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Myles Garrett sends a clear warning to the Browns

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One year after signing a contract extension with the Cleveland Browns, Myles Garrett is once again laying down his expectations.

Garrett said he was happy to remain with Cleveland despite the team’s 4-12 record this season. However, he also made it clear that he has no appetite for a teardown or rebuild.

“I’m committed to winning,” Garrett told reporters. “As long as the team and organization are about doing so, I’m all on board. Anything other than winning — tanking or rebuilding — it’s not me.”

If this sounds familiar, it should. Last offseason, Garrett demanded a trade, citing a desire to play for a winning franchise. A $40 million annual deal seemingly changed his mind, though he still talks about wanting to win as much as ever.

The Browns’ status right now is hard to discern. Shedeur Sanders may or may not be their quarterback of the future, but the offense was far away from a playoff unit this year. For now, Garrett seems convinced that he and the franchise are on the same page. The question is whether it will remain that way, especially once Garrett no longer has his potential sack record to focus on.

Cam Newton got roasted for his take on the SEC

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This has not exactly been a great College Football Playoff for the SEC, but you will not get Cam Newton to admit that.

Newton appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” Friday and was asked if the days of the SEC dominating college football are over. The former Auburn quarterback said no, because the league still gets the best television ratings.

“If you want to go and get put on, you still go to the SEC,” Newton argued. “However great Coach (Curt) Cignetti is, you still know, I’m not about to go watch Indiana football. I prefer to go watch LSU, Ole Miss, the great Auburn, Alabama, UGA, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi State, way before I watch a Penn State. Way before I watch a Michigan State, an Iowa State — man, come on now.”

To many, Newton’s argument rang hollow. Few people would argue that TV ratings determine the biggest conference in the country, after all.

Newton being an SEC homer is perhaps expected, but it is a tough time to make the argument. Indiana beat Alabama 38-3 on Thursday, and Ole Miss is the only SEC team still standing in college football’s last four. They got there by beating Tulane before knocking off Georgia in an all-SEC quarterfinal.

A lot of hardcore SEC fans still stick to this argument, particularly in relation to the Big Ten. That did not work out well for one SEC quarterback this week, but it is not stopping Newton from doubling down.

UFL team has interest in Diego Pavia

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Diego Pavia’s football career may not be completely over.

The UFL’s Birmingham Stallions strongly hinted that they would be interested in signing Pavia. On Thursday, the team’s social media account reposted a comment about what Pavia’s future might entail, and added the eyes emoji to suggest that they will be watching closely.

Pavia is a fringe NFL prospect who has used up all his college eligibility. The UFL might not be an ideal landing spot, but it would provide an opportunity to continue playing football and capitalize off the public persona he has been able to build up.

Pavia’s brash public persona has certainly earned him some detractors. However, it is likely to ensure that there will be eyes on him if he keeps playing. Even from a marketing standpoint, he could be great for a UFL team.

The Vanderbilt quarterback threw for 3,539 yards with 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season. He led the Commodores to a 10-win season and even had them in playoff contention for a while. That was enough to make him runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting, losing out to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

LSU-bound Ole Miss coaches may not remain with team for CFP Semifinal

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Ole Miss advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinal on Thursday with the aid of six assistant coaches that are bound for LSU. Whether those six assistants remain for the semifinal, however, remains to be seen.

It is unclear if the six assistants will coach the semifinal for Ole Miss, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. There is some thought around the program that some or all may permanently join LSU and end their time with the Rebels.

Whether that is their decision is also up in the air. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote that there has been some pushback from those assistants on being forced to leave Ole Miss now. At minimum, however, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. is expected to stay for the Fiesta Bowl against Miami.

LSU presumably wants its incoming assistants around as much as possible with the transfer portal opening on Friday.

Ole Miss’ situation was already awkward before they advanced. Lane Kiffin left for LSU on Nov. 30, but some of his assistants were allowed to stay for now even though they are following Kiffin to Baton Rouge. That has led to some awkwardness and concern within the building, but it obviously did not show during Thursday’s 37-34 victory.

