José Ramírez has been a member of the Cleveland Guardians organization since 2011 and is on track to one day be immortalized in Cooperstown with the greats of baseball. However, over the weekend, the seven-time All-Star signed an extension to stay in Cleveland until 2032, further cementing his legacy as one of the greatest to ever play for the franchise.
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On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman talk about the deal that will keep Ramírez with the Guardians into his age-39 season. The six-time Silver Slugger’s extension, while surprising, isn’t shocking considering his love for Cleveland. But when his contract is up, will he be considered the best player in Guardians history?
Later, Jordan and Jake break down the Texas Rangers–Washington Nationals trade that sent a package of prospects to the nation’s capital for 26-year-old MacKenzie Gore. With the Rangers hoping that Gore pans out to the uber-prospect he once was, how important will his continued development be for the Rangers to win this deal? The guys then talk about MLB Network’s 2026 Top 100 Players and what changes they would make to the list.
Nate Tice & Matt Harmon dive deep on the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams before revealing their biggest questions of the NFL offseason. The duo start with the news that the Buffalo Bills hired OC Joe Brady to be their next head coach, as they determine whether Brady is the right guy to get Buffalo over the hump. They also touch on the Tennessee Titans hiring OC Brian Daboll. Can Daboll resist using Cam Ward as a battering ram?
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Next, Nate & Matt deep dive on the latest duo of playoff losers, the Broncos & Rams, as they determine what went wrong for them in the playoffs and what they need to do to get back to the same spot (or further) next season.
Later, the duo reveal their biggest questions of the NFL offseason. Are teams going to lean into heavier personnel groupings next season? How do the quarterback seats get filled? Will the trend of a juggernaut-less NFL continue in 2026? How will an intriguing 2026 free agency class play out? Nate & Matt take a stab at answering the league’s biggest conundrums.
(3:50) – Bills hire HC Joe Brady
(22:10) – Titans hire OC Brian Daboll
(32:50) – Playoff postmortems: Rams
(49:15) – Playoff postmortems: Broncos
(59:40) – Biggest offseason questions
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 27: Offensive coordinator Joe Brady stands with Mitchell Trubisky #11 and Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on October 27, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Houston Astros stars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will both miss the World Baseball Classic due to insurance issues.
Correa told The Athletic’s Chandler Rome on Tuesday that, after speaking with Astros owner Jim Crane, he won’t play for Puerto Rico in the upcoming tournament. Because of his injury history, Correa was unable to receive insurance on his contract with the team. As a result, he would risk forfeiting his regular-season salary if he missed any Astros games due to injuries suffered during the World Baseball Classic.
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Correa has dealt with several injuries in recent seasons, including a sprained ankle, back tightness and a concussion last year alone. He is set to make $31 million next season with Houston.
“I’m definitely upset because I’ve been preparing really hard this offseason to get better this year and be ready early so I can be ready for the WBC,” Correa told The Athletic. “I also understand the business side of things and that’s too big of a risk to take, to play with no insurance.”
Correa, who was dealt to the Astros ahead of the trade deadline last season, recorded a .290 batting average with six home runs and 21 RBI in 51 games with Houston.
“Jim called me and told me that he wants me to focus on the team and spring training, obviously he traded for me to win a championship here and we had too many injuries as a team [in 2025],” Correa said, via The Athletic.
Altuve is in a similar situation. The Astros’ second baseman won’t play for Venezuela in the tournament “at the request” of the Astros due to his lack of insurance.
Altuve, who has spent his entire career with the Astros, had a .265 batting average with 26 home runs and 77 RBI last season, his 15th in the league. The 35-year-old is set to make $33 million next season, the second of a five-year, $125 million deal.
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Altuve had a procedure on his right foot in November but is expected to be ready for spring training. The Astros went 87-75 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 campaign.
The insurer for World Baseball Classic players is agreed upon by Major League Baseball and the players’ union ahead of time. The issue is similar to what happened with Clayton Kershaw and Miguel Cabrera ahead of the 2023 tournament, when the pair didn’t qualify for insurance due to their injury histories.
Kershaw ended up not participating in the event after he was deemed uninsurable. Cabrera still participated despite not securing insurance, likely due to the Detroit Tigers choosing to guarantee his deal regardless.
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The early rounds of the World Baseball Classic, which runs March 5-17, will take place in Tokyo, Miami, Houston and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The semifinals and championship game will be played in Miami.
