Sports
Juan Soto’s Already Smashing Dingers—New York Yankees Fans Might Want to Look Away
If there is one common trait among baseball general managers who operate in markets with multiple teams, it is to avoid making blockbuster deals with the devil.
In most cases, that devil is the team that otherwise would be considered a neighbor. Intimacy breeds contempt, they say, and for baseball GMs, having too comfortable of a working relationship with the club nearest to you can affect perception.
So on the rare occasion that in-town or regional rivals do make deals, they are of a lower-impact variety. The nightmare comes when swaps are made at a higher level.
The most disastrous of deals among rivals went down in baseball lore when the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $100,000 and additional perks in 1919.
While the Yankees reportedly placed a mortgage on Fenway Park, Ruth, as legend has it, put a curse on the Red Sox.
Deals of that magnitude among rivals are dinosaurs. The Los Angeles Angels never would have traded Shohei Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Yankees certainly would not have shipped Juan Soto to the New York Mets under any circumstance.
Yet each player still managed to orchestrate their own deals to end up across town as free agents.
So eager to join the Dodgers and give himself a chance at a playoff appearance—not to mention a championship—Ohtani worked a $700 million deal by agreeing to have $680 million of it paid after the 10-year term ends.
The move not only allowed Ohtani to participate in a playoff game for the first time in his career, he played in 16 of them, five of which were in the World Series. And when Year 1 of a 10-year deal was complete, the Dodgers had the trophy they craved, and Ohtani had the ring he desired.
One season later, the scenario has again emerged. While Soto has already experienced World Series glory in 2019 with the Washington Nationals and played in another last season with the Yankees, his arrival with the Mets was simple economics.
Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets as opposed to the Yankees’ best offer, which was reported at 16 years and $760 million. That amounts to a $3.5 million difference per year.
Like the Dodgers were last season, the Mets are now on championship watch. They went as far as the National League Championship Series last year, and Soto could be the impetus to the Mets’ first appearance in the Fall Classic since 2000. That World Series was against the Yankees.
A Mets-Yankees World Series this season would continue the buzz started when the Dodgers-Yankees matchup this past October pitted a pair of longtime MLB superpowers against each other.
Soto’s move to Queens didn’t need any extra juice, but it got it anyway when the 26-year-old hit a home run Saturday during his first spring at-bat in his new uniform. If Soto can take his game to an even higher level, like Ohtani did after signing his free-agent contract, then a summer of can’t-miss star power awaits.
“Everybody knows who you are and everything, but they’ve got to see it with their eyes,” Soto told reporters in Port St. Lucie after Saturday’s game.
Perhaps Soto’s strength is knowing that for all he has done at such a young age—with 201 home runs and a career .953 OPS—he needs to keep proving himself while playing for his fourth club in eight seasons.
“I try to bring the vibes and the good energy everywhere I go,” Soto said. “For me, if I hit a homer or not, it’s just how it looks inside, in the clubhouse and the dugout. That’s all it’s about.”
Last season, the Dodgers rode a top of the order that consisted of Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all the way to a title. The Mets, on Saturday, had Francisco Lindor batting in front of Soto, who was followed by Pete Alonso.
So pull up a chair to see if 2025 can follow a similar path as 2024. The Mets and Yankees meet May 16-18 in a three-game series in the Bronx that will have all eyes on it. The series finale has already been selected for national television.
One week later, the Mets will be at home for a three-game series against the Dodgers. Once again, the series finale has already been selected for national television. And barely one week later, the Mets will be in Los Angeles for four against the Dodgers.
And if that isn’t enticing enough, Fourth of July weekend will consist of three more games against the Yankees in Queens.
Fireworks are coming. Simply tune in.
Sports
WNBA All-Star Game tickets soar to $340
May 9, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) passes the ball while Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Ticket prices for the WNBA All-Star Game continue to rise leading up to the tipoff on Saturday night in Chicago.
The get-in price at United Center escalated from $74 on June 19 to $118 on July 19 to $233 by Friday, according to ticket-tracking service TicketData.com. At 12:20 p.m. ET on Saturday, the price stood at $343.
The game is sold out, TicketData.com reported.
Chicago last hosted the WNBA All-Star Game in 2022 at Wintrust Arena, the 10,387-seat home of the Sky.
Per Front Office Sports, last year’s WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis had a gameday get-in price of $71. And that was in a smaller venue than the United Center.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse fits about 17,200 fans. The United Center, home of the NBA’s Bulls and NHL’s Blackhawks, can seat more than 20,000 people.
