Category Archives: Cf

Calvin Bassey and Fashion Sakala were impressive as Rangers continued to delay Celtic title celebrations.

He won 100% of his tackles, one aerial duel, five duels, made one interception, three recoveries, and was fouled three times at the heart of the Rangers defense.

A lively second half saw Zambian star Sakala score the decisive equaliser in the 67th minute to cancel out Jota's first-half strike for Celtic.

The brilliant Sakala almost won it late on with an incredible solo run but his effort came agonisingly off the post.

Aribo's striker audition for Rangers goes wrong

Meanwhile, while Bassey had a lovely performance for Rangers at the back, his compatriot, Joe Aribo, had a quiet afternoon for the visitors at Celtic Park.

Aribo started at centre forward with first-choice strikers Alfredo Morelos missing due to an injury.

However, despite a recent turnaround in form for the 26-year-old attacking midfielder, his audition didn't go as planned after he failed to attempt a single shot for just over an hour he was on the pitch before he was substituted.

What the result means

After the Old Firm derby ended in a share of the spoils, the Rangers are now just four Celtic points away from handing over the Scottish Premier League title to their fierce rivals.

Celtic currently lead the SPL table and need just a win and draw to reclaim their lost crown.

They take on Hearts next at the same venue next Saturday, while Aribo and Bassey's Rangers turn their attention to the Europa League semi-final second leg before hosting Dundee United at Ibrox on Sunday.

Originally posted here:

Celtic vs Rangers: The Bassey and Fashion show as Aribo auditions at CF - Pulse Nigeria

Real Madrid overcame Joventut at the WiZink Center to kick off the month of May with a bang. Hanga, Poirier and Yabusele were the standout performers for our side.

Real Madrid won their sixth game in a row over the last two weeks. The team recorded their 22nd Endesa League win of the season after beating Joventut (99-89) at the WiZink Center, kicking off the month of May on a high. Pablo Laso's side got the better of a tough opposition in a very evenly matched game decided in the final minutes. The standout performers were Hanga, who registered 20 points in the final minute, Poirier (25 PIR) and Yabusele (24 PIR).The early stages of the game lacked scoring rhythm. Yabusele and Causeur led the way for our team, both from the outside, opening up a 10-6 lead. The game picked up pace from the 4th minute onwards, with more chances around the basket. Willis and Feliz looked to close the gap on the home side from the three-point line, but Yabusele stepped up along with Hanga with six points to keep their opponents at bay. Madrid began to lose some of their attacking punch and Joventut capitalised to reduce the deficit (20-18). Laso introduced Poirier, Llull and Abalde, who again helped the team to extend the lead and close the first quarter at 29-23.Joventut's rallyBoth teams' defences were coming out on top which led to the scoring slowing down at the start of the second quarter. Laso's team gradually took control of the rebounding thanks to Poirier's 6 steals. This allowed them to open up their biggest lead of the game (+13) in the 15th minute. The visitors' reply soon arrived and Willis (10 points) and Tomic, managed to string together a 2-15 run to level the game with a minute to go before the break. A Randolph three-pointer and two points from Yabusele took Real Madrid one up as they made their way to the locker room (47-46).

After the break, Real Madrid came out firing on all cylinders. Three consecutive three-pointers and 16 points from Hanga spearheaded the home team's offence to make the score 62-53 (25'). The team from Badalona refused to give up and good play from Birgander in the zone brought his team to within four points. Laso's men stepped up again with Tavares unstoppable under the hoop and Causeur on fire from the 6.75 line. The closing minutes of the third quarter saw a constant exchange of blows, but Madrid came away with a seven-point advantage after a period dominated by the high scoring pace of both teams (76-69).Madrid seal the winThe momentum didn't change in the final ten minutes. Six points from Tomic from the paint allowed Joventut to pull within two with six minutes to go. With 23 points, the visiting centre managed to guide his team level (83-83) but Madrid were quick to respond. Hanga, Llull and Yabusele were again the ones who made the difference, setting up a 10-0 run in the 37th minute. Ribas and Tomic pushed the visitors back to within six points, but our team upped their defensive efforts and were backed up offensively by a titanic Poirier in the zone. Real Madrid's winning streak continues, six in two weeks.