How will Todd Monken boost the Cleveland Browns in the offseason as their new head coach? Yahoo Sports’ Andrew Siciliano is joined by Carolina Panthers long snapper J.J. Jansen, and The Athletic’s Austink Monk join the show to talk all things coaching cycle, Hall of Fame eligibility, Super Bowl and more! Check out today’s episode to get caught up the latest news and notes from around the league.
A high-ranking AFC executive speculated then on Todd Monken’s fit with quarterback Jaxson Dart.
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“I think Todd is naturally a pass-oriented play-caller but will do pretty well with Jaxson,” the executive told Yahoo Sports. “He’s adapted to different guys and been explosive.”
Questions lingered, the executive admitted, about players’ personality fit with Monken’s tough, exacting standards as well as the prerequisite of a “functional” offensive line.
But if those two concerns could be assuaged, the executive predicted: “[Monken] will get him to produce.”
The former Southern Mississippi head coach, who has coached in the NFL for 11 years and college football for 26 more, succeeds Kevin Stefanski at the Browns’ helm.
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Dart won’t be Monken’s quarterback. It’s not clear, as of Wednesday, whom the Browns will decide can answer that gaping question.
But the executive’s perspective helped explain the upside the Browns might see in Monken. Coaches and executives at the Senior Bowl echoed similar sentiments.
There are coaches and coordinators across the league, from Kliff Kingsbury with his spread offense to the dozen-plus running the Shanahan-McVay system, who stick to fairly consistent principles in scheming their offensive weapons. That’s not to say they’re rigid: Most coaches, and all good coaches, adapt their scheme to their personnel and pull from sweeping playbooks the concepts that will best feature their current group of players. Some even respond to and try to get ahead of evolving defensive opponents. But many have a track record of a similar vision from which they work.
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One of Monken’s most attractive qualities, on the other hand, is the versatility he has already demonstrated as a coach. Monken has learned from the college game, including a stint at Georgia under Kirby Smart that ended in 2022, and he has coordinated the offense of three NFL teams: the Ravens from 2023-25, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016-18 and even his again-employer Browns in 2019.
Todd Monken is returning to the Cleveland Browns as head coach after previously serving as offensive coordinator in 2019.
(Diamond Images via Getty Images)
His offenses have not looked identical across those periods.
In Baltimore, with a former MVP in Lamar Jackson and a former rushing champion in Derrick Henry, Monken schemed the Ravens to the No. 1 overall offense and No. 3 scoring offense. Jackson won a second MVP award under Monken coordinating while Henry rushed for a league-high 16 touchdowns.
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An NFC executive and AFC defensive coach whose teams played Monken’s during his three years in Baltimore each quipped: Monken doesn’t get to take Jackson and Henry to his next stop. That’s where his adaptability could come into play.
“I would describe [his philosophy] as a balanced offense,” the AFC defensive assistant told Yahoo Sports. “He does a great job of marrying up the run with the play action.”
The Browns had three finalists for their opening in Monken, Cleveland defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. Schwartz’s disappointment in not receiving the job, and Monken’s vision, could lead to a split between Schwartz and the Browns after he coordinated two top-five defenses in the last three seasons.
In some ways, the decision to bring in a 59-year-old tough, former college head coach instead of promoting the 59-year-old tough, former NFL head coach already in the building should turn heads: Was alienating Schwartz worth it after he kept his defense thriving amid offensive dysfunction last year? Is rolling the dice on a new coordinator ideal when multiple league sources believe the Cleveland defensive personnel is suited ideally for Schwartz’s attack principles but not necessarily ideal for every coordinator?
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The Browns will likely try to keep Schwartz, who remains under contract, in the building. But Browns team owner Jimmy Haslam touted Monken for an “innovative offensive mindset [that] has been at the forefront of constructing productive and successful offenses at the NFL and collegiate level over the last 20 years.”
General manager Andrew Berry offered still more insight.
“Todd has a varied and diverse background that we found as a particularly appealing match for our team at this stage in its life cycle,” Berry said. “His successful offensive track record at both the pro and college level with a variety of offensive systems and QB skill sets will allow maximum flexibility as we make several, long-term investments on that side of the ball.”
The statement was markedly different from counterparts’ recent words. While teams like the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers seem intent on finding a ready-made coach to maximize already successful but not-quite-over-the-hump teams, the Browns need a leader who can elevate their cellar-dwelling elements (hi, offense) because they’ve run into challenges trying to win only on the basis of their best parts (hi, defense).
