Bellinger agrees to return to LA
The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a one-year, $17 million contract with former MVP Cody Bellinger to avoid arbitration, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Los Angeles Times. The deal was finished before the lockout began on Dec. 2 — all offseason activity has since been halted — but wasn’t revealed publicly until Thursday. ESPN first reported the news.
The $17 million salary represents a $900,000 raise from what the 26-year-old outfielder earned this last season. The deal comes in the wake of a roller coaster season for Bellinger, who struggled with injuries and woeful production during the regular season before rebounding with a promising performance in the playoffs.
Among hitters with at least 350 plate appearances last season, Bellinger ranked second-worst in the majors in wRC+, an all-encompassing advanced metric.
Tennis
Five-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray, 34, received a wild-card entry Thursday for the tournament’s main draw. Murray, No. 134 in the ATP rankings, last played at Melbourne Park in 2019, when he made a teary retirement announcement before undergoing a second hip surgery to extend his career. The former top-ranked Murray had also accepted a wild-card entry last year but didn’t go after testing positive for COVID-19 shortly before he was due to board a flight to Melbourne. The Australian Open begins Jan. 17. Murray spoke optimistically about going deep in tournaments after beating Jannik Sinner to reach the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open in November. He also pushed Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets in a first-round loss at the U.S. Open in August.
Soccer
Coronavirus outbreaks at Leeds and Watford have led to two Premier League matches scheduled for Sunday being postponed in the latest disruption to the competition caused by cases rising in squads. Leeds was due to travel to Liverpool and Watford was set to play at Wolverhampton as part of the Boxing Day program that still features seven games. The Premier League has now called off 12 matches due to coronavirus issues in two weeks, with players having to isolate after testing positive or if they are unvaccinated and a close contact of a COVID-19 case.
• Pelé was released from a Sao Paulo, Brazil, hospital but will continue being treated for a colon tumor. Pele, 81, was hospitalized at the start of December for sessions of chemotherapy. He was also previously hospitalized for almost a month after having surgery to remove the tumor. Later Thursday, Pelé posted a picture on social media from his younger days and said, “the smiling photo is not for nothing. As I promised you, I will spend Christmas with my family. I’m coming back home. Thanks for all the kind messages.”