Monday Moments You Might Have Missed
NFL
Monday came with some big changes for the Indianapolis Colts. Early Monday saw the firing of head coach Frank Reich and a few hours later the very unexpected hiring of Jeff Saturday as interim head coach. Saturday confirming even his own shock over the decision and stated that it was a 12 hour whirlwind that landed him there. The 47-year-old is a 13 year veteran of the NFL, with all 13 seasons being played in Indianapolis. He has no college or NFL coaching experience. Colts owner Jim Irsay is standing firm and extremely confident in his decision, and saying to the press that Saturday is:
"fully experienced and fully capable of doing the job. I'm glad he doesn't have any NFL experience. I'm glad he hasn't learned the fear that's in this league because it's tough for all our coaches. They're afraid, they go to analytics, and it gets difficult. ... He doesn't have that fear. We don't build rockets to go to Mars. We're not nuclear scientists; that is none of our jobs here. It's a very simple job that we do here."
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is being evaluated for an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament and related nerves in his elbow. The 26-year-old looked to be uncomfortable after a hit to his throwing arm on the final drive of the Bills' 20-17 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday. Head coach Sean McDermott said Monday that Allen was still being evaluated and they would have more information in the next 24 hours.
Arizona Cardinals all-pro safety, Budda Baker, will unfortunately miss several weeks with a high ankle sprain. Having lost 4 of their last 5 games this was not the news the Cardinals were hoping for as they ae currently ranked 31st in points allowed.
MLB
The Philadelphia Phillies making some decisions yesterday. They have exercised Aaron Nola's $18-million option and will keep the right-hander for the 2023 season. Philadelphia also declined its $17-million option on 2nd baseman Jean Segura, he is now a free agent. Right-hander Zach Eflin is also going to the open market after declining his half of a $15-million mutual option.
New York Yankees 1st baseman Anthony Rizzo is officially a free agent after opting out of the final year of his contract. He hit 32 home runs and posted an .817 OPS last season, earning $16 million. The 33-year-old was set to earn an additional $16 million in 2023 before he decided to opt out.
It seems that Shohei Ohtani will begin the 2023 campaign with the Los Angeles Angels, despite having expressed his dissatisfaction with how the season ended. Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Monday that the team will not trade the 2-way star this offseason.