DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- William Byron fortuitously missed the ferocious wrecks down the stretch at the Daytona 500 that knocked out contenders racing for the checkered flag and left him with a repeat victory in sight.

Still, sitting ninth with one lap left in an overtime finish, the odds seemed against the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet to escape the rest of the race unscathed, or even have enough time to pull off the comeback win.

Thanks to one more crash, Byron used a clean ride on his final lap to escape the chaos and race to his second straight Daytona 500 victory. He dodged a string of late-race wreckage that knocked out a chunk of contenders and sent the Hendrick Motorsports driver into victory lane Sunday night at Daytona International Speedway.

"It's not all luck to win twice in a row," Byron said.

Maybe not. But Byron certainly was in the right place by racing near the outside wall in overtime to become the first back-to-back winner since Denny Hamlin in 2019-20.

Byron took advantage of another major mess on the final lap -- NASCAR did not drop the caution and let the field race to the finish -- and took another, familiar burnout in Daytona International Speedway.

"It's obviously really special," Byron said. "It's an amazing race, and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving."

The 27-year-old Byron held on to win after two weather delays totaling more than 3 hours, and with President Donald Trump set to watch the rest of the race in Florida, after he earlier led drivers on two laps around the track in his heavily armored presidential limousine known in Washington as "The Beast."

Hendrick Motorsports won its 10th Daytona 500 to break a tie with Petty Enterprises for the record.

"Just obviously fortunate it worked out in our favor," Byron said. "Crazy? Yeah. I can't honestly believe that but we're here."

Byron become the youngest driver to win multiple Daytona 500s, breaking the record held by Jeff Gordon, also in the No. 24. Gordon, a Hall of Famer and four-time NASCAR champion, is now Byron's boss as vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.

Gordon flashed a thumbs up when told Byron broke his record for youngest two-time winner by four months.

"I hope he breaks them all," Gordon said. "I'm in full support of that."

Austin Cindric held the lead headed to the white flag when he was wiped out in crash that took out a slew of drivers that included Chase Briscoe, Hamlin and Alex Bowman. It was sixth time in the last eight Daytona 500s the race spilled into overtime, setting up Byron to become the fifth driver to win it in consecutive years.

Byron won for the 14th time in his Cup career, and already set his sights on the championship race in Phoenix after finishing third in the standings in each of the last two years.

"We plan on trying to win a lot of races this year, so we're not going to stop here," Byron said. "We're going to continue to push forward and try to get to Phoenix.

It wouldn't be Daytona without all the flips, slams and skids down the stretch that inevitably send the race into overtime.

With four laps left, Ryan Preece turned upside-down and essentially did a wheelie in his No. 60 Ford. His car flipped onto its roof and turned back onto its tires before hitting the outside wall. Preece dropped his safety net to signal to crews he was OK.

Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski all had their shots at victory lane spoiled, and the race was red-flagged, just 11 laps after another big one shuffled the field and knocked four former Cup Series champions out of contention.

Reigning NASCAR champion Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse started the multi-car melee when Logano moved to the middle and Stenhouse moved to block him. It stacked up Logano, and the accordion effect sent several cars -- including ones belonging to former Cup champs Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott -- sliding in every direction.

Busch's car ended up on a wrecker, extending his skid to 0 for 20 in "The Great American Race."

"Looks like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck," Busch said. "Logano was by far the fastest car today. He could do about anything. The Penske cars were very strong. But we still had 20 laps to go, and he's trying to go through the middle and make a hole that isn't there. Just created chaos."

Tyler Reddick was second and two-time Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson was third. Chase Briscoe was fourth and John Hunter Nemechek fifth.

Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier finished ninth driving for team owner and two-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. in JR Motorsports' Cup debut.

Not bad. Not good enough to beat Byron.

Byron, a self-taught racer who used computer equipment to hone his skills, was left standing one more time as a Daytona winner. Gordon was a three-time Daytona 500 winner and noted he still had the edge over Byron.

"Until next year," Gordon said.

