot bunkers, he said. And he checked out the course on YouTube last week. On Thursday, he parred his first four holes before a birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey stretch. He turned in even par and then got hot. Birdies on 10 and 11. Another on 14, which followed his only back-nine bogey on 13. He went birdie-eagle on 16 and 17 and then closed with a par on the difficult finishing hole.
He made six 3s on the back nine alone.
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Suber entered the week without any mind-blowing statistics. He was 69th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 117th in SG: Putting, although he ranked 20th in SG: Approach. Yet on Thursday, with several players still left to finish, he was third in SG: Approach and fifth in SG: Putting. He ranked 109th in SG: Off the Tee but still was first (+6.28) in SG: Total.
“I’ve been hitting the driver well, and I feel like I’m a good iron player,” he said. “Just a lot of long irons into these holes. I think that suits my eye. Then just chipping, I like chipping off tight, firm surfaces. Kind of feeling comfortable with that I think is important for me.”
Suber grew up in Tampa, Fla., and played collegiately at Mississippi. This is his third major start, and it’s his first that isn’t a U.S. Open. He made the cut in just half his starts as a PGA Tour rookie last year, although he was still exempt through this season via his top-30 finish on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List.
He’s made nine cuts in 15 starts this season and has finished fourth twice. The most recent was at the RBC Canadian Open last month, a tournament where he held the 54-hole lead for the first time in his career. He took sixth in his last start, which was the John Deere Classic two weeks ago.
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He credits some of the recent success to a few equipment changes — switching to the new ProV1 and Titleist GTS3 driver — and an increased focus on his mental game.
“This year I feel like I’ve been really coming into myself as a golfer and maturing and learning what works for me,” he said. “Just learning how to deal with my golf game on the road and playing a whole year and what I need to change when things are going a certain way and kind of how I need to be calibrating stuff every day.”
So far, so good, for his first trip to Europe. Although he’s yet to try driving on the other side of the road.
“Because I’m trying to make it here for four days,” he joked.
NEW YORK — If LeBron James knows where he will play this coming season, he’s still not saying.
The NBA’s career scoring king and current free agent spoke publicly for the first time in weeks Thursday afternoon, though stopped short of revealing which team he’ll choose to play for this fall — despite at least one cry from someone in a jampacked room shouting for him to “pick a team.”
“It’s going to be fun wherever I land,” James said.
The four-time NBA champion was recording an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast alongside guest co-host Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers in New York on the opening day of Fanatics Fest, a four-day event featuring dozens of athletes, celebrities and sports legends. Single-day general admission tickets were sold out, organizers said, and it’s likely that many of those patrons — there were at least several hundred there, phones out to capture the moment — were hoping to hear James’ next decision.
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“There’s no decision,” James said.
Thursday’s appearance has been planned for months; it was announced publicly in May. James playfully chided Haliburton for asking him about his future — “didn’t we talk about this in the back?” James asked, and Haliburton said he’d ”leave it alone.”
Of course, they didn’t leave it alone. James made reference to a slew of teams such as Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Golden State, though didn’t appear to give much in the way of hints. He did sip from a bottle of red wine that he opened and shared with Haliburton, calling it one of his podcast traditions.
And when fans shouted out suggestions for James’ next team — one even asked him to play for the New York Yankees — no clues were forthcoming.
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“We’ll see,” he said.
James is the NBA’s oldest active player at 41 and the only player in league history to have a career spanning 23 seasons; this coming season will be his 24th. Speculation has been rampant for more than two months about his future, officially starting in May when the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
At that time, James said he didn’t know what he would be doing.
And the only developments that he’s revealed since came on June 30, when he said he would play this coming season and that he was leaving the Lakers after an eight-season run highlighted by the 2020 NBA title.
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For more than two weeks, the NBA has been waiting to hear what comes next. James, as he did in a social media post at the time, lauded his time with the Lakers, who also offered him well-wishes as he moves forward.
“I spent eight great years with the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said.
James’ resume is beyond compare in NBA history. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
He’s also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
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The podcast was the first of two known speaking engagements for James in New York on Thursday.
He also has an appearance at the Game Plan Summit, an invitation-only event presented by CNBC and Boardroom. James is slated to have a conversation with Boardroom co-founder Rich Kleiman — Kevin Durant’s longtime business partner — about “how he’s built an empire beyond basketball, what’s ahead for him in business, and why the next generation of athletes is poised to wield more influence than ever before.”
