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Will the Chicago White Sox trade Dylan Cease? How’s the backstop depth? 3 questions about the team’s pitching and catching.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

Dylan Cease has been at the center of nonstop trade speculation this offseason.Will he be dealt or will the Chicago White Sox hold on to the right-hander who finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2022?“Dylan obviously is an established major-league starter, he’s got front-end ability and there isn’t a team that wouldn’t want Dylan Cease on their roster,” Sox general manager Chris Getz said Nov. 7. “Those types of moves are under consideration, they are. If we feel like we can multiply or strengthen our group both presently and in the future, then we’re going to look at that.”Cease won’t become a free agent until after the 2025 season, so any potential suitor would be in line for two years of his services.Cease went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA in 33 starts in 2023. He was fifth in the American League with 214 strikeouts.The Sox, like every team this time of year, are looking for pitching help — both in the rota...

Bill Belichick shares what he’s seen from Bailey Zappe in practice

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

FOXBORO — Bill Belichick still won’t name a starting quarterback for the Patriots, despite all signs pointing to Bailey Zappe getting the nod Sunday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots mailbag: Will Malik Cunningham get another shot in Week 13? New England Patriots | Patriots QB Bailey Zappe will apply these lessons to likely start Sunday New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick made the right — and only — QB call he could New England Patriots | Patriots-Chargers injury report: Keenan Allen, Demario Douglas miss practice again Thursday New England Patriots | Callahan: The Patriots’ season is now hurry up and wait But Belichick did share this Friday on Zappe’s practice performance during the week week: “Pretty consistent. About what it’s been all year,” he said. “He’s pretty even-keeled. Not a lot of roller coaster with him.”Zappe has taken the ...

Pfizer nixes more study of twice-daily obesity pill treatment that made many patients nauseous

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

By TOM MURPHY (AP Health Writer)Pfizer shares sank Friday when the drugmaker said it would abandon a twice-daily obesity treatment after more than half the patients in a clinical trial stopped taking it.The pharmaceutical company said it will focus instead on a once-daily version of the pill, danuglipron, instead of starting a late-stage study of the other version. Late-stage studies are usually the last and most expensive trials a drugmaker undertakes before seeking regulatory approval.Obesity treatments are one of the hottest and more lucrative areas of medicine. Pfizer rivals Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly already have injectable drugs on the market. But Novo and Pfizer are also trying to develop pill versions that would be easier for patients to take. Pfizer said it saw patient discontinuation rates topping 50% across all doses in a mid-stage study of twice-daily danuglipron. That compares to about 40% for the placebo or fake drug.The drugmaker also said side effects for the pills w...

New York Rep. George Santos expelled from Congress

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted on Friday to expel Republican Rep. George Santos of New York after a critical ethics report on his conduct that accused him of converting campaign donations for his own use.He was just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues.The vote to expel was 311-114. Expulsion requires support from two-thirds of the House, a purposefully high bar, but a blistering House Ethics Committee report that accused Santos of breaking federal law proved decisive.Santos fought the expulsion effort leading up to the vote, leading his own defense during House floor debate and in conducting a press conference and interviews.“I will not stand by quietly,” Santos declared as lawmakers debated his removal the evening before the vote. “The people of the Third District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, you’re going to have to go silence those people and go take the hard vote.”Of the previous expulsions ...

NFL evaluators praise J.J. McCarthy’s ‘unbelievable mind.’ Would the Chicago Bears target the Michigan QB and local product?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

Facing third-and-10 at the Ohio State 22-yard line in the second quarter Saturday, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy had wide receiver Cornelius Johnson split wide to the right as his primary read.Ohio State had a safety over the top of the left side, and McCarthy liked the matchup for Johnson, who was running a go route and hoped to shake Davison Igbinosun with a stutter step, maybe convincing the cornerback he was breaking off his route near the line to gain.The Wolverines were thinking touchdown — not first down.Igbinosun didn’t take the bait and Johnson was covered. McCarthy didn’t have a lot of time to react. Buckeyes defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. collapsed the pocket with a bull rush. From McCarthy’s blind side, defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau beat left tackle LaDarius Henderson with a spin move. The escape hatch was closing.McCarthy kept his eyes on Johnson, hoping to hold safety Malik Hartford to the right side as wide receiver Roman Wilson crossed fro...