Leave a legacy

Johnson and Nemechek gave Legacy Motor Club two top-five finishes. A Hall of Fame driver and seven-time NASCAR champion, Johnson is now the majority owner under an offseason restructuring. It was his highest finish in the race since he won it in 2013.

"I have emotions that I didn't expect to have. I've never been in this position as an owner, and it's really opened up a different set of emotions," Johnson said after his highest finish in the race since winning in 2013.

Early exit

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and 2017 NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. were among the drivers whose race ended after they were collected in a wreck before the halfway point.

Castroneves made the Daytona 500 under a new rule that allows for a "world-class driver" to receive a provisional spot. He landed a NASCAR ride as part of Trackhouse's "Project 91," designed to give renowned racers from outside of the series a shot in a stock car.

Truex, who retired from full-time racing at the end of last season, failed to win the Daytona 500 in 21 tries.

Truex finished 38th and Castroneves 39th.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James sat out the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night -- his first time missing the game in his career -- because of lingering discomfort in his left foot and ankle.

James, 40, sat out the Lakers' win over the Indiana Pacers last weekend because of the same injury.

"I was hoping it would feel a lot better this morning, but it was not where I wanted it to be," James said of his ankle.

The 22-year veteran skipped Saturday's ceremonial practice and media availability, keeping the same routine he kept for All-Star Weekend the past two seasons, with the NBA granting him the reprieve after two decades of service.

James added that he "hoped" he would be available Wednesday in the Lakers' first game after the All-Star break against the Charlotte Hornets.

The game was rescheduled to this week after the Lakers-Hornets game on Jan. 9 was postponed because of the Los Angeles wildfires. The rest of the league will not resume play until Thursday.

The Lakers (32-20) are No. 5 in the Western Conference after winning 12 of 15 games heading into the break.

"With 30 games left and us trying to make a playoff push in the wild, wild West, I felt like it was very important for me to kind of take care of myself and understand what's coming on [down the stretch]," James said.

It was the first All-Star Game that James has sat out in his career after being selected a starter for a record 21st straight year in 2025.

James announced his decision about two hours before tipoff Sunday, meaning there was no injury replacement named in his place. James' All-Star team, Team Shaq's OGs, won the title over Team Chuck.

James is averaging 24.3 points on 51.6% shooting (39.5% from 3), with 9.0 assists and 7.7 rebounds this season, appearing in 48 of L.A.'s 52 games.

Two of those games featured his new teammate, Luka Doncic. James was asked if playing with the 25-year-old Doncic has affected how long he planned to continue to play before retiring.

"I have not given it that type of thought," James said. "Just the excitement of being able to add a caliber player like that, a generational talent like that to our franchise, it's something that's given me energy. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do. ... I think we could be really good going down the stretch. But we'll see what happens."

James touched on several other topics during his 15-minute news conference:

After Ja Morant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zach LaVine took to social media to express their interest in joining next year's dunk contest after Mac McClung won the event for the third straight time Saturday, James was asked if he regretted never participating in it.

"No, there's no part of me that has regrets about not doing it," James said. "Obviously, I had a couple moments where I wanted to do it, and it just never worked out that way."

He added it would be "pretty cool" to see established stars dunk in the contest.

"If those guys do do it, those are superstars in our league, and obviously we know the athleticism [they possess]," James said.

When asked about the current state of the NBA, after he lamented too many 3-pointers being taken across the league earlier this season, James endorsed the NBA product, pointing to its international appeal as a major draw.

"We love our game. The game of basketball is beautiful," James said. "[The NBA is] better from when I entered the league in 2003, and hopefully it continues to be even better when I'm done playing, as well."

James said he was "looking forward to seeing" the All-Star Game's revamped format, which featured three teams of eight NBA All-Stars and one team of eight first- and second-year Rising Stars players competing in a round-robin tournament.

James' team, coached by Shaquille O'Neal and featuring vets such as James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the roster, played the Rising Stars group, including rookies Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs and Dalton Knecht of the Lakers.