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99-89: Sixth consecutive win in two weeks - Real Madrid CF

Risks of live-attenuated bacterial veterinary vaccines for immunocompromised pet owners and protecting them by using a One Health approach

It is well-established that live-attenuated vaccines should be avoided in immunocompromised people, due to the risk of acquiring an infection even from weakened pathogens. Under the same principle, live-attenuated bacterial veterinary vaccines can pose a risk for certain immunocompromised individuals, specifically those with phagocytic function defects. For people with cystic fibrosis (CF), pet ownership of companion animals is popular, putting them at risk from acquiring an infection from their pet.1

One pathogen of concern for both CF patients and their animal, is Bordetella bronchiseptica. It can cause respiratory disease in animals (kennel cough) and vulnerable humans.1 Infection in humans is rare, with a small number of cases reported in literature.

The risk of acquiring B. bronchiseptica is highest for CF owners during the actual administration of vaccine if the clinician administers the vaccine incorrectly, or during the post-vaccination shedding period.1 For example, one case involved a 14-year-old boy whose face was inadvertently showered with live nasally administered B. bronchiseptica vaccine during the vaccination procedure. No cultures were performed, but 5 days after the exposure the boy developed a cough that persisted for 3 to 4 months and was accompanied by posttussive vomiting.2

Another case report describes a pediatric patient acquiring B. bronchiseptica from her kitten that was acutely ill with the disease. B. bronchiseptica was isolated from her sputum sample, but she remained asymptomatic. The patient had been vaccinated for Bordetella pertussis, or whooping cough, which may have provided some cross protection.3 After the kitten was removed from the home, there was no further isolation of B. bronchiseptica from her sputum.

It is helpful to review a Summary of Product Characteristics for the B. bronchiseptica vaccines, which provides guidance on avoiding accidental inoculation. For the live-attenuated canine vaccine, it warns immunocompromised dog owners to avoid contact with their pet from a range of 35 days to 11 weeks. For the live-attenuated feline vaccine, the viral shedding period can last up to 1 year in the cat, therefore the recommendation is for CF owners with cats to avoid using this vaccine altogether.1 Patients with CF should make their veterinarians aware of their status, so a safe and effective vaccine and strategy can be selected to protect both humans and pets from Bordetella bronchiseptica.

Ghatpande is a 2022 PharmD candidate at the University of Connecticut

References

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Companion animals, vaccines, and risk to patients with cystic fibrosis - DVM 360

NEW YORK, April 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Color Star Technology Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: CSCW) ("Color Star" or the "Company"), an entertainment technology company with a global network that focuses on the application of technology and artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry, announces today that their partner team Villarreal CF, nicknamed the "Yellow Submarine", has admirably achieved even more footballing glory by defeating Bayern Munich by 2-1 on aggregate in order to advance to the Champions League semi-finals.

As a global partner of the team, Color Star also issued their congratulations at once, expecting the team to ultimately win the Champions League crown.

It is worth mentioning that this is the second time in the history of Villarreal CF where they have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. The first time was during the 2005-06 season. Since the beginning of this Champions League season, Villarreal CF has received a lot of attention and the team has been able to maintain a winning streak in the face of the strongest teams, which has given the fans more confidence in their ability to win the tournament. After the match, the team's centerback and captain, Ral Albiol, said in an interview with the media that "we think we have the ability to continue to compete, this team knows how to compete and has a lot of merits, but we have to keep working hard".

On the other hand, Color Star, as Villarreal CF's global partner, is undoubtedly lucky and perceptive. Since its subsidiary Color Sky officially signed the cooperation in February this year, the Company has greatly increased its brand awareness in Europe and the world by virtue of the team's influence and appeal. The number of registered users of the Color World metaverse platform developed by the Company has also increased rapidly. Both parties are happy to see further cooperation, not only in major tournaments, but also in more online and offline cooperation which will be carried out.

