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Our offseason grades continue with the AL Central, a division rarely associated with the kind of high-dollar signings or splashy transactions that seize headlines during baseball’s down months.

For the most part, this winter was no different. Until Detroit’s recent pitching payroll surge — some voluntary, some via Tarik Skubal’s historic victory in arbitration — no division had spent less combined in free agency than the AL Central, with the last-place White Sox surprisingly spending the most. On the trade market, the White Sox and Royals swung a few interesting deals, but most of the offseason’s biggest swaps occurred elsewhere around the league.

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Before we fully turn the page on hot stove season, let’s evaluate what these five Midwestern clubs have accomplished since last season concluded.

More offseason grades: NL East | NL Central | NL West | AL East | AL Central

Cleveland Guardians

Significant outgoing free agents: RP Jakob Junis, OF Lane Thomas, SP Ben Lively

Major moves:

• Extended 3B José Ramírez on a 7-year deal

• Re-signed C Austin Hedges to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Shawn Armstrong to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Connor Brogdon to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Colin Holderman to a 1-year deal

• Selected RP Peyton Pallette from White Sox in Rule 5 Draft

Offseason grade: D+

Division champs in three of the past four seasons and postseason participants in seven of the past 10 campaigns, the Guardians have proven to be one of the most reliably competitive teams in baseball. But the offseason is decidedly not when this franchise shines, and this winter was another glaring example of Cleveland’s unwillingness to raise its payroll beyond the absolute basement of the league — the Guardians’ current payroll ranks 29th ahead of only the Marlins — or be aggressive on the trade market in search of more cost-efficient upgrades.

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While the club’s decision to extend the face of the franchise, José Ramírez, was a commendable effort to ensure their best player will be a Guardian for life, paying someone who was already under contract for three more seasons did not make the 2026 club any better. It’s a move that can and should be celebrated in the context of Ramírez’s commitment to the organization and the team’s investment in Ramírez in return. But it did little to advance the club’s stated goals of returning to the World Series and ending the longest active championship drought in MLB.

Cleveland’s list of external additions consists primarily of new bullpen pieces on one-year deals, with veteran righty Shawn Armstrong’s $5.5 million pact the most prominent of the bunch. Adding relief depth makes sense as the organization continues to ponder life without closer Emmanuel Clase, but none of the newcomers jump off the page. As for meaningful upgrades to an offense that ranked 28th in wRC+ last season, there weren’t any, with respect to the minor-league deals to Stuart Fairchild and Carter Kieboom. Given an overflow of young position players either at or nearing the major-league level, the Guardians decided not to block any of them with more proven pieces and are instead banking on internal steps forward to fuel an improved offensive unit.

Of course, pessimism surrounding Cleveland’s offseason inactivity does not preclude optimism that the Guardians can once again be relevant characters in the AL Central race; counting them out prematurely would be foolish. But Ramírez will be an MVP candidate for only so long, and with limited reinforcements joining from the outside, there’s substantial pressure on the inexperienced in-house personnel to form a worthwhile supporting cast around Ramírez sooner rather than later.

Detroit Tigers

Significant outgoing free agents: SP Chris Paddack, INF Andy Ibanez, RP Jason Foley, RP Tommy Kahnle, RP Alex Lange

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Major moves:

• Signed SP Framber Valdez to a 3-year deal

• Retained 2B Gleyber Torres via qualifying offer

• Signed RP Kenley Jansen to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Kyle Finnegan to a 2-year deal

• Signed RP/SP Drew Anderson to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Justin Verlander to a 1-year deal

Offseason grade: B-

For the first three months of the offseason, the Tigers were awfully quiet. A major bit of business was taken care of quickly when second baseman Gleyber Torres accepted the qualifying offer in November, and Detroit bolstered its pitching staff with some modest moves in early December, re-signing Kyle Finnegan, adding veteran closer Kenley Jansen and bringing in rotation candidate Drew Anderson after a stellar stint overseas.

All the while, it was clear that Detroit’s winter would revolve around super-ace Tarik Skubal, first with trade speculation and then with the potentially historic arbitration hearing to determine his salary in the final year of his contract. Detroit’s inactivity through the month of January suggested a preference to gain clarity on Skubal’s salary before making any other moves. Then, the night before it was announced that Skubal won the hearing to secure a $32 million salary for 2026, the Tigers reportedly agreed to a humongous, three-year, $115 million deal with free-agent lefty Framber Valdez, exploding from the shadows to give themselves one heck of a one-two punch atop the rotation. Less than a week later, a reunion with old friend and future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander strengthened the starting staff further.

