Sports
Have Padres, Diamondbacks given up trying to keep pace with Dodgers? They've stood pat so far
Leaving the Major League Baseball winter meetings empty-handed can feel worse than it actually is. What it’s not is the equivalent of waking up on Christmas morning to find coal in your stocking and no gifts under the tree.
Teams that sign free agents or make blockbuster trades during the few days everyone of importance in the MLB universe congregates under one luxury hotel roof get out-sized applause for their moves. Reporters dutifully type up the winners and losers on their flights home.
So, yes, the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks appear to be scuffling at the moment. Inertia isn’t tolerated by fan bases, especially when their division competitors — the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants — are signing big names and holding splashy press conferences.
But the winter meetings are a snapshot, not a jury trial. Spring training begins in two months and opening day is nearly four months away. Plenty of free agents remain available — 197 at last count. Names big and small dangle as trade bait.
With that caveat, let’s explore why the Padres and Diamondbacks have stood pat.
In the Padres’ case, their unbridled spending under the late owner Peter Seidler seems to have hit its limit.
They were onlookers during the Juan Soto sweepstakes, with only memories of him posting in all 162 games in brown and gold in 2023 to tease them. They seem to be having buyer’s remorse at signing infielder Xander Boegarts to an 11-year, $280-million deal that runs through 2033.
So they mostly sat through the meetings at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas reportedly fielding offers for starter Dylan Cease and three-time batting champion Luis Arráez — both entering their final year of arbitration before becoming free agents — while making it clear to suitors that Boegarts is available.
Cease, especially, could fetch solid prospects in return, a startling turnabout for the Padres, who in recent years have been the ones shoveling promising minor leaguers from their fertile farm system to others in exchange for win-now veterans. It was the only way to keep up with, and occasionally surpass, the Dodgers.
“Every year, you always have a budget that you’ve got to be in line with,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller told reporters at the winter meetings. “This year, really no different from that standpoint. We try to be open-minded to certain players and player-specific moves that are out there — that if they line up we do have some flexibility.
“Even though we haven’t lined up on anything from a trade or free-agent standpoint, it’s been super active. Way further ahead from a knowledge standpoint today than we were when we got here.”
That’s one way to paint a grin on the decision to swallow hard and sit. The shift in philosophy began last year when the Padres trimmed nearly $100 million off their payroll yet won 11 more games than in 2023 and gamely maintained their rivalry with the Chavez Ravine behemoth, falling a victory short in the National League Division Series.
Yet now they must try to maintain that competitive stance while reconciling that this offseason the Dodgers already added starter Blake Snell, who won the NL Cy Young Award in 2023 in a Padres uniform.
“We’re not naive that there are certain organizations that have just more competitive advantages,” Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters. “That’s no state secret, right? We live that every day. … The reality from my seat, our clubhouse seat, our team seat is, it’s still a game that requires you to play right, compete a certain way, play the game a certain way.”
The Diamondbacks also tell themselves they play in a way that enables them to overachieve. They are one year removed from using the Dodgers as a springboard to the World Series, a remarkable achievement for a team that won only 84 regular-season games. Last season they increased that total to 89 and led the majors in runs scored yet didn’t make the playoffs.
A primary objective isn’t to add, but to subtract the one-year, $22.5-million contract of left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery, who went from postseason hero with the Texas Rangers in 2023 to a 6.38 earned-run average albatross with the Diamondbacks in 2024.
It would seem Arizona would need to eat much of the contract, but the market for starting pitching seems to climb with every free-agent signing: Snell (five years, $182 million), Max Fried (eight years, $218 million), Nathan Eovaldi (three years, $75 million).
Maybe the Diamondbacks can unload Montgomery and replace the offense lost by departing free agents Christian Walker, Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk. They could trade from their outfield depth, moving either Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy, both of whom are under team control through 2028.
Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen sounded a lot like Preller when assessing the winter meetings with reporters.