Color Star is a NASDAQ-listed company, the Company mainly focuses on artificial intelligence, as it works towards vigorously developing and integrating the technology into cultural and economic industries. In recent years, in the face of the global business environment changed by the epidemic, Color Star has focused on the development of "intelligent technology + direct interactions" as the main attraction of the application software Color World. Now, Color World has become a metaverse platform that is working with many top international athletes and celebrities to not only explore more possibilities of cooperation within the metaverse, but also to carry out offline cooperation to take advantage of both worlds.

About Color Star Technology Co., Ltd.

Color Star Technology Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: CSCW) is an entertainment and education company that provides online entertainment performances and online music education services. Its business operations are conducted through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Color China Entertainment Ltd. and CACM Group NY, Inc. The Company's online education is provided through its Color World music and entertainment education platform. More information about the Company can be found at http://www.colorstarinternational.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as "may," "will," "intend," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate" or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the following: the Company's goals and strategies; the Company's future business development, including the development of the metaverse project; product and service demand and acceptance; changes in technology; economic conditions; the growth of the educational and training services market internationally where CSCW conducts its business; reputation and brand; the impact of competition and pricing; government regulations; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing and other risks contained in reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at http://www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forwardlooking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof unless required by applicable laws, regulations or rules.

SOURCE Color Star Technology Co., Ltd.

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The Push for Glory Continues as Color Star's partner team Villarreal CF advances to the Semi-Finals of the UEFA Champions League - PR Newswire

A multicenter research team co-led byThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center developed the first drug to treat the uncontrolled secretion of mucins in the airways, which causes potentially life-threatening symptoms in millions of Americans with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis (CF), as well as lung disease resulting from cancer and cancer treatment. The study was published today (March 23, 2022) in Nature.

Mucus is a significant problem in pulmonary medicine, because in people with these common lung diseases, thick mucus can block the airways and cause symptoms ranging from a mild cough to very serious decreases in lung function, saidBurton Dickey, M.D., professor ofPulmonary Medicineand co-corresponding author of the study. Most drugs for these conditions work to reduce inflammation or expand the airways to help people breathe better, but mucus is the most serious issue. Our research has created the first drug that would stop the secretion of mucins in its tracks.

Muco-obstructive lung diseases affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In the U.S., about 25 million people have asthma, 16 million adults have been diagnosed with COPD and CF is the most common life-threatening, genetic disease. Many cancer patients end up with lung disease because their cancer treatments or the cancer itself leaves them immunocompromised.

Normally, mucins are gradually released into the airways, where they absorb water and form a thin layer of protective mucus that traps pathogens and is easily cleared by cilia. In muco-obstructive lung diseases, high volumes of mucins are suddenly released and, unable to absorb enough water, result in a thick mucus that can plug airways and impair lung function.

Dickeys lab began studying mucin secretion two decades ago and previously identified the key genes and proteins involved, showing how synaptotagmin and a SNARE complex, similar to that found in neurons, contribute to the key process of Ca2+-triggered membrane fusion.

We built up a picture of what the secretory machinery looked like and we knew all of the major players, Dickey said. Once we had an idea of how all the pieces worked together, we determined synaptotagmin-2 (Syt2) was the best protein to target to block mucin secretion because it only becomes activated with a high level of stimulation. Therefore, blocking the activity of Syt2 should prevent sudden massive mucin release without impairing slow, steady baseline mucin secretion that is required for airway health.

In this study, a collaborative effort between MD Anderson, Stanford Medicine, and Ulm University, the researchers verified Syt2 as a viable therapeutic target protein in several types of preclinical models. Philip Jones, Ph.D., vice president ofTherapeutics Discoveryand head of theInstitute for Applied Cancer Science, designed a hydrocarbon-stapled peptide, SP9, to block Syt2, based on structures developed by the Stanford collaborators, including senior co-corresponding author Axel Brunger, Ph.D., professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology.

Stapled peptides are a recent therapeutic development involving modified amino acids that form hydrocarbon crossbridges to hold their structure rigid so they can bind to a protein target and show enhanced stability. Stapled peptides have been used to treat other diseases, including cancer, but SP9 would represent the first stapled peptide to be used as an inhaled therapeutic.

