2025 NASCAR Cup Series entry list for Sonoma Raceway
ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | Xfinity Series
Shane van Gisbergen will attempt to go for his third road-course win of the year, fresh off his victory on the streets of Chicago, while Katherine Legge is back in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet after her first career top-20 finish.
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New York Times
a few seconds ago
- New York Times
Carlos Correa had many reasons to approve trade back to Houston, including a position change
HOUSTON — Every offseason, Carlos Correa organizes a game night. Some of his closest friends gather at his Houston home for fellowship and maybe some fierce competition. A new attendee this winter brought Correa's career full circle. Correa met Jeremy Peña during his final season with the Houston Astros and helped groom him as his heir apparent, but the two men never got much closer than that. Advertisement This offseason, though, the two shortstops started training together, a partnership Peña credits for a breakout season that has put him on the precipice of superstardom. Part of their bond included Correa inviting Peña to play some games. 'We had a great time,' Correa told The Athletic on Thursday night. 'We're great friends. We've built a great relationship.' Now, after a transformational trade on Thursday afternoon, the two men are teammates. Peña is expected to be activated off the injured list and start at shortstop on Friday night at Fenway Park. To his right could be Correa, the man he once replaced at shortstop and, now, one with whom he will share the left side of the infield. Correa's stunning return to Houston is another accentuation of owner Jim Crane's aggression at the trade deadline and a jolt for a clubhouse that needed it. The Astros and their depth-starved lineup lost 12 of the 19 games that preceded the deadline, finally unable to withstand the weight of a major-league high 17 players residing on the injured list. General manager Dana Brown entered the trade deadline 'prioritizing the bats' to reinforce an offense missing five of the nine players from its Opening Day lineup. Other hitters with more encouraging statistics or lower salaries were available, but none had Correa's cachet or contagious presence. 'He (will) give our clubhouse a charge, give the city a charge,' Brown said on Thursday. A seller's market meant trouble for an Astros team that, according to Baseball America's most recent update, has zero top-100 prospects. Infielder Brice Matthews is still among MLB Pipeline's top 100, but it's difficult to envision Brown parting with the first draft pick of his tenure as Houston's general manager. 'That was probably part of the reason we didn't do much more on the pitching side,' Brown said. 'We thought some of the prices were high. We didn't want to mortgage the future. Pound what we could pound with the bats and allow what we have coming back from the pitching side to be a part of it.' Advertisement In lieu of mortgaging the future, Crane absorbed all but $30 million of Correa's contract. To acquire Jesús Sánchez, Houston did part with touted infield prospect Chase Jaworsky, whom The Athletic's Keith Law ranked No. 7 in his preseason organizational rankings, but otherwise kept its precious few top-end prospects within the organization. Sánchez profiles as a left-handed hitting platoon partner with rookie Cam Smith in right field. Starting Sánchez against most righties makes sense with the roster in its current state. At full strength, though, Smith will continue to get a majority of the playing time. Finding a more permanent lineup fixture felt mandatory. Finding one with an .860 OPS across 358 postseason plate appearances only sweetened the deal. 'I always try to operate in the present and in the future because our philosophy here, led by Jim Crane, is that the window is always open,' Brown said. 'We laid focus on that.' Crane's influence in completing the trade for Correa can't be overstated, nor can the Minnesota Twins' state of flux. A salary dump onto an owner willing to take it — and for the only team Correa would waive his no-trade clause to join — created one of the wildest days during a golden era Correa helped to produce. 'I'm very excited to play with this group of guys that I know, to try to win championships every year,' Correa said. Correa is not the dominant player who departed Houston after the 2021 season. According to Baseball-Reference, he finished a 450-game Twins career worth 10.4 wins above replacement. He was worth 7.3 in his final season as an Astro, part of a 34-bWAR career that already cemented him as one of the franchise's most consequential players. Injuries hampered Correa in Minnesota, even until his final days. Correa left Tuesday's game with a migraine and did not start on Wednesday while undergoing imaging for issues related to the headaches. Asked on Thursday how he felt physically, Correa said, 'Great. Perfect. In a great spot.' While with the Twins, Correa spent time on the injured list due to oblique and foot injuries. Both the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets had agreed to sign him for $300 million, only to back out due to concerns about his surgically repaired right ankle. 'This year, he's been posting, so we feel good about that,' Brown said of Correa, who appeared in 93 of the Twins' first 108 games, but with just a 92 OPS+ and .386 slugging percentage. Correa's 29.8 percent chase rate is his highest in a 162-game season since his rookie year. Advertisement Correa has become susceptible to sliders, hitting .184 with a 40.2 percent whiff rate against a pitch he pounded in 2024. Correa hit .389 against sliders last season, one where he saw a higher percentage of the pitch than he is this year. 