"I know we've got a lot of great -- calling us the OGs, that's hilarious," James said. "I saw the quote the other day with DK [Knecht] say he was going to play against me. So I guess I'll see him in practice and we can go at it then."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Victor Wembanyama has already gone up against the U.S. in international events, most notably last year's Paris Olympics when he led France's march to the gold medal game against the Americans.

He'd like to be in that position more often - maybe even annually. And Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo loves that idea as well.

In the ongoing search for the right NBA All-Star format, there was plenty of talk this weekend in San Francisco about an idea that has picked up some momentum in recent years: The U.S. on one side, the world on the other side.

Count Wembanyama - San Antonio's 7-foot-4 All-Star center from France - as a fan of that notion.

"I would love to. My opinion is that it's more purposeful," Wembanyama said. "There's more pride in it. More stakes."

Antetokounmpo was even more succinct when asked if he'd be on board with such a move.

"I would love that. Oh, I would love that," said Antetokounmpo, a native of Greece who is of Nigerian descent. "I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I'd take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete."

The latest format for the All-Star Game -- a four-team, three-game mini-tournament with all games being of the first-to-40-points-wins variety -- debuted Sunday night, with Shaq's OGs winning the title.

The NBA decided to try the tournament approach, which mimics what was already in place with the Rising Stars event for first- and second-year players, after years of openly asking for more competitive games.

And the 211-186 final score in 2024 was the last straw.

"I think that when you get events like this, All-Star Weekend, we don't worry about the competition," said 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns. "It's just more about celebrating the basketball family and the community around this time. It shows how united we are as a group, as a basketball community, and how we can unite the rest of the world with what we do, as well. It's a cool time."

There is some evidence that a midseason matchup between the best American players and the best international players might work, and it's happening right now in another sport.

The 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament, which opened last week in Montreal and concludes Thursday in Boston with the U.S. assured of a spot in the championship game, is obviously not meaningless to the players involved. There's been fighting -- three brawls in the first nine seconds of USA vs. Canada in Montreal on Saturday alone -- and a ton of physicality, much to the delight of fans.

"Mayhem," Canada coach Jon Cooper said.

The NBA -- at least some in the NBA -- are watching the hockey, and taking note of how it seems to be working as a potential idea for basketball's midseason showcase going forward.

"Sometimes things just get old and kind of need a facelift," Golden State forward Draymond Green said. "I know they've done different things to try to get it going. I think what'll be interesting to see is how this 4 Nations thing turns out in hockey. If that turns out great, might have to peek an eye."

Had it been an U.S. vs. The World this season for an All-Star format, here's what the international team might have been:

Wembanyama, Antetokounmpo, Denver's Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Indiana's Pascal Siakam and Houston's Alperen Sengun were All-Stars already.

New York All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns plays internationally for the Dominican Republic, his mother's homeland, so it would make sense to add him to that mix. Luka Doncic, now of the Los Angeles Lakers, is almost always an All-Star lock as well, so that would be eight players.

And here's where it gets challenging.

If such a U.S. vs. The World All-Star matchup had the traditional 12-man rosters, four more players from the world pool would be needed - and that would mean four fewer American players would get the All-Star nod.

"The USA has more talented players than the rest of the world," said Jokic, the three-time MVP from Serbia who led Denver to the NBA title in 2023. "Europe and the rest of the world has talented players, I think, but the majority of the players are coming from USA."

The NBA says about 70% of players in the league are American and 30% aren't. It's simple math: it would be easier for international players to make the All-Star roster if the traditional format was being utilized.

"Not to say we couldn't figure out a way around this, but to the extent we want to have a fair process for picking All-Stars, if you're picking half the players from a 30% pool and the other half from a 70% pool, it might not be fair to the players," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last month. "So, that's one thing we're looking at."

Silver sought input from current players like Golden State star Stephen Curry before the league went to the tournament format this year.

If he asks Wembanyama or Antetokounmpo their thoughts about 2026 and beyond, it's pretty clear what the answer will be.