In a reconstituted system model in Brungers Stanford laboratory, Ying Lai, Ph.D., used SP9 to successfully disrupt Ca2+-triggered membrane fusion. The Ulm laboratory of Manfred Frick, Ph.D., used SP9 conjugated to a cell penetrating peptide in cultured epithelial cells to inhibit rapid mucin secretion. The Dickey laboratory then used an aerosolized version in a mouse model to confirm the drug reduced mucin secretion and airway blockage by mucus. Importantly, SP9 did not affect the slow-release pathway for normal mucin secretion.

An inhaled drug like this could help someone during an acute attack of airway disease by stopping the rapid secretion of mucin and, by extension, avoiding production of thick mucus. You cant move air through an airway thats plugged, Dickey said. In asthma, COPD and CF, its been shown that persistent plugs drive the most serious disease. Now we have a drug that could be very important if its shown to work in clinical trials.

The stapled peptide SP9 will be further refined before moving to human studies, as is typical for therapeutics at this stage of development, and may enter clinical trials in a couple of years.

Reference: Inhibition of calcium-triggered secretion by hydrocarbon-stapled peptides 23 March 2022, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04543-1

Dickey and co-authors are inventors on a patent application related to SP9. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL129795, R21 AI137319) and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

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Experimental Drug Could Help People With Asthma, COPD, Cystic Fibrosis and Cancer-Related Lung Disease - SciTechDaily

Both Sandpoint and Clark Fork tennis teams had their two matches rescheduled.

The Bulldogs will make up two postponed matches in back-to-back days against 5A Inland Empire League opponents.

The Bulldogs were scheduled to face off against Lake City Monday, March 21, at Lake City High School, but it got pushed back.

Sandpoint will face off against the T-Wolves today at 2:30 p.m. Its match against Post Falls at Post Falls High School was postponed last week.

It's rescheduled match against the Trojans will be this week on Thursday, March 24.

After its two back-to-back matches against 5A Inland Empire League teams, the Bulldogs will take a bit of a hiatus for spring break and return to the court on Tuesday, April 12, at Lakeland High School.

Clark Fork tennis had both of its opening matches canceled against Coeur d'Alene Charter and Lewiston.

According to head coach Jeff Emmer, the Wampus Cats will start its season on April 16 at Lewiston.

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Sandpoint and CF tennis to make up matches - Bonner County Daily Bee

The Cincinnati Reds signed veteran outfielder Albert Almora, Jr. on March 20.

If the name sounds familiar, it should. Almora played for the Chicago Cubs from 2016-2020. He batted .298 in 2017 and .286 in 2018 before struggling in 2019 and 2020.

Almora played in the 2016 World Series for the Cubs, playing in three games as a rookie with one at-bat.

A career .265 hitter, Almora has hit just .134 in 82 at-bats since 2020. He played with the Mets in 2021.

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Almora is not on the Reds roster and is in camp as a non-roster invitee.

The Reds now have quite a few outfielders in the camp now. Here's a look:

40-man roster:

No-roster invitees:

Albert Almora Jr

Trey Amburgey

Lorenzo Cedrola

Ronnie Dawson

Here's what to know about Almora.

The Chicago Cubs famously rebuilt the organization in the early 2010s and in 2011 the Cubs went 71-91 and received the sixth pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.

Their pick was Almora, a high school prospect from Hialeah, Fla. Almora was selected just after Kyle Zimmer, who ironically signed with the Reds on the same day as Almora almost 10 years later.

In fact, the Reds are loading up on 2012 first-round picks. Almost a week after trading their own pick in that draft, Jesse Winker, the Reds spring training camp features:

The Reds' own first-round picks in that draft, Nick Travieso (14th pick), Winker (supplemental first round pick and 49th overall) and Jeff Gelalich (supplemental first round pick and 57th overall) are no longer on the team.

Story continues

The 13th pick of the 2012 draft, Courtney Hawkins, was a Red for a short time in 2018 and the 58th pick of the supplemental first round, Mitch Nay, was a Red from 2017-2019.

