Will the Boston Celtics be better than a .500 team next season?
Those decisions, coupled with some less-than-inspiring replacements, have many believing that Boston will struggle to remain competitive throughout the 2025-26 season. So much so that ESPN Bet has placed the Over/Under on Boston's record at 43.5 games, making them marginally better than a .500 team.
During a July 29 edition of Brian Windhorst's "The Hoop Collective" podcast, he was joined by Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss whether the Celtics are capable of surpassing the 43.5 wins mark next season, and if so, then by how much?
You can watch the full podcast episode by clicking on the embedded video above.
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New York Times
34 minutes ago
- New York Times
Red Sox takeaways: Astros sweep, Tanner Houck surgery, Marcelo Mayer limbo
BOSTON — Each of the last three years, the Boston Red Sox have posted a losing record from Aug. 1 through the end of the season, battling injuries and inconsistency down the stretch. That made a sweep of the Houston Astros this weekend, in the first series coming out of the trade deadline, all the more important as the Red Sox vie for a postseason spot. Advertisement 'It's big,' shortstop Trevor Story said. 'Feels like every win at this point late in the year is huge.' A commanding 6-1 win Sunday gave the Red Sox five wins in a row and six in their last seven. Now in second place in the American League East and holding on to the top AL wild-card spot, having leapfrogged the New York Yankees on Saturday, the Red Sox are playing with confidence at the most important time. 'We've got a complete team,' manager Alex Cora said. 'Guys are playing with an edge now, you can tell.' It wasn't just that the Red Sox swept the AL Central-leading Astros, it was how they did it. Friday's walk-off win in 10 innings was the closest game as the Red Sox outscored Houston 15-4 in the next two. 'You want to handle business with teams that aren't performing well this year, but when it comes to top-of-division teams, whether it be AL or NL, it's about continuing to play hard games,' said Lucas Giolito, who held Houston to one run over eight innings Sunday. The Red Sox did not add a No. 2 starter at the deadline, but Giolito has proved he, in addition to Brayan Bello, is up for the task. He noted the spark keeping the club together at the deadline has given the team. 'Especially with how we've been playing, I think it's important to keep the group together and keep everyone jelled together and firing on all cylinders,' he said. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow wasn't ready to take a victory lap after one series sweep post-trade deadline but was pleased with the team's performance. 'It's a really resilient group that's confident in each other and coming together at exactly the right time in exactly the right way,' Breslow said. 'I think there's a lot to be excited about and reason for optimism. We've got to go out and keep playing the way that we do. But I'm not sure there was going to be a ton that was or wasn't going to happen coming out in the deadline that was going to kind of knock these guys off the path they're on.' Gio's day through 8 ⤵️ — Red Sox (@RedSox) August 3, 2025 Though Tanner Houck hadn't pitched since May, the Red Sox starting pitching depth took another hit this weekend as the team announced Houck is headed for Tommy John surgery this week. The 29-year-old, who posted an 8.04 ERA in nine starts, last pitched May 12 before landing on the injured list with a flexor pronator strain. He built back up to rehab games in June and early July, but around the All-Star break, he wasn't bouncing back as well from each outing, and a second MRI showed further damage. Advertisement 'A little bit surprised,' Breslow said of Houck's surgery diagnosis. 'Just because it seemed like he was making progress through the rehab process and stuff was good, felt like we were turning the corner.' Houck said he felt great in early July, thinking the inflammation from the first MRI had subsided, but that changed by the break with discomfort in his hand and triceps necessitating a second MRI. '(The MRI) showed it got worse, definitely,' Houck said. 'The flexor was torn a good bit, but just didn't feel right throwing.' Houck contemplated alternate routes with stem cell injections, but ultimately decided the full surgery was his best chance of recovering stronger. He's hoping to return by the second half of 2026 with a 12-to-14-month timetable. The Red Sox are far from the only team that's dealt with the rise of pitcher injuries, but it's something they're looking into to mitigate in the future. Houck made a career-high 30 starts with a 3.78 ERA last season in an All-Star year, but struggled from the start this season. The Red Sox had three homegrown starters in Houck, Bello and Kutter Crawford pitch 30 or more starts last season, a point of pride for the team. But now Houck is done for the year, and so is Crawford after wrist surgery last month. Bello is having a strong season with a 3.19 ERA but missed the first three weeks of the season with shoulder inflammation. It's forced the Red Sox to reconsider how they train and prepare their pitchers, something Breslow discussed with The Athletic in June. 'Do we think the workload that they took on last year had an impact on their performance this year? The answer is maybe,' Breslow said at the time. As for the team's current starter depth, Breslow noted newcomer Dustin May, who will make his first start for the team Wednesday, along with Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, Kyle Harrison and newly promoted Triple-A pitchers David Sandlin and Connelly Early as options. Advertisement 'Harrison has made some really promising changes to the repertoire,' Breslow assessed. 