The All-Star teams will be headlined by Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, the leading vote-getters.
Bueckers’ team features three former UConn players — Bueckers, Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty and Gabby Williams of the Golden State Valkyries — in the starting lineup, along with Kelsey Mitchell of the Fever and Natasha Howard of the Minnesota Lynx.
Joining Clark in the starting lineup are her teammate, Aliyah Boston, rookie Olivia Miles of the Lynx, Jessica Sheapard of the Wings and Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson.
A four-time WNBA MVP, Wilson is leading the WNBA in scoring (25.5 points) and blocks (2.0) per game.
ABC will televise the game, which has an 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Richard Carapaz, Tadej Pogacar stand tall at Stage 20 of Tour de France
Richard Carapaz of Ecuador is in action during Stage 20 of the Tour de France on Saturday. The race ends Sunday. Richard Carapaz of Ecuador won the stage and Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia all but wrapped up his fifth general classification title in seven years during a wild penultimate day at the Tour de France on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Carapaz capped a monumental week with his second victory in three stages, and third of his career, while also taking over the polka-dot jersey for top climber of the three-week stage race. He also finished third in Friday’s Stage 19.
Stage 20 unfolded in dramatic fashion as Sepp Kuss of the United States held a comfortable lead with just over 7 kilometers remaining in the 170.9-kilometer stage as it approached the finish at the resort town of Alpe d’Huez.
Kuss then crashed against a curb on the right side of the road while exiting a tunnel but got back on his bike and continued with the lead. Misfortune struck again when Kuss crashed against a left-side curb with 5.8 kilometers remaining.
Carapaz passed Kuss after his second solo crash and went on to the stage victory for the U.S.-based EF Education-EasyPost team. Remco Evenepoel of Belgium passed Kuss near the finish line to take second place, while Kuss made his way to the podium with a disappointing third-place finish.
Kuss was trying for his second career stage and stands as the last American man to win a Tour de France Stage when he reached the finish line first in 2021.
Race leader Pogacar finished fourth in the stage, while his UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac del Toro of Mexico was fifth. The finish kept del Toro in the white jersey given to the top rider under 26 years old.
All that remains is Sunday’s mostly ceremonial final Stage 21. Barring major disaster, Pogacar will wrap up his third consecutive Tour de France title as he takes a 6-minute, 26-second lead over Evenepoel into the final day.
In third place overall is del Toro, who is 9:42 off his teammate’s pace. Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old sensation from France, is fourth overall and nearly two minutes behind del Toro for the white jersey. Seixas finished 10th in Stage 20.
The final stage into Paris on Sunday was cut from 133 kilometers to 89 kilometers because of nearby wildfires, with fans now treated to two extra circuits along the Champs-Elysees before a climbing finish on the nearby Montmartre loop.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tour de France final stage rerouted due to wildfires
A firefighter works to battle wildfire near the A9 motorway near Beziers, France, July 3, 2026. Wildfires in southwest France have forced organizers of the Tour de France to reconfigure the final stage, set for Sunday.
The change is necessary because multiple first responders have been diverted to the fires. The new route will leave a smaller race footprint for local officials to secure.
“As numerous wildfires are currently affecting France, particularly the Gironde region, emergency services are fully mobilized to combat the blazes, while internal security forces are working to secure the affected areas and protect the population,” the Amaury Sport Organisation said in a statement.
“In light of this, the Ministry of Interior has decided to redeploy a portion of the internal security forces initially mobilized to ensure security for the final stage of the Tour de France, in order to reinforce the response efforts in the areas affected by the wildfires.”
The wildfires have led to the evacuations of about 200,000 people.
Stage 21 had been set as a 132.5-kilometer ride from Thoiry down the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The re-imagined Stage 21 still will end along the famed road, just after a circuit on the Montmartre. But the run now will occur solely within the Paris boundaries and travel just 89 km. Cyclists will take two extra circuits along the Champs-Elysees before heading out for the Montmartre climb.
The Montmartre circuit has proven to be popular after it was used in the 2024 Paris Olympics and then added to the 2025 Tour de France. The area can accommodate large gatherings of fans, who turn the area into a party atmosphere.
Earlier in the Tour de France, fans were asked to stay away from the final 40 kilometers of Stage 3 because of wildfires and the need to deploy first responders to the area.
–Field Level Media
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WNBA All-Star Game tickets soar to $340