Almora was a top-50 ranked prospect in 2013. He was part of a wave of Cubs prospects that made their debuts in the mid 2010s, including Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, Jeimer Candelario and Wilson Contreras.

Almora was living up to the hype, somewhat, in his standout 2017 and 2018 seasons before slumping in 2019.

He turns 28 in April.

Chicago Cubs' Albert Almora Jr. (center fielder) reacts after scoring on Ben Zobrist's RBI double during the 10th inning of Game 7 of the Major League Baseball World Series against the Cleveland Indians Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Cleveland. Almora played for the Smokies in 2014-15. In two seasons, he hit .262 with 8 home runs and 56 RBIs.

Bryant hit a deep fly ball in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series and Almora, a pinch runner for Schwarber, advanced to second base on a tag. Ben Zobrist would hit a double later in the inning and the Cubs took the lead and won 8-7.

Almora and San Diego Padres star Manny Machado are childhood friends. Machado is considered family to Almora, who's father immigrated from Cuba. Machado attended the baptism of Almora's child during the 2019 free agency period which led some in the media to wonder if he was recruiting the star third baseman.

He wasn't, telling the media:

"At my son's baptism, we were with family. Smoked a cigar, we had a good time. There were a lot of childhood friends that we had there we talked about stories, we talked about fishing. Baseball was not a topic I wanted to talk about, especially because I didn't want to feel in that position because I knew I was going to get asked these questions and I don't want to know anything.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Albert Almora signed with the Reds. Here's what to know

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Albert Almora Jr. was the Cubs CF of the future. Now he's a Red. Here's what to know - Yahoo Sports

Tymur Khakimov/Pexels

The Impact Of War And Sanctions

In a post earlier this month (Sanctioning Ourselves), I mentioned how our system's top names reflected the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent U.S.-led sanctions on Russia:

As regular readers know, our system doesn't consider the macro picture when selecting its top names. Instead, it gauges stock and options market sentiment to estimate which securities are likely to perform the best over the next six months. Nevertheless, that bottoms-up approach is painting a clear macro picture when you look at our most recent top ten.

Screen capture viaPortfolio Armoron 3/11/2022..

Our number one name on Friday was the Teucrium Wheat Fund (NYSE: WEAT), and two other agricultural names made the list: the Teucrium Corn Fund (NYSE: CORN) and nitrogen fertilizer producer CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF). Fully half of our top ten were oil and gas names including Haliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY), and the United States Gasoline Fund LP (NYSE: UGA). Overall, our nine of our top ten names are bets on food and energy getting more expensive over the next six months.

Wheat Fund Spikes On Monday

Shares of the Teucrium Wheat Fund spiked 6.41% on Monday, and it was again the top name in our system on Monday night. The reason for the spike may have beenan article over the weekend by the New York Times's Brazil bureau chief, Jack Nicas, arguing that the war in Ukraine might cause a global food crisis. Nicas summarized the key points of his article in the Twitter thread below.

In Case The Wheat Fund Pulls Back

Ideally, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine lead to peace soon. If so, it's possible that the dynamic driving wheat prices higher could reverse, causing shares of WEAT to drop. Here's a way you can hold WEAT now, while limiting your downside risk in the event that happens.

As of Monday's close, this was the optimal collar to hedge 1,000 shares of WEAT against a greater-than-20% drop by late October, while not capping your possible upside at less than 41% by then.

Screen captures via thePortfolio ArmoriPhone app.

Since the income generated from selling the call leg was equal to the cost of buying the put leg, the net cost of this collar was negative. To be conservative that cost was calculated assuming you bought the puts at the ask and sold the calls at the bid (the worst end of the spread in each case). Since, in practice, you can often buy and sell options at some price between the bid and ask, you likely would have received a net credit when opening this hedge on Monday.

In either case, your maximum upside would have been slightly more than twice your maximum drawdown.

This article was submitted by an external contributor and may not represent the views and opinions of Benzinga.

