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Dodgers trade Michael Busch, Yency Almonte; avoid arbitration with Walker Buehler

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Dodgers trade Michael Busch, Yency Almonte; avoid arbitration with Walker Buehler

The Dodgers avoided arbitration hearings with several players Thursday, including starting pitcher Walker Buehler and closer Evan Phillips.

They also dealt a couple of notable pieces off their MLB roster, sending reliever Yency Almonte and infielder Michael Busch to the Chicago Cubs for a pair of young minor league prospects.

On its face, moving Almonte and Busch will clear needed 40-man roster spots for the Dodgers. The team has faced a roster crunch while making blockbuster free-agent and trade acquisitions this offseason. They’d yet to announce their newest signing, outfielder Teoscar Hernández, because their 40-man was full.

Still, the departures of Almonte and Busch might be no small loss for the organization.

Almonte had shown flashes of productivity in the bullpen the last two seasons, though the 29-year-old had battled injuries and was out of minor league options.

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Giving up Busch, the club’s minor league player of the year last year and No. 2-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, represents an even bigger risk, with the organization deciding to part ways with its 2019 first-round draft pick.

Though Busch had impressed with his bat up through triple A (he led the Pacific Coast League last year with a 1.049 on-base-plus-slugging percentage), the 26-year-old never found a consistent role during his cameos in the majors with the Dodgers.

A former first baseman who spent time at second, third and left field as a prospect with the Dodgers, Busch didn’t even make his MLB debut until this season, when he batted .167 in 81 sporadic plate appearances.

With his primary infield positions mostly blocked by veteran stars (Freddie Freeman at first base, Mookie Betts at second, Max Muncy at third), Busch’s place on next season’s team seemed tenuous — barring a more permanent move to a corner outfield spot.

Yency Almonte pitches in relief for the Dodgers against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 28 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

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(Chris O’Meara / Associated Press)

And although the Dodgers remained high on Busch’s potential at the plate, they entered this offseason seemingly ready to ship him somewhere.

On Thursday, a deal finally materialized. The only question: Did the Dodgers get enough in return for one of their most highly touted young talents?

The prospects the Dodgers received from the Cubs in the trade were left-handed pitcher Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope.

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Ferris, 19, is the bigger prize. A second-round pick from IMG Academy in Florida in 2022, the southpaw was ranked as the Cubs’ No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline. Over 18 starts in single A last year, he had a 3.38 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 56 innings.

Hope, 18, was an 11th-round pick last year from Colonial Forge High in Virginia. Although he batted .286 in 11 rookie league games, he wasn’t one of the top 30 prospects on the Cubs’ MLB Pipeline rankings list.

Both should help replenish the lower levels of the Dodgers’ farm system, which is still considered among the stronger pipelines in the majors. Neither has to go on the 40-man roster, giving the team some increased roster flexibility. And Ferris, in particular, gives the club another intriguing young arm to try to develop, a process the Dodgers have excelled at in recent years.

The move, however, comes at the steep cost of an MLB-ready bat and veteran reliever — with the Dodgers effectively betting they’ll be able to compensate in other ways for the production Busch and Almonte could have offered next season.

In more roster news Thursday, the Dodgers agreed to 2024 salaries with seven of their 10 remaining arbitration-eligible players: Buehler ($8.025 million), Phillips ($4 million), Ryan Yarbrough ($3.9 million), Caleb Ferguson ($2.4 million), Dustin May ($2.135 million), Gavin Lux ($1.125 million) and J.P. Feyereisen ($770,000).

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As of Thursday afternoon, it was not yet known whether agreements would be struck with the team’s three other remaining arbitration-eligible players: Will Smith, Brusdar Graterol and Alex Vesia.

The Dodgers will have until 5 p.m. PST Thursday to try to settle on a salary for 2024 for each of those players. If they don’t, the sides will exchange salary proposals Thursday night before heading to an arbitration hearing in the coming weeks, where an arbitrator would determine the salary for each remaining arbitration-eligible player.

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Rory McIlroy’s monstrous lead disappears, surprise contender surges as Masters comes down to final day

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Rory McIlroy’s monstrous lead disappears, surprise contender surges as Masters comes down to final day

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In case you thought the Masters was over after Rory McIlroy’s electrifying second round, here’s your reminder that nothing gets started in Augusta until the back nine on Sunday.

And those final nine holes are sure to be exciting after Saturday’s third-round action that saw McIlroy’s six-shot lead, the largest ever through 36 holes, completely evaporate.

New York native Cameron Young and the reigning champion McIlroy will be paired together as the final grouping of the 90th playing of the Masters, with both golfers at 11 under.

