San Francisco, CA
SF Giants sign big slugger day before spring training: report
With just a day to go until pitchers and catchers report and their lineup still lacking punch, the San Francisco Giants reportedly agreed to terms late Monday night with one of the National League’s leading home run hitters from a season ago.
Free-agent slugger Jorge Soler and the club came to agreement on a three-year deal, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The terms of the deal have yet to be reported, and an official announcement is still pending a physical.
Expected to serve as the regular designated hitter, Soler gives the Giants the potential for the kind of power they have long lacked.
Soler, who turns 32 this month, led Miami with 36 home runs and earned his first All-Star selection in 2023. He was due to make $13 million in 2024 but opted out of the final year of his three-year, $36 million contract.
Throughout 10 seasons with the Cubs, Royals, Braves and Marlins, Soler has shown prodigious power — often at the cost of contact. With Kansas City in 2019, he led the majors with 48 home runs — a career-high — but struck out 178 times, also the most in the majors. Over his career, he has averaged 32 home runs per 162 games while batting .243/.330/.467.
The 30-homer threshold is something only one other member of the Giants lineup, Michael Conforto, can claim. It will have been 20 years this season since Barry Bonds became the last Giants hitter to reach that figure in 2004.
Last season, San Francisco scored the seventh-fewest runs in the majors and ranked 17th in home runs; Wilmer Flores was the only player to reach 20.
While camp officially opens Wednesday, Soler won’t be required to report until Monday, a day before the first scheduled workout for position players.
A number of high-profile free agents remain unsigned, including Matt Chapman, Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery — all clients of superagent Scott Boras. Soler is represented by MVP Sports Group.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco residents furious over program giving free alcohol to homeless: 'That's some bull'
San Francisco’s decision to provide free beer and vodka to homeless alcoholics has sparked an uproar among some residents of the liberal city.
“How are you going to give [some] alcoholic some alcohol?” one man rhetorically asked Fox News contributor Sara Carter.
“That’s some bull!”
The “Managed Alcohol Program” (MAP) operated by San Francisco’s Department of Public Health serves regimented doses of alcohol to voluntary participants with alcohol addiction in an effort to keep the homeless off the streets and relieve the city’s emergency services.
Experts say the program can save or extend lives, but critics wonder if the government would be better off funding treatment and sobriety programs instead.
SAN FRANCISCO UNDER FIRE FOR PROGRAM GIVING BOOZE TO HOMELESS ALCOHOLICS: ‘WHERE’S THE RECOVERY IN ALL THIS?’
Carter shared her conversations with a number of residents outraged by the pilot program on “Hannity” Tuesday.
“It’s really conflicting to give alcohol to alcoholics because it’s a disease. It’s a condition that is basically an obsession of the mind that turns into an allergy of the body. And it’s a disease that they can’t help,” another San Francisco resident told Carter.
“You’re enabling, and the possibility is for them to die, end up in an institution or death.”
NEWSOM GETS HILARIOUS REALITY CHECK AFTER TURNING TO PUBLIC FOR NEW STATE COIN DESIGN
MAP was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent vulnerable homeless people who were placed in isolation in hotel rooms from suffering from alcohol withdrawal. But the program, which started with 10 beds, has since been expanded into a 20-bed program that operates out of a former hotel in Tenderloin with a $5 million annual budget, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“If that’s what the program is and it’s giving away free alcohol, that’s not a good use of money,” one San Francisco resident said.
Alice Moughamian, the nurse manager of the Managed Alcohol Program and the San Francisco Sobering Center, noted there is a larger goal beyond recovery for alcoholics.
“Our goal at MAP is not to decrease the amount of alcohol that is consumed, or to taper someone towards abstinence, although both of these things have happened with clients in our program,” she said in the October presentation. “The goal is to mitigate the many health, legal and interpersonal harms associated with unsafe alcohol use.”
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Many residents nonetheless feel the program is making the city an “enabler” of addiction and misusing taxpayer funds.
“I feel like they are being an enabler,” one man said. “They’re giving people alcohol who clearly has an addiction. So if you’re providing them with a means to get drunk, I mean, it makes no sense to me.”
“You don’t need to wean them off gradually,” another added. “Or if you are, don’t use taxpayer funds under the auspices of a government program to wean them.”
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
San Francisco, CA
FBI warns terrorist groups could target Pride Month events around country
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — It’s one of the most lively celebrations in the Bay Area. Every June, our region comes alive with the sights and sounds of Pride.
“We want to celebrate that people in San Francisco live authentic lives and that we can love who we love,” said Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride.
Ahead of this year’s celebrations comes a new public service announcement from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
In it, a warning that foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS could target Pride events around the country.
MORE: Foreign terrorists targeting US ‘increasingly concerning’: FBI director
Cameron Polan works with the FBI’s branch here in San Francisco.
“The public service announcement is definitely something new this year,” Polan said.
The FBI says as of now, there are no immediate credible threats here in the Bay Area. However, they are advising people to take precautions.
Beyond the FBI’s warnings, San Francisco Pride executive director Suzanne Ford says sadly threats against Pride events are nothing new.
“Our organization for many, many years has worked with state, local, federal law enforcement agencies and other appropriate agencies to make sure our community’s safe,” Ford said.
MORE: The dangers behind Republicans’ outrage over Easter falling on Transgender Day of Visibility
The FBI’s PSA has also gotten the attention of groups like Equality California.
The LGBTQ nonprofit says they want everyone to be comfortable celebrating Pride this year.
“Go with a friend, let people know you’re attending Pride, have a meet up spot, have an exit plan, know a check point around the area,” says Jorge Reyes Salinas.
Because with Pride kicking off in just a few weeks time, Ford says this year’s celebrations will be better than ever before.
“We’re going to come together, there’s going to be one million people out on Market Street, and we’re going to proclaim to the world that in San Francisco Pride is our community and that we’re going to be there,” Ford said.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
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San Francisco, CA
San Francisco 49ers sign 2 with Alabama football roots
Defensive tackle Shakel Brown and offensive tackle Chris Hubbard signed one-year contracts with the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, the NFL team announced.
Brown played at Troy and Hubbard played at UAB before reaching the NFL.
While Brown has never played in an NFL regular-season game, Hubbard entered the league as an undrafted rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2013 and has played in 94 regular-season and six playoff games.
Both players are coming off injuries with the Tennessee Titans.
Hubbard started nine of the Titans’ first 10 games at right tackle in 2023 before a biceps injury ended his season prematurely. Hubbard had been an unrestricted free agent since March 13.
Brown joined Tennessee as an undrafted rookie last offseason. But he suffered an ankle injury in a preseason game and spent the entire 2023 campaign on injured reserve. The Titans had released Brown last week.
To make room on their roster for Brown and Hubbard, the 49ers released defensive lineman Earnest Brown IV and offensive lineman Corey Luciano.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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