'The last couple outings have been headed in the right direction.' Sandlin and Early could be long relief bullpen options in September as teams often call up rookies at that point in the season to get their feet wet in the majors while also limiting their innings and workload. Breslow noted Sandlin, in particular, as an option for that kind of promotion. 'Sandlin is a guy that comes to mind in that it's really power stuff and simplified approach,' Breslow said, noting the right-hander's upper-90s fastball. 'We feel like he can come in and overwhelm hitters with the stuff. Those conversations are ongoing.' Though Houck is done for the year, the team is expecting a late-season boost to the bullpen in the form of reliever Justin Slaten. Slaten has been sidelined since June 1 with right shoulder/nerve inflammation but has started to turn a corner throwing a bullpen Saturday. He'll throw another bullpen midweek. 'We know what he can bring when he's healthy and contributing in the back end of bullpens,' Breslow said. Liam Hendriks, however, is still just playing catch and will likely not have enough time to return this year from a hip/core injury. In an effort to return to the field sooner, Mayer, who's been out since July 25 with a wrist sprain, received an anti-inflammatory injection Saturday. After a 72-hour rest period, Mayer will resume baseball activities to see whether the injection helped with the pain. 'Obviously, we're all optimistic (the injection will work), that's the reason that he's going with this path,' Breslow said. 'We believe that it gives him the best chance to get back on the field this season. And I think it's a credit to him to try to do anything he can to get back in.' Advertisement Asked whether surgery was the next option, Breslow preferred to wait to see how Mayer responds. Meanwhile, almost exactly three months since Triston Casas' knee surgery, Breslow offered one of the first updates in a few months on Casas. 'He's doing really well and moving around well,' Breslow said. 'He's in the weight room and in the training room every day. I think he's feeling more confident. There was probably this period after he got the surgery where he wondered what the road back looks like. But just given his ability to move around and start to bear weight on both legs, he's in a really, really good place physically and mentally.' Casas is not close to baseball activity but continues to build up strength in his lower half. He had originally set a goal to be ready by Opening Day, but Breslow was hesitant to put pressure on a date of return for Casas, noting his steady progress as the main factor. 'He's hitting every benchmark along the line,' Breslow said. In Triple-A Worcester, Kristian Campbell exited Saturday's game after jamming his thumb on an inside pitch. He'd been riding a 13-game hitting streak (19-for-48, .396) but was out of Sunday's lineup. Breslow said he's day to day but wasn't overly concerned. He was encouraged by Campbell's strides in Worcester. 'I think we've seen some of the results over the last week and a half or so, where he is starting to impact the ball a little bit more comfortably and is more confident on defense,' Breslow said. 'We knew it would be a little bit of a process. We've all seen up here the ability for other teams to exploit weaknesses or opportunities a little bit more quickly and more frequently than maybe it happens in the minor leagues. So, there was no question he was going to go down there, put his head down and get to work. And that's what we're seeing. And it's nice to see some promising results.' (Photo of Lucas Giolito: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Record sale of WNBA's Sun adds fuel to the league's smoldering contract dispute
The latest big money flex for the WNBA came over the weekend with the news that a minority owner of the Boston Celtics plans to buy the Connecticut Sun for $325 million, move the team from its strange casino location in Uncasville, Conn., to Boston, and sink another $100 million into a practice facility. The last time a WNBA team was sold, in 2021, the price tag was estimated at $10 million for the Atlanta Dream. It's yet another log tossed onto the blaze building beneath the contract negotiations between the league and the WNBA Player's Association over a new collective bargaining agreement. The money is rolling into the WNBA. The Golden State Valkyries — which Joe Lacob bought in 2023 for a $50 million expansion fee — were recently valued at $500 million and Lacob thinks it could have been higher. Three new expansion teams — Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia — recently went for $250 million apiece. Last year, the league signed a monster media rights deal for $2.2 billion. The league set a record in attendance last season and is up even more this year. Viewership is also up 21%, even though megastar Caitlin Clark has missed several games with injury. All of this is the backdrop to the CBA negotiations that have been looming over the entire season. Last October, the players opted out of the remaining year of their contract — which was signed in 2020, when things were much different, a move everyone could see coming for a couple of years. The current contract expires Oct. 31. But despite all the forewarning, the rapid growth of the league and the increased value, negotiations aren't going smoothly. That became clear at last month's All-Star Game, when more than 40 players showed up to an in-person bargaining session in Indianapolis, a turnout that WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike called 'historic.' But no progress was made. 