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Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young are tied for the Masters lead going into Sunday. (Katie Goodale/Imagn Images, Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

McIlroy started his day at 12 under, but a bogey on the first combined with three birdies by Patrick Reed saw his lead shrink rapidly. When McIlroy birdied the third, and Reed bogeyed No. 4, McIlroy’s lead was back to a comfortable four. Reed eventually fell down the leaderboard, but Young shot up it.

Young, who was 4 over after his first round, began the day eight shots back of McIlroy, birdied the 16th to tie McIlroy, just seconds before McIlroy bogeyed 12 to fall to second place. He shot a 7-under 65 to jump to the top of the leaderboard, while McIlroy went 1 over with a 73. Young birdied eight holes to go along with a bogey on the par-5 15th after going water.

But McIlroy struggled on the back nine, going in the water on 11 for a double bogey, while also bogeying 12 and 18.

Rory McIlroy reacts after a putt on the 18th green during the third round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on April 11, 2026. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)

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HOW THE 3,267TH-RANKED AMATEUR GOLFER, A REAL ESTATE AGENT, GOT TO PLAY ALONGSIDE LEGENDS AT THE MASTERS

This tournament, though, now stretches far beyond the leaders, as there are 20 players within seven strokes, and 14 within six. McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood were the only golfers inside the top 20 entering Saturday to score over par in the third round, making Saturday’s moving day quite the preview for an electric Sunday.

Sam Burns is alone at 10 under in solo third, while Shane Lowry, who benefited from a hole-in-one, is two back. Jason Day and Justin Rose are at 8 under, with Scottie Scheffler and Haotong Li at 7 under (Scheffler, too, shot a 65 after starting Saturday even for the tournament).

Other notables in the mix include Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, and Reed at 6 under, Collin Morikawa at 5 under, and Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka at 4 under.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland greets Cameron Young of the United States on the No. 18 green during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 9, 2026. (Logan Whitton/Augusta National/Getty Images)

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After being paired together in the first two rounds, McIlroy and Young will tee off together again at 2:25 p.m. ET, as McIlroy looks to make up for lost time and become the first golfer since Tiger Woods to win back-to-back green jackets.

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Olympic star Quincy Wilson breaks meet record; Servite relay sets state mark at Arcadia

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Olympic star Quincy Wilson breaks meet record; Servite relay sets state mark at Arcadia

There is a new “Fab Four” in the making and they are the Friars.

Servite’s 4×100 relay clocked 39.70 seconds Saturday at the Arcadia Invitational, breaking the state record it set at the same meet last year.

Sophomores Jace Wells, Jorden Wells and Kamil Pelovello and junior Benjamin Harris left runner-up El Cerrito (40.57) and third-place Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks (41.02) far behind and later claimed their best is yet to come.

“We still want to drop more times in the coming weeks,” said Harris, who joined Jaelen hunter, Robert Gardener and Jorden Wells to run the event in 40 flat last year while also setting the meet record in the 4×200. “We work on passing the baton once a week and we’ll go back to the drawing board to make it even better. The most important thing is we got the stick around safely and finished the race healthy.”

“We have great chemistry — we all get along with each other,” added Pelovello, who handled the third leg Saturday for the defending state champions. “We’ll go back to the lab to see if we can do even better but what more can you ask for?”

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After an hour’s rest, Harris had enough energy to take first in the 100-meter dash in 10.32 seconds — one hundredth of a second faster than his runner-up time last year.

Later, Pelovello (21.14), Jorden Wells (21.14) and Jace Wells (21.25) swept the top three spots in the 200 meters. The Friars pulled out of the 4×400 relay, but by then they had established themselves as the team to beat in the Southern Section.

Rosary’s Maliyah Collins (left) breaks the tape ahead of Calabasas’ Marley Scoggins in the girls’ 4×100 relay.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

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So too did Fullerton Rosary, Servite’s sister school, in the girls’ 4×100 relay. Royals speedsters Tra’via Flournoy, Justine Wilson, junior Pfeiffer Lee and Maliyah Collins won in 44.23, breaking Long Beach Poly’s 22-year-old state record of 44.50.

“I’m in disbelief but I knew we ran something real fast,” said Collins, a sophomore who held off Marley Scoggins of Calabasas on the anchor leg. “Shout-out to Calabasas for a great race, but this is our spotlight. This is a proud moment for us and the boys.”

Rosary ran 45.57 last spring — the fourth fastest time in meet history — anchored by Wilson. On Saturday, the Royals posted the third-fastest national high school time ever.

Savoring the day’s successes was former UCLA All-American sprinter Brandon Thomas, who coaches both Servite and Rosary.