James started his career in Cleveland in 2003 and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers before heading to Miami for four seasons, where he won his first two titles. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, leaving in 2018 to start an eight-season run with the Lakers.
Cleveland and Miami are believed to be on James’ radar again as he weighs this decision, as are several other teams, including Philadelphia, Minnesota and Golden State.
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“I’m looking forward to what comes next as I wind down my journey,” James said.
Yet, despite an inspirational effort, Pacquiao could only muster a draw against ‘El Azteca’, with a potential Mayweather rematch then taking precedent over a planned record-breaking world title win.
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Whilst a fight date and venue was unveiled earlier this year, Mayweather’s ongoing legal issues have caused a delay to the event, thus leaving Pacquiao open to pursue alternative fights this autumn, including a possible challenge for the WBO welterweight crown.
Although, on X, Sean Gibbons, manager of Pacquiao, offered his fighter up for a clash with ‘Tank’ Davis, when responding to a question of how the Baltimore knockout artist would have fared against boxing’s only eight-division world champion.
It was previously believed that Davis would not fight for the remainder of the year, but the 31-year-old has since denied those claims.
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Instead, he is eyeing up a first victory since June 2024 and with both of his rumoured opponents, Floyd Schofield and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, having moved on to different fights, Davis-Pacquiao could soon turn from a fantasy fight to a possible one.
“No Athlete Should Face This”: Aces Respond to Racist Abuse
The Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA have publicly condemned the racist and hateful messages directed at Chelsea Gray, issuing strong statements of support for the veteran guard while reaffirming their commitment to fighting discrimination across the league.
The Aces described the abuse as “hateful and racist messages” and made it clear that such behavior has no place in basketball or society.
“The Las Vegas Aces organization unequivocally condemns the hateful and racist messages recently directed at Chelsea Gray. We do not tolerate hate speech of any type, whether it’s online, in the arena, or anywhere within our community.”
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The organization also praised those who have taken action against the abuse, adding:
“No athlete should ever face this type of abuse for playing the game they love.”
Shortly after, the WNBA released its own statement in support of Gray and the Aces.
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“The WNBA fully supports the Las Vegas Aces’ statement and stands with Chelsea and every member of our league. We unequivocally condemn racism and all forms of hate.”
The league added that “there is no place for this behavior in sports or anywhere” and reaffirmed its commitment to protecting players while fostering “an environment built on respect and inclusion.”
The coordinated response from both the Aces and the WNBA sends a clear message that racism and hate speech will not be tolerated, and that players will continue to receive the league’s full support when they are targeted.
Spain and Argentina have booked their place in Sunday’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, closing out a tournament that has delivered exactly the showpiece many expected back in June.
Anyone checking theSpain Argentina odds will find a final between the reigning European champions and the reigning world champions, and that context alone points to a tightly contested match, with the possibility of the game being settled by penalties, something Argentina know only too well.
Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal will lead their countries into Sunday’s final aware that history could repeat itself under the lights in New Jersey.
How a shootout works
The format itself is brutally simple. Level after 90 minutes, teams play 30 minutes of extra time. Still level, it comes down to five penalties each, then sudden death if the sides can’t be separated. There’s no away goals rule to fall back on and no substitution that changes the outcome, just a long walk from the halfway line and one moment that follows a player around for the rest of their career.
Goalkeepers spend days before a big match studying where opposing takers tend to put the ball, but even the best preparation still comes down to a guess made in half a second.
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1994: Brazil vs Italy
Brazil and Italy played out a goalless draw in the searing heat of the Rose Bowl in 1994, still the only World Cup final never to produce a goal.
It went to penalties, and Roberto Baggio, Italy’s best player all tournament, stepped up last knowing a miss would hand Brazil the trophy. He put his effort over the bar, and Brazil won 3-2 on penalties, and that image of Baggio standing motionless, head down, has outlasted almost everything else from that tournament.
2006: France vs Italy
Twelve years later in Berlin, Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring for France with a cheeky chipped penalty, only for Marco Materazzi to equalise for Italy before half-time. The match finished 1-1 after extra time, remembered as much for Zidane’s headbutt on Materazzi and the red card that ended his career as for the football itself.