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Why The Wheat ETF Spiked On Monday: A New Report Into How Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine, And The Resulting - Benzinga

Atlanta United had perhaps a little too much trouble getting past a pointless Charlotte FC last week but it has another chance of prolonging a winless run in Week 4 when CF Montreal visits the Benz. The Canadian side has three losses from three in regular-season play, though it did make it to the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals. Its the type of game Atlanta should win, but as we saw a week ago, the Five Stripes are prone to inconsistency.

After missing out on the playoffs in 2021 by two points, Montreal avenged itself with a Canadian Championship trophy in Wilfried Nancys debut campaign. The Quebec side brought back almost all of last seasons core and added Nashville defender Alistair Johnston in the offseason. Though things haven't gone to plan in domestic play, Montreal has started the season with one of the toughest schedules in the league to go along with CCL action. Montreal fell to road losses to Orlando and NYCFC, with a home defeat to Philadelphia sandwiched in between. Its CCL journey has fared much better, as Nancys side knocked out Liga MX side Santos Laguna 3-1 on aggregate before a quarterfinal matchup with Cruz Azul.

Now that its international commitments are put aside, Montreal will put its full focus on MLS just in time for Atlanta. Romell Quioto and Djordje Mihailovic are the main danger men and combined for 12 goals and 18 assists last season. They already have a combined two goals and three assists so far, albeit the majority of which came in CCL. Montreals real problems come in defense, as its been outscored 10-2 across its first three MLS games. Atlanta showed it has no problems creating chances against Charlotte, but the Five Stripes finishing needs some work and Montreal is the perfect opportunity for the good guys to find its scoring boots.

Atlantas 2-1 win over Charlotte was the result we all predicted/expected but didnt quite come in the desired fashion. The Five Stripes needed a last-gasp Jake Mulraney winner to take the three points after a less-than-inspiring performance. Despite similar records, Montreal will mount a much tougher test than Charlotte and Atlanta will have to take it up a gear to make it three home wins from three.

Previous Results

Atlanta has a 5W-2T-2L advantage in the all-time record against Montreal and split last seasons three meetings evenly.

Predicted Starting XIs

Prediction: Atlanta United 3-1 CF Montreal

Josef Martinez will follow up his opening goal of 2021 with a brace against Montreal from a pair of Marcelino Moreno assists before Thiago Almada comes off the bench to seal the victory. Montreal will make things interesting with a Quioto strike but it wont be enough to keep Atlanta from closing the curtains on March with a W.

Continued here:

Atlanta United vs CF Montreal: Match Preview - Dirty South Soccer

Finally recording a new episode of Onto Waveland (its the podcast I do with Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney) after months of being locked out (not literally, but, well, effectively), and then a week of trying to coordinate schedules of people in three different time zones covering different aspects of the sport exploding back into life. Itll be good to get back on the mic. If you want to check it out, our regular schedule will resume soon twice a week and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts.

Jason Heyward is willing to move to center field to accommodate Seiya Suzuki, who is believed to be best deployed in right field:

I think thats a fine and admirable offer sincere, too but there are a couple things to keep in mind. For one, Heyward would have to get back to actually hitting righties well in order to justify even thinking about keeping him semi-regularly in the lineup against righties in center field (where you could otherwise deploy, for example, Rafael Ortega, who destroyed righties last year). For another thing, Heyward hasnt played any center field since 2019, and he rated out a little below average. If he could still be a little below average out there, that would probably be fine from a defensive perspective (Ortega and Ian Happ, as other options against righties, wouldnt necessarily be better defensively), but I dont know after three more years of aging.

That is all to say: good to know that Heyward might be a part-time option in center field for the Cubs, but it should be considered far from a sure thing that, even if Suzuki is the regular right fielder, Heyward is the best option against righties in center field. (And against lefties, you DEFINITELY wouldnt want Heyward in there, both because he hasnt hit lefties in years and years, but also because thats where Id like to see Michael Hermosillo getting every start, if he makes the team.)

Cubs reliever David Robertson, one of MANY new additions this week, on signing with the Cubs (Cubs.com): Its a good fit for me. Its a strong team. Its a great city. Ive lived in Chicago before. I just thought that I could mix in here and probably pick up some late innings in the back end of this pen. They were very convincing.

