Yahoo Sports AM: The Sasaki sweepstakes

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 13-0: The Cavaliers won again, fending off a depleted 76ers team to improve to 13-0. One more win and they’ll tie the 2002-03 Mavericks and 1957-58 Celtics for the fourth-best start in league history.

🥍 Women’s sports boom: The Premier Lacrosse League is launching a women’s league in February; the PWHL’s six teams will be added to EA Sports’ NHL 25 next month.

🙏 Pop health update: Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2, the Spurs announced Wednesday. He’s expected to make a full recovery, though there is no timeline for his return to the sidelines.

🏈 Richardson replaces Flacco: Anthony Richardson is back in as the Colts starting QB, and the job is his for the rest of the season, according to head coach Shane Steichen.

🏀 He did it again: LeBron James recorded his third straight triple-double (35-12-14) to lead the Lakers to their third straight win. He turns 40 in six weeks.

⚾️ Coming to MLB: The next Japanese sensation

Attention MLB fans: It’s time to get to know Rōki Sasaki. The 23-year-old Japanese ace will be posted this offseason and your favorite team has a real shot at landing him.

Japan’s next phenom: The young righty, who won last year’s World Baseball Classic alongside Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, has a 2.10 ERA with 505 strikeouts (against just 88 walks) across 394.2 innings in the last four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan’s NPB.

• You may remember hearing about him in 2022 when he threw a 19-strikeout perfect game, then followed that up with eight perfect innings and 14 more strikeouts in his next start.

• His fastest recorded pitch, 102.5 mph, matches Ohtani for the hardest ever thrown by a Japanese player.

What makes him so good? Sasaki’s three-pitch arsenal includes a four-seam fastball that would be among MLB’s fastest pitches, a slider that’s good but needs some work, and a splitter that, well, I’ll let Yahoo Sports’ Jake Mintz explain:

If Sasaki’s fastball is a unicorn, his splitter is a unicorn that breathes fire, speaks five languages and cooks a world-class risotto. There’s truly nothing like it.

The one worry? Durability. He’s never topped 130 innings in a season, and given his age and how hard he throws, arm surgery is likely an eventuality.

Sasaki’s unique situation: While Yamamoto, a similarly highly-touted prospect, signed for $325 million with the Dodgers after being posted last offseason, Sasaki’s age means he’ll cost no more than $7 million.

• The posting process still works the same: Teams get 45 days to negotiate with him after he’s officially posted.

• But because Sasaki is under 25, he’s bound by the same rules as free agents in, say, the Dominican Republic, meaning teams can only use their international bonus pool money (roughly $7 million this year) to sign him.

What they’re saying: Sasaki’s decision to post early and forego hundreds of millions of dollars is rare, but not unprecedented. In 2017, Ohtani himself was posted at age 23 for a paltry $2.3 million bonus, a comp that Jake and Jordan Shusterman discuss in their latest episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast.

• Jordan: “Sasaki has given us a scenario where it’s not about who can afford him, it’s about where he wants to play.”

• Jake: “The precedent of the Ohtani situation is relevant here. Because if we remember that time in our lives, when it felt like everyone had a chance to get [him], that is so rare.”

What to watch: Sasaki’s decision may hinge on the timing of when he’s posted.

• If it’s before Dec. 1, teams must use their current bonus pool, and only the Dodgers and Orioles have more than $2 million left.

• If it’s after Dec. 1, the 45-day window will allow them to sign him when the pool is replenished on Jan. 15, putting all 30 teams on even financial footing.

So, who might sign him? All 30 teams would love to employ MLB’s No. 2 free agent for such an affordable sum, but some are clearly favored to land the young ace. Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers top the list.

📈 Chart of the day: We are so back

Sports fans have returned to stadiums post-COVID — and then some. So much for that whole “attendance may never fully recover” narrative.

📸 Photo gallery

San Antonio — Victor Wembanyama dropped a career-high 50 points in Wednesday’s 139-130 win over the Wizards, becoming the fourth-youngest player in NBA history (20 years, 314 days) with a 50-piece (Brandon Jennings, LeBron James, Devin Booker).

