Giants, Casali agree to 1-year deal
Catcher Curt Casali agreed to a $1.5 million, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on Monday, a month after he was cut by the Cincinnati Reds.
The 32-year- old Casali hit .224 with six homers and eight RBIs in 31 games and 93 plate appearances last year, when he earned $541,667 in prorated pay from a $1,462,500 salary. Reds pitchers were 1411 with a 3.68 ERA in his starts.
Casali has a .230 average, 37 homers and 105 RBIs in seven major league seasons with Tampa Bay (2014-17) and Cincinnati (2018-20).
College basketball
STANFORD GETS PAST OREGON STATE » Oscar da Silva had 31 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, Jaiden Delaire added 19 points and nine boards, and Stanford beat Oregon State 81-71 on the road in a rescheduled contest.
Freshman reserve Michael O’Connell set season highs with 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for Stanford (6-3, 2-1 Pac-12).
Jarod Lucas led Oregon State (5- 4, 1-2) with 22 points and five 3-pointers. GONZAGA-BAYLOR REMAIN 1-2 IN AP TOP 25 » While Gonzaga and Baylor remain firmly atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, Shaka Smart and fourth-ranked Texas are making a push into the rankings’ top tier, too.
The top- ranked Zags and second-ranked Bears remained 1-2 in Monday’s latest Top 25 as they have all season. But the Longhorns jumped four spots after a lopsided weekend win at Kansas to earn the program’s highest ranking under their sixth-year coach, as well as its first top-5 ranking since February 2011.
STANFORD WOMEN NO. 1, OREGON OUT OF TOP 10 » Oregon’s run in the top 10 of the Associated Press women’s college basketball poll is over after 64 consecutive appearances.
The Ducks fell to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 released a day after the team’s 27-game winning streak ended with a two-point loss to UCLA.
College football
OHIO STATE COACH DAY EXPECTS QB FIELDS TO PLAY» Ohio State coach Ryan Day says he expects Justin Fields to play in the College Football Playoff national championship game against Alabama after the quarterback was banged up during the semifinals.
Day declined to detail Fields’ injury on Monday during a Zoom news conference.
Day did say that that Fields told the coach “he felt better waking up in the morning than he expected.”
Ohio State and Alabama play for the title on Jan. 11 in South Florida.