Barbie has had many jobs throughout the years like astronaut, chef & fashion designer! Now, she’s going to be add Queen of Christmas to her resume! Mariah Carey is officially getting her own Barbie this year in her classic sparkly red dress! Maybe she’ll sing All I Want For Christmas Is You!!
Image: (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
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By The Associated Press
Juan Soto and the New York Mets agreed to a record $765 million, 15-year contract Sunday night, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement hadn’t been announced and was subject to the completion of a successful physical.
It’s the 12th contract worth at least $325 million in Major League Baseball. Here are the rest. Figures were obtained by The Associated Press from player and management sources and include all guaranteed income but not income from potential incentive bonuses. There is no distinction for deferred money:
Juan Soto, N.Y. Mets, 2025-2039, $765 million
Soto’s deal easily surpassed Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million agreement from the prior winter for what’s believed to be the biggest in sports history, and Soto’s contract doesn’t include any deferred payments. He turned down Washington’s $440 million, 15-year offer in 2022, was later traded to San Diego and then the New York Yankees before reaching free agency at just 26 years old. Soto is the most accomplished free agent at that age since shortstop Alex Rodriguez agreed to a record $252 million, 10-year contract with Texas in December 2000 at age 25.
Shohei Ohtani, L.A. Dodgers, 2024-33, $700 million
Because it includes $680 million in deferred money payable from 2034-43, the deal Ohtani agreed to as a free agent is valued differently in various methods. For the luxury tax, it is discounted at 4.33% and listed as about $46.08 million annually. The players’ association discounted it at 5% and valued it at approximately $43.7 million. For MLB regular payrolls, it is discounted 10% and listed at about $28.2 million.
Ohtani won his first World Series title and third MVP award in the deal’s first year after hitting .310 with an NL-best 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 1.036 OPS. He stole 59 bases, becoming the first 50-50 player. He is expected to return to pitching in 2025 after recovering from elbow surgery.
Mike Trout, L.A. Angels, 2019-30, $426.5 million
Trout won his third AL MVP award in the first year of a contract agreed to in March 2019, but the 11-time All-Star has played in just 266 games over the last four seasons because of a strained right calf, back spasms, broken left hand and torn meniscus in left knee. His hitting .281 in six seasons of the contract with 138 homers, 306 RBIs and a .995 OPS.
Mookie Betts, L.A. Dodgers, 2021-32, $365 million
Betts agreed to the deal in July 2020, five months after he was acquired from Boston, and helped the Dodgers win titles in 2020 and 2024. An eight-time All-Star, Betts is hitting .283 with 116 homers, 322 RBIs, 52 stolen bases and an .899 OPS in the first four years of the deal.
Aaron Judge, N.Y. Yankees, 2023-31, $360 million
Judge agreed to the deal after becoming a free agent and then was appointed Yankees captain. Judge earned his fifth and sixth All-Star selections in the first two years of the contract, hitting .300 with 95 homers, 219 RBIs, 221 walks and an 1.104 OPS. He helped the Yankees reach the 2024 World Series, their first appearance since winning the 2009 title.
Manny Machado, San Diego, 2023-33, $350 million
Machado signed a $300 million, 10-year contract with the Padres as a free agent in February 2019 that gave him the right to opt out after the 2023 season and forfeit $150 million. The Padres gave him the new deal in March 2023, raising their commitment to him to $470 million over 14 seasons. He has a .275 average with 167 homers and 536 RBIs in six seasons with the Padres, earning two All-Star selections that raised his career total to six. He has a .267 average with 59 homers and 196 RBIs in the first two seasons of his latest deal.
Francisco Lindor, N.Y. Mets, 2022-31, $341 million
Acquired by the Mets from Cleveland in January 2021, Lindor agreed ahead of 2021 opening day to a 10-year deal that started in 2022. A four-time All-Star with Cleveland, he has yet to be picked for another All-Star Game with the Mets, although he was the NL MVP runner-up to Ohtani in 2024. He has a .259 average with 110 homers, 359 RBIs and 86 stolen bases with New York, including a .266 average with 90 homers, 296 RBIs and 76 steals under the multiyear deal.
Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego, 2021-34, $340 million
Tatis was just 22 when he agreed in February 2021 to what was at the time the longest deal in baseball history. Tatis didn’t play in 2022, first recovering from surgery for a broken left wrist sustained during a motorcycle accident, then for an 80-game suspension for a positive test for the performance-enhancing substance Clostebol; Tatis said he accidentally took a medication to treat ringworm that contained the banned substance. Since signing the contract, Tatis has hit .271 with 88 homers, 224 RBIs, 65 stolen bases and an .855 OPS.
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia, 2019-31, $330 million
A free agent at age 26, Harper agreed to the contract in February 2019. He won his second NL MVP award in 2021 and has twice been an All-Star for the Phillies, raising his total to eight. Harper is hitting .285 with 152 homers, 455 RBIs and a .924 OPS in 726 games over six years with the Phillies. The start of his 2023 season was delayed to May 2 following Tommy John surgery, an injury that caused the team to move him from right field to first base.
Giancarlo Stanton, Miami/New York Yankees, 2015-27, $325 million
Stanton’s contract was the largest and longest in baseball history when he and the Marlins agreed to the deal in November 2014, just after his 25th birthday. At the time, he wasn’t due to become eligible for free agency until after the 2016 season. Stanton set career bests with 59 homers and 132 RBIs in 2017, then was traded to the Yankees in a deal in which the Marlins agreed to pay New York $30 million to cover a portion of the $295 million owed to Stanton during the next 10 years. Stanton has been on the injured list eight times in the last six seasons, missing 294 games because of injuries. In the contract’s first decade, the five-time All-Star is hitting .249 with 275 homers, 704 RBIs and an .850 OPS.
Corey Seager, Texas, 2022-31, $325 million
Texas finalized Seager’s deal on the eve of the 2021-22 lockout and he led the Rangers to their first World Series title in 2023, earning his second World Series MVP award after getting three homers and six RBIs against Arizona. He has a .280 average with 96 homers, 253 RBIs and an .875 OPS in the first three years of the contract.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, L.A. Dodgers, 2024-35, $325 million
His deal in December 2023 was the largest and longest for a pitcher in major league history. A right-hander who turned 26 in August, Yamamoto went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts, sidelined between June 15 and Sept. 10 by triceps tightness. He was 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four postseason starts, beating the Yankees in Game 2 of the World Series.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The ugly pattern that has defined the New York Jets’ disappointing season showed up again Sunday.
And now their playoff hopes are officially over.
The Jets squandered a fourth-quarter lead for the fifth time and they lost 32-26 in overtime to the Miami Dolphins, extending their postseason drought to 14 straight years — the NFL’s longest active streak.
“Obviously, you work as hard as we do, it’s supposed to lead to wins and it could be demoralizing a little bit,” wide receiver Davante Adams said. “But I try to remind everybody to keep going, regardless of the circumstances or the record.
“We’re playing for our pride at this point.”
Not even Aaron Rodgers’ first 300-yard passing game since Dec. 12, 2021, or Anders Carlson’s 42-yard field to put the Jets (3-10) ahead 26-23 with 52 seconds remaining proved sufficient to keep the Jets’ faint postseason hopes alive.
Malik Washington returned Carlson’s kickoff 45 yards to the Miami 46. And without timeouts, the Dolphins drove to New York’s 34, where Jason Sanders kicked his fourth field goal – a 52-yarder – with 12 seconds left in regulation.
Rodgers and the Jets never had possession in overtime as the Dolphins won the coin toss and Tua Tagovailoa led a 70-yard drive, capped by his winning 10-yard touchdown pass to Jonnu Smith.
“We have to find a way to finish, give our best when our best is required,” said Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, who dropped to 1-7 since replacing the fired Robert Saleh. “And not getting that accomplished, I’ve got to look at myself first.”
Before the late collapse, the Jets ended their first five drives end with scores. Adams finished with seven catches for 114 yards, while Garrett Wilson had 109 yards on nine receptions. But three of the drives ended in field goals, allowing the Dolphins to stay within distance.
“We had some good stretches,” said Rodgers, who finished 27 of 39 for 339 yards and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Adams in the third quarter. “Got to be better in the red zone. We had a couple negative yards plays and false starts that hurt us. But I felt like we moved the ball pretty efficiently.”
When Rodgers joined the Jets before the 2023 season, there were high hopes that the four-time MVP would help end the playoff drought.