David Trezeguet then missed France’s fourth penalty off the crossbar. Fabio Grosso, who’d also scored the winner in the semi-final against Germany, stepped up to take the decisive kick and sent Italy to a fourth World Cup, won 5-3 on penalties.
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2022: France vs Argentina
The most recent shootout final needed no such reminder of its stakes. Argentina and France drew 3-3 after extra time in Qatar in 2022, in what many still call the best final ever played. Lionel Messi put Argentina 2-0 up with a penalty and a second goal before Kylian Mbappe dragged France level with two goals in the same minute. Messi restored the lead in extra time, only for Mbappe to complete his hat-trick from the spot and force penalties.
In the shootout, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, never shy of a bit of gamesmanship on the goal line, saved Kingsley Coman’s penaltyand watched Aurelien Tchouameni fire over the bar. That left Gonzalo Montiel to send Argentina into delirium and complete Messi’s collection of major honours.Few would have wanted tobet that outcome once Martinez had made his first save, and Sunday’s final looks capable of throwing up similarly fine margins.
Crawford pulled off the big upset last September as he successfully stepped up two weight divisions and earned a unanimous decision victory over Canelo at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to dethrone the Mexican superstar of his undisputed super-middleweight crown.
Canelo was keen to run things straight back as he chased an immediate rematch against Crawford, but ‘Bud’ instead made the decision to hang up his gloves and retire, vacating the world title belts in the process.
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It seems Canelo still holds some resentment towards that decision, as he told Ring Magazine that the only way Crawford would ‘get the credit he deserves’ would have been to face him for a second time.
“I always give [Crawford] credit, but we need to run it back.
“After the fight I said, ‘We need to run back this fight’, because I don’t feel I really won and I need to make this fight happen again. [If the rematch happens], it’s going to be different.
“For him to deserve all the credit, he needs to give me the rematch. But he decided to retire, and we need to accept that and move forward.”
While the Cleveland Browns and safety Grant Delpit may be treading around a contract issue on the heels of training camp, there is no doubt the impact that he has made on the field.
Drafted by the Browns in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Delpit has been a mainstay in Cleveland, earning a second contract during the 2023 season. While he now enters the final year of that second contract, personnel around the league have taken notice of his impact with the Browns.
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As ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler continues to poll executives around the NFL to form an aggregated ranking system, he has arrived at the safety position today. And while Delpit did not make the cut as a top-10 safety in the NFL, he did get a nod as an honorable mention
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What NFL execs have to say about the Browns’ safety
What has one AFC executive excited about Delpit is his versatile skillset and ability to be deployed in a variety of schematic ways. That has shown up in Cleveland with his ability to gain ground over the top, come downhill as a tackler, and more. Here is what the anonymous executive had to say on the Browns’ veteran safety:
“He can blitz, cover tight ends, aggressive, instinctive. He would be up there if he had more ball production.”
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Can Delpit and the Browns come to an agreement on another contract extension? Can he find yet another leap in his game entering his seventh season in the NFL?
An update on Marcus Rashford’s future has emerges after the Manchester United forward suffered World Cup heartache with England on Wednesday
17:57, 16 Jul 2026Updated 17:59, 16 Jul 2026
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Marcus Rashford has no intention of moving to Turkey this summer amid interest from Fenerbahce.
The Manchester United forward, 28, spent last season on loan at Barcelona and impressed, scoring 14 goals and providing 14 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions. He helped Hansi Flick’s side win a second successive La Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup.
Barca’s decision not to sign Rashford again has forced him to re-evaluate his options, with Fenerbahce emerging as a potential next destination for the attacker. However, Rashford has no interest in making the move to Turkey and would prefer to remain in Europe, according to Fabrizio Romano.
It’s added that Rashford is instead expected to return to United for pre-season as Michael Carrick is keen to reunite with him and give the ex-Aston Villa loanee a chance to regain his spot at the Reds.
Rashford can still leave United but only in case of a bid from a ‘top club’. Tottenham, Arsenal, Napoli and Chelsea are among the European clubs to have been linked with the United forward this summer.
