Month: December 2022

Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said on Tuesday that quarterback Kyler Murray will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.  An MRI on Tuesday confirmed the injury.  Said Kingsbury: “That’s obviously unfortunate and tough to see … And talking to him last night, um, yeah, it was a tough night… He’s [Murray] as competitive as anybody I’ve ever been around, so he wanted to finish the season strong, and we’d faced a lot of adversity so far this season and we’re looking forward to this last month and trying to really build going into next year. So, definitely disappointed.” Kingsbury said that Murray will get additional opinions and tests done on his knee, and the team expects they’ll get a final report on the severity of the injury by Wednesday.

Murray suffered the knee injury during Monday night’s 27-13 loss to the New England Patriots after a 3-yard run on the third play of the game in the first quarter, when scrambling to his right. Murray immediately went down, which was of immediate concern because it was a non-contact injury. Murray stayed on the ground for several minutes before he was carted off the field, and Colt McCoy took Murray’s place to finish the game.

Murray signed a five-year extension worth $230.5 million in July after a 2021 season where he appeared in his second consecutive Pro Bowl. Last season he threw for 3,787 yards and 24 touchdowns while also rushing for 423 yards and five touchdowns.  Murray’s 2022 season finishes with 2,368 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also tallied 418 yards on the ground and rushed for three touchdowns.

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Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez helped Argentina defeat Croatia with a 3–0 win in the World Cup semifinals on Tuesday, advancing them to the World Cup Final. Messi scored the first point to become Argentina’s all-time leading goal scorer at World Cup finals, and Alvarez completed a direct solo run through Croatia’s defense to help double Argentina’s lead before half-time. Argentina have won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, and with Tuesday’s win will advance to Sunday’s final where they will face either France or Morocco, who play on Wednesday.

Said Messi: “Throughout the World Cup it has been incredible what we have experienced. We are going to play the final which is what we wanted … I don’t know if it’s my best World Cup, it’s been a long time I’ve been enjoying. This team is crazy. We are going to play one more final, we are going to enjoy all of this.” Messi added: “We have gone through some tough situations, some very good ones. Today we are experiencing something spectacular … I’m enjoying it with all these people and with all the Argentinians who are in our country. I imagine it must be crazy.”

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According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Toronto Blue Jays and starting pitcher Chris Bassitt have agreed to a three-year contract worth $63 million. The $21 million average annual salary is the third-highest handed out in free agency to a starting pitcher this off-season.

The 33-year-old Bassitt was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 16th round of the 2011 draft. He made his debut with the White Sox in 2014 and was moved in the subsequent off-season to the Oakland A’s along with Marcus Semien for Jeff Samardzija. Bassitt had an All-Star season in 2021 in which he posted a 3.15 ERA over 157 1/3 innings. All told, he posted a 3.44 ERA with the A’s over 100 appearances, 88 of which were starts.

The A’s traded Bassitt to the New York Mets last March, where he made 30 starts with the Mets in 2022 and posted a 3.42 ERA. New York issued him a qualifying offer but he declined and opted to go into free agency.

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The Atlanta Braves have acquired catcher Sean Murphy from the Oakland Athletics in a three-team deal, sending Oakland Manny Pina, and the Milwaukee Brewers acquiring William Contreras. All three players are catchers.  The Braves tweeted: “Welcome to the A, Sean Murphy! #ForTheA”

Tbe 28-year-old Murphy has a career slash line of .236/.326/.429 with a WAR is 7.9. He finished 22nd in MVP voting this past season and won a Glove Glove in 2021. Pina, 35, spent just one season in Atlanta and is headed to Oakland, after spending the previous six with the Brewers. His career slash line is .243/.313/.409 and he has a WAR of 6.3. Contreras, 24, has a career slash line of .260/.338/.471 and a WAR of 2.8.

The Athletics are also acquiring LHP Kyle Muller, RHP Freddy Tarnok and RHP Royber Salinas from the Braves along with UT Esteury Ruiz from Milwaukee. Muller is the Braves’ number one prospect. RHP Justin Yeager and RHP Joel Payamps are also headed to the Brewers in the deal.

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