For 10 straight years, Felix Hernandez has been the Seattle Mariners’ starter on Opening Day, making him one of only seven MLB pitchers to start a decade’s worth of season openers. Since debuting for the Mariners in 2005, Hernandez has become synonymous with Seattle baseball like Ichiro and Edgar Martinez, but in a little over a week, his era will come to a symbolic end. For the Opening Day matchup between the Mariners and A’s in Japan, Hernandez won’t be the starter. This comes as a surprise to nobody, really, not even Hernandez himself. But still, it’s a real bummer hearing him trying to process his career’s decline. Via AP: Asked if he was upset, Hernandez said simply, “Yeah,” but declined to elaborate on his emotions. “I knew it was going to happen,” he added. Hernandez was also asked if he could have convinced Servais to give him the opening day nod with a better spring camp. “No,” he said while shaking his head contemptuously. “No.” Last season, Hernandez barely looked like a Major League pitcher, putting up an ERA of 5.55 and a FIP of 5.18 in 28 starts as he was briefly removed from the rotation in August. Three spring training starts haven’t shown any signs of a turnaround, as Hernandez has an ERA of 15.95 and a WHIP of 2.18 in a pretty painful 7.1 innings, including a five-run fourth inning in his final appearance on Sunday where he couldn’t get a single out. Hernandez is in the final year of a seven-year, $175 million contract, and given how long it just took for Adam Jones to find a team this offseason, it feels extremely unlikely that any team would look to sign a run-down 33-year-old Hernandez as a free agent next year. I don’t envy Mariners manager Scott Servais, who, even on a team that looks to finish towards the bottom of the AL West, is going to have to figure out how to balance sentimentality with realism in handling King Felix. Hernandez deserves a farewell tour as much as anyone else, but if he’s struggling to get outs even in spring training, I worry about how disastrous his final real-season starts could be. He’ll be the number-five starter for Seattle to begin the year, which projects to give him a first start on a low-stakes Monday night home game against the Angels. Depending on where he goes from there, this season could either end up being extremely awesome, or very sad. Relatedodds calculatorsparlay payoutmoneyline bet calculatornfl half point calculationskelly forumula calculatorhedge calculatorspread betting explainedbetting undersparlay oddsround robinev sports bettinghedging bets
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Martinez, who was out of contract after six years as Red Devils coach, announced he would be leaving his role in his post-match news conference.
I think Belgium have lost a great coach, said Dalic. I m sorry he resigned.
Discussing his own future, the Croatia boss added: My project is Euro 2024 and the Nations League Finals. When I finish these projects, then I ll think about how to proceed.
Although the 2018 finalists themselves missed out on topping the group, Dalic hailed the per…
Former Italy goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca expects Gianluigi Donnarumma to sign a new deal and remain with Milan.
Donnarumma is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to agree terms to extend his stay with the Rossoneri.
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But ex-Inter keeper Pagliuca does not believe Donnarumma is coming towards the end of his time at San Siro.
A punteggio pieno! Forza
— Gianluigi Donnarumma (@gigiodonna1)
He told Stats Perform News: I think he will stay at Milan, finding a solution in between. The club offers €8million, he wants €12m. They will find an agr…
Teenager Naci Unuvar became the youngest player to score on debut for Ajax with a nerveless penalty in Wednesday s KNVB Beker thrashing of amateur side Spakenburg.
Aged 16 years and 223 days, attacking midfielder Unuvar was introduced for the final 15 minutes in Amsterdam and rounded out a 7-0 rout after he was brought down in the box.
Unuvar s record-setting goal might be of interest to Barcelona, who reportedly monitored the Netherlands youth international during last year s U-17 World Cup.
I immediately asked Klaas-Jan Huntelaar if I could take the penalty, because he would normally take it, Unuvar told Fox Sports Netherlands after the match.
It was great that everyone let me [take it] and was happy for me. The keeper went to the wrong corner. It was…
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Romero opened his Tottenham account in the 37th minute when he diverted Dejan Kulusevski s effort past Robert Sanchez.
Kane doubled the visitors lead and sealed the points 12 minutes after the break; becoming the Premier League s all-time leading away scorer as he netted his 95th such goal from 139 appearances.
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He s a very great coach, on a human level, he s the perfect man, he said.
With me, he s magnificent. I m disappointed that he is leaving Real, but that s how it is. Life goes on.
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Thanks to the FA Cup semi-finals, matchday 33 in the Premier League is a bit more spread out, with just six games taking place at the weekend.
A further six games are scheduled for midweek, so there is a chance to get some of those pulling double duty in your fantasy team.
Whether your interests lie in the title race, the top-four scuffle or the relegation battle, there promises to be entertainment for everyone.
Therefore, it is time for Stats Perform to give you some suggested picks for your team using stats from the wonderful people at Opta.
HUGO LLORIS (Tottenham v Brighton and Hove Albion)
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Sport1 journalist Patrick Berger has claimed on that Albert Sambi Lokonga is on the verge of joining Arsenal from Anderlecht. The well-known and well-respected journalist has said on the social networking site that Lokonga is in London at he moment.
The Belgian midfielder will complete his medical today and will then sign a contract until 2026. Arsenal will pay Anderlecht €17.5 million in transfer fee for the 21-year-old.
https://twitter.com/berger_pj/status/1415338884607758336
Lokonga has been at Anderlecht since 2014 and has come through the ranks at the Belgian club to establish himself in the first team. The Anderlecht no. 48 made in the Jupiler Pro League last season, scoring three goals and giving two assists in the process. The youngster also played f…
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Kuyt, who played in a Champions League final with the Reds and a World Cup final with the Oranje, retired as a professional footballer with Feyenoord in 2017.
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A one-year contract for Kuyt was confirmed by ADO on Thursday, and he said: ADO Den Haag is a fantastic club, and I am very excited to be here today and to start this new challenge as head coach.
I am grateful for the warm welcome and the trust that the club have expressed in me.
The objective and …