“A lot of meetings, didn’t really get much done,” he said. “But there’s been progress made in some conversations in some areas, so we’ll see what happens. Wasn’t necessarily expecting anything to happen here. We’ll carry those conversations forward.”
Besides staring at the backs of the Dodgers, the Padres and Diamondbacks must peek over their shoulders at the Giants, whose stunning signing of shortstop Willy Adames is an indication that new president of baseball operations Buster Posey means business.
The Dodgers, honestly, didn’t do much during the meetings besides accepting congratulations for their World Series championship. But they accomplished plenty out of the gate this offseason, signing veteran outfielder Michael Conforto, giving the versatile Tommy Edman a five-year extension and re-signing high-leverage reliever Blake Treinen in addition to bringing in Snell.
And more is expected of Andrew Friedman, Brandon Gomes and the rest of the Dodgers’ brass. Whether that holds true for the two teams that stymied them recently enough that they can still feel the sting is undetermined.
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Ask anyone who is favored to win Young Player of the Tournament for the upcoming 2026 World Cup, and presumably, you would struggle to hear a name other than Lamine Yamal.
The Spanish sensation, at only 18, is already viewed as one of the game’s greatest players — and he hasn’t even come close to his prime.
With that, let’s check out the odds for who will win Young Player of the Tournament as of July 12.
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Young Player of the Tournament odds
Lamine Yamal: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)
Desire Doue: +280 (bet $10 to win $38 total)
Pau Cubarsí: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Nico O’Reilly: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Here’s what to know about this oddsboard:
The Race: Lamine Yamal has been the favorite since before the tournament began and has not moved from the top of the oddsboard. Statistically, Yamal has only one goal and no assists in this World Cup, but his presence on the field has clearly opened up things for Spain on numerous occasions en route to its semifinal berth. Doue has a goal and an assist in three starts for France.
It was never actually in doubt. Dearica Hamby was going to stay a member of the Sparks. That was just how she worked.
Even when Nneka Ogwumike came into the fold and the frontcourt became crowded, Hamby didn’t doubt her decision to return to the organization that traded for her four years ago.
Loyalty mattered more than anything else.
“That’s who I am,” she said. “I don’t run away from things. I wanted to stay here and help L.A. get back to where it was and is capable of being.”
In a loaded frontcourt, the 32-year-old Hamby has still found ways to shine. Hamby has led the Sparks in scoring four times and led or tied for rebounding 16 times this season after signing a three-year, $3.5-million contract.
She ranks in the top 20 in the league in rebounds and field-goal percentage (plus 25th in scoring) and is eighth in offensive rebounds in establishing herself as an essential piece to the Sparks’ “win now” attempt.
“I think it’s the challenge, because we are so good and we have so much talent,” said Hamby, who is averaging 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 52.8% from the field. “You’re forced to produce, but it’s also a blessing. I know it’s probably hard for coach to manage the three’s playing time and stuff like that, but it’s a beautiful problem.”
Hamby was in the headlines when the Aces traded her after she was pregnant. In September of that year, she filed a federal discrimination complaint against the team and league, claiming she was traded because she was pregnant. The two sides resolved matters before trial.
The new CBA this year created a new rule that requires a pregnant player’s consent to be traded.
“I feel like she’s such an anomaly,” said forward Rae Burrell. “I remember when she had her son, and it was crazy because everybody was saying she was coming back so early, I thought that was insane, but now being her teammate, I see it, she’s just kind of a freak of nature, like she’s so athletic, she can do all types of things on the court that you think looks unorthodox, but she makes it happen, but also just love being her teammate. She’s just good people.”
Since that trade, she has been a regular in the Sparks’ starting lineup while averaging double-digit scoring and around eight rebounds per game. She’s one of the most efficient scorers in the league, too.
But Hamby’s games have been all over the board. Against the Aces, she missed all seven of her shots. Against Dallas and Indiana, she made six of eight shots. She’s had eight games with a shooting percentage above 60% and four games under 40%.
Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, left, tries to steal the ball from Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner during a game in Phoenix.