'Getting him back into a familiar ballpark, which is a hitter-friendly ballpark, and with some familiar faces and familiar coaches, we felt like we were going to get a boost from that and a boost of more energy,' Brown said. Perhaps the change of scenery will spur Correa, who just witnessed a complete collapse in Minnesota while, along with Byron Buxton, existing as the focal point of the Twins' lineup. He isn't going to sneak up on anyone with the Astros, but will be surrounded by the likes of Peña, Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez, presuming he ever returns from a fractured right hand. That Correa will play a new position is perhaps the least concerning aspect of this entire ordeal. His transition to third base should be seamless, especially for someone with one of the sport's strongest throwing arms and best range. 'I've been asking the Twins to play third base for the last two years,' Correa said. 'But it was not aligning because of how we were constructed. When (Twins general manager Derek Falvey) told me the Astros wanted me for third base, I was like, that would be perfect.' Perfect for an Astros team with a budding superstar in Peña at shortstop, someone who learned from the man he'll now work alongside. (Photo of Carlos Correa from before Game 2 of the 2021 ALCS: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
Associated Press
a few seconds ago
- Associated Press
Kate Martin and Veronica Burton help the Valkyries hold off the Mystics 68-67
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kate Martin scored 14 points, Veronica Burton had 10 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and the Golden State Valkyries held off the Washington Mystics 68-67 on Thursday night. Temi Fagbenle put Golden State ahead 66-65 with 5:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Valkyries didn't make their next field goal until Janelle Salaun's layup with a minute left to cap the scoring. After a missed 3-pointer by the Mystics with 37 seconds left, the Valkyries worked the clock down before calling a timeout with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. Salaun missed a shot in the lane and Golden State grabbed the offensive rebound before turning it over to give the Mystics another chance. Brittney Sykes' floater in the lane bounced off the rim as time expired. Sonia Citron, coming off a career-high 28 points on Tuesday against Chicago, scored 16 points for Washington (13-14). Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen each added 10 points. Iliana Rupert scored all 11 of her points in the first half and Fagbenle finished with 10 for Golden State (13-13). Tiffany Hayes became the 42nd player in WNBA history to play 10,000 minutes. Golden State made 10 of 14 field goals in the first quarter, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, to take a 30-20 lead. The Valkyries scored 38 points the rest of the way. Washington went on a 14-2 run spanning halftime to get within 46-41 on Sykes' 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Mystics took their first lead with 7:20 left on Emily Engstler's 3-pointer from the corner. ___ AP WNBA:
New York Times
a few seconds ago
- New York Times
On a trade deadline day that called for action, the Cubs hugged their prospects tight
CHICAGO — If you were looking for a blockbuster trade deadline, you came to the wrong city. Try San Diego or Houston. On Thursday, the Cubs played it safe, while the White Sox tried to muster some enthusiasm about another season of Luis Robert Jr. Meanwhile, Chicago just collectively shook its head and asked when the Bears' first preseason game is. Advertisement All that time spent coming up with fake trades was wasted. It's fair to say the best addition by either team at the deadline was when Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer swung a deal for 'super-utilityman' Willi Castro. The White Sox, who have used a hot streak to vault from the second-worst record in baseball to the second-worst record in baseball, made just two deals in the last two days. The Cubs made a handful of moves but didn't address their most obvious need: starting pitching. Sox general manager Chris Getz's only real trade chip was rental starting pitcher Adrian Houser. While he apparently had conversations with his friend Hoyer about another crosstown deal, it didn't happen. The Cubs and Sox almost had a trade for Adrian Hauser. ' We worked really hard but didn't quite get there.'Hoyer told me. Getz confirmed that they had conversations up to 30 min before the said he thought they were close for the prospects they asked for. — Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) August 1, 2025 Once I saw that Getz traded Houser to the savvy Tampa Bay Rays, I figured he probably lost the deal. In return for Houser, Getz got a former top prospect in Curtis Mead and two Triple-A relievers. The Charlotte Knights improved with this deal, but I'm not so sure about the White Sox. The easy comparison, and one Getz himself made, was to his deadline deal last year when he picked up Miguel Vargas from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Vargas looked like he had never previously hit a baseball last season. This season, he is only slightly below average offensively, which is a massive improvement. Another year, another project. (Getz also got a minor-league pitcher from the Yankees for outfielder Austin Slater.) The big news on Thursday was that Getz couldn't swing a trade of Robert, his former All-Star. It wasn't that big of a surprise considering how Robert has played for most of the season. Though he has heated up lately, no smart GM would trade top prospects for such an unsure thing. Unfortunately for Getz, most of the dumb ones aren't running teams in playoff contention. Advertisement In the wake of this failure, Getz tried to express his utmost faith in Robert, who has been unreliable and unproductive for the past two seasons. 