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Berry’s note of the Browns’ “life cycle” reflects the rebuild the team is undergoing, even if they avoid the word that so many fan bases and team leaders dread.
Until the Browns find a long-term answer at quarterback, and likely offensive line, their ceiling will remain limited. End-of-2025 starter Shedeur Sanders will likely compete for that role; and the Browns could use their rights to the sixth and 24th overall picks to draft a quarterback at one of those spots or package to trade up if they believe in a guy.
But the overwhelming sentiment at the Senior Bowl reflected the speculation of prior weeks: The 2026 quarterback class is weak and shallow. The 2027 class, meanwhile, is projected to be deep.
While talent evaluators agree that Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will leave the board first (the only nuance, coming from a minority, is whether the Las Vegas Raiders would trade the pick away to a team that would nonetheless select Mendoza), they otherwise believe there are few, if any, locks at starting quarterback.
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Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, projected to the Browns at the 24th overall pick in Yahoo Sports’ most recent mock draft, could leave the board in the first round. But questions about whether he’s the answer will come.
Free agency will provide further reminders of quarterback demand far outweighing its supply this spring — even for teams that are not projected to need $80 million in salary cap space for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
What does all of this have to do with Monken? Think back to Berry’s comment about the team’s “stage in its life cycle.” The Browns need to break the cycle of inept offenses and they need to break the cycle of Band-Aids at quarterback. Monken, with his versatility and long tenure, has a chance to right the ship — as much because of his willingness to adapt to his personnel as well as his demanding style.
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“He’s coached a lot of different things,” a high-ranking executive who has interviewed Monken told Yahoo Sports. “So he’s a coach that starts with what he’s got and then builds what he’s going to do around that. I do think he sees big picture, because he’s been in the [college] head-coaching seat before. I think he knows personnel.
“Every coach knows what they want to do, but the really good coaches are the ones that do what they have to do. And I think Todd’s a coach like that.”
Kevin O’Connor & Tom Haberstroh dive deep into the unfolding Giannis Antetokounmpo trade saga ahead of the February 5th deadline. The pair give an extensive breakdown of the teams—Warriors, Timberwolves, Hawks, Heat, Knicks and more—positioned to make big moves for the Bucks superstar.
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They also debate which teams stand to benefit most from their lottery odds in a loaded NBA Draft, analyze Ja Morant’s market value, talk Michael Porter Jr. trade destinations and more!
(0:44) Giannis ‘ready for a new home’ (6:52) Warriors case for getting Giannis (9:57) Should Timberwolves trade for Giannis? (20:29) Rockets & Spurs not interested in Giannis trade (28:46) Could Blazers facilitate the trade? (36:14) 5 teams for Ja Morant (44:48) Should Lakers trade for MPJ? (54:05) Draft Class: Dybantsa vs. Peterson (1:06:47) KOC Show mailbag
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 21: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks looks on against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter at Fiserv Forum on January 21, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Did Miami find a loophole in NIL? We have had many discussions on Darian Mensah’s journey from Duke to Miami in the last couple of weeks, but not much of the talk has been focused on the Hurricanes. Steven Godfrey returns to join Andy Staples and Ross Dellenger as they discuss how Miami may have found a way around player buyouts in college football. Are we closer to getting clear buyouts written in player contracts? Plus, do schools in states with no income tax have an advantage in NIL? The guys discuss.
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Then, they shift from players to coaches. The college football schedule is always a topic of debate, but the group most negatively affected by the current nonsensical schedule is the coaches. Many people may not feel bad for the head coaches making millions, but it’s all of the other coaches who really take on the biggest burden of the schedule. The dichotomy between the quality of life of college coaches versus coaches in the NFL has many coaches jumping ship to take a chance in the National Football League. Andy, Ross and Godfrey discuss how tough this schedule can be, and why the NFL model is more manageable for coaches. Plus, they discuss ways that the college football schedule can improve and also be more prevalent throughout the calendar year.
Later, they guys discuss the biggest news in the football world. Bill Belichick was not named a first ballot Hall of Famer. Many people have expressed shock and outrage by this omission. Andy poses a question to the group. Did Belichick’s struggles at North Carolina have a negative effect on his Hall of Fame candidacy? The guys discuss the situation.
Get all of your college football news here with College Football Enquirer.
Did Miami find a loophole in NIL? Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
(Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Christian Polanco and Christine Cupo kick things off by tiering the Champions League field, separating the favorites from the contenders, dark horses, and pretenders. Who’s built to go the distance, which clubs are being overrated, and who could surprise Europe this season?
