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Rebuilding Guardians trade pitchers Shane Bieber and Paul Sewald to contending Blue Jays and Tigers

Pitcher Shane Bieber is headed to the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays in a deal with the rebuilding Cleveland Guardians, who also dealt right-hander Paul Sewald in the division to the AL Central-leading Tigers. The Guardians began Thursday’s trade deadline day in second place in the AL Central, nine games behind Detroit. They are potentially in the wild-card race, but their moves signal this has become a spiraling season. Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, a three-time All-Star, was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of a Major League Baseball investigation into sports betting earlier in the week.

Suárez to Mariners, Durán to Phillies as MLB trade market heats up before Thursday’s deadline

Slugger Eugenio Suarez is headed to the Seattle Mariners and flame-throwing reliever Jhoan Duran has been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies during a busy Wednesday ahead of Major League Baseball’s trade deadline on Thursday. Suarez hit 36 homers for the D-backs this season while Duran is one of MLB’s elite relievers. In other deals, the New York Yankees acquired veteran outfielder Austin Slater while the New York Mets added relievers Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers. There are several prominent players available before the deadline, including Cleveland outfielder Steven Kwan and Pittsburgh right-hander Mitch Keller.

Deal on ‘valid business purpose’ avoids threat of college NIL settlement heading back to court

The new agency vetting name, image and likeness deals in college sports reached an agreement that relaxes standards on player deals with third-party collectives and avoids taking the issue back to court after years of legal wrangling. The College Sports Commission said it will now consider a third-party company that seeks to pay a player to have a “valid business purpose” if the deal “is related to the promotion or endorsement of goods or services provided to the general public for profit.” It did away with the concept that collectives established simply to pay players did not have a valid business purpose even if they sold products for profit.

Léon Marchand might be French but he led a Texas-flavored moment at the swim worlds

SINGAPORE (AP) — Léon Marchand of France has won gold in the 200-meter individual medley at the swimming world championships in Singapore and it had a Texas flavor to it. American swimmer Shaine Casas claimed the silver and Hubert Kós of Hungary took the bronze. The top trio all train with American Bob Bowman at the University of Texas in Austin. Marchand shattered the 200 IM world record just 24 hours earlier in the semifinal. He almost did it again as he finished in 1 minute, 53.68 seconds. That was just off his Wednesday mark of 1:52.69.

Conor McGregor loses appeal against civil jury’s finding he sexually assaulted a woman

LONDON (AP) — Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has lost his legal appeal against a civil court’s finding that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Dublin hotel. In November, a jury found McGregor liable for assaulting Nikita Hand in 2018. He was ordered to pay nearly 250,000 euros in damages and about 1.3 million euros in legal costs. Hand successfully sued McGregor after prosecutors declined to bring charges. McGregor alleged the encounter was consensual and appealed, but judges dismissed the appeal on Thursday. McGregor also faces a lawsuit in Florida for allegedly assaulting a woman during a 2023 NBA finals game.

Kyle Schwarber will defer his Indiana University Hall of Fame selection because of attendance rule

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — All-Star Game MVP Kyle Schwarber is deferring his selection to the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame because of a rule requiring all living inductees to attend the ceremony. Indiana’s ceremony is Sept. 5. Schwarber’s Philadelphia Phillies visit Miami that day. Schwarber was selected in his first year of eligibility and headlines a seven-member class that includes longtime NBA player Cody Zeller. Schwarber was one of the school’s biggest baseball stars, leading the Hoosiers to two Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles. He has hit 321 home runs in 11 major league seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox and Phillies. He’s a three-time All-Star and won a World Series title in 2016 with Chicago.

Shohei Ohtani leaves the mound with cramping vs. Reds but hopes to make next start

CINCINNATI (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is hopeful that he will be able to make his next mound start after his outing Wednesday night was cut short by cramping in his right hip. Ohtani was scheduled to go four innings on a hot, humid night against the Cincinnati Reds. But he left without recording an out in the fourth after he threw six straight balls, including two consecutive wild pitches. The 31-year old reigning NL MVP said he started to cramp in the first inning. Ohtani and manager Dave Roberts both blamed the cramping on the weather.

Ravens players seek swimming lessons from Baltimore native Michael Phelps

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens have reached out to 23-time Olympic champion Michael Phelps for swimming lessons. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey posted a video on social media with him and three teammates asking Phelps, a Baltimore native, to teach them how to swim. The video shows Humphrey, along with tackle Ronnie Stanley, safety Kyle Hamilton, and tight end Charlie Kolar, standing in a pool. Humphrey invites Phelps to their training camp to help. Phelps responded positively, saying, “I got yall! Let’s do it!”

Cubs add pitching depth with Michael Soroka, Andrew Kittredge

The Chicago Cubs bolstered their pitching staff ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline by adding right-handers Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals and Andrew Kittredge from the Baltimore Orioles. Washington received two minor leaguers: infielder Ronny Cruz and outfielder Christian Franklin. Baltimore got minor league infielder Wilfri De La Cruz in return. An All-Star in 2019 with Atlanta, the 27-year-old Soroka is 3-8 with a 4.87 ERA this season for the Nationals, who signed him to a one-year, $9 million contract in the offseason. He should provide depth in the Cubs’ rotation behind Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga.

ESPN cuts ties with Shannon Sharpe following settlement of sexual assault lawsuit, AP source says

Shannon Sharpe will not return to ESPN, according to a person familiar with the decision. The decision follows his recent settlement of a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a woman during their relationship. Sharpe’s last appearance on ESPN was in late April when the lawsuit was filed. No details of the settlement have been released. The lawsuit sought $50 million. Sharpe called the accusations false and hoped to return for the NFL season. Instead, ESPN decided to part ways with the Hall of Fame tight end. Sharpe joined ESPN in 2023 after leaving FS1’s “Undisputed” and was a panelist on “First Take.”