Witt, Royals sign 11-year deal of more than $288.7M
The Kansas City Royals agreed with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. on an 11-year deal worth more than $288.7 million guaranteed, two people familiar with the contract told The Associated Press on Monday, locking up one of baseball's young stars as the club tries to turn around its fortunes and persuade a weary fanbase to invest in a new stadium.
The deal includes a threeyear, $89 million team option that would drive the value to more than $377 million and keep Witt in Kansas City through the 2037 season, according to the people, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the financial terms were not disclosed. Witt's guaranteed salary makes it the 16thlargest current deal in Major League Baseball and second-biggest pre-arbitration
agreement behind the 14-year, $340 million contract the Padres gave Fernando Tatis Jr. last April.
The Royals planned a Tuesday news conference to discuss the longest and richest deal in club history.
Men's basketball UCONN ATOP AP TOP 25 >>
Reigning national champion Connecticut, Purdue and North Carolina remained atop The Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll for the third consecutive week, while South Carolina cracked the rankings for the first time in nearly seven years.
The Huskies earned 45 of 61 first-place votes to remain at No. 1 for the fourth straight week in Monday's poll, while the Boilermakers topped the ballots of 16 other voters.
The top of the poll remained set after a big week that included four top-10 matchups over the weekend, with Purdue winning at Wisconsin and UNC beating rival Duke. The week also included Kansas beating Houston, which vaulted the Jayhawks up four spots to No. 4 and dropped the Cougars one spot to No. 5.
Women's basketball
IOWA BACK UP TO NO. 2 >> Caitlin Clark and Iowa climbed back to No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball poll as the star guard moved within striking distance of the NCAA career scoring record.
It's the second time in a few weeks that the Hawkeyes have been second in the poll, a spot that hasn't been kind to teams the past month. UCLA, Iowa and Kansas State all took turns in the second position since Jan. 8 and none of the schools could hold that ranking for more than a week at a time.
While No. 2 has been a revolving door lately, South Carolina has maintained a strong grip atop the poll, once again the unanimous No. 1 team from a 35-member national media panel.
Hockey POLICE CONFIRM CHARGES >>
The police chief of London, Ontario, confirmed that five players from Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team have been charged with sexually assaulting a woman that year and apologized to her for the years it took to bring the case forward.
Chief Thai Truong said Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames and former NHL player Alex Formenton have been charged with sexual assault.
College football STEVE BELICHICK TO TAKE ROLE AT WASHINGTON >>
Steve Belichick has agreed to be the defensive coordinator for new coach Jedd Fisch at Washington, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press on Monday.
The son of NFL coaching great Bill Belichick will take a role in college for the first time following 12 seasons working on the staff of the New England Patriots with his dad.