Weis, in particular, called a great game on Thursday. In an ideal world, he and everyone else would finish what they started at Ole Miss, but Kiffin and the politics of the situation have made that quite difficult.

Scott Van Pelt reacts to ESPN showing men kissing on New Year’s Eve

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ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt seemed to be thrown for a bit of a loop when the network showed two men kissing on New Year’s Eve.

Van Pelt was talking over scenes from Times Square in New York, N.Y. which featured footage of couples kissing after the clock struck midnight and turned to 2026. He joked enthusiastically about “live makeouts on SportsCenter,” but was taken aback when cameras cut to two men.

“Oh, what are we — what do we got? We got love in the air,” Van Pelt remarked.

Van Pelt seemed more surprised than anything else. Such is what happens when taking a simulcast of ABC’s New Year’s coverage and narrating it live. He did not know what he was about to see and wound up reacting on the fly.

Perhaps Van Pelt was reminded of the awkward exchange he had with Justin Thomas at the Masters a few years ago.

Ole Miss-Georgia had the wildest ending

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Ole Miss came back to beat Georgia 39-34 to win their College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Thursday in a game that featured a truly wild ending.

Ole Miss trailed at halftime but scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to go up 34-24 with 9:02 left. The Bulldogs responded with a touchdown and then added a field goal with 56 seconds left to tie the game. At that point, it looked like the game might head to overtime, but Trinidad Chambliss took his team down the field and got kicker Lucas Carneiro in position for a 47-yard field goal attempt, which he nailed with six seconds left.

The game seemed to be over after that, but it got extended twice.

First, Georgia tried to use a trick play on the kickoff return and did a throw-back across the field. The ball bounced around and then went out of bounds at the goal line for a safety.

Ole Miss players began to celebrate, thinking they had won the game 39-34. But the officials reviewed the play and determined there was still one second left on the clock, so Georgia came out to try an onside kick. The Bulldogs recovered the kick, but things didn’t end there.

Next, the rules dictated that an extra play was needed because no time comes off the clock when the offensive team recovers an onside kick. Players who were celebrating, and the stage crew, had to be cleared off the field to make way for yet another play. On that one, the Bulldogs tried to do an exaggerated hook-and-ladder play that lasted a while before they were finally tackled to end the game.

Yes, Ole Miss celebrated three times, and Georgia had to go through the feeling of defeat three times before the game finally ended.

Now the Rebels will advance to the CFP semifinals to play Miami on Friday, January 9. Oregon and Indiana will have a rematch the day before in the other semifinal game.

Ole Miss got screwed by blatant missed call against Georgia

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Ole Miss got burned by a rough non-call late Thursday in their Sugar Bowl clash against Georgia.

The Rebels had 2nd-and-3 at their own 32 with just over six minutes remaining at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. Ole Miss went to star running back Kewan Lacy to try to get the first down.

Lacy burst right after receiving the handoff from quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, but didn’t get very far. Georgia defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye got himself a fistful of Lacy’s face mask.

The ESPN broadcast called it a “huge miss” that the referees failed to see what was a clear facemask penalty. Ole Miss should have been awarded 15 yards and an automatic first down. Instead, the Rebels settled for a punt two plays later.

In a game as tight as Thursday’s Sugar Bowl, a blown call like the one above at a critical juncture could have been the difference between which team advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals and which squad goes home.

The Rebels, however, took matters into their own hands. Ole Miss shrugged off the missed call and later scored the game-winning field goal with six seconds left to seal a 37-34 victory.

Not even a face mask grab was going to stop Ole Miss from advancing to the CFP semis.

Georgia DB ejected from Sugar Bowl after controversial hit

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Georgia defensive back JaCorey Thomas was ejected over a controversial tackle he made just moments before halftime of the Sugar Bowl.

Thomas delivered a booming hit on Ole Miss wide receiver Cayden Lee after the latter caught a pass near midfield at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. Thomas was penalized for targeting, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic ejection for the senior defensive back.

