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⚾️ WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT CAL RALEIGH (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)Baseball is a uniquely difficult sport, so it's not unusual for even the best players to experience year-to-year slumps. But nobody saw this season coming from Cal Raleigh, whose "Big Dumper" nickname has taken on a whole new meaning in 2026.
Then vs. now: Last year, Raleigh had the single greatest season ever by a catcher, losing a close MVP race only because Aaron Judge did Aaron Judge things. This year? The Mariners backstop is, without exaggeration, the worst hitter in baseball.
- Slash line: Last year, Raleigh hit .247/.359/.589 with a .948 OPS that ranked fourth in MLB. This year? .159/.264/.299, with a .564 OPS that ranks dead last among the 165 hitters with at least 350 plate appearances.
- HR and RBI: Last year, Raleigh became the seventh player in MLB history to hit 60 home runs, and also led the AL with 125 RBI. This year? 12 HR (on pace for 17) and 43 RBI.
The icing on the cake: Last year, Big Dumper put up 7.2 wins above replacement, second only to Judge's 9.7 among position players. This year? Big Slumper is at -0.4 WAR. In other words, he's been worth nearly half a loss this season for the floundering Mariners (56-64).
What he's saying: Raleigh didn't mince words after another 0-4 showing in Tuesday's loss to the Yankees: "It starts with me. I'm awful. It is what it is."
How is this happening? It would be one thing if Raleigh's 2025 had come out of nowhere, but this was a rising star who'd averaged 30 HR per year in his previous three seasons. He's 29 and ostensibly in the heart of his prime, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
- The struggles began with an 0-for-9 showing in the World Baseball Classic and continued with an 0-for-38 slump in early May. An oblique injury that later landed him on the shelf for a month could have been the culprit, but he's been just as bad since returning from the IL in June.
- The root of the issue appears to be Raleigh's sudden lack of ability to make good contact: His hard-hit rate has dropped from a sterling 49.6% to a pedestrian 34.5%, and his perennially high strikeout rate has climbed to an even worse 32%.
Worst falloff ever? Raleigh's stiffest competition may have come 95 years ago, when Cubs slugger Hack Wilson had 13 HR a year after hitting 56 and winning MVP (though his .798 OPS far outpaced Raleigh's .564). The decline was so shocking that the Cubs hired a PI "to see if late-night carousing was the source of Wilson's woes," as WSJ noted ($). The Mariners, as far as we know, have not gone to those lengths with their starting catcher… yet.
⚾️ BRONX BOMBERS LAND BILLIONS (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)Institutional investors are advancing further into the sports asset class, drawn to the unique appeal offered by scarcity, stable cash flows, and unparalleled cultural resonance. Now, the pinstriped suits of private equity are investing in the pinstriped uniforms of baseball's most fabled franchise.
Billions to the Bronx: Yankee Global Enterprises, the holding company that owns the Yankees, announced a $2.6 billion financing agreement with Apollo Sports Capital on Tuesday. The investment is a mix of credit and equity, providing the Yankees with capital to invest in growth and refinance debt. The Steinbrenner family will remain the controlling owners.
- Apollo, the global alternative asset manager with over $1 trillion in assets under management, has long invested in the sports ecosystem. However, the firm formalized its sports approach with a dedicated vehicle in late 2025, launching Apollo Sports Capital.
- To date, ASC's high-profile investments have come in soccer. The company became a minority investor in Wrexham in December 2025, before making a bigger splash in March by becoming Atlético Madrid's majority shareholder.
Keep reading: This is an excerpt from today's edition of Yahoo Sports Biz, which hits inboxes in a few hours. Sign up here to get the full breakdown of the Yankees' private equity deal — plus more insights about the evolving world of sports business.
Disclosure: Yahoo is a portfolio company of funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management.
🏈 JOE BRADY'S SUPER BOWL MANDATE Rookie head coach Joe Brady takes the helm in Buffalo this season. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)Jay Busbee, Yahoo Sports:
Most new NFL head coaches arrive at their jobs with muted expectations: Win a few more games than last year. Maybe make the playoffs. Stop embarrassing us as a franchise and a city.
For Joe Brady, new head coach of the Buffalo Bills, the expectations are more straightforward: Win a Super Bowl. Or else.
