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5 Mets prospects featured on MLB Pipeline’s updated Top-100 list

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

Two weeks ago, it was difficult to see a future for the Mets. But now that the trade deadline is in the rearview mirror and the club can assess its assets, it’s getting easier to see the forest through the trees.MLB Pipeline re-ranked the top 100 prospects in baseball this week with the draft and trade deadline now having both passed. The Mets landed five prospects on that list, two of which were acquired in trades for former aces Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.Infielder Luisangel Acuña was the highest-ranked prospect at No. 40 on the list. The younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr., and the son of former Mets farmhand Ronald Acuña Sr., recently got a chance to introduce himself to fans in the area when Double-A Binghamton visited Bridgewater, N.J., for a series against Double-A Somerset earlier this week. It was quite the preview: The 21-year-old went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk and three stolen bases in the first game of the series. He’s a smooth-field...

‘I will be back’: Chicago White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks ready for next challenge after Tommy John surgery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

Liam Hendriks figured if he had to throw between 92 and 94 mph with no pain, he could do it.If he got up to 96 to 98 mph, but with pain, the Chicago White Sox reliever said he would be able to bear it.But in what turned out to be his final live batting practice session of the season while the Sox were in Minnesota in late July, Hendriks was clocked at 92 mph and he felt pain.“And that’s just not quite the recipe we needed,” Hendriks said Friday.Hendriks underwent successful surgery on Aug. 2 to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.The 34-year-old right-hander has been an inspiration by returning to the mound earlier this season after battling stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which he publicly disclosed in January.And now after Tommy John surgery, Hendriks said, “There’s no doubt in my mind I’ll be back.”“Same thing as when everything happened in January,” Hendriks said. “There’s no doubt I will be b...

Mets Notebook: Jeff McNeil searching for answers, Francisco Lindor scratched

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

There was only one hitter in baseball better than Jeff McNeil last season: Luis Arraez.When Arraez was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Miami Marlins ahead of this season, a battle for the NL batting title was expected. But Arraez is running away with the title and it isn’t even very close. Freddie Freeman, who nearly beat McNeil on the final day of the regular season last year, has been about 20-25 points behind the Marlins second baseman this season.McNeil never really got out of the gate.Coming into a weekend series against the Atlanta Braves, McNeil was hitting just .253, well below his 2022 average of .326 and even further below Arraez’s .369 clip. McNeil thinks he has hit into bad luck this season and his BABIP would support that. McNeil’s average on balls put in play is only .276 this season, which would indicate that he has been hitting the ball right at people.“Some of the balls he’s hitting 95-plus, but they seem to get caught,” sa...

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu weighing ordinance to ban tents at Mass and Cass

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is considering an ordinance that would strengthen the city’s ability to enforce a tent ban at Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue, as part of her new approach to address escalating violence in the area.Wu said her administration is planning to finalize language for a potential ordinance “over the next couple of weeks.” This would give more teeth to the city’s existing anti-encampment policies, including the executive order that former Acting Mayor Kim Janey signed in the fall of 2021, she said.These policies proved to be ineffective the last time the mayor tried to enforce a ban on tents at Mass and Cass, at the beginning of May.“We’re really looking to codify that in an ordinance that would empower the Boston Police to have clear authority and ability to help manage what our public health outreach teams are asking for,” Wu said, “which is to help make sure that we’re not shielding and creating the opportunities for weapons and trafficking and oth...

San Diego MLS player who met Lionel Messi as a kid to face off against childhood idol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego native Chris Hegardt will take the pitch Friday in Miami with his Major League Soccer Charlotte FC team in the quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup.It's remarkable the 21-year-old is alive as more than 10 years ago, he battled liver cancer and needed a liver transplant.During this time, he became a Make-A-Wish kid, hoping to meet his idol and soccer superstar Lionel Messi. Hegardt flew to Barcelona and actually got to take the field with Messi.On Friday, the two will share the field again, now that Messi plays in the MLS with Inter Miami. Charlotte FC's Chris HegardtChris Hegardt as a child with San Diego Surf Chris Hegardt playing soccer with Lionel Messi as his wish for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. "It's really cool, at that time of my life I couldn't imagine that in 11 years I'd be playing against him, so I think it's just a credit to like what I've done my life and the resilience I showed, but also him now playing in the MLS," Hegardt told FOX 5 in an interview...