The penalty put Ole Miss into Georgia territory with about 20 seconds left.

Luckily for the Bulldogs, the Rebels completely botched their opportunity to score before the break. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss connected with tight end Dae’Quan Wright to get Ole Miss into field goal range. But Wright inexplicably failed to run out of bounds as the clock ran out.

One silver lining for Georgia was that Thomas’ hit came before halftime, which means that JaCorey would not need to serve any suspension if the Bulldogs advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Had Thomas been flagged for targeting in the second half, he would have had to sit out the first half of Georgia’s next game.

Ole Miss completely botched the end of first half against Georgia

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Ole Miss made a costly blunder at the end of the first half of their College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Thursday night.

Ole Miss had a 3rd-and-10 at the Georgia 43-yard line trailing 21-12 with 15 seconds left before halftime. They were trying to set themselves up for a field goal, but they made a big mistake. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw a quick pass to Dae’Quan Wright, who inexplicably ran towards the hashmarks rather than out of bounds.

Wright was tackled at the 35-yard line after a gain of 8 yards.

Time expired after that, leaving Ole Miss without a chance to attempt a field goal. Keep in mind that kicker Lucas Carneiro had been 2/2 in the game and had made a kick from 56 yards away too. That makes Wright’s decision even more frustrating.

Wright had also dropped a pass on another third down, making it a really rough first half for him.

Fans were ‘shocked’ by Ole Miss TE’s hairline after he scored a touchdown

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Fans were in disbelief Thursday when Ole Miss tight end Luke Hasz took his helmet off and revealed his hairline during the Sugar Bowl.

Hasz made an awesome touchdown grab in between two Georgia defenders to give Ole Miss a 12-7 lead in the second quarter at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La.

The touchdown was the first in a Rebels uniform for Hasz, who transferred to Ole Miss this season after two years at Arkansas.

Rather than celebrate Hasz’s moment on the College Football Playoff stage, many fans could not help but comment on the Ole Miss tight end’s hairline.

Several fans shared that they were genuinely surprised by Hasz’s hair (or lack thereof) after he removed his helmet following the score.

The Pitt offensive lineman with a bald spot that Dave Portnoy made fun of last season now has some company.

Judging by the fact that Hasz voluntarily took his helmet off after scoring the touchdown, the 21-year-old seems to have embraced the look. Confidence is key, after all.

Hasz was far more concerned about making plays during the Sugar Bowl than what anyone on the internet thinks. He entered Thursday’s game with just two catches for 25 yards this season. The third one was the charm of the Ole Miss junior.

Unbelievable fact about Jim Harbaugh had other NFL coaches and his brother stumped

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Jim Harbaugh was a lot more mobile in his heyday than his NFL coaching peers realized.

The Los Angeles Chargers head coach was the subject of a recent NFL Films interview segment involving several head coaches across the league. The coaches were asked to name which current head coach has more regular-season rushing yards than Bo Jackson in his NFL career.

Sean McVay, Pete Carroll, Mike Vrabel, and the rest of the coaches were all understandably baffled by the question. The answer, of course, was Jim Harbaugh.

Even Jim’s brother, John Harbaugh, couldn’t figure it out. John was extremely embarrassed when he finally put two and two together.

“What division, AFC West?” John Harbaugh asked the folks behind the camera. “The West? Jim? Jim! Oh my god. That’s terrible. That is so bad!”

Harbaugh tried to make amends right away by calling his younger brother “the most underrated quarterback in NFL history.”

Jackson was one of the most revered running backs of his era, which is why even the world’s top football minds couldn’t fathom any of their own outrushing him. But Jackson had far fewer career rushing yards than most folks remember.