That's what happens when you take over a team that won 12 games last season, a team quarterbacked by an MVP in the absolute prime of his career, a team that's spent the last seven years beating its fists bloody on the heavy iron door of the playoffs.
Forget honeymoons; Brady's seat may as well be warm already. And he's just fine with that.
"I didn't take this job to shy away from expectations," Brady said after being hired. "I know what I signed up for and I'm going to embrace it because no one rises to low expectations. I want what this city wants."
(Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)Brady, 36, is the youngest current NFL head coach, but in the era of Sean McVay, age ain't nothing but a number. Here's another number: 29.6, the number of points Buffalo has averaged in the past two seasons with Brady as offensive coordinator.
That mark is second in the league only to Detroit. In the two seasons Brady has been the full-time OC, Buffalo has ranked in the top 10 in average yards per game, rushing yards per game, passing yards per game and red zone efficiency.
No rookie head coach in history has arrived at his job with quite the pressure Brady has, but then few rookie head coaches arrive with Buffalo's level of talent already in-house. Is Brady up to the task of running the whole team? We're about to find out.
🏈 COLLEGE FANTASY: TOP PLAYERS (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports)While you're debating Bijan Robinson vs. Jahmyr Gibbs, it's worth remembering that Yahoo College Fantasy Football is here, too. And we've got everything you need to dominate your league in our draft kit, courtesy of Yahoo Sports' Eric Froton.
Top players: Our Top 300 rankings skew heavily in favor of running backs, but we also have top players by position, including the new Team Offense position.
- QB: Arch Manning (Texas), Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss), Devon Dampier (Utah), Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State), Sam Leavitt (LSU)
- RB: Kewan Lacy (Ole Miss), Caleb Hawkins (Oklahoma State), LJ Martin (BYU), Jadan Baugh (Florida), DeSean Bishop (Tennessee)
- WR: Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State), Malachi Toney (Miami), Nick Marsh (Indiana), Amare Thomas (Houston), Cam Coleman (Texas)
- TE: Trey'Dez Green (LSU), Jamari Johnson (Oregon), Terrance Carter Jr. (Texas Tech), DJ Vonnahme (Iowa), Dylan Wade (UCF)
- Team Offense: Notre Dame, Indiana, Ohio State, Texas Tech, Oregon
- D/ST: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Indiana, Georgia, Miami
Plus:Draft strategies, and how they differ from the NFL game
Create or join a league today!
📺 WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, AUG. 12 (Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)⛳️ U.S. Amateur Championship
Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia hosts the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship, where the field of 312 has been whittled down after two days of stroke play. There will be a playoff this morning to determine the final spots in match play before the Round of 64 tees off (3pm ET, Peacock).
Notable cuts: Among those who missed the cut are defending champion Mason Howell and last year's runner-up Jackson Herrington, as well as Preston Stout, the world's top-ranked amateur.
🎾 Canadian Open, Semifinals
On the men's side: No. 20 Rafael Jódar vs. No. 28 Brandon Nakashima (6pm, Tennis) followed by No. 5 Ben Shelton vs. No. 12 Learner Tien. On the women's side: No. 7 Iga Świątek vs. No. 9 Elina Svitolina (7pm) followed by No. 2 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 4 Coco Gauff.
Meteoric rise: Jódar was ranked 540th in the world a year ago. The worst he will be ranked when this tournament ends is 11th.
More to watch:
- ⚽️ UEFA Super Cup: PSG vs. Aston Villa (3pm, CBSSN) … Red Bull Arena in Salzburg, Austria, hosts the annual match between the reigning winners of the Champions League (PSG) and Europa League (Aston Villa).
- ⚾️ MLB: Mariners at Yankees (7pm, ESPN); Rangers at Angels (10pm, ESPN) … Seattle's Bryce Miller (3.08 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) looks to get back on track after losing four of his last five starts.
- 🏀 WNBA: Tempo at Wings (8pm, USA); Sky at Valkyries (10pm, USA) … The Wings (19-14) have lost three straight to fall into eighth place; the Valkyries (23-9) have won four straight to climb into second.
Answer at the bottom.
📸 PHOTO FINISH (Phil Walter/Getty Images)🇳🇿 Auckland, New Zealand — Steam rises from the scrum during a National Provincial Championship rugby match between North Harbour and Counties Manukau.
You're not playing proper rugby until the scrum starts looking like a campfire.
Jeopardy answer question: What is "tripping"?
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