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Next, the guys react to Anthony Gordon’s recent comments throwing shade at the Premier League. Has the league’s dominance made it predictable and boring, or is this just another case of fans confusing quality with excitement? Christian and Christine debate whether the “best league in the world” label still holds up.
Finally, the conversation turns to the USWNT as Emma Hayes officially ushers in a new era. With a clear vision, fresh energy, and evolving tactics, the guys ask whether this team could reach an even higher level of dominance than previous generations.
Timestamps:
(4:30) – Recapping Champions League Matchday 8 excitement
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(9:00) – Listing Champions League Pretenders
(19:30) – Champions League contenders
(28:30) – Champions League favorites
(31:00) – Reacting to Anthony Gordon’s comments on PL’s lost excitement
Get ready to see more of Anatoliy Trubin’s stunning last-second goal against Real Madrid over the next few weeks as Benfica was drawn with Los Blancos in Friday’s Champions League playoff draw.
Trubin, Benfica’s goalkeeper, headed home a 98th minute free kick during Wednesday’s 4-2 victory with the goal pushing As Águias ahead of Marseille and Pafos on goal differential and into the knockout phase of the competition.
The defeat affected Real Madrid as well as it finishes ninth in the table, knocking them out of a place in the Round of 16.
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Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting and Manchester City all earned automatic spots in March’s Round of 16.
Other matches in the two-legged knockout round include an all-French fixture with Monaco taking on reigning champions PSG; Juventus taking on Galatasaray; Newcastle facing Qarabağ; Club Brugge taking on Atlético Madrid; Bayer Leverkusen meeting Olympiacos; darlings Bodø/Glimt against Inter Milan; and Borussia Dortmund matching up with Atalanta.
2025-26 Champions League playoff draw
Winners to face Arsenal or Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund vs. Atalanta Olympiacos vs. Bayer Leverkusen
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Winners to face Liverpool or Tottenham Galatasaray vs. Juventus Club Brugge vs. Atlético Madrid
Winners to face Barcelona or Chelsea Monaco vs. Paris Saint-Germain Qarabağ vs. Newcastle United
Winners to face Sporting or Manchester City Benfica vs. Real Madrid Bodø/Glimt vs. Inter Milan
The two-legged matches will be played on Feb. 17-18 and Feb 24-25.
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson believes this season would have been very different if Sam Darnold had been the quarterback. The Vikings finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs. On Friday, the Vikings fired former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
“Everyone knows the difficulty of the quarterback position this year, how we were dealt it,” Jefferson told USA Today’s Prince Grimes. “But having a quarterback that already had a season under his belt with us, knew the plays, knew the playbook, knew the players, throwing to me, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, all these guys, I definitely feel like we would have done better. But it is what it is, it’s on to newer and better things. But I’m definitely happy and proud of him that he is able to reach it this year.”
In 2024, Darnold finished with career highs of 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions. Darnold helped lead the Vikings to a 14-3 season before their wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
McCarthy missed time this season with a hand injury, an ankle sprain and a concussion. In his absence, the Vikings started Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer at different points in the season. McCarthy finished his second year throwing for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Jefferson struggled with the instability at the quarterback position last season. Jefferson finished with 84 catches and career lows of 1,048 yards and 2 touchdowns. With Darnold at quarterback in 2024, Jefferson caught 103 passes for 1,533 yards and 10 touchdowns.
In his first year with the Seahawks, Sam Darnold threw for 4,048 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Despite leading the NFL in turnovers this season, Darnold saved his best performance for last, throwing for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns with no turnovers and helping Seattle advance to its first Super Bowl since 2015. Jones led the Colts to an 8-3 start before tearing his Achilles in Week 13.
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Despite Jefferson being happy for Darnold, he is left thinking about what could have been.
“It’s definitely tough. It’s tough to watch,” Jefferson said. “I love that he’s in the Super Bowl. I’m happy for him, I want nothing but the best for him, especially the way his journey was at first, people doubting him and people not giving him the respect. Now they’re giving him the respect. Now they’re seeing that he’s a top-tier quarterback in this league. Of course, selfishly, I wish he had done that for us last year, but to see him blossom and bounce back right after last year and make it this year, I’m happy for him and I hope he wins. I’m rooting for Seattle, and I think Seattle’s gonna win. I’ll be rooting for him.”