Jackson only tallied 2,782 rushing yards across four NFL seasons before his career was cut short by a severe hip injury he suffered in a January 1991 playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Most know Jim Harbaugh now for his larger-than-life persona as an NFL head coach. Those old enough to watch him play during his NFL career likely recall him as a deceptively mobile quarterback. Harbaugh rushed for 2,787 yards across 14 seasons — five more than Jackson. Harbaugh also had two more rushing touchdowns (18) than Jackson (16).

Jim Harbaugh may have needed 10 extra seasons to outdo Jackson, but it’s still an amazing stat worth sharing with his grandkids.

Fans all made the same joke about Fernando Mendoza’s interview after Rose Bowl

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Fernando Mendoza’s interviews continue to be must-watch TV.

The Indiana quarterback was back on the mic after leading his team to a resounding 38-3 victory over Alabama at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. After the game, Mendoza delivered yet another one of his signature interviews.

“What a historic venue, the Rose Bowl. One of the best venues in all of sports,” Mendoza said with the utmost enthusiasm. “It’s just a great conglomerate of individuals coming together and really forming complementary football. Coach Cignetti has hit on us, ‘No complacency!’

“Especially when you have a bye, it’s tough to get in the rhythm of football. But once we got our feet on the ground, we knew that we were going to stick together and come out with this W.”

Several fans could not help but crack jokes at Mendoza’s expense. Many felt the Indiana QB gave off the vibe of someone trying to sound impressive at a job interview.

In a way, Mendoza’s performance on the field against Alabama did serve the purpose of a job interview. NFL teams with a top pick in the 2026 draft were more than likely impressed with the “answers” Mendoza had to everything the Crimson Tide threw at him.

Mendoza had an efficient 14/16 passing clip for 192 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-point victory to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals. It was quite a boost to his resume.

Mendoza’s viral speeches throughout his Heisman-worthy campaign are just a bonus.

Kirk Herbstreit had harsh 3-word message for Alabama

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Kirk Herbstreit did not hold back when talking about the Alabama Crimson Tide while calling the Rose Bowl game between the Tide and Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday in Pasadena, Calif.

The Hoosiers dominated Alabama and won 38-3 to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinal. IU led 17-0 at halftime, scored another touchdown in the third quarter, and they didn’t let up in the fourth either.

After Roman Hemby broke free for an 18-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to make it 38-3, Herbstreit laid it on Alabama with three words.

“This is embarrassing,” Herbstreit stated frankly.

He was right — it was embarrassing for Alabama. The 11-4 SEC squad was coming off a 34-24 road win over Oklahoma in their first-round playoff game. Then they came out the following contest and suffered their worst defeat of the season.

Bama had lost 28-7 to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, but that wasn’t even as one-sided as things got in the Rose Bowl.

Bama passed for just 170 yards and rushed for a paltry 23 yards. Quarterback Ty Simpson got knocked out of the game and was replaced by Austin Mack, who went 11/16 for 103 yards.

Indiana, meanwhile, rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Fernando Mendoza went 14/16 for 192 yards with 3 touchdowns.

IU is now 14-0 and will face Oregon in the semifinals. This will be a rematch for the 13-1 Ducks, whose only loss of the season came to the Hoosiers.

Troy Aikman gets hired by Miami Dolphins

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Troy Aikman is being hired by the Miami Dolphins to consult with them.

The Dolphins fired longtime general manager Chris Grier on Halloween and are looking for a replacement. They wanted to seek the advice of someone who has experience and connections throughout the league, and they hired Aikman to advise them.

Aikman is the second prominent current NFL announcer who will now be working with a team. Tom Brady, who is an analyst with FOX, is a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and has helped their front office. His relationship with the team has led to ethical questions about his position on the air.

Unlike Brady, who has a full, year-round commitment to the Raiders, Aikman’s job with the Dolphins will last only through the team’s GM search. Aikman will remain in his position as an announcer on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” This week’s Monday Night Football game will be played on Saturday night with the Seattle Seahawks against the San Francisco 49ers.

Since the Dolphins let go of Grier, they have had Champ Kelly serving as their interim GM. The team seems intent upon bringing Mike McDaniel back as their head coach.