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Suddenly, the Tigers boast an outstanding rotation and a payroll well above $200 million, leaps and bounds above their AL Central peers. Both are undeniably encouraging for a franchise that hasn’t claimed a division title since 2014. But without any upgrades whatsoever to a lineup that was roughly average in the 2025 regular season and sputtered badly in October, it’s tough to give Detroit too favorable a grade for its winter activity. Like the rival Guardians, Detroit is counting on the hitters already on the roster — and the ultra-talented prospects on the way — to take the necessary steps forward to enable a more productive offense in 2026. Whether such a strategy will work remains to be seen, but completely neglecting the opportunity to add better bats this winter deserves a demerit on an otherwise solid grade.

Kansas City Royals

Significant outgoing free agents: OF Mike Yastrzemski, RP/SP Michael Lorenzen, INF Adam Frazier, RP Hunter Harvey, OF MJ Melendez, OF Randal Grichuk

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Major moves:

• Extended 3B Maikel Garcia on a 5-year deal

• Extended C Salvador Perez on a 2-year deal

• Acquired OF Isaac Collins, RP Nick Mears from Brewers for RP Angel Zerpa

• Acquired RP Matt Strahm from Phillies for RP Jonathan Bowlan

• Signed OF Lane Thomas to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Alex Lange to a 1-year deal

Offseason grade: B-

Are you sensing an AL Central theme? Here’s another club with some contender-like qualities, but an offensive unit that severely lacks the depth to warrant a bullish forecast. The Royals’ outfield in particular has been problematically awful in recent seasons, even as Kansas City has returned to relevance in the AL. It’s no surprise then that the team made multiple moves this winter to try to address that shortcoming, signing bounce-back candidate Lane Thomas and acquiring unlikely rookie breakout Isaac Collins in a swap with Milwaukee.

Thomas is coming off a completely lost season due to injury but has a solid track record of offensive output. Conversely, Milwaukee’s trade of Collins could be interpreted as a sell-high maneuver, suggesting some regression could be in store for him as a sophomore. Perhaps Thomas and Collins can solidify the Royals’ outfield in supporting roles behind the stars at the top of the lineup, but there are questions with both.

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Otherwise, the Royals didn’t do much. Extensions for breakout third baseman Maikel Garcia and franchise anchor Salvador Perez were both nice to see, but they don’t overshadow the complete lack of free-agent spending. Only the Nationals gave out less guaranteed money to major-league free agents this winter than Kansas City’s $6.15 million to Thomas and reliever Alex Lange. That’s disappointing considering the Royals’ recent willingness to occasionally splurge in the middle tier of free agency for guys such as Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha.

But the Royals did get better this winter. The outfield additions, plus a reliable lefty reliever in Strahm to backfill the loss of Zerpa, put this roster in position to compete in this mediocre division. It was an uninspiring but respectable winter for Kansas City.

Minnesota Twins

Significant outgoing free agents: C Christian Vazquez, RP Genesis Cabrera

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Major moves:

• Hired Derek Shelton as manager

• Signed 1B Josh Bell to a 1-year deal

• Signed C Victor Caratini to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Taylor Rogers to a 1-year deal

• Acquired C Alex Jackson from Orioles

• Acquired 1B Eric Wagaman from Marlins

• Acquired OF Tristan Gray from Red Sox

Offseason grade: D

Yikes. Despite heavy rumors that the dramatic deadline teardown would continue this winter with the offloading of star veterans such as Joe Ryan, Pablo López or perhaps even Byron Buxton, Minnesota held on to all of its main pieces. That would be fine if the team had decided that July’s roster overhaul was a temporary measure and that this winter would be spent reinforcing the parts of the roster that were diminished with those trades. Instead, the Twins did next to nothing to backfill the depleted bullpen and failed to make other additions that would inspire confidence while payroll sank to troubling lows. To top it off, the club parted ways with longtime front office head Derek Falvey at the end of January, extremely unusual timing for a transition of power to take place in baseball operations.

The lack of cohesion or direction appears to be the result of what’s going on at the ownership level. The Pohlad family’s decision not to sell the franchise after initially announcing their intention to do so has led to a change in leadership structure involving Tom taking the reins from his younger brother, Joe. That turbulence at the top has left the roster and the fan base in a state of unease entering 2026, as there’s just enough talent in place to squint and see a competitive team but such an unstable infrastructure that it’s difficult to feel certain this team will be good enough to avoid another painful sell-off in July. There are some really good players on this roster, but few teams, if any, had a more concerning winter than the Twins.

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Chicago White Sox

Significant outgoing free agents: OF Mike Tauchman, RP Tyler Alexander, SP Martin Perez, SP/RP Bryse Wilson

Major moves:

• Signed 1B Munetaka Murakami to a 2-year deal

• Signed RP Anthony Kay to a 2-year deal

• Signed SP/RP Sean Newcomb to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Seranthony Dominguez to a 2-year deal

• Signed OF Austin Hays to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Erick Fedde to a 1-year deal

• Acquired SP Jordan Hicks, SP/RP David Sandlin from Red Sox for SP Gage Ziehl

• Acquired UTL Luisangel Acuña, RP Truman Pauley from Mets for OF Luis Robert Jr.

• Selected SP Jedixson Paez, RP Alexander Alberto in Rule 5 Draft

Offseason grade: B+

We conclude this AL Central offseason wrap-up with some shockingly good vibes on the South Side. While the rest of the division largely lay dormant this winter, the White Sox were busy making a series of moves focused on building for the future but also raising the floor of the present-day club. By surrounding its promising position-player core with reliable veterans on both sides of the ball, Chicago has put itself in position to put a far more respectable product on the field in 2026 than the abysmal displays of the past two seasons.

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Let’s be real, though: this winter was all about landing Munetaka Murakami. That his market collapsed to such a degree that the White Sox were involved is obviously a red flag, but the monumental upside remains for the 26-year-old slugger. His arrival will single-handedly bring to spring training a level of anticipation that few other camps will feature, and his transition to the majors will be one of the biggest stories of the season. He has enormous questions to answer at the plate, but credit to Chicago for jumping at the unexpected opportunity to add a rare talent capable of energizing a fan base, even with the concerns attached.

That said, let’s not celebrate this winter of wheeling and dealing too much. This team still projects to be one of the worst in baseball, and no team playing in Chicago should have a payroll that ranks 28th in the sport, no matter where the club is in its competitive window. Still, for the first time in a while, there are things to look forward to with this team, and this offseason featured a more cogent and intentional roster-building strategy. The squad on the South Side is noticeably more compelling because of it.

Nick Castellanos’ time with the Philadelphia Phillies has come to an end. Less than 24 hours after it was revealed the team told Castellanos not to report to spring training, the outfielder was released by the club.

On his way out the door, Castellanos decided to post two handwritten notes, the first of which thanked Phillies staff members and players who supported him during his four years with the team.

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The second note focused on something Castellanos deemed “The Miami Incident.” That incident led to a one-game benching for Castellanos, who was in the midst of a streak in which he started 236 consecutive games.

At the time, the team said Castellanos’ benching was the result of an “inappropriate comment.” Castellanos revealed the real reason for his benching, and it involved alcohol.

Castellanos’ full note read:

“OK, apparently I need to address The Miami Incident. As one of my friends on the team has informed me, there is an article waiting to come out without my consent or comments about this situation. So I’m going to just share myself.

“As a veteran of the game of baseball there are rules and I broke one in Miami. After being taken out of a close ball game in front of my friends and family, I brought a Presidente into the dugout. I then sat right next to [Phillies manager Rob Thomson] and let him know that too much slack in some areas and too tight of restrictions in others are not conducive to us winning. Shoutout to my teammates and [Phillies special assistant to the general manager Howie Kendrick] for taking the beer out of my hands before I could take a sip. (I appreciate you guys). After the game, I went into the office with Dave & Rob. We aired out our differences and the conversation ended with me apologizing for letting my emotions get the best of me. I would like to note, that I was ready to share the details of the incident in its entirety to the media the next day, but was instructed not to by management. The punishment I received for my actions was the benching the following game.

“I love this game, I love being a teammate and I am addicted to winning. I will learn from this.”

Presidente is a brand of Dominican beer.

The game in question was June 16 vs. the Marlins. With the Phillies ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Castellanos — who has posted poor defensive metrics throughout his career — was removed from the game in favor of Johan Rojas, a superior defensive player. Castellanos took issue with the move, particularly because he grew up in Florida and had friends and family at the game.

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The following day, Castellanos was absent from the Phillies’ lineup, ending his consecutive games started streak.

Despite that incident, Castellanos remained with the Phillies the rest of the season. His numbers declined, as the veteran slashed just .250/.294/.400 with 17 home runs in 589 plate appearances. In late August — after again being removed from a game in favor of a defensive replacement — Castellanos admitted it was frustrating to deal with reduced playing time.

The team signaled it was ready to move on from Castellanos in the offseason, signing veteran Adolis García to a one-year, $10 million contract. García is expected to open the season as the Phillies’ starter in right field, Castellanos’ primary position.

Despite being out of a starting job, Castellanos remained on the Phillies’ roster for the rest of the offseason. Things came to a head Wednesday, when it was reported that the team told Castellanos not to report for spring training. With the Phillies seemingly out of options, they decided to release Castellanos on Thursday.

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While the veteran has some limitations at this point in his career, he posted an OPS better than league-average as recently as 2024. That could result in Castellanos signing with another team during spring training.

But given how his tenure with the Phillies ended, Castellanos will have to prove himself with a new franchise.

Former Nebraska AD, Bill Moos, has released a 697 page memoir titled Crab Creek Chronicles: From the Wheat Fields to the Ball Fields and Beyond. In it are some very interesting takeaways about his time at Nebraska. Andy Staples, Ross Dellenger and Steven Godfrey discuss some of the more notable stories he shares. The most notable, and surprising, story is about Moos’ regret of Nebraska joining the Big Ten conference and his interest in leaving the Big Ten to return to the Big 12. That, of course, did not end up happening. Moos also shares how he was forced into hiring Scott Frost even though he did not think he was right for the job. The guys share their opinions and takeaways from these, and other, stories from the book.

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Then, Andy, Ross and Godfrey go from looking at the past to looking into the future. The Pac-12 Conference is back and they have released their 2026 schedule. The most notable part is the unique approach to their Week 13 games. The conference currently only has eight football teams. That means there are only seven games to be held during an eight-game conference schedule. The Pac-12’s unique approach for the eighth game, in Week 13, is the creation of a flex week. There are currently four games scheduled, with home teams being already designated, but the conference is reserving the right to swap opponents up to six days before the matchup. They are saying they will choose the matchups based off of what is best for the conference. Presumably this means creating the most advantageous schedule for a potential CFP bid. The guys discuss the impact of this and what the ripple effects could be. What would this look like in other conferences, and could this potentially change the landscape of college football scheduling?

Later, Ross shares the latest update in the world of revenue sharing. He discusses his most recent article about how programs are far exceeding the revenue share cap and what the “real” rev-share cap is for the top programs. Andy and Godfrey join in as they react to the new world of revenue sharing, that may be far more expensive than people realize, and they all discuss how this is going to continue to evolve going forward.

Get caught up on all things college football with College Football Enquirer.

0:00:00 – Former Nebraska AD tells all

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28:29 – Pac-12’s unique flex-week schedule

42:48 – How schools are far exceeding the rev-share cap

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out all the episodes of theCollege Football Enquirer and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family athttps://apple.co/3zEuTQj or atyahoosports.tv

Igor Medved, Finland’s ski jumping coach for the 2026 Winter Olympics, was sent home Thursday due to an alleged alcohol-related issue.

Medved’s behavior was described by Finland’s Olympic committee as a violation of team conduct.

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“Medved traveled home today,” said Janne Hanninen, head of the Finnish team. “The matter concerns issues related to alcohol use. We take violations of the team’s rules very seriously and reacted to the situation quickly.”

Following his dismissal from the Olympic team, Medved issued an apology.

“I made a mistake and I am very sorry,” Medved said in a statement. “I want to apologize to the entire Finnish team, the athletes and also the fans.”

No further details were given by Finland’s Olympic committee regarding their now former ski jumping coach’s early departure.

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Executive director of the Finnish Ski Federation Marleena Valtasola said Medved’s future with the program would be decided following the Winter Games.

“An unpleasant situation has arisen: alcohol was consumed in violation of team rules,” Valtasola said. “We have decided that Medved will not participate in the Olympics. The other issues will be discussed with him after the Games. Now it is essential to safeguard the athletes’ concentration and restore serenity to the team and for Igor.”

Medved took over as coach of the Finland ski jumping team in June 2024. Finland has not won any medals in ski jumping and has just one bronze medal in these Games as of Thursday.

MILAN — Rubbin’ is racin’, as a wise old philosopher once said, but when rubbin’ turns to wreckin’, bad things happen.

Four years after her heartbreak in Beijing, short track speedskater Kristen Santos-Griswold again struggled in the Olympics, falling — or getting knocked to the ice — multiple times in an ultimately frustrating night that left her locked out of the medal final race.

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“It wasn’t the ice, it wasn’t anything,” Santos-Griswold insisted afterward. “it was blades hitting blades, or stubbing off a block.”

In the quarterfinals, Santos-Griswold’s race required four separate restarts after the five racers — later trimmed to four after China’s Chutong Zhang was disqualified for collisions — struggled again and again to get through the opening turns. Still, she recovered enough to finish second and advance to the semifinals.

But she faced troubles getting through a fast pack, and when her skate hit an inside block, she lost so much time on the leaders that she was unable to close the gap.

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“I know I’m fast, I know I can make moves,” she said after her final race. “I was confident in getting off the [starting] line. I was like, I can fight for this, but then immediately we had some contact and it was just too big to recover from. That was really disappointing, that I didn’t even get a shot, but that’s part of sport.”

Relegated to the B Final, without a hope of a medal, Santos-Griswold again ran into trouble, getting tangled up in a three-skater crash that ended her night once and for all.

“We’re all out there fighting to make it out of the rounds, fighting to get on the podium, to get on top of the podium, and I think that that’s something that’s a little bit different about the Olympics,” Santos-Griswold said. “It’s not like an accumulation of points, you’ve got one shot, and we’re all going to go out there and take it.”

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Santos-Griswold will next race in the 1000m on Saturday, the same event that bedeviled her in Beijing. In that race, she was leading in the final lap when a collision with Italy’s Arianna Fontana ended her night and her Olympic dreams.

“Last time I was so nervous leading up to races. I’m still nervous leading up to races, so that’s a lie if I say I’m not,” she said. “But I’m trying to take it day by day and enjoy the experience.”

When Darryn Peterson sat out Monday’s game against top-ranked and then-undefeated Arizona due to flu-like symptoms, speculation swirled. It’s continued in the wake of No. 9 Kansas beating the Wildcats despite the standout freshman guard’s latest absence from a marquee matchup.

Peterson is a former five-star recruit and a current projected top-two NBA Draft pick, but his durability is under the microscope now that he’s missed 11 of the Jayhawks’ 24 games for a variety of reasons.

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Critics have also been questioning the legitimacy of Peterson’s ailments, particularly his recent illness, given that he was on the floor for the start of pregame warmups before leaving the court and then missing the game versus Arizona, one of the most highly anticipated matchups on the sport’s calendar.

His head coach, two-time national champion Bill Self, addressed that skepticism on Thursday, notably dispelling a load-management narrative that he described as “BS.”

“I’m not a social media guy, but I have gotten on X and read some of the things and narratives that are out there about him, and it’s really not remotely true,” Self said, via The Field of 68.

Peterson has missed significant time because of a hamstring strain, a sprained ankle, a quad issue, cramping problems and now an illness, as reported by The Kansas City Star.

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Before missing Monday’s game versus No. 1 Arizona, he had missed games against then-No. 5 Duke and then-No. 5 UConn and was sidelined most of the second half during a Jan. 31 win over then-No. 13 BYU, a showdown that featured his biggest competition for the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, AJ Dybantsa.

“When you’re honest, people don’t believe you,” Self continued in a nearly four-minute remark during his midweek news conference. “And when you don’t comment on it, people create their own narratives.

“And you know what? I do the same thing about things I don’t know about. Well, it must be this. Geez, it has to be that if they’re not going to talk about it.

“But here’s the bottom line: Was his hamstring legit? Hell yes. Would you have risked injuring it more in November? No. Was his cramping legit? Yes, positively, it was. Did he turn his ankle bad to the point where he couldn’t practice for nine days and then practice one day and play BYU? Yes. And that was adrenaline kicking in, in the BYU game.”

While he played just three minutes in the second half in that matchup with Dybantsa, Peterson still finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He made three 3s, stacked three steals and delivered the highlight of the night, thanks to a seismic dunk over BYU’s Mihai Boskovic and Keba Keita.

That’s the thing. When Peterson’s been on the court, he’s often been as good as advertised.

In fact, he’s scored at least 14 points in every game he’s played, eclipsing the 20-point mark six times in 13 chances. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Canton, Ohio, native is averaging 20.5 points and shooting 48.9% from the field, including 41.9% from deep.

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As for the illness that kept Peterson from playing against Arizona, he’s still recovering from it, according to Self. The longtime Jayhawks head coach noted that Peterson being sick was only a big deal because it was lumped together with his other absences, which Self chalked up to a “string of bad luck.”

[Get more Jayhawks men’s basketball news: Kansas team feed]

“Was he sick? Yeah, he was sick enough he couldn’t practice,” Self said. “But he said he was still going to give it a run. And he came to shootaround, and he gave it a run, and he went out before, and he gets lightheaded, and I walk in and the doctor says, ‘Bill, he not going to be able to go.’

“The negative is that people saw him out there: ‘What could have happened between being out there and not playing?’ He was just trying to see if he could go. I mean, if he wanted to run from it or hide from it, he wouldn’t have gone out there. So the narrative is BS in many ways.”

Self then added: “Load management? This kid hasn’t talked about that one time. Load management? Geez, that’s when you play four games in seven days. That’s not when you play one half a week or anything like that.”

Self said that Peterson is doing better but isn’t full speed yet. He’s hoping the first-year guard will be closer to 100% on Friday and reach that status in time for Saturday’s road game against No. 5 Iowa State.

“It’s a lot, I would think, when you’re 19 years old, and you’re dealing with everybody having a narrative about everything that’s going on,” Self said.

“Or you’re sitting on the bench, and you got heat warmers on your legs or whatever, and now everybody’s got a narrative about a heat warmer. That’s what he’s dealing with, and that’s the world he’s getting ready to enter. But the narratives haven’t been accurate.”

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Tottenham have parted ways with Thomas Frank, and the big question is: was he really the problem? The boys dig into what’s actually happening at Spurs, whether the issues run deeper than the head coach, and which managers could realistically step in to fix things. Is this about tactics, recruitment, ownership — or something bigger?

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Then Austin FC striker Brandon Vazquez joins the show for an honest and revealing conversation. He opens up about recovering from his ACL injury, doing “quick maths” in his head about the World Cup timeline the moment he got hurt, and what it will take to fight his way back into the U.S. Men’s National Team picture. Vazquez also shares what it was really like playing in Liga MX — from nonstop media attention to the intensity of fan culture — and how it compares to MLS. Plus, we get the full origin story of his “Superman” goal celebration (yes, including the capes).

To close it out, the boys react to the 2026 MLS kit reveal and give their unfiltered best and worst picks. Which clubs nailed it? Which designs should’ve stayed in the concept phase? We’re handing out praise, roasting questionable choices, and ranking the fits you’ll be seeing all season long.

Timestamps:

(11:00) – Thomas Frank sacked! What is the issue at Tottenham?

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(20:00) – Discussing possible replacement for Tottenham

(27:15) – Brandon Vazquez joins The Cooligans

(51:30) – Revealing the best 2026 MLS kits

(59:45) – Revealing the worst 2026 MLS kits

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

MILAN — Already denied a goal and an assist by successful Latvian challenges earlier in the game, Brock Nelson couldn’t resist sending a message.

The American forward celebrated his go-ahead goal midway through the second period by playfully pointing at the net and signaling “good goal” to make the point that this one counted.

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“You never know how many looks you’re going to get, so when you have that happen, you’re like maybe tonight’s not my night,” Nelson said. “You just try to stick with it. All the guys were positive for sure.”

Nelson’s goal was the lid-lifter the U.S. men’s hockey team needed to seize control of the match and get its quest for Olympic gold off to an encouraging start. The Americans added two more goals by the end of the second period, salting away a 5-1 victory over Latvia on Thursday night in the opening match of group play for both teams.

“That goal by Brock was really big,” American defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. “It felt like we were pushing and pushing, kind of waiting for the dam to break.”

The last time the U.S. men’s hockey team captured Olympic gold, a group of college standouts and minor-league nobodies engineered the Miracle on Ice. Forty-six years later, the Americans boast a star-laden roster composed entirely of NHL players and the belief that it is at last their time again.

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Their starting goaltender is the reigning NHL MVP and a three-time Vezina Trophy winner. Their group of defensemen includes four who appeared on ballots in last year’s Norris Trophy voting. Their attacking talent includes the likes of Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk. It’s the deepest, strongest roster at these Olympics besides Canada’s, which is somehow even more loaded.

Only six members of Latvia’s roster currently play in the NHL, but the U.S. entered Thursday’s matchup expecting a fight. Latvia is a proud hockey country with a history of punching above its weight class. At the 2023 World Championships, the Latvians won a surprise bronze medal, toppling the likes of Czechia, Sweden and the U.S.

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The opening period was an exasperating one for a U.S. team that put the puck in the back of the net three times yet skated off the ice with just a single goal.

Quinn Hughes thought he had put the U.S. ahead 2-0, but referees ruled that Nelson was offside during the buildup. Then, after a Latvian goal against the run of play, Nelson appeared to score on a deflection to make it 2-1, but referees ruled that minimal contact between J.T. Miller and Merzlikins in the crease was enough to be goaltender inference.

Annoyance turned to disbelief for the Americans late in the first period when U.S. attackers twice beat Merzlikins, only to have their shots clang off the post. First it was Nelson. Then it was Matthew Tkachuk. The older Tkachuk brother was so certain that he had scored that he began to raise his arms in celebration, only to put them on his head when he realized he had been denied. Linemate Jack Eichel also put both arms in the air, then quickly put them back down.

Credit the U.S. for bearing down and responding by dominating the second period. The U.S. limited Latvia to just two shots and peppered Merzlikins over and over until Nelson finally broke through.

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A deft Jack Hughes pass from behind the net set Nelson up all alone in front of the net with only Merzlikins to beat. Nelson stayed patient and made no mistake, deking the Latvian goaltender the wrong way and burying the puck into an open net.

The goals came easily for the U.S. after that. Tage Thompson went backhand over the shoulder of Merzlikins from a tight angle to make it 3-1. Beautiful tic-tac-toe passing set up Nelson for his second goal of the game barely a minute later.

Latvia changed goaltenders after the second period, not that it slowed the U.S. onslaught. Auston Matthews struck less than three minutes into the third period.

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The Americans are unlikely to face more resistance in their next group-stage game against Denmark on Saturday night. It might not be until Sunday against  Leon Draisaitl and Germany that the U.S. is truly challenged.

If the Americans get this version of Nelson to lead their fourth line, it might be even longer than that.

“What could he have had, like four or five goals tonight if they wouldn’t have gotten called back?” Matthew Tkachuk said. “He was awesome.”

A third state would like to enter the battle for the next home of the Chicago Bears.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds voiced an interest in luring the NFL team on Wednesday, according to the Des Moines Register, calling the idea a “wild pass.” A day later, an Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced Senate File 2252.

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If passed, the bill would modify Iowa’s major economic growth attraction program to “include incentivizing the building of a professional sports stadium by a National Football League franchise in the state.”

The Bears do not appear to have publicly reacted to the move.

Iowa’s interest is the latest development in the Bears’ quest to find a post-Soldier Field home. The Bears have floated both a lakefront site near Soldier Field and a development in the suburb of Arlington Heights, both of which would require more than a billion dollars in taxpayer support. The Illinois legislature reportedly declined either project for 2026, leading team president Kevin Warren to float a move to northwest Indiana.

Indiana politicians have moved to meet that interest. The cities of Gary, Hammond and Portage — NW Indiana’s three largest cities — have all signaled interest in the Bears.

An Iowa state senator had an interesting way to describe the situation, via Front Office Sports:

Sen. Kerry Gruenhagen (R., Iowa), in a statement, said the bill was filed to “show a team in our neighboring state that we are ready for them if their home state doesn’t want them. While Illinois and Indiana squabble over this issue, we are ready to get off the sidelines and into the game.”

Not every Iowa politician is interested in the enormous expenditure that landing the Bears would require, though. Iowa House minority leader Brian Meyer told the Register he didn’t see the idea as serious:

“It’s all a game, it’s all a gimmick,” Meyer said. “I get it. I understand. But the time to get serious is upon us and we need to focus on issues that really matter to people. And I understand, obviously there is no way the Chicago Bears are moving to wherever they want them to, right? So the reality is we’re not going to annex Galena, Illinois, either. So let’s get serious. We need to buckle down and focus on school funding, clean up the waterways and make life more affordable.”

There are obvious challenges to bringing the Bears to Iowa that not even Indiana would really face. For starters, there’s the question of how far you can move from Chicago and still call yourself the Chicago Bears. One could argue that moving to Indiana would break that threshold, but northwest Indiana is still considered part of the Chicago metropolitan area by the U.S. Census.

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It’s roughly a 40-mile drive from Soldier Field to Portage, the farthest city of the Indiana trio. The Iowa border, meanwhile, is more than 150 miles. So moving the Bears would mean severing generations of local connections for a state with about a third of the population of the Chicago metro area.

You would hope that’s a factor in the Bears’ eventual decision.

David Rubenstein, a billionaire who has owned the Baltimore Orioles since 2024, met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, Front Office Sports reported Thursday.

While Rubenstein, a founder of the Washington, D.C.-based private-equity firm The Carlyle Group, is named in the Epstein files, he’s not accused of any wrongdoing.

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Among the millions of emails released by the Department of Justice last month are exchanges between Rubenstein and Epstein. Those reveal that Rubenstein met with Epstein for dinner in November 2012, four years after Epstein pleaded guilty to a state charge of solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

“Mr. Rubenstein had one meeting for 20 minutes in Carlyle’s office, at the request of people seeking Mr. Rubenstein’s participation in philanthropic endeavors, none of which were pursued by Mr. Rubenstein,” a spokesperson for Rubenstein said in a statement provided to multiple outlets on Thursday.

“Nice meeting you finally,” Epstein wrote in an email to Rubenstein on Nov. 12, 2012. Epstein and Rubenstein were reportedly previously introduced via email by Boris Nikolić, a physician once named as “successor executor” to Epstein’s estate.

In that Nov. 12 email to Rubenstein, Epstein noted that Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel, would be in Washington and asked whether Rubenstein would be interested in meeting with Barak to discuss the forecast for the economy following the election.

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At the time, incumbent Barack Obama had just defeated Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.

Rubenstein then responded, “Thanks very much. Enjoyed the chance to meet you as well.”

Later in the same message, Rubenstein added: “I need to check my schedule tomorrow. I really like ehud and I am up to speed on what congress and wh are doing — though impact on the economy is still a bit of guess work.”

Rubenstein’s spokesperson addressed that back-and-forth in their statement.

“A brief email thanking Mr. Rubenstein for the meeting also suggested a meeting between Mr. Rubenstein and Ehud Barak, which never occurred,” the spokesperson told multiple outlets.

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“There is nothing more to Mr. Rubenstein’s involvement than that innocuous interaction.”

That said, as reported by FOS, Epstein sent an email to Rubenstein two weeks later, and his reply suggested another meeting between them was in the works.

On Nov. 26, 2012, Epstein emailed Rubenstein a link to an article about Barak leaving politics. Less than two hours later, Rubenstein responded, “So no dinner this week?”

Epstein replied later that day, “dinner is a better idea now.. looking for interesting things to do.”

Outside of Rubenstein’s direct correspondence with Epstein, there’s other evidence of their connection in the files. FOS reported Thursday that in July 2012, a “Sarah K” emailed Epstein a photo of a woman in a bathing suit, which Epstein forwarded to Nikolić and wrote “for david rubenstein.”

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The woman’s face is redacted in the files.

Nikolić, who told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he “deeply” regrets associating with Epstein, responded back then to that email, “Thank you! HOT.”

A spokesperson for Rubenstein said Rubenstein had never received or seen that email from Nikolić, per FOS.

Rubenstein and fellow private-equity billionaire Mike Arougheti spearheaded the purchase of the Orioles from the Angelos family in January 2024, reportedly acquiring ownership of the club at a price that valued the team at $1.725 billion.

Peter Angelos, who led the purchase of the Orioles in 1993, died at 94 in March 2024. Soon after, Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, officially took over as the franchise’s control person.