Padres sign Miguel Andújar to 1-year deal
The San Diego Padres line up prospective buyers while signing themselves a left-handed bat in Andújar, the Midway Rising project won't give up without a fight, and a lot more.
Good morning!
Yesterday, I took control of the old Section 1904 podcast feed (the free one, not the one subscribers were subscribed to) and pointed it to Bandwagon Beach (with the blessing of my former co-host and business partner).
As it does, it’s taking a few days to completely migrate over and creating some weird issues in the process. But now you know why a (solo) Bandwagon Beach podcast episode was delivered to your device yesterday. Future episodes will go to the same place.
Here are links, in case you want to subscribe:
This is not a long-term plan, but it gives me somewhere else to push out these solo shows that I’ve been doing. I hope you enjoy.
And in case you missed yesterday’s show….
Onto the links!
San Diego Padres
Padres, Miguel Andujar agree to 1-year deal, add proven bat against LHP: Source - The Athletic
The San Diego Padres and free-agent corner infielder and outfielder Miguel Andujar have agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal, pending a physical, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Wednesday.
Andujar, a 30-year-old with proven ability against left-handed pitching, is set to become one of the more notable acquisitions of a quiet offseason in San Diego. The Padres had previously signed only one other position player, Korean infielder Sung-Mun Song, to a major-league contract.
Feliciano, Friedkin Among Potential Buyers Interested in Padres - Sportico
Two different billionaire English Premier League owners are among those who have expressed interest in buying the San Diego Padres, according to multiple people familiar with the process.
Dan Friedkin, whose Pursuit Sports owns Everton and AS Roma, and José E. Feliciano, whose Clearlake Capital is a backer of Chelsea, are two of a handful of potential bidders engaged in the ongoing sale process, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the details are private. Others include Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, who has hinted about his potential interest.
Catching prospect Ethan Salas headlines Padres’ list of non-roster invitees - San Diego Union-Tribune
Catching prospect Ethan Salas headlines 10 homegrown players among the 28 non-roster invitees who’ll join the Padres in big-league camp this month.
Salas, 19, played just 10 games at Double-A San Antonio before a stress reaction in his lower back cost him the rest of the season and the opportunity to make up for lost at-bats in offseason leagues.
Salas is the Padres’ top-ranked prospect and is No. 90 in Baseball America’s top-100, down from as high as No. 6.
Odds & Ends
Portland, led by injured coach, takes down No. 6 Gonzaga - ESPN
With the team’s injured head coach navigating the sideline with the help of a knee caddy, Portland pulled off one of the biggest upsets in school history Wednesday night, an 87-80 stunner over No. 6 Gonzaga.
The victory ended the Pilots’ (11-14, 4-8 West Coast Conference) 30-game losing streak against Associated Press top-10 teams, while the Bulldogs (22-2, 10-1) lost to a team with a losing record for the first time since Jan. 22, 2011, ending a streak of 141 straight wins, according to ESPN Research.
The win came only days after Portland coach Shantay Legans was injured while playing on the scout team to help his squad prepare for a two-game trip after injuries and illnesses left the Pilots short-handed.
San Diego Bested by Saint Mary’s Gaels on the Road - USD Toreros
San Diego men’s basketball dropped an 87-60 contest at NET No. 30 Saint Mary’s inside University Credit Union Pavilion on Wednesday night.
USD only had 11 turnovers and out-rebounded one of the nation’s best glass-cleaning teams in the conference in the second half but a contrast in shooting consistency proved the difference.
The Gaels got out of the gates on a 70% start, making four of their first five 3-pointers and never looked back, shooting a tick over 52% from both the field and three for the game while USD shot 40.4% and 37.5% respectively.
What’s next for Midway Rising - Axios
Mayor Todd Gloria and Termini say the project is moving forward.
“Let me be very clear. … We will be getting this done,” Gloria said in his recent State of the City speech. “This spring, I will bring this project forward for public hearings and a vote from the City Council.”