The Dolphins are experiencing their second-straight losing season. They are 7-9 entering their Week 18 finale against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Report: Warriors eyeing a trade for a controversial player

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The Golden State Warriors may be adding another unpredictable ingredient to their stew.

Golden State has had internal discussions about a potential trade for Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr., veteran NBA writer Jake Fischer reported to Substack on Friday. The news comes with just over a month left to go before the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline.

The 27-year-old Porter, a former NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets, is currently enjoying a career year with the Nets. On a lowly Brooklyn team that is largely devoid of talent otherwise, Porter has stepped up as the clear No. 1 option and is averaging 25.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game this season (all career-best marks).

Nevertheless, Porter remains a controversial player, largely because of his style of play. The 6-foot-10 forward is extremely streaky, highly ball-dominant, and questionable defensively, creating real questions about how he might perform these days on a contender rather than on a tanking team. Porter has also sparked backlash with some of his outspoken behavior off the court, including delivering some contentious takes during podcasts in recent months.

But for the toiling 18-16 Warriors, they might just be willing to hold their nose and take a swing on Porter here. Golden State badly needs another consistent scorer as they are struggling to generate efficient offensive looks outside of star player Steph Curry (currently ranking just 18th in the NBA in offensive efficiency).

Porter is signed for $38.3 million this season and another $40.8 million next season. We recently heard that the 10-20 Nets could be very willing to trade Porter, and now it looks like they may just have a taker up in the Bay Area.

Update emerges on Victor Wembanyama after his concerning knee injury

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San Antonio Spurs fans are getting some good news to kick off the new year.

Spurs star big man Victor Wembanyama had to exit Wednesday’s game against the New York Knicks after suffering a worrisome knee injury. In the fourth quarter at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, Wembanyama landed on Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns while going airborne for a rebound and twisted his left knee awkwardly as a result in an apparent hyperextension.

Wembanyama, who had 31 points and 13 rebounds at the time, limped off to the locker room and did not return as the Spurs held on to win 134-132. Here is the video of Wembanyama’s injury.

On Thursday though, a positive update emerged on Wembanyama. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports that an MRI on the seven-footer’s knee came back clean with no ligament damage and that the Spurs are hopeful for a swift recovery. McDonald did add however that Wembanyama will be out for “the near term” and has already been ruled out for Friday’s game on the road against the Indiana Pacers.

The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama had already missed a good chunk of time due to injury this season, appearing in only 21 of a possible 33 games for the Spurs thus far. Notably, Wembanyama missed a month from mid-November due to mid-December due to a left calf strain.

Now Wembanyama, who has averaged 29.8 points and 11.7 points per game this season, is dealing with another injury to the same leg. While it does sound like Wembanyama is OK in the grand scheme of things, you may recall that it was also his left leg that was allegedly targeted by Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort on Christmas Day.

Micah Parsons calls out Jerry Jones, Cowboys in new posts

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Micah Parsons’ New Year’s resolution is apparently to keep on clowning Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.

The Green Bay Packers star Parsons took to social media on Thursday to react to some comments made by Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Speaking with reporters earlier in the day, Eberflus touched on Dallas’ struggles on defense this season and mentioned about how it hurt to lose the All-Pro pass rusher who was anchoring their defensive unit (an obvious reference to Parsons).

In response, Parsons commented with a number of laughing face-emojis.

Parsons then proceeded to call out the Cowboys owner Jones by name in a follow-up post.

“Y’all want me to feel bad?” Parsons wrote. “Jerry Jones slandered my name to Cowboys media and national media for months. So I do think I can react to comment if I want to! #respectfully”

The five-time NFL Pro Bowler Parsons, 26, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Cowboys but saw the relationship break down due to a contract holdout before the 2025 season. During the stalemate, Jones indeed took multiple clear shots at Parsons in the media (including over Parsons’ ability to stay healthy) and also openly ripped Parsons’ agent for supposedly sabotaging contract negotiations. Parsons would eventually make a public trade request from the Cowboys, and the team granted it by sending him to the Packers last August.