'It starts with Luis and how we feel about him,' he said. 'You look at what he's done in the last month or so and he's impacting the game in so many different ways, which speaks to the talent he has. We believe in Luis Robert.' We believe in Luis Robert … until next season, when we try desperately to trade him again. First, they have to pick up his $20 million option, which might give Jerry Reinsdorf some agita, but it's a bet they have to make. OK, that's enough White Sox. The Cubs were the team with the most to gain this week and their results are mixed at best. At worst, this was a failure. If we can meet in the middle, it was a missed opportunity. Hoyer got swingman Michael Soroka on Wednesday and added relievers Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers on Thursday. And if they weren't going to swing for the fences with Eugenio Suárez, Castro was a perfect addition for their needs. He can play multiple positions in the infield and outfield. He's the kind of guy that playoff teams get at the deadline. As for the pitchers, well, we'll see. Relievers are a volatile bunch. I trust the Cubs' pitching department, but none of these guys are Mason Miller or Jhoan Duran. And aside from Soroka, who will probably be slotted into the bullpen down the stretch, they aren't starters. Early Thursday evening, Hoyer walked into a second-floor conference room where the media was holed up to address his trade deadline moves and lack thereof. He wasn't thrilled to see a news conference setup. If he landed a top starter, he would've done cartwheels to the backdrop and lectern. Instead, Hoyer had to address his missed opportunity to find a starter for a beleaguered rotation. Sure, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad could be close to returning from their injury rehabs. But this is a team that desperately needed a proven starter not only for October, but also to help hold off the Brewers, who are currently in first place in the NL Central. 'The goal is to be good every year … the goal is not to have massive up-and-down cycles.' – Jed Hoyer — Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 1, 2025 Like a lot of baseball execs did Thursday, Hoyer noted the bold-faced names, the starting pitchers with years of control left, weren't traded at all. The teams that kept them wanted the farm in return, so to speak, and Hoyer drew a line in the dirt. 'I think that we obviously worked hard on some guys that I feel like could provide significant impact,' he said. 'In the end, the asking price on those guys would have been so detrimental to our future that we've obviously decided against it.' Advertisement You might call it prospect-hugging, Hoyer calls it responsible stewardship for a franchise he'll be running for the foreseeable future. His contract extension was announced Monday. All that talk about timing to help him at the trade deadline was just more wasted breath. Going into a lame-duck season, Hoyer made a win-now move in the winter when he traded his 2024 top pick, Cam Smith, to Houston for one year of Kyle Tucker. On one hand, it has worked out for both teams. Smith went from prospect to starter for the Astros, and Tucker was looking like an MVP until the last month. But if the Cubs don't do anything this postseason and Tucker walks, it will no longer be looked at as such a win-win deal. That's why the conventional wisdom was that Hoyer would take a couple more big swings at the deadline to try to improve his odds. Now, if Hoyer had to deal multiple top prospects for starters with years of control, and if teams were really asking for Matt Shaw and Cade Horton, you can see why that's a nonstarter for him. 'Whether it's in this offseason or in the past, I think, certainly we've moved top prospects, but the calculus that we have to make is ultimately what is the impact this is making and how many wins are we losing going forward,' he said. But all logic that doesn't make the Cubs' situation any more enviable now or in the future. The Cubs are going to need some luck to make a run in the postseason, and they'll still need to spend money — not chairman Tom Ricketts' favorite thing to do — in the offseason to keep this train moving. It all comes back to money. If the Cubs had paid up for Alex Bregman in the offseason or spent more money on pitching — aside from Matthew Boyd's bargain of a deal — then Hoyer wouldn't be in the position to worry about the price of deadline poker. Advertisement But that's not the Cubs' reality, and Hoyer is left trying to toe the line between the present and the future. 'I think the job is to make the best decisions for the organization,' he said. 'And there's times that's focused on just right now and there's times that's focused on the future. And those are the conversations we have every day. So we try to be as unemotional about those as possible.' In related news, the Cubs DFA'd former closer Ryan Pressly to make room for Rogers, the aforementioned reliever acquired from the Pirates. In his last outing in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Pressly gave up a grand slam to Andrew Vaughn to break open a close game. Pressly was one of Hoyer's big acquisitions this offseason, but he didn't pitch up to his reputation and lost his job to Daniel Palencia. Now he's looking for a new place to pitch. Can Rogers and Kittredge help the bullpen survive? Can those two, along with Soroka, be the kinds of 'out-getters' that manager Craig Counsell needs? Will any of the prospects they didn't trade, like Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcantara and Moisés Ballesteros, be the reinforcements the team needs down the stretch? On a day when the Cubs were supposed to get some answers, a lot of questions remain. The most important one — 'Did the Cubs do enough?' — will be answered over the next two to three months. (Photo of Kyle Tucker: Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)
