Chargers expected to hire Hortiz as general manager

From staff and wire reports

The Chargers are expected to hire Joe Hortiz, the Baltimore Ravens’ director of player personnel, as their new general manager, according to multiple reports Monday. If so, then Hortiz would go from working with John Harbaugh in Baltimore to Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles.

The final details of Hortiz’s contract had yet to be worked out, according to reports from ESPN and the NFL Network that cited unnamed sources.

The Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh as their coach last Wednesday to replace Brandon Staley, who was fired along with GM Tom Telesco on Dec. 15, one day after a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. John Harbaugh, Jim’s older brother, has coached the Ravens for the past 16 years.

Hortiz, 48, joined the Ravens as a scout in 1998, rising through the organization’s ranks to become director of player personnel in 2019. Baltimore won the Super Bowl following the 2012 season and advanced to the AFC title game after the ’23 season, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

The Chargers’ lengthy interview and hiring process landed Harbaugh first and then Hortiz, which might have seemed out of order at first glance but made sense with the team taking a big swing at the University of Michigan coach, who led the Wolverines to the national championship earlier this month.

Hortiz

— Elliott Teaford

Doping DQ means gold medals for U.S.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was disqualified from the 2022 Olympics on Monday, almost two years after the teenager’s doping case caused turmoil at the Beijing Games, clearing the way for the United States to get the gold medal in the team event.

The verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the Russians are set to be stripped of the Olympic title. The American skaters are expected to soon be named Olympic champions after finishing second in Beijing.

The International Olympic Committee decided against having a trophy ceremony in Beijing, where the then-15-year-old Valieva was the star performer hours before her positive test for a banned heart medicine was revealed.

The case provoked legal chaos at the Beijing Olympics because Valieva’s sample, taken six weeks earlier at the Russian championships, was not notified as a positive test until Feb. 7, 2022, by a laboratory in Sweden which had staffing issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAS upheld appeals led by the World Anti-doping Agency, which asked the court to disqualify Valieva from the Olympics and ban her. A Russian sports tribunal had cleared her of any blame, citing that she was a minor.

The court banned her for four years, until Dec. 25, 2025 — about seven weeks before the next Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’ampezzo, Italy.

The IOC is responsible for reallocating medals and its executive board is next scheduled to meet in March. The Russians easily won the team event but will drop in the standings without Valieva’s points. Behind the U.S., Japan took bronze and Canada placed fourth.

Former Inland star Mobley makes return

Power forward Evan Mobley returned to the court Monday night for the Cleveland

Cavaliers following left knee surgery.

Mobley, 22, from Temecula Rancho Christian High and USC, last played on Dec. 6.

Mobley had an arthroscopic procedure on Dec. 18, has been rehabbing since and is getting back on the court faster than expected. The Cavs initially said he could be out for up to two months. But he was in the starting lineup Monday night against the Clippers in a game that ended after deadline.

One of the NBA’S premiere interior defenders, the 6-foot-11 Mobley was averaging 16.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.7 blocks in 21 games before getting hurt. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft.

Super Bowl ticket cost at historic highs

Tickets on at least one secondary-market site were the most expensive in Super Bowl history on Monday, underscoring the anticipation of the game’s Las Vegas debut between the defending champion and what likely is the most popular team in the West.

Oh, and the great possibility Taylor Swift will be on hand when the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11.

The average purchase price on Tickpick was $9,815 on Monday morning. That’s nearly double the final average price of $5,795 for last year’s game between the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona.

Guerrero Jr., 18 others set for arbitration

Toronto star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. headlines 18 players scheduled for salary arbitration hearings that start Tuesday and run through Feb. 16 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Guerrero has asked for $19.9 million and been offered $18.05 million by the Blue Jays. If the case doesn’t settle, it would be the highest salary awarded in arbitration win or lose, topping the $14 million Seattle outfielder Teoscar Hernández received after he lost his hearing last year.

A total of 198 players were eligible for arbitration after the November deadline for teams to tender 2024 contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters, and most reached agreements on Jan. 11, when teams and players exchanged proposed salaries.

Among those slated for hearings are Dpdgers’ lefthander José Suarez ($1.35 million vs. $925,000) and outfielder Taylor Ward ($4.8 million vs $4.3 million).

■ Outfielder Aaron Hicks agreed to a one-year contract with the Angels.