TALKING POINTS

Will Smith, Dodgers reach $140 million, 10-year deal. LA has spent $1.4 billion on 5 key players

LOS ANGELES — Catcher Will Smith and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a $140 million, 10-year contract Wednesday, raising the team’s spending to nearly $1.4 billion for five key players since December.

Smith’s deal supersedes an $8.85 million, one-year agreement reached in January.

He opened the last week by going 5 for 10 with two RBIs as the Dodgers split a twogame series against San Diego at Seoul, South Korea. The 28-year-old was a first-time All-Star last year, when he hit .261 with 19 homers and 76 RBIs.

Smith has a .263 average with 91 homers and 308 RBIs in six seasons with the Dodgers. He would have been eligible for free agency after the 2025 season.

Los Angeles has committed $1,365,687,500 to two-way star Shohei Ohtani ($700 million for 10 years), right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million for 12 years) and Tyler Glasnow ($136,562,500 for five years), outfielder Teoscar Hernández ($23.5 million for one year) and Smith. ‘Good likelihood’ that injured Embiid will be back before start of playoffs, 76ers’ Nurse says

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday that there is a “good likelihood” that reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid will be back on the court before the postseason.

“I think there’s a very good likelihood that he will return before the playoffs,” Nurse said before the Sixers took on the Los Angeles Clippers.

Embiid, who has averaged 35.3 points and 11.5 rebounds this season, has missed 27 games after suffering a meniscus injury on Jan. 30 at Golden State that required surgery on Feb. 6. The Sixers were 10-16 in the games since Embiid’s injury heading into Wednesday.

The club had confirmed two weeks ago that Embiid started oncourt work, but has been cryptic about the extent of work he has been doing.

“He’s on the court, as you guys know, but we still don’t have a timeline,” Nurse said, noting that he has had FaceTime calls with his star center but not seen him in person because of Philadelphia’s fourgame West Coast trip. “I would imagine that he’s getting better each day. He’s trying to get strong, confident, in shape and ramped up.”

Women’s national soccer team and Gotham FC forward Midge Purce tears ACL

HARRISON, N.J. —

United States women’s national team forward Midge Purce sustained a season-ending knee injury this past weekend playing for Gotham FC against the Thorns in Portland, Oregon.

The NWSL champions announced the injury Wednesday, adding Purce will undergo surgery to repair her anterior cruciate ligament. Purce confirmed the diagnosis in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I am heartbroken to be no longer available for my season with Gotham FC or for Olympic selection with the USWNT — know I’m rooting for you both all year long,” she wrote.

Purce has made 30 appearances for the national team since first playing in 2019, scoring four goals and adding five assists. She is not a regular in the current starting lineup.

After four years at Harvard, Purce joined the NWSL and played one season with the Boston Breakers and two with the Thorns before being traded in 2020 to Sky Blue FC, which became Gotham FC.

Purce didn’t play much last season because of a quad injury, but she returned late and set up both Gotham goals in its 2-1 win over the OL Reign in the NWSL championship game. The 28-year-old was named the game’s MVP. Her current contract runs through this season with an option for 2025.

NHL’s Capitals and NBA’s Wizards are staying in Washington after Virginia arena deal collapses

WASHINGTON — When Ted Leonsis told District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser late last year that the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals he owns would probably be leaving Washington for Virginia, she told him no, they would not.

Ultimately, she proved to be right. The teams are staying in the District for the long term after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plan to lure them to Virginia imploded and the city and ownership reached an agreement on a $515 million, publicly funded arena project.

Bowser and Leonsis signed a letter of intent Wednesday for the deal, which keeps the teams in the District through 2050. They announced the development at a joint news conference at Capital One Arena, the teams’ current home, minutes later.

“It’s a great day, and I’m really relieved,” Leonsis said. “This was not only the right thing for the community, the right thing for the city, the right thing for us, it’s a really smart business deal.”

The project is set to include 200,000 square feet (18,580 square meters) of expansion of the arena complex into the nearby Gallery Place space, the creation of an entertainment district in the surrounding Chinatown neighborhood and safety and transportation upgrades.

“We are the current home and the future home of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards,” said Bowser, who donned a Wizards jersey. “As Ted likes to say, we’re going to be together for a long time.”

The Council of the District of Columbia will take up the deal next week and is expected to pass it, Chairman Phil Mendelson said at the news conference.

The agreement between Monumental Sports & Entertainment and the city came as officials in Alexandria, just across the Potomac in Virginia, said talks for a new arena that would have moved the teams there had ended.

MLB owners unanimously approve sale of Baltimore Orioles to a group headed by David Rubenstein

David Rubenstein’s purchase of the Baltimore Orioles was approved Wednesday by Major League Baseball owners, clearing the way for the Angelos family to finalize the sale after over three decades running the team.

Approval of 75% of all owners was required, and MLB said the vote was unanimous.