'I think, to be frank, it was a wasted opportunity,' Liberty star Breanna Stweart said afterwards. 'It was pretty shocking to see. Not many things we agreed on.' The players want a number of things including roster expansion and improved conditions around things such as travel and schedule. But the main thing they want is a significant piece of the pie that they have been baking for years. 'We feel we are owed a piece of the pie we helped create,' WNBPA vice president Napheesa Collier said. The players know it is their play and their connection with fans that has made their league so successful and so attractive to new investors. 'We should be paid more and hopefully that's the case moving forward,' said Clark, the catalyst for much of the growth. The players, like most professional athletes, want revenue sharing. While most men's CBAs call for a 50-50 split in revenues, the WNBA is woefully under 10%. 'We players know what we're worth,' Ogwumike said. 'The fans know what we're worth. Now we need the league to know what we're worth.' The All-Star players took the court for the game in Indianapolis in black warmup shirts that read 'PAY US WHAT YOU OWE US.' Signs saying 'Pay the players' were waved in the crowd. After the game, when commissioner Cathy Englebert took the court, she was booed by the crowd and drowned out by chants of 'Pay them! Pay them!' The event was reminiscent of other times female athletes have used the power of clothing and when they have understood the significance of getting the public on their side. In 2019, the U.S. women's national soccer team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for equal pay prior to the World Cup, which they went on to win. Their achievement was celebrated by roars of 'Equal pay! Equal pay!' The soccer players took the field for a game wearing inside-out shirts to protest their situation — facsimiles of which were later marketed. The lawsuit was finally settled in the players' favor in 2022. WNBA players know the power of a persuasive T-shirt. They were at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement, years before it swept the country after George Floyd's murder. They used their platform in the 'Wubble' during the pandemic, wearing shirts saying 'Vote Warnock,' in protest of Atlanta Dream owner Kelly Loeffler. That boost in recognition helped the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who subsequently won a Georgia senate seat and flipped the U.S. Senate. The WNBA players have long known how to use their platform. And their fans will support them. Smart business people like Lacob see the value in the league. He believes the Valkyries, with their spectacular game day experience and state-of-the-art facilities, are raising the bar for the entire league. 'The whole league is doing much better,' Lacob told me in June. 'Some aren't. Some are weak sisters, so to speak. We need to make it a better league. I think that's going to happen. It just takes time.' One of those weak sisters has been the Sun. Connecticut plays in a casino, doesn't have its own facilities and is considered one of the worst-run franchises in the league. But the Sun is now headed for a brighter future, with the pending sale to a group led by private equity investor Steve Pagliuca. The evidence keeps mounting: the WNBA — and the league players — are valuable entities worthy of investment. But will a deal get done? Or will the soaring popularity of the league come to a screeching halt with a work stoppage? 'We're on a time crunch,' Collier said. 'No one wants a lock out.' With every positive development for the WNBA, the fire burning under contract negotiations keeps getting bigger and bigger. Does management feel the heat?
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Astros takeaways: Sobering sweep, top prospects' cloudy future, Cam Smith's slump
BOSTON — Reuniting with a franchise icon should result in a celebration, so the Houston Astros attempted to conduct one. Excitement oozed from a clubhouse energized by Carlos Correa's arrival on Friday afternoon. One of the team photographers made a rare in-season road trip to chronicle the moments. Houston Mayor John Whitmire even found his way onto the Fenway Park field before Saturday's matinee, snapping photographs in an Astros sweatshirt. Advertisement The Astros responded with a three-day affront to fundamental baseball, prolonging what one high-profile addition cannot camouflage: This is a team amid its worst stretch of the season. A lifeless 6-1 loss on Sunday finished a sobering sweep by the Boston Red Sox, dousing any of the sparks Houston hoped its trade deadline activity would ignite. 'We're a team that takes pride in our fundamentals, how clean we play the game, and I just think we've done a better job,' manager Joe Espada said after Sunday's game. 'We have to do a better job. I just don't think we played our cleanest the last three days.' Two mindless outs on the bases loomed large during a one-run loss on Friday night. Houston stranded 14 baserunners while finishing 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position during Saturday's 7-3 setback — one that included an out at home plate following a questionable send from third-base coach Tony Perezchica. Sunday, however, featured the lowlight. Starter Framber Valdez allowed the first six Red Sox to reach during the fourth inning. All of them scored. Valdez balked home a run, allowed a bunt to roll between his legs and threw a wild pitch. The inning began with center fielder Taylor Trammell misjudging a deep fly ball from Roman Anthony against the green monster. Catcher Yainer Diaz was charged with one passed ball and could've been given another. From right field, deadline acquisition Jesús Sánchez airmailed the cutoff man on a Ceddanne Rafaela single, allowing the Red Sox an extra 90 feet they did not earn — fitting for this wretched weekend. 