The opening relays set the stage for the most decorated runner of the meet, senior Quincy Wilson, who traveled across the country to put his talent on display.

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Every eye in the stadium was fixed on Wilson as he knelt in the starting blocks awaiting the start of the 400 meters. When the gun sounded he accelerated from Lane 5 as if shot out of a cannon, picked up speed on every stride and circled the oval in 45.48 seconds — breaking the meet record as spectators watched in awe.

Olympian Quincy Wilson (center) cruises to victory in the 400-meter dash in a meet record 45.48 seconds.

Olympian Quincy Wilson (center) cruises to victory in the 400-meter dash in a meet record 45.48 seconds.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

The senior from Bullis School in Maryland gained worldwide fame as a 16-year-old in 2024 when he became the youngest male U.S. Olympic track athlete, helping the 4×400 relay team qualify for the finals in Paris.

The crowd roared when Wilson got introduced for the one-lapper, then the star closed the show by anchoring the Bulldogs’ 4×400 relay, which won in 3:09.14, the second-fastest all-time at Arcadia.

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Wilson broke his own national indoor 400 record with a 45.37 effort at the New Balance Nationals last month in Boston. Now 18, he has won four straight national indoor titles. As he proved Saturday, he is not too shabby outdoors, either.

While Wilson drew the most attention, the 58th edition of the nation’s premier high school track and field meet also spotlighted many of the Southland’s finest athletes.

San Jacinto Valley Academy 10th-grader Kaahliyah Lacy, a distant cousin of Florence Griffith-Joyner, won the Invitational girls 300 hurdles in 40.81 while Arkansas-bound senior Braelyn Combe of Corona Santiago ran 2:05.12 to take second in the girls 800 meters, edged at the finish by Union Catholic’s Paige Sheppard.

Jurupa Valley senior AB Hernandez doubled in the girls’ triple jump (42-6) and long jump (20-3) and placed third in the high jump at 5-8. Julia Teven of Brea Olinda won with a height of 5-10.

Aliso Niguel senior Jaslene Massey, an Oregon commit who won the shot put at the Nike Indoor Nationals with a throw of 54-2.75 inches (sixth-best in U.S. high school history) and posted a national-leading discus mark of 188-7 at the Asics Irvine Invitational, won the shot put Saturday with a mark of 53-2 and also took first in the discus (182-2).

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Sherman Oaks Notre Dame senior Josh Harel, the reigning state high jump champion, cleared 6-9 to win the event Saturday.

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Caitlin Clark’s Fever make several key offseason signings in championship pursuit

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Caitlin Clark’s Fever make several key offseason signings in championship pursuit

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The Indiana Fever made a series of offseason moves Saturday to surround superstar Caitlin Clark with talent as the team looks to contend for a WNBA championship this year.

The Fever re-signed key players Lexie Hull and Kelsey Mitchell, while adding veteran Monique Billings from the Golden State Valkyries.

The players were signed after the Fever were one game shy of reaching the WNBA Finals in 2025 while Clark missed the entire postseason with an injury.

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) is ushered back to the bench area by teammates after being called for a flagrant foul on Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese during the second half in Indianapolis May 17, 2025. (AJ Mast/AP)

With Clark set to return, Indiana is keeping its core together while adding veteran depth to bolster its roster ahead of the 2026 season.

The Fever have the fourth-best odds to win the WNBA title in 2026 behind the Minnesota Lynx, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty.

Hull previously teased the Fever’s offseason plans and championship ambitions in an interview with Fox News Digital.

FEVER WIN FIRST PLAYOFF SERIES IN 10 YEARS DESPITE CAITLIN CLARK’S INJURY, ADVANCE TO WNBA SEMIFINALS

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center June 19, 2025. (Darren Yamashita/Imagn Images)

“I think it’s because we made it where we made it last year without some of our key pieces, and with a lot of injuries, and a lot of, like, this adversity. … Our bench was longer than every other bench. We had more people in the training room getting treatment than any other team, and we still almost made it to the Finals,” Hull said.

“Tasting that and being so close and feeling like we have so much more to give, I think that just changes our mindset a little bit. And it’s not necessarily overconfident, but confident in the fact that we really do have a chance. And we should be playing like every game matters, and we’re preparing for that last one.

“I think it’s very achievable with what we’re going to be able to do with free agency.”

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Indiana Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell (0) and Caitlin Clark (22) talk during the first half in Game 2 of a first-round WNBA basketball playoff series against the Connecticut Sun Sept. 25, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (Jessica Hill/AP)

The Fever’s season ended in 107-98 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Aces in Game 5 of the WNBA semifinals last year.

With Clark returning from injury, their core intact and at least one new addition, Indiana is looking to finish the job.

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