COLLEGE’S BEST IN USA IN ’18
Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa lead the way for the USA TODAY All-America teams for 2018, which include heavy representation from the four teams set to compete in this month’s College Football Playoff national semifinals.
Nine players from Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma earned first-team honors, led by Murray at quarterback and two teammates from the Sooners’ record-setting offense. Among this group were two Clemson defensive linemen, Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins, and two stars from the Alabama defense.
Another four members of the Crimson Tide earned second-team accolades. The Southeastern Conference led all leagues with 17 selections. Five picks came from Group of Five leagues, with three earning first-team honors. The teams included two freshmen in Syracuse kicker Andre Szmyt and Purdue all-purpose weapon Rondale Moore.
LAS VEGAS – To the surprise of no one, the Philadelphia Phillies made the first big free agent strike at baseball’s winter meetings, agreeing to a multiyear deal with an All-Star outfielder.
That it was Andrew McCutchen and not Bryce Harper, however, does not mean the Phillies will be out of the market for this winter’s biggest prizes.
The Phillies reached agreement with McCutchen on a three-year deal worth $50 million, according to a person with direct knowledge of the agreement. The person spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet official.
McCutchen, 32, is a five-time AllStar who spent all but 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. They traded him to the San Francisco Giants before last season, and he was a respected veteran member of that club and the New York Yankees — batting leadoff for them in the playoffs — before becoming a free agent for the first time.
In Philly, he will assume a corner outfield spot as Rhys Hoskins slides to first base, a significant and immediate defensive upgrade for the Phillies, who finished 80-81 last season.
Odubel Herrera will hold down center field, but the relatively modest commit- ment to McCutchen and the roster flexibility they maintain certainly doesn’t rule out a run at Harper or third baseman Manny Machado, each of whom should exceed $300 million in contract value.
McCutchen produced 20 home runs and a .368 on-base percentage with the Giants and Yankees and should flourish playing full time in Citizens Bank Park. The 2013 NL MVP has a lifetime .859 OPS and 223 home runs.
He’ll also add a significant dose of veteran accountability to a club that foundered at times during its surprise run at contention in 2017, when a September fade handed the division to the Atlanta Braves.
“I think the way you prepare for it to happen is by building emotional armor, physical armor, in the offseason, and kind of the mental preparation that this is going to happen,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said Monday. “And I’m not sure that everybody was 100 percent prepared for that outcome.
“And when we’re sitting in the middle of July and we are in first place, and we are a very good baseball team — I think we could have prepared for that moment a little bit better, mentally, physically, and emotionally.”
For now, that “armor” comes in the form of a respected and productive veteran outfielder.