To that point, Robertson is one of many theoretical back-end options for the Cubs in the early part of the season. I tend to think David Ross is not going to NAME A CLOSER to open the season, but instead there will be a couple guys who might get the 9th depending on how the game has shaken loose, with a particular deference to one guy or the other. Robertson obviously has closing experience, albeit pre-injury and a bit in the past. Mychal Givens has done some closing over the last few years. Rowan Wick has closer stuff. I think Manny Rodriguez, if he makes the big league team, will work in earlier innings. Chris Martin is more of a middle/setup type. Keegan Thompson, I would argue, could have the stuff to be dominant in a one-inning role, but he might be even more valuable to the Cubs in a multi-inning role. This is just gonna have to shake loose over time.

Speaking of which, FanGraphs looked at a trio of Cubs recent relief signings Robertson, Givens, and Daniel Norris and I think appropriately sums up the hey, they could be good or maybe not but lets find out nature of not only these signings, but the entire 2022 Cubs enterprise. Among their comments:

Will his control rebound enough to put together another solid season? I have no idea, and the Cubs probably dont either. But he might be great, and hell certainly be serviceable, and if things work out well he might fetch a prospect at the trade deadline.

Robertson is even more of an enigma. After a long string of effective years of relief, things have fallen apart for him recently. He blew his elbow out in 2019, missed all of 2020 rehabbing, and only got a major league job after pitching well for Team USA at the Olympics. He struck out 32% of his opponents in a brief stint in Tampa Bay, threw four scoreless innings in the postseason, and hit free agency.

Robertson lives or dies with his cutter, which he throws 75% of the time. He complements it with a two-plane curveball that hitters simply cant pick up; the pitch sports a career 20.6% swinging strike rate, which is downright outrageous. At 36, hes one elbow injury or velocity decline away from looking quite ordinary but he looked excellent last year, and the money is certainly right from Chicagos side to take a chance on him and see what they find.

Givens walked 12.5% of his opponents between stops in Colorado and Cincinnati last year, and looks far removed from his peak years in Baltimore. But stop me if youve heard this before he still throws hard, and his fastball/slider/changeup pitch mix gives him the tools to attack lefties and righties, and he misses a ton of bats when hes right. Will he be good this year? I have absolutely no idea. But if the alternative was some non-roster invitees and career minor leaguers, I like the idea of trying to catch lightning in a bottle with three pitchers who have shown they can put up good numbers at the major league level.

If you want to get into sports betting during the NCAA Tournament, make sure to check out the best March Madness promos weve collected right here.

Scott Effross throws wiffleballs out there, with his sinker and his slider pairing together perfectly, each breaking hard in opposite directions. Heres the slider from yesterday:

Trevor Bauers administrative leave has been extended through April 16. I understand there is an investigation ongoing by MLB, but at some point the league has to stop punting and just issue its decision/punishment. Whenever that does happen, it seems pretty likely it will be retroactive (i.e., Bauer will have already served his suspension from last July through whenever), and then the clock will immediately start ticking on what the Dodgers decide to do.

In other words, Rick Hahn made it pretty plain last fall that the White Sox were going to trade Craig Kimbrel, but then, well, things happened:

It still seems possible that a Kimbrel trade will come together over the next couple weeks, maybe especially after Kenley Jansen signs. Kimbrel, man. Dude has had ONE normal-ish Spring Training in the last four years.

A significant case about minor league pay and jobs continues to wind its way through the courts in California (appeals will be forthcoming), and there could also be legislation in the state that aims to blow up the whole developmental system:

It seems highly likely to me that, if that bill were actually made law in California, MLB organizations would pull their minor league teams out of the state rather than risk losing their minor league players after just four years (compared to every other org, which would get upwards of seven years). Still, this is definitely worth tracking now.

This is a pretty interesting random data pull:

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Heyward Willing to Play CF, Who Closes for the Cubs, Bauer, Minors Lawsuit, and Other Cubs Bullets - bleachernation.com