"Having Shai, Jokic, Luka, Wemby, Towns, Sengun, I know those players - obviously I'm missing some guys that I cannot think from the top of my head - going against the best U.S. players, I think it would be fun," Antetokounmpo said. "I think that would be the best format."

SAN FRANCISCO -- The new tournament format for the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night drew mixed reviews, with several players taking issue with the breaks during and between games.

The NBA eschewed the traditional East vs. West setup in favor of a four-team, single-elimination tournament, with a target score of 40 points for each round. Three of the teams were drafted by TNT "Inside the NBA" analysts Charles Barkley (Chuck's Global Stars), Kenny Smith (Kenny's Young Stars) and Shaquille O'Neal (Shaq's OGs). The fourth team, named for Candace Parker (Candace's Rising Stars), was comprised of the winning squad from Friday night's Rising Stars event.

Players expressed satisfaction with the action on the floor, but pointed out Sunday's tournament featured too many stoppages, as comedian Kevin Hart entertained the crowd at Chase Center with commentary and banter that halted play.

"To be honest, I didn't like it at all," said Trae Young, a member of Chuck's Global Stars. "I didn't like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they're trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that."

The championship game -- in which Shaq's veteran-laden squad that featured players such as Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant defeated Chuck's team of international talents such as Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama -- had a break of nearly 20 minutes due to a tribute to the TNT broadcast crew, which is in its final year covering All-Star Weekend.

"I would rather play without breaks," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "But I had fun, nonetheless. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, which is a good feeling, a step in the right direction. I guess it's up to the guys that handle all that stuff to figure out what's next and how to keep making it more and more interesting. Hopefully, we get there one day."

Added Jaylen Brown: "I would say it's not ideal to stop like that if you want guys to be physical. I think guys were still out there having fun. All the OGs, team old knees and old backs, we came out on top, so I don't think anyone else should have had any excuses. It's definitely not ideal."

Curry, who scored 12 points in the championship game en route to earning the All-Star Game MVP, said he "did have some input and a lot of conversations with [NBA commissioner] Adam [Silver] and the rest of the leadership on where we were last year."

"We needed to change, needed some new life, new juice in the game, something kind of unexpected," Curry said.

Durant said the format "took some getting used to," and Warriors forward Draymond Green criticized the decision to include first- and second-year Rising Stars players.

"I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend," Green said on the TNT broadcast. "And because ratings are down, because the game's bad, we're bringing in Rising Stars? I never played in the Rising Stars game. My first two years, I didn't touch that game. And these guys get to touch the All-Star floor? On Sunday night?"

The absence of injured stars such as LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Edwards also put a damper on the game.

Chuck's Global Stars bested Kenny's Young Stars in the first semifinal matchup of the evening as Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting to fuel a 41-32 victory. Shaq's OGs advanced to the championship with a 42-35 win over Candace's Rising Stars.

Damian Lillard scored a team-high nine points in the semifinal win and Curry contributed eight as Shaq's OGs closed the game on a 14-7 run. Lillard drilled the game-winning 28-footer off a Durant assist.

"Once we got into the flow of things, it was pretty good," Durant said. "The first game we played against the Rising Stars I thought was pretty good."

SAN FRANCISCO -- The NBA's refreshed All-Star Game format finished with a familiar result for Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry: being presented with the Kobe Bryant Trophy as the All-Star MVP.

Curry scored 12 points in Team OGs' 41-25 victory Sunday in the first-to-40 finale against the Global Stars, to win the league's new round-robin tournament to cap of the festivities.

With Team OGs, coached by Shaquille O'Neal, up 23-15 in the championship game, Curry showed off his otherworldly shooting range by hitting a 3 from half court. It put his group up by double digits and ignited the Chase Center crowd, which cheered on their hometown star. With no clear-cut MVP for the night until Curry's half-court heave, the guard's teammates kept feeding him the ball -- encouraging the league's all-time 3-point leader to keep shooting -- and he delivered two more 3s to give his team an overwhelming 39-21 lead.