This season, Dallas has gone 7-8-1, failed to make the playoffs for a second straight season, and seen their defense rank 30th in the NFL in yards allowed and 32nd in the NFL (dead last) in points allowed. While not everything has gone peachy-keen for Parsons either (he notably tore his ACL last month), he is more than happy to point and laugh at the Cowboys now that his Packers are sitting at 9-6-1 and have already clinched their spot in the NFC playoffs.

Sean Payton had the grouchiest comments about New Year’s Eve

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Hopefully you kept off Sean Payton’s lawn with your New Year’s Eve celebrations this year.

The Denver Broncos head coach Payton spoke with reporters on Wednesday ahead of the team’s regular season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. During the session, Payton was asked about his plans for New Year’s Eve and delivered an extremely grumpy response.

“I didn’t know it was New Year’s Eve,” said Payton. “[It’s] the most overrated holiday, honestly. Like, seriously, I didn’t know it was New Year’s Eve.

“What’s interesting as we get older and you’re coaching younger players, these guys are much more in tune to their bodies,” Payton added. “Today’s generation doesn’t drink as much.”

Payton, who has led the Broncos to an elite 13-3 record this season, is 62 years old now. As someone who has thus been seeing New Year’s Eve celebrations since at least the 1960s, you can probably forgive Payton for not being as enthused about the holiday these days.

That said though, Payton could have at least pretended to be a bit more in the spirit of the season there. Even Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (who is over 20 years the senior of Payton) has had a little more fun during New Year’s celebrations of the past.

Magic Johnson gets the meme treatment for his coin toss at the Rose Bowl

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Magic Johnson at midfield for the start of the Rose Bowl turned into something of a spectacle online.

The retired NBA legend Johnson had the honor of doing the coin toss before Thursday’s Rose Bowl game between Indiana and Alabama in Pasadena, Calif. But his unexpected appearance led to a wave of memes quickly flooding social media.

Many users on X questioned why Johnson was even there in the first place. Others though poked fun at Johnson’s style of tweeting and imagined how he might analyze his own coin toss.

The 66-year-old Johnson is quite notorious for commenting online about various sporting events with extremely simplistic and fairly obvious “analysis.” It even happened again a couple of months ago during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2025 World Series victory.

Meanwhile, Johnson is obviously a Los Angeles sports legend and was thus named the Grand Marshal of this year’s Rose Parade by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. That explains why he was out there at midfield for the Rose Bowl and providing all kinds of fodder for “Thanks, Magic” jokes to last throughout the entire 2026.

Interesting contract details emerge after Astros win the Tatsuya Imai race

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Tatsuya Imai is officially headed to the 713.

The Japanese star pitcher Imai has decided to sign with the Houston Astros in free agency, according to multiple reports on Thursday. Imai, a righty, makes the leap to Major League Baseball after spending the last nine seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He also becomes the first Japanese free agent to sign with the Astros since infielder Kazuo Matsui back in 2007.

Shortly after the news broke, Chandler Rome of The Athletic shared the interesting details about Imai’s new contract with the Astros. Imai’s deal is for three years and $54 million. It also has an additional $3 million per season in incentives for innings pitched, bringing its max value to $63 million.

On top of that, Rome adds that Imai’s contract contains opt-outs after every season. Additionally, Imai is getting the third-highest average annual value (AAV) ever for a Japanese-born pitcher (behind only Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Masahiro Tanaka).

Imai, 27, was a three-time NPB All-Star for the Saitama Seibu Lions. Last season for Seibu, Imai went 10-5 with a glowing 1.92 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and 172 strikeouts over 24 total appearances (spanning 163.2 innings pitched).

A little over a month ago, Imai explained why he was not interested in signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are MLB’s marquee team right now for Japanese star talent. Now Imai has decided to sign with a big-time Dodgers enemy in the Astros, who thus land a new star pitcher amid the expected departure of multi-time All-Star Framber Valdez in free agency.

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