Instead, Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon four snaps into his Jets debut.
The Jets began this year with renewed Super Bowl hopes and were 2-1 to open the season. But they have since lost nine of 10. And Rodgers’ performances have far from resembled his dominant 18-year-run with Green Bay.
“The expectations were high. We didn’t reach them, they weren’t close.” Rodgers said. “We just didn’t figure out how to win enough games. I didn’t play good enough in some crunch times and that’s why we’re sitting here with the record we got.”
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Donna Cipley of Levittown was awarded $2M in lawsuit against Nassau Police Department.
Cipley faced allegations of hitting a detective with a door and injuring his hand in 2019. Those charges have since been dropped..
Her lawsuit claimed that she was falsely arrested and sought damages. A jury ruled in her favor on Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge overseeing the trial of a man accused of using a deadly chokehold on an unruly New York subway passenger dismissed the top charge in the case on Friday at prosecutors’ request, allowing jurors to consider a lesser count after they deadlocked on whether Daniel Penny was guilty of manslaughter.
Judge Maxwell Wiley’s decision will let jurors deliberate a charge of criminally negligent homicide, which carries a lighter punishment.
“Whether that makes any difference or not, I have no idea. But I’m going to direct you to focus your deliberations on count two,” he said, before directing them to “go home and think about something else.”
The judge’s decision came hours after Manhattan jurors sent him a note saying they couldn’t agree on a manslaughter verdict. Jurors previously were instructed that they needed to reach a verdict on the top charge before they could consider the lesser count.
Jurors have been deliberating since Tuesday on whether to convict Penny in the death of Jordan Neely. Penny, a former U.S. Marine, placed Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes on a New York City subway in May 2023 after Neely got on the car yelling and asking people for money.
Manslaughter requires proving a defendant recklessly caused another person’s death, and carries up to 15 years. Criminally negligent homicide involves engaging in serious “blameworthy conduct” while not perceiving such a risk and carries punishments ranging from probation to up to four years in prison.
Penny’s lawyers objected to the dismissal, saying it would encourage district attorneys to pursue more serious charges before grand juries, knowing they can seek dismissal of them at trial. Defense lawyer Thomas Kenniff called it a “significant policy concern.”
Shortly before taking a lunch break Friday, the jury also requested clarification on how they determine whether a person reasonably believes physical force to be necessary.
“We’d like to better understand the term ‘reasonable person,'” their note read in part.
Wiley told the jury it was for them to decide what a reasonable person would do in the situation — whether a person would have reasonably believed Neely was about to use physical force against Penny or someone else.
The jury made several other requests to the judge since entering deliberations.
They asked to review the police and bystander video at the center of the trial. They requested a readout of a city medical examiner’s testimony. They also asked the judge to re-read the criminal definitions of recklessness and negligence in open court and be provided with written copies of the statutes.
Neely, 30, was a sometime subway performer with a tragic life story: His mother was killed and stuffed in a suitcase when he was a teenager. His adult life spiraled into homelessness, psychiatric hospitalizations, drug abuse and criminal convictions, including for assaulting people at subway stations.
Penny, 26, went on to study architecture. He is white. Neely was Black.
Penny’s lawyers have said he was protecting himself and other subway passengers from a volatile, mentally ill man who was making alarming remarks and gestures. Prosecutors said Penny reacted far too forcefully to someone he perceived as a peril, not a person.
During the monthlong trial, the anonymous jury heard from witnesses, police, pathologists, a Marine Corps instructor who trained Penny in chokehold techniques, as well as Penny’s relatives, friends and fellow Marines. Penny chose not to testify.
The case became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over racial injustice and crime, as well as the city’s ongoing struggle to deal with homelessness and mental health crises in a transit system used by millions of New Yorkers every day.
There were sometimes dueling demonstrations outside the courthouse, and high-profile Republican politicians portrayed Penny as a hero while prominent Democrats went to Neely’s funeral.
The Village of Garden City has filed a lawsuit over plans to build a resort and casino at the Nassau Coliseum.
The suit asks the Nassau State Supreme Court to void the 42-year lease agreement for the Coliseum between the county and Las Vegas Sands, claiming lawmakers violated state rules by not taking a hard enough look at the potential impact a casino could have on the environment.
An environmental review hearing over the plan is scheduled to take place in Mineola on Monday.