Italy gets back 266 antiquities from New York seizures after collector approaches Houston museum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy celebrated the return Friday of 266 antiquities from the United States, including Etruscan vases and ancient Roman coins and mosaics worth tens of millions of euros (dollars), that were looted and sold to U.S. museums and private collectors.The returned items include artifacts recently seized in New York from a storage unit belonging to British antiquities dealer Robin Symes, officials said. In addition, the haul that arrived in Rome included 65 objects that had been offered by a collector to Houston’s Menil Collection, but were declined.The art unit of Italy’s Carabinieri paramilitary police said the owner of the collection “spontaneously” gave back the items after investigators determined they had come from clandestine excavations of archaeological sites, according to a carabinieri statement. While the carabinieri said the works had been part of the Menil Collection, the museum said they never were. The museum said a collector approached the museum in 2022 about ...

Pence signals debate plan to attack Trump and DeSantis for not pushing national abortion ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday he expected to call out former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during this month’s Republican presidential debate for not insisting on a national abortion ban, an issue Pence says requires federal action. “My former running mate, the governor of Florida and others are suggesting that the Supreme Court returned the question of abortion to the states,” Pence told reporters while touring the Iowa State Fair on Friday. The 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade stripped away constitutional protections for the procedure.“I truly do believe it’s vitally important that we seize the opportunity at the national level to advance protections for the right to life, and I’ll do so as president,” he added. “This is a really big issue. It will be on the stage in Milwaukee.” Pence was referring to the Republican presidential debate scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. Pence has recommen...

Nebraska judge allows abortion limits and restrictions on gender-affirming surgery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

A Nebraska judge on Friday rejected an effort to block a ban on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy and restrictions on gender-affirming surgery.Lancaster County District Court Judge Lori Maret sided with the state and allowed a law approved by the Nebraska Legislature earlier this year to remain in effect.The law outlaws abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. As of Oct. 1, it also will prevent people under 19 from receiving gender-affirming surgery and restricts the use of hormone treatments and puberty blockers for minors.Planned Parenthood of the Heartland had filed a lawsuit arguing legislators violated a constitutional requirement that bills not contain more than one subject. Lawmakers added the abortion ban to an existing bill dealing with gender-related care.The attorney general contended the issues didn’t violate the rule because they were both health related.“I am grateful for the court’s thorough de...

Security guard found not guilty in on-duty fatal shot reacting to gun fight by Nashville restaurant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A jury on Friday found a security guard not guilty of murder and other charges in a fatal shooting outside the Nashville restaurant where he was working, closing a case that hinged on whether he was justified in firing at a man involved in a shootout outside the business.Nathan Glass, 29, was facing an indictment for second-degree murder in the October 2018 death of 25-year-old Deangelo Knox, who was engaged in a shootout with people in a car outside The Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden, where patrons were dining.At the state court trial that began Monday in Nashville, prosecutors contended that Knox was on foot out of his vehicle, fleeing the assailants in another car and fighting for his life when Glass inched the restaurant’s door open and shot him. But Glass’ attorneys said he was following through on his duty as a security guard to protect himself and others. They argued that Knox had begun turning toward the restaurant while holding ...

Brazil’s police allege Bolsonaro got money from $70,000 sale of luxury jewelry gifts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:50 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s federal police on Friday alleged former President Jair Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia while in office, posing another potential blow for the embattled far-right leader.Earlier in the day, officers raided the homes and offices of several people purportedly involved in the case, including a four-star army general. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing involving the gifts.A Federal Police officer said the force is seeking authoriziation to access the personal banking and financial information of Bolsonaro. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said the Federal Police had asked for help from the FBI.Bolsonaro’s lawyers said in a statement that he would authorize Brazil’s judiciary to have access to his banking records.“President Bolsonaro has never embezzled or misplaced any public assets,” it said.The case adds to the legal jeopardy ...