San Francisco, CA
San Francisco 49ers’ star, playing with fractured ankle, plans to finish season
If Fred Warner decides to call it a season, it’s unlikely he would be criticized for his decision.
The San Francisco 49ers’ star linebacker revealed last week that he has been playing on a fractured ankle he sustained during San Francisco’s 30-13 Week 4 win over the New England Patriots. The 49ers’ chances of reaching the playoffs have dropped considerably following blowout losses to the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills in the past two weeks.
Star running back Christian McCaffrey has been shut down for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury against the Bills. Backup Jordan Mason was placed on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain that will likely end his season.
Considering the 49ers’ chances of reaching the playoffs are slim, along with the multiple injuries to star players and his ankle, no one would be surprised if Warner said he’s done for 2024. Except Warner, who said his plan is for “finishing out the season.”
“The injuries haven’t gone our way, especially at specific positions, key starters, ones that have a big effect on the game,” Warner told reporters on Wednesday. “But at the end of the day, it’s the NFL. A lot of teams are dealing with worse than what we’re dealing with. So, I’m just always trying to look to find a way to win a game with who we’ve got out there. At the end of the day, we’ve got 11 NFL players on our side of the ball, so we gotta go.”
That means Warner is expected to play when the 49ers (5-7) take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Warner and the 49ers find themselves in an unaccustomed position. They were 9-3 after 12 games in 2023 and 8-4 in 2022. The 49ers were 6-6 in 2021 but still managed to reach the NFC championship game, the first of three consecutive trips to the conference title game.
“You have everything ahead of you to just win one game. We’re not looking ahead at anything else – of five games left, of playoff hopes, of anything,” Warner told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s honestly like, ‘Hey, let’s just get back to winning a football game.’ Or even giving ourselves a chance to win a game because being in two blowout losses is the worst feeling in the world.”
The San Francisco Giants have been one of the biggest disappointments in baseball this season, prompting the front office to explore operating as sellers this summer. Amid a flurry of MLB trade rumors this week about a potential firesale, there is now more buzz regarding the future of Matt Chapman with the team.
MLB insider Robert Murray spoke to executives around the league who said that Chapman is “the most appealing” trade target of the group that also includes Rafael Devers and Willy Adames.
Matt Chapman Trade Landing Spots
- Matt Chapman contract (Spotrac): $25.166 million AAV (2026-2030)
It’s no surprise that Chapman is the most coveted player among the highly-paid trio. He is a Gold Glove Award winner at third base who can still provide well above-average fielding at the hot corner as a 33-year-old. On top of that, he is also outproduced Adames by a wide margin this season and offers far greater positional value than Devers.
However, there is a complicating factor. Chapman has played 10 seasons in the majors and has a full no-trade clause. He also made it clear to reporters this week that he prefers to remain in San Francisco, especially since he is a California native.
Rafael Devers Trade Landing Spots
- Matt Chapman stats (2026): .252/.337/.400, .737 OPS, 7 home runs, 41 RBI in 309 plate appearances
As a result, per Murray, San Francisco is not expected to move him this offseason. That makes it even more likely that the club’s highest-paid players remain with the team for the remainder of the season, with president of baseball operations Buster Posey expected to pursue alternative options.
More than likely, the Giants will instead be trading the likes of Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle, and Luis Arraez. All three veterans are on expiring contracts, so San Francisco will attempt to get whatever it can for them on the trade market next month.
Willy Adames Trade Landing Spots
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco hotels see steady World Cup business, but fall short of Super Bowl surge
Bay Area bars and restaurants are packed for World Cup watch parties this week, but San Francisco hotels are not seeing the same sell-out crowds experienced during the Super Bowl earlier this year.
While the Super Bowl brought a concentrated week of events that sent hotel prices soaring into the thousands, the World Cup spans more than a month. The extended timeline has resulted in a slower, steadier trickle of out-of-town soccer fans booking rooms.
The Bay Area has several exciting matches on the schedule at Levi’s Stadium, but none feature top-seeded teams or the mega-star power seen when “Messi mania” previously swept the region.
“We knew we weren’t going to get any of the first-place teams. We weren’t going to get Brazil, or Germany, or any of the teams carrying big fan bases — Messi, Ronaldo,” said Alex Bastian, CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “But that being said, this is still such a great thing, because people are coming here from around the world.”
Bastian noted that the city’s hospitality industry is still in a strong position for the summer.
“We have a great convention calendar for the month of June, and because we were prepared, we’re doing much better compared to our colleagues across the country,” he said.
A significant surge in hotel bookings could still happen if Levi’s Stadium secures a match featuring Team USA. That possibility grew stronger following the U.S. team’s 2-0 win over Australia on Friday.
“I’m really excited about Team USA. I’m USA all the way,” Bastian added. “I’m hopeful that when that game is played here, the world will come check out San Francisco as well.”
The San Francisco Giants are headed even farther south today as they begin a weekend road series against the Miami Marlins.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be noted bigot Landen Roupp. Roupp enters today’s game with a 4.24 ERA, 2.96 FIP, with 82 strikeouts to 32 walks in 74.1 innings pitched. His last start was in Friday night’s 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, in which Roupp clearly cared more about proselytizing than he did about winning, allowing four runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks in four and two thirds innings.
As of the time this is being written on Thursday, the Marlins have not announced a starting pitcher for today’s game and I am off today (Happy Juneteenth!). But you can head on down to the comments for the most up to date information.
Who: San Francisco Giants vs. Miami Marlins
Where: loanDepot park, Miami, Florida
Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area
Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM
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