Jayson Tatum finished it off with a dunk to hit the target score and bring his scoring total to 15 points.

"It was one of those little flurries, just having fun," Curry said of his 3-point barrage. "The half-court shot, I was going to take one at some point. [Nikola] Jokic was picking me up at half court, which was hilarious."

And the All-Star Game, which recently had been become a bit of a joke, with both teams combining to score 397 points in Indianapolis last year in a contest devoid of much competitive spirit, inched closer back toward respectability.

"I think it was a good step in the right direction to reinvigorate the game in some way," Curry said of the format, which split the 12 Eastern Conference and 12 Western Conference All-Stars into teams of eight, going against a fourth team comprising eight first- and second-year players who won the Rising Stars game Friday night.

Curry received 12 of the 14 votes for MVP, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tatum receiving one apiece. It was the second All-Star MVP of Curry's career. He won it in Cleveland in 2022, scoring 50 points (while shooting 16-for-27 from the 3-point line) to earn Team LeBron a 163-160 victory over Team Durant.

Curry acknowledged the new structure of the game is not conducive for an obvious MVP candidate to stand out.

"The format doesn't allow for, like, a strong storyline to build," Curry said.

Through the semifinal games, Gilgeous-Alexander -- who scored 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting, including a clinching dunk to beat the Young Stars team 41-32 -- was the lead MVP contender for the Global Stars. And Damian Lillard -- who scored nine points on 3-for-5 shooting and ended it on a 27-foot pull-up 3 to win 42-35 over the Rising Stars -- was in pole position for the OGs. Lillard, who won MVP last year by scoring 39 points for the East and going 11-for-23 from 3, said the award is more ephemeral now.

"Anytime you're going to look at the MVP, you want to look at what jumped out," Lillard said. "In this type of format, nobody is going to have 50 points, or 30 points is even going to be hard to do unless you shoot it every time and make every shot. But you look at what jumps out. When was the crowd the loudest? What jumped off the floor? And that's probably who your MVP is going to be. So, watching the game, it was like, 'I'm pretty sure Steph is going to win it.' ... I don't know how many points he had, it couldn't have been that much, but I think it was the eye test."

Kyrie Irving, a fellow member of the OGs team, echoed Lillard's endorsement of Curry.

"It's easy to feed the hot guy, man and once he hit his first 3, basically every time we were looking for him," Irving said. "When he's in his hometown and playing in front of his home crowd, we all know what that means as an NBA player, as his peer. So, we're not going to get in the way of that, man."

Curry became the 15th player in league history to win All-Star MVP more than once and the 17th player in league history to win the award when his NBA team was hosting the event.

"The hosting experience was unbelievable," Curry said when asked about the Warriors welcoming the All-Star events in both Oakland and San Francisco. "I'm not going to complain about being tired or exhausted. This is an honor and a blessing to be able to celebrate and share this beautiful Bay Area that's been a part of my life for the last 16 years and the basketball history and culture that's here and the amazing fans that are here and the impact that the game being here has had on both cities."

TAMPA, Fla. -- New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is uncertain for Opening Day because of tendinitis in both elbows.

A five-time All-Star, the 35-year-old dealt with the issue last season and through the postseason, when he hit seven home runs as the Yankees reached the World Series for the first time since 2009.

Asked whether the issue could impact Stanton's availability for the March 27 opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, manager Aaron Boone responded: "Tough to say."

"I'm not going to put any timeline on it. We're just going to be smart with it and kind of listen to it a little bit," he said Sunday. "I'm expecting him to be OK. It's just a matter of when we're going to start really rolling it out to feel like -- give us the best chance to get as much of him as we can."

In addition, outfielder Trent Grisham pulled his left hamstring a few weeks ago in training but is running at close to full speed.

"He shouldn't be too far behind," Boone said.

Boone made the announcements as position players reported ahead of Monday's first full-squad workout.