Is Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan’s job in jeopardy after dismal start to season?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

The Chicago Bulls are ready for change.Executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas made that clear this week. The 6-14 start after their 120-113 overtime victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday at the United Center is a harsh wake-up call that the roster can’t continue as it stands. The Bulls are stuck in a holding pattern as they await the first checkpoint of the trade window in mid-December, when players will become available and a shake-up can begin.But would that include fourth-year coach Billy Donovan?If recent history is the only guide, it’s a fair assumption that the coach’s chair in Chicago is beginning to heat up. The last two coaches the Bulls released were in similarly bleak positions before they were fired during the season, prompting multiple upheavals in the last decade.The Bulls cut the cord on Fred Hoiberg after a 5-19 start in 2018, a move that “blindsided” the coach after four consecutive losi...

House expels George Santos in historic vote

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

The House voted Friday to expel Rep. George Santos, ending the New York Republican’s tumultuous tenure in Congress and officially etching his name in the history books as the sixth lawmaker ever to be ousted from the lower chamber.The extraordinary move, unseen in 20 years, took three attempts over six months and required support from large numbers in both parties to meet the inflated threshold — two-thirds of the chamber — for expelling a sitting member. The final tally, 311-114-2, surpassed that mark, with 105 Republicans joining almost all Democrats to remove the scandal-plagued Santos after just 11 months in office. Reps. Bobby Scott (Va.) and Nikema Williams (Ga.) were the only Democrats to vote against expelling Santos. Reps. Al Green (D-Texas) and Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) voted present.The measure brought fresh attention to the bubbling tensions within the Republican conference, but its ultimate success demonstrated just how toxic Santos had become in the eyes of even many o...

Hezbollah and Israeli troops exchange fire along the border as 2 civilians are killed in Lebanon

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group attacked several Israeli army posts along the two countries’ border and Israel shelled a village in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing two civilians, officials said.It was the first time Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israel border since the start of a seven-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah. That cease-fire collapsed on Friday, plunging the Israel-Hamas conflict back into open combat. Israel’s military said it hit the sources of the fire directed at the military. Lebanese security officials, meanwhile, said a woman and her son died when Israeli shells hit their home in the southern village of Houla. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Lebanon’s state news agency identified the woman and her son as Nasifa Mazraani and Mohammed. Their deaths raise to at least 16 the number of civilians killed by Israeli...

Agriculture officials confirm 25th case of cattle anthrax in North Dakota this year

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

A new case of cattle anthrax has been confirmed in southwest North Dakota’s Grant County, bringing the number of cases in the state to 25 this year, according to state agriculture officials.It’s the first case reported in the state since August, all in Grant County and neighboring Hettinger and Adams counties. Those cases have led to about 170 cattle deaths, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture said in a news release Thursday.While it’s unusual to see a case so late in the year, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said, the area has seen unusually mild weather recently that has allowed cattle to remain on pastureland where anthrax thrives. The year’s South Dakota outbreak is the worst since 2005. From 2006 through last year, 18 cases of cattle anthrax were confirmed. Outbreaks in the U.S. are rare, as a vaccine for livestock is cheap and easily administered.“Many producers in the affected area worked with veterinarians to administer vaccinations earlier this yea...

GOP businessman Sandy Pensler joins crowded field of Senate candidates in Michigan

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:48:26 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Detroit-area businessman Sandy Pensler launched his second campaign for U.S. Senate on Friday, joining close to a dozen other Republican candidates in Michigan who are hoping to flip the open seat for the first time in over two decades. Pensler lost the GOP primary for Senate in 2018 by over 9 percentage points to now-U.S. Rep. John James, who would go on to lose to incumbent Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Pensler poured millions into his primary bid at the time. “The American experiment is in big trouble. It’s burning,” Pensler said in campaign video Friday. “I believe we can turn it around but we need to apply basic morals, take responsibility and fight like hell.”Pensler joins a crowded field of Republican candidates that includes former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Peter Meijer and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig. The Republicans are vying for a seat that’s been held by Democrats since 2001 but that will be vacated by Stabenow, who...