'We're better than that,' said Espada, whose new-look lineup scored five runs in 27 innings against Red Sox pitching. 'We focus on always doing the small things really well and we're a team known for doing that. That was just not the case.' Advertisement Since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first week of July to move 20 games above .500, the Astros are 7-15. Houston has lost eight of its last 10 games, a stretch in which its American League West lead has dwindled as low as three games. Counting just on Correa's cachet to remedy that is asking for trouble. Both Brice Matthews and Jacob Melton boarded a Boston-bound charter on Wednesday afternoon with uncertain fates. Nothing that happened over the next 24 hours afforded much clarity. Short-term assurance is appreciated, though, so both players should take solace that they remain in Houston's organization. They are the two best prospects in an otherwise barren farm system and were asked about throughout the Astros' trade deadline discussions. General manager Dana Brown made three deals without surrendering Melton or Matthews, but the players he acquired clouded both prospects' major-league future. Performance will always dictate roster construction, but on paper, both Melton and Matthews appear to be blocked from everyday big-league roles for at least the next two seasons. The team optioned both to Triple-A Sugar Land prior to Correa and Sánchez's arrival at Fenway Park on Friday. ''You guys helped us win a ton of games and that matters,'' Espada said he told the two prospects prior to their departure. ''But there's a bigger picture, which is your development. We need to get you guys playing every day.' They understood where we're at right now.' Both Sánchez and Melton are left-handed-hitting outfielders, though Melton is a far more natural center fielder than Sánchez, whom Espada will play primarily in either corner spot. That Sánchez hit second in each of his first three games as an Astro signals how significant his role will be — especially against right-handed pitching. Advertisement Sánchez has two more seasons of club control, the same as resurgent center fielder Jake Meyers. Right fielder Cam Smith is still a rookie. Where Melton fits in the picture is a mystery. He will turn 25 in September and, by the end of the season, should eclipse 300 Triple-A plate appearances. Melton acquitted himself well in his 13-game major-league cameo and, if not for a severe ankle sprain, had a chance to cement a real role on the team as a fourth outfielder. Whether that is viable moving forward is a question. Same for Matthews, whom Espada made sure to remind that 'you pretty much won us a series' before demoting him. Correa's arrival changes the entire complexion of Houston's infield now and for his next three seasons under contract. He will play third base alongside shortstop Jeremy Peña, who has two more years of arbitration eligibility. Both Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker are under team control for two more seasons, too. Asked about Houston's future infield alignment on Sunday, Brown told the team's pregame radio show Houston would 'cross that bridge when we get there.' Moving Paredes to second base is a consideration, Brown said. He even mentioned Correa playing second base. According to Espada, Matthews will continue to play primarily second base while at Triple-A Sugar Land. 'I think he played a really good second base,' Espada said. 'I could see him being a very good second baseman for a long time.' Will that be in Houston? On June 29, Cam Smith crafted a signature moment. The Astros' precocious rookie worked a 10-pitch at-bat against Chicago Cubs starter Colin Rea before pulling a majestic home run into the Crawford Boxes at Daikin Park. The blast ballooned Smith's OPS to .789. Doing it during a nationally televised game against the team that drafted him only heightened the conversation surrounding Smith. Advertisement One month later, Smith is slashing .200/.267/.267 in 116 plate appearances since that home run against the Cubs. Of the six extra-base hits he's managed, none have left the ballpark. It stands to reason that Smith, 22, is hitting a wall. He's never played more than 101 games or taken more than 456 plate appearances in any baseball season. On Saturday, Smith appeared in his 97th game of Houston's season and took his 385th plate appearance. Smith finished 0-for-5, falling further into a 7-for-66 funk. 'He's probably chasing up in the zone more than he did earlier in the year, but we're still seeing the quality of his at-bats and when he connects, we're seeing hard hits,' Espada said. 'We just want to see more consistency when it comes to staying in the zone and not trying to do more.' Coaches have implored Smith to arrive later to the field and limit his pregame work. Smith has taken the advice, but the toll of so many games played — coupled with the inherent rigors of being a rookie at the major-league level — is mounting. Smith did not play in Houston's series-opener against Washington on Monday or on Sunday against Red Sox righty Lucas Giolito. In between, the Astros acquired Sánchez, a left-handed-hitting outfielder that Espada wants to play against right-handed pitching. Doing so may come at Smith's expense. (Top photo of Framber Valdez and Carlos Correa: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