(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
Having the three frontcourt players has been an adjustment for coach Lynne Roberts to find how to implement them all in the offense.
“I’m trying to implement the new offense, we’re plugging pieces into play, and things that I may have been able to do last year as freely I’m not as able to do this year,” Hamby said. “So just adjusting for sure, but I think that’s across the board for everybody.”
Before the season, Roberts said that Cameron Brink would come off the bench and Hamby would start. Brink, the only natural center on the team, averages just 17.5 minutes per game primarily because of her 3.7 fouls.
“She’s my vet,” Brink said of Hamby. “I think she’s just such a grounding force for us, and she’s someone that does everything, so I just really feel like I learn from her every day, and I’m just very thankful to be in her presence.”
Hamby averages 3.2 fouls per game and has expressed frustration about the new officiating norms this season, but has avoided true foul trouble. She and Ogwumike work as two fours instead of a team with a traditional five.
“She has a lot of energy,” Ogwumike said. “I think she does a really good job of just having a high motor and going out there and kind of like doing the dirty work. I feel like it’s beneficial to have a loaded frontcourt, to be able to have so many different types of players and a depth where anytime one of us is in, there’s no letdown.”
The Sparks have been the worst defensive team in the league this season and struggled to score when point guard Kelsey Plum was out of the lineup with an ankle injury. Ogwumike might be the other veteran leader, but Hamby has stayed with this Sparks team the past two seasons while Ogwumike was in Seattle.
Now her role has changed, even with that loyalty. She’s playing just over a minute less and they’re asking for better defense and efficiency.
Hamby chose to come back. Now she’s choosing to help build the Sparks up.
“I know my usage is a lot lower,” Hamby said. “A goal of mine the last two seasons was to have those numbers, so to have the same numbers just at a more efficient rate, and so I mean offensively, but with like two fewer shots a game, that’s pretty impressive.”
Sports
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited Octagon return cut short by apparent knee injury seconds into UFC 329
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Nearly five years after his last walk to the Octagon, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited UFC return Saturday night against fellow MMA star Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 in Las Vegas.
McGregor opened aggressively, attempting a running kick before throwing a head kick moments later. He appeared to slip on both tries. Holloway quickly capitalized after the second, taking top position and landing a right hand before McGregor was able to work his way back to his feet.
Moments later, McGregor hit the canvas again after trying to throw a kick with his right leg, which appeared to buckle underneath him.
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Conor McGregor of Ireland participates in the walkout before facing Max Holloway of the United States in their welterweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
The official inside the Octagon waved off the fight moments later, giving Holloway a TKO victory.
During the broadcast, UFC CEO Dana White pointed to a first-round replay that appeared to show the moment McGregor suffered the injury. The apparent injury was not to the same leg McGregor broke during his 2021 fight against Dustin Poirier, which led to a lengthy absence from the Octagon.
The loss extended McGregor’s long winless drought, with his last UFC victory coming by first-round TKO against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in January 2020.
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McGregor earned a unanimous decision over Holloway in a featherweight clash in 2013, when neither was an MMA megastar. In the blink of an eye, McGregor’s star rose.
Conor McGregor and Max Holloway face off during the UFC 329 ceremonial weigh-in at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 10, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
On Wednesday, he admitted he got caught up in his own stardom after winning UFC belts in two weight classes and becoming one of the biggest names in combat sports.
“I launched an Irish whiskey,” McGregor said. “I didn’t drink heavily, if at all, at that time of my life. I was an athlete at the top of my game. Next thing you know, thousands upon thousands of bottles (are) in my garage.
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“‘Sell this, Conor.’ OK, I’d leave my property with two bottles under my arm, and that was it. I was caught. And I wasn’t used to it. And that’s it. God gave me these lessons. That’s it. I was trapped and caught, and it is what it is.”
Conor McGregor jumps into the air for a kick as he fights Max Holloway in a welterweight bout at UFC 329 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (John Locher/AP)
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Easier said than done, perhaps, as the controversial former champion has been embroiled in multiple controversies and legal issues over the past several years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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