Termini told Axios it had always planned multiple routes to ensure the project could move forward.
State of play: Termini said the project can get around the height limit with the “state bonus density law,” which grants an exemption if the project includes a certain level of affordable housing.
“Our project is predicated on state bonus density law, so the impact of the (Supreme Court) decision was minimal to Midway Rising,” he told Axios.
2026 NBA trade deadline grades: Reviewing every major move made - The Athletic
The action kicked off about a month ahead of this year’s NBA trade deadline, with the Atlanta Hawks putting an end to the Trae Young era in January. Since then, we’ve dished out grades on the most notable moves.
A Superlative Guide to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics - The Ringer
Last weekend, iconic ripper and multi-medalist Lindsey Vonn was on the verge of returning to Olympic skiing at age 41. Since coming back to the World Cup circuit in January—she tried to retire seven years ago—she’d made the podium in five straight races, including a win at St. Moritz that marked her 83rd career victory. Vonn planned to race the downhill, the super-G, and the team combined events in Milan-Cortina, seeking to become the oldest Olympic Alpine medalist in history.
But after a crash at Crans-Montana last Saturday—from which Vonn very gingerly limped away—her Olympic plans look very different. She revealed on Tuesday that she’d “completely ruptured” her ACL and withdrew from two of her events—but insisted she still intends to race the downhill on Sunday. That’s hard to fathom, but whether she actually winds up competing or not, visitors to Cortina can genuflect at a local monument to Vonn’s World Cup visits over the years—and to her wild persistence: A restaurant called 5 Torri renamed its Margherita pizza after her. That’s the spirit.
NCAA denies Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss’ sixth-year eligibility appeal as court hearing looms - Yahoo Sports
The fight between the NCAA and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is officially going to the courts.
The NCAA denied Chambliss’ appeal for a sixth-year eligibility waiver on Wednesday, Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reports. That leaves Chambliss with only one avenue to one more year in college football: his lawsuit against the NCAA, which has a hearing for a preliminary injunction scheduled for Feb. 12.
Ryan Leaf allegedly accosted Dr. David Chao at Super Bowl LX Radio Row - Awful Anouncing
Tensions were running high Wednesday morning from the site of Super Bowl LX, where Ryan Leaf allegedly verbally accosted Dr. David Chao on Radio Row.
Leaf doesn’t like Chao, he’s been open about that on social media. The former Chargers quarterback also sued Chao more than a decade ago. The lawsuit alleged negligence in treating Leaf’s injuries when Chao was the San Diego Chargers team physician. But Wednesday morning was the first time Leaf seemingly confronted Chao in public over their history.
Longtime San Diego sports media personality Scott Kaplan opened Wednesday’s Kaplan and Crew from Radio Row in San Francisco by saying he just witnessed a confrontation between Leaf and Chao earlier in the morning.
The Washington Post Lays Off A Third Of Its Workforce, Is Dead - Defector
The Washington Post is being gutted. Jeff Bezos, one of the handful of wealthiest people on the planet, is through pretending to be a conscientious steward of the 150-year-old newspaper, and is now radically remaking it into what could only seem appropriate to a profoundly incurious and patriarchal investor freak. The Post is wiping out its Books section, functionally euthanizing a once-proud and robust Sports section, downsizing dramatically its international operation, and restructuring an already neglected and starved Metro section, amid deep and disfiguring cuts to the paper’s editorial staff. A Post worker who was laid off Wednesday told Defector the paper is cutting more than 300 people from its newsroom. The cuts extend beyond editorial: In all, a whopping third of Post staffers are being shoved out onto the street.
Fascinating timing on the Andujar signing whlie the sale process heats up. The idea of Premier League owners bringing that kind of capital to the Padres is wild, espescially with how they've operated recently. Makes you wonder if new ownership will keep the same agressive approach or pull back after recent payroll bloat. Either way grabbing a solid bat against lefties for 4M is smart bussiness regardless of whos signing the checks.