Milwaukee — Giannis Antetokounmpo one-upped Wemby with an NBA season-high 59 points in the Bucks’ comeback 127-120 (OT) win over the Pistons, rallying them from an 18-point second-half deficit.

Belleair, Florida — Caitlin Clark drew a huge crowd while competing in Wednesday’s Pro-Am at The Annika, but the 16-handicap won’t be switching sports anytime soon after nearly hitting a spectator with an errant tee shot.

Dallas — Mike Tyson, 58, and Jake Paul, 27, met face-to-face during a press conference ahead of their fight this weekend, streaming live on Netflix.

🏈 NFL power rankings: Top teams duke it out this week

Week 11 is here, and it’s glorious: Six of the top seven teams in our power rankings face off in the next four days.

• Tonight: No. 7 Commanders* at No. 5 Eagles

• Sunday: No. 2 Chiefs** at No. 3 Bills

• Sunday: No. 4 Ravens at No. 6 Steelers

Historic slate: This is the first time in NFL history that Week 11 has featured three games between 7-win teams.

*Heisman gauntlet: There are 11 Heisman winners in the NFL. Two are on the Commanders (Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota), and with tonight’s game against Philly and DeVonta Smith, Washington will have played all nine others (Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, Jameis Winston, Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson, Bryce Young, Caleb Williams and Smith).

**Undefeated underdogs: The Chiefs are underdogs (+2.5 at BetMGM) against the Bills, marking just the fourth time in the Super Bowl era that a 9-0 (or better) team isn’t the favorite. Which begs the question: Are the Chiefs the NFL’s worst-ever 9-0 team?

📆 Nov. 14, 1970: Marshall’s tragic crash

54 years ago today, the plane carrying Marshall’s football team crashed just miles from its final destination in West Virginia after returning from a game against East Carolina, killing all 75 souls on board.

• The deceased included 37 members of the team and eight on the staff, as well as 25 boosters, two pilots, two flight attendants and the charter coordinator.

• It’s recognized as the deadliest sports-related tragedy in U.S. history.

What if? Due to the proximity of most of their opponents, this was Marshall’s only scheduled flight all season. And they considered canceling it after Wichita State’s football team crashed six weeks earlier, leaving 31 dead.

Annual memorial: Every year on this day, a fountain on Marshall’s campus featuring a tulip with 75 rods — one for each victim — is ceremonially turned off before being turned back on again each spring.

📺 Watchlist: USMNT vs. Jamaica

The USMNT faces Jamaica tonight in Kingston (8pm ET, TNT) in the first leg of their CONCACAF Nations League* quarterfinal.

Poch’s competitive debut: This is the first competitive match for new manager Mauricio Pochettino, whose 25-man roster features players from clubs in nine countries.

More to watch:

• 🏈 NFL: Commanders at Eagles (8:15pm, Prime) … Washington (7-3) and Philly (7-2) battle for first place in the NFC East.

• 🏀 NBA: Mavericks at Jazz (9pm, NBA)

• 🎾 Tennis: ATP Finals (8am, Tennis)

• 🏈 NCAAF: ECU at Tulsa (7:30pm, ESPN)

• ⛳️ LPGA: The Annika (10am, Golf) … 18 of the world’s top 25 golfers compete in the season’s penultimate event.

*Who’s in: The USMNT are three-time defending champs of the annual tournament featuring CONCACAF’s 41 members. The other quarterfinals: Panama vs. Costa Rica, Canada vs. Suriname, Mexico vs. Honduras.

🏈 NFL trivia

Whoever wins tonight’s Commanders-Eagles game will be in first place in the NFC East.

Question: Without looking, can you name the NFC’s other three first-place teams?

Answer at the bottom.

🎓 Guaranteed salaries for recruits? Welcome to the new normal

This week, schools are distributing NIL contracts to recruits with guaranteed salaries and even buyouts. Welcome to the new normal.

Behind the scenes: College leaders are finalizing the third-party entity (Deloitte) to operate the new NIL clearinghouse, which is charged with policing booster deals. But experts continue to question if it is legal. “I have no idea how they are going to do this.”

Read the full story.

Trivia answer: Cardinals (6-4) in the NFC West, Lions (8-1) in the NFC North, Falcons (6-4) in the NFC South

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