"Giancarlo's a little behind just dealing with some elbow stuff that he dealt with last year, actually both elbows kind of really akin to tennis elbow," Boone said. "This is something that if we're full bore in we'd be grinding away probably, but just want to make sure we give it the proper time and just give ourselves to be the best position throughout the year."

Stanton has not played a season without a trip to the injured list since 2018.

Following the departure of Juan Soto, who left for a record $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets, Stanton's bat is key to support Yankees captain Aaron Judge in the batting order.

Boone anticipated the elbows will be seasonlong issues.

"Maintenance is just kind of treatment with the modalities that you have available you," Boone said. "You play through some discomfort with it but just trying to maintain it the best you can and take advantage of those -- when he does have an off day."

Stanton signed a then-record $325 million, 13-year contract with the Marlins ahead of the 2015 season and had 59 homers and 132 RBIs in 2017, winning the NL MVP award. He was acquired by the Yankees that December and hit 38 homers with 100 RBIs in his first season with New York.

He missed 266 of 708 games over the next five seasons because of a series of injuries that included strains of right biceps, right knee, left hamstring (twice) and left quadriceps along with right ankle inflammation and left Achilles tendinitis.

Stanton arrived at spring training last February far slimmer and had 27 homers and 72 RBIs while playing 114 games; he was sidelined by a strained left hamstring between June 22 and July 29.

"A lot of people even forget about how good his regular season was and how productive he was and how important he was to us having -- I think ultimately scoring the most runs in the league," Boone said.

Stanton batted .273 with 16 RBIs in the postseason. He was exclusively a hitter last season and has not played the field since Sept. 9, 2023.

"He's huge for us," Boone said. "You take a big right-handed bat out there, you're a little unbalanced there."

Bench coach Brad Ausmus pulled a hamstring badly in a pickup basketball game Saturday, Boone said.

Boone referenced his own January 2004 injury, when he tore his left ACL in a pickup basketball game and missed the season -- a mishap that motivated the Yankees to acquire Alex Rodriguez from Texas.

"Obviously I advise them not to do that, understandably, but he wanted to take his 55-year-old act out there anyway," Boone said.

Asked whether he was on the other team, Boone responded: "Absolutely not."

Ausmus is a former manager of the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels.

JUPITER, Fla. -- St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado reported to spring training Sunday, showing up to play for a team that spent much of the offseason trying to trade him.

The eight-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner is owed $74 million for the next three seasons.

Colorado will pay St. Louis $5 million this year, the final installment of the $51 million the Rockies agreed to pay to offset the $199 million remaining on Arenado's nine-year, $275 million contract to finalize a trade four years ago.

The Cardinals could not move him and his contract, which gives Arenado a full no-trade provision.

"I'm not going to talk about who the teams were because it doesn't really matter anymore, but so, yeah, there was about five teams, five or so," Arenado said. "I got a family now, and to be willing to pick up my family and move them, it has to be something that is worth it.

"So that's kind of why the list was fairly small, and I don't see myself really changing that list ever."

Arenado is coming off a season that was not up to his standards, hitting .272 with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Wednesday that "the pink elephant" in the room was what the team was going to do with Arenado, and he expected there to be a moment of awkwardness when he arrived for spring training.

Four days later, Arenado showed up a day before position players were due to report.

"We went into this offseason knowing that we were going to try to explore trades, which we did," Mozeliak said. "We didn't get to the point where he was no longer a Cardinal, so he's certainly welcome back.

"Simply put, with Nolan on our team, we feel we're a better team."

The 33-year-old Arenado has hit .285 over his career with 341 home runs and 1,132 RBIs with the Cardinals and Rockies. His most recent season as an All-Star was 2023.

"I'm excited to get to work," he said. "I'm a ballplayer, and I'm really focusing on getting ready for the season."

Arenado, though, did acknowledge that he wished the Cardinals were committed to contending instead of rebuilding to set the franchise up for success in 2026 and beyond.

St. Louis has not signed any free agents to major league contracts after missing the playoffs for the second straight season following a four-year run of postseason appearances. Four-time Gold Glove first baseman Paul Goldschmidt left as a free agent to sign with the New York Yankees.

"Do I wish the direction was all-in? Of course," Arenado said. "But is this what's probably best for the Cardinals? Probably."

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- On top of the $40 million-a-year salary and love of hitting at Fenway Park, Alex Bregman said he chose to sign with the Boston Red Sox because he believes the organization can do something it has struggled to in recent years: win.

"I'm a winning player. This is a winning organization," Bregman said at Sunday's news conference introducing him after he signed a three-year, $120 million contract. "Those players are winning players. We have winning coaches here. I plan on winning here after talking with some of the guys over the last two days. I can see that there's something special here."

While Bregman has opt-outs after each of the first two seasons, he spoke like he plans on remaining with the organization long term. Boston drafted Bregman in the 29th round out of high school in 2012 but didn't sign him. Now, after nine seasons with the Houston Astros -- the last eight of which included postseason appearances, with two World Series championships -- Bregman was the piece de resistance for a Boston offseason that included trading for ace Garrett Crochet and adding right-hander Walker Buehler.

The Red Sox were 81-81 last year after consecutive last-place finishes and have made the playoffs once in the past six years after winning the 2018 World Series.

"We entered the offseason with a pretty clearly defined punch list of things that we were hoping to achieve," Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said. "We talked about adding to the top of our rotation. We talked about rebuilding our whole pen, improving our infield defense and adding a right-handed bat to balance out our lineup. And as the offseason progressed, it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish."

Boston's last-minute push for Bregman included a significant bump in salary to $40 million annually, a threshold only four others in MLB exceed. While the present value of the salary is closer to $30 million per year because of deferrals, according to ESPN's Buster Olney, it helped the Red Sox leap past the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who were also pursuing Bregman as spring training opened.

Where Bregman will play, manager Alex Cora said, depends on the Red Sox's needs. The 30-year-old won his first Gold Glove at third base last year, and if top prospect Kristian Campbell breaks camp with the team, he could play second base and Bregman third while incumbent third baseman Rafael Devers shifts to designated hitter. Should the Red Sox keep Campbell at Triple-A for more seasoning, Bregman would likely slot in as Boston's full-time second baseman.

"He can play second, he can play short, he can play third," Cora said. "He's going to help us. So I think in the upcoming weeks we're going to have decisions to make as far as the roster. Injuries come into play, competitions come into play, so we'll make the decision whenever we have to."

Regardless of where he plays, Bregman will play a significant role in Boston's offense, with Cora expecting him to hit second, between All-Star outfielder Jarren Duran and Devers. Bregman's offensive numbers have dipped over the past two seasons, hitting .260/.315/.453 in 2024, but his career numbers at Fenway are too good to ignore: .375/.490/.750 with seven home runs in 98 plate appearances.

"We're getting an offensive profile that fits our park almost perfectly," Breslow said. "And perhaps most importantly, we're getting a champion, a winner, a leader, someone who will serve as a mentor to our emerging young group and someone who will have a lasting impact on this organization."

Boston's pursuit of Bregman included a helping hand from his favorite player, former Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who called Bregman and encouraged him to leave Houston for a city that mercilessly booed him after the revelation that the 2017 World Series champion Astros had engaged in a sign-stealing scheme.

"Yeah," Bregman said, chuckling at the memory. "But it's all good."

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- More than two months after signing the richest contract in professional sports history, Juan Soto reported to work Sunday for the first time as a member of the New York Mets not yet having fully digested the life-changing, $765 million commitment.

"Not yet," Soto said with a smile. "I'm still thinking about it and everything. It's unbelievable. I'm really happy for that. I'm really happy to know where I'm going to be for the next 15 years."

Soto arrived for his first day of spring training a little after 7 a.m. ET on Sunday, the day Mets position players were asked to report. He underwent the usual physical before putting on a uniform and emerging for a workout to a horde of media and fans.

He chatted with manager Carlos Mendoza by the bullpen mounds. He stