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Projecting the Chicago Cubs opening-day roster: Who will claim the remaining spots?

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

In two weeks the Chicago Cubs will line up along the third-base line for opening-day introductions at Wrigley Field.Although a majority of their opening-day roster spots are locked in, barring any injuries before the team departs Arizona on March 28, the Cubs will soon begin deliberating on how best to build their team to open the year.And with that in mind, here’s a projection of the opening-day roster:Starting pitchers (5)RHP Marcus StromanRHP Jameson TaillonLHP Justin SteeleLHP Drew SmylyRHP Hayden WesneskiAlso in consideration: RHP Adrian Sampson, RHP Javier Assad.Wesneski’s results are starting to speak for themselves. Yes, it’s spring training and his shutdown performance through three Cactus League starts — no earned runs in 8⅔ innings — comes in an environment where numbers can be tough to gauge. But his stuff has been nasty and at this point he should be considered the front-runner to be the No. 5 starter.If Sampson is the odd man out, th...

Mets closer Edwin Diaz suffers torn patellar tendon, needs surgery and is expected to miss the season

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

Up until Wednesday, the Mets had avoided the worst. The pitching depth had taken a few hits over the last two weeks but the Mets were still in a position to be able to withstand the losses. But losing the best closer in baseball is a different story.Edwin Diaz tore his patellar tendon while celebrating Puerto Rico’s win over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic in Miami and is expected to be out for the season. The 28-year-old right-hander will undergo surgery Thursday afternoon by Dr. David Altchek and will be sidelined for roughly eight months.The 28-year-old right-hander will undergo surgery Thursday afternoon in Florida and will be sidelined for roughly eight months. It’s a huge blow to the bullpen and to the Mets, who signed him to a record five-year, $102 million contract in November, and to fans who loved the trumpets on his walkout song, “Narcos.”Mets general manager Billy Eppler noted that other athletes who have undergone the same su...

MBTA lifts full speed restriction on Mattapan Line, keeps speeds slow on Green Line

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

The MBTA has lifted a speed restriction that covered the entire Mattapan Line, but kept speeds capped at 25 mph on the Green Line.The Green Line is now the only subway line still under a so-called global restriction, following a Department of Utilities track inspection that prompted the MBTA to implement a systemwide speed restriction of 10-25 mph last Thursday.Blanket restrictions were lifted on the Red, Blue and Orange Lines last Friday, but slow zones still cover roughly 32% of the heavy rail system.“The global speed restriction on the Mattapan Line has been lifted and replaced with block restrictions where necessary,” the MBTA tweeted on Thursday. “The Green Line remains under a global speed restriction. Subway riders should continue to plan for additional travel time and longer headways.”Interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville said on Monday that riders should expect subway trips to take 20 minutes longer while restrictions are in place.Gonneville directed operations to impl...

‘Ted Lasso’ review: Ted has lost the spring in his step — as has Season 3 of this Apple TV+ comedy

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

Nina Metz | (TNS) Chicago Tribune“Ted Lasso” began as a fish-out-of-water comedy, of the eternally upbeat Ted running headlong into the British skepticism of anyone invested in the Premier League soccer team — sorry, football club — known as AFC Richmond. With his can-do spirit winning over the doubters, Season 2 took a different tack, revealing a more complicated man behind the mustache and a deep well of sadness beneath his sunny facade. With Season 3, it’s too early to tell what the overall theme might be just yet; only four of the 12 episodes were provided to critics. But Ted has noticeably lost a spring in his step.So has the series.Some of that is due to the expanded episode length. The first season stuck pretty close to 30-minute episodes. That inched upward the following season. This time, episodes are in the 44-50 minute range — roughly the equivalent of two half-hour network comedies — and it makes you wonder why they didn’t just slice things up differently and make it a s...

DA: Bedford cold case murder suspect tried to scam his way out of charges

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

Prosecutors say that not only did they get their man for the 1971 cold case murder of a Bedford resident, but that they got him again for trying to scam his way out of the rap.“We allege that Arthur Massei took premeditated, purposeful steps to try to obstruct justice by seeking to procure false testimony in his upcoming murder trial,” Middlesex DA Marian Ryan said in a statement. “We take allegations of intimidation and threats very seriously and these additional charges reflect that.”In March of last year, the Middlesex DA’s office announced that a grand jury had indicted Arthur Louis Massei, 77, of Salem, for binding, stabbing and bludgeoning 54-year-old Natalie Scheublin to death in the basement of her Bedford home in 1971.On Wednesday, Massei was arraigned on additional charges of solicitation to suborn perjury in a capital case, attempted extortion, solicitation to commit usury, and threatening to cause physical injury or death.At Massei’s arraignment for the Scheublin murder ...

Veteran linebacker Elandon Roberts leaves Dolphins in free agency

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

Veteran linebacker Elandon Roberts’ time with the Miami Dolphins is up.The seven-year pro who spent the past three seasons in Miami is headed to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a two-year deal, according to NFL Network.Change was likely coming to the Dolphins’ inside linebacker corps when the team reached a deal with David Long, formerly of the Tennessee Titans. Miami is also re-signing linebacker Duke Riley as the defense transitions to being led by Vic Fangio following Josh Boyer’s tenure as defensive coordinator.The sure-tackling Roberts is coming off his first triple-digit tackle season, collecting 107 with a career-high 4 ½ sacks in 2022. Over three years with the Dolphins, he had 251 tackles. Roberts also played his first four seasons with the New England Patriots, where he won two Super Bowls and had former Dolphins coaches Boyer and Brian Flores on the defensive staff.Miami has Long, Jerome Baker, whose contract for 2023 becomes guaranteed on March 19, Rile...

After a tough loss, the Chicago Bulls face a rough final stretch — 14 games in 25 days — to earn a postseason spot

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

For the last week, the Chicago Bulls have posted the Eastern Conference standings on the board in their locker room. It’s a prominent focal point for a team that barely controls its destiny.The Bulls are teetering on the edge of contention for the last spot in the play-in tournament, sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference after spending recent weeks bobbing between the 10th and 12th slots. The final brutal stretch of the season — 14 games in 25 days — will be decided by the ninth-hardest schedule in the league as the Bulls face teams with an average winning percentage of .518.And unless the Bulls win all of those games, their playoff hopes would at least be partially decided by the teams surrounding them in the standings.“They know exactly where we’re at, what’s going on,” coach Billy Donovan said. “But we can’t be a group of guys that sits there and looks at the scoreboard all the time, wanting help from somebody else when we...

Proposed 'safe parking lot' for homeless to include live-in-ready campers, city says

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The City of San Diego is advancing plans for a designated parking lot that will provide safe and lawful vehicle camping for those experiencing homelessness.On Wednesday, the City Council’s Rules Committee pushed forward a proposal to open a new "safe parking lot" in the Clairemont neighborhood that will include live-in-ready campers. Here’s the next Dump Day event in the San Diego area The committee unanimously voted to amend a contract with Jewish Family Service of San Diego to operate the new lot, which is meant to provide free and safe parking for people who sleep in their vehicles overnight. “Safe parking is a tool that can keep people from losing their home of last resort and winding up on our streets,” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. “This program expansion will put to good use the trailers provided to us by the state and give folks more space to live while they work to find permanent housing.”The new lot, if approved, would be located near the Rose Canyon Ope...

Canada to drop COVID test requirement for travellers from China

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

The Canadian government is ending the mandatory COVID-19 test requirement for anyone travelling to Canada from China, Hong Kong or Macao as of Friday. The government mandated pre-boarding tests for people coming from those places back in January after China removed long-standing public health restrictions, causing a countrywide outbreak of the virus.The government said it was concerned about reports of a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in China, and a lack of data available about potential variants that could be spreading through the country.At the time the Public Health Agency of Canada indicated the test requirement would remain in place until at least April 5. “Since Canada and other countries put in place temporary border measures in January 2023, data from China, the international community, and wastewater sampling conducted in Canada, have not detected any new variants of concern,” read a statement released by Canadian officials. The move to harden border restr...

NDP praises David Johnston as Tories, Bloc bemoan interference watchdog appointment

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:18:14 GMT

OTTAWA — Federal opposition parties continued to call for a public inquiry into foreign interference Thursday, as the NDP welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s choice of a special rapporteur.On Wednesday, Trudeau announced that former governor general David Johnston will look into allegations of foreign meddling in Canada’s last two federal elections and recommend what the Liberal government should do about it.“Get real,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote in a Thursday statement.“Trudeau must end his cover up,” he charged, noting that Trudeau referred to Johnston as a “family friend” in 2017 and that the former viceregal was a member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said those ties show that Johnston is “close” to Trudeau, and he said Johnstonhas been “chummy” with China.“I don’t want to make out of that any personal character accusatio...