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His future is anticipated to be resolved once he is back in pre-season at United after enjoying some time off following England’s World Cup exit. The Three Lions crashed out of the tournament in the semi-final after losing 2-1 to Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Rashford, who started two of England’s seven matches at this summer’s World Cup, came on deep into stoppage-time against Argentina after Lautaro Martinez put the holders in front in the 92nd minute. He scored once, netting the Three Lions’ fourth in the group opener against Croatia.
England’s 2026 World Cup kits
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England and Nike have launched the new home, away and goalkeeper kits to be worn at this summer’s FIFA World Cup. You can get free delivery on all orders with the code DEAL.
Speculation about Rashford’s next move has been rife since his Barcelona loan expired and he addressed his future before England’s quarter-final tie against Norway last week. Speaking to reporters, Rashford admitted he wanted a move sorted before the World Cup, but has since had to wait until after.
Rashford said: “I was very clear with everyone involved before the World Cup, I wanted it (a move) done before. If it’s not, I wanted it to wait until after. I want to be fully present in the moment.”
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United’s non World Cup players returned for pre-season training last Thursday and are poised to play their first friendly against Championship side Wrexham in Finland on Saturday.
George Foreman and Earnie Shavers are hailed as some of the biggest punchers in boxing history, but the heavyweight duo returned the same answer when they revealed who hit them the hardest during their professional careers.
Foreman and Shavers boasted a combined 138 stoppages by the time they both hung up the gloves, with both men remembered as some of the heavyweight division’s most devastating knockout artists before their respective passings.
However, when discussing who returned the favour and hit him the hardest, Shavers named Ron Lyle, who knocked him out in 1975, as the hardest punching opponent of his career, in a clip that has been doing the rounds on social media.
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“A guy by the name of Ron Lyle from Denver, Colorado. Lyle was a great puncher, yeah.”
“Ron Lyle [hit me the hardest] and he hit me so hard that it didn’t even hurt. His distinction was that he was a convicted criminal, he had served in Colorado Penitentiary and boy was he muscular.
“When I got into the ring, no one, beyond Sonny Liston, ever stood up to me. Everybody would have to run, hide and cover-up. No one stood up to me, but Ron Lyle decided ‘I ain’t running!’.”
“He hit me so hard that it didn’t even hurt. There I was on the canvas, thinking ‘what excuse are you going have now?’. [When you lost to] Muhammad Ali you said the ropes were loose, someone drugged you, I had all of these excuses, so I was laying on the floor thinking ‘I can’t think of an excuse,’ I had to get up.
“When I got up, he knocked me down again, he knocked my teeth through my bottom lip.”
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“He beat me so bad that he fainted and I won the fight.”
That accident in Nigeria occurred 10 days after Joshua stopped YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Miami, a fight that “AJ” knows was not a comprehensive gateway to his all-British showdown with Fury.
Anthony Joshua facing off with his next opponent, Kristian Prenga (Getty)
Before then, on the Joshua vs Prenga undercard, British stars Hamzah Sheeraz and Josh Kelly will put their world titles on the line. Here’s all you need to know:
When is the fight?
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Joshua vs Prenga will take place on Saturday 25 July at Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The main card will begin at 6pm BST (10am PT / 12pm CT / 1pm ET), with main-event ring walks due around 10.45pm BST (2.45pm PT / 4.45pm CT / 5.45pm ET).
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Tyson Fury (centre-right) and Joshua exchanging words after Fury’s win in April (Getty)
Undercard
Subject to change; ‘C’ denotes champion:
Main card
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga (heavyweight)
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Hamzah Sheeraz vs Simon Zachenhuber (WBO super-middleweight title)
Josh Kelly vs Caoimhin Agyarko (IBF super-welterweight title)
Reito Tsutsumi vs Alvino Herrera (super-featherweight)
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Jacob Bank vs Pawel August (super-middleweight)
Nishant Dev vs Cesar Diaz (super-welterweight)
Hamzah Sheeraz will star on the undercard (Getty)
Prelims
Lenny Patrach vs Oleksandr Khyzhniak (light-heavyweight)
Ziyad Almaayouf vs Frank Mango (welterweight)
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Mikie Tallon vs Orlando Pino (super-flyweight)
Mohammed Alakel vs Lydon Chircop (lightweight)
Sultan Almohamed vs Efren Besalduch (super-featherweight)
Omar Hikal vs Brian Castellano (super-middleweight)
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Mahmoud Mobark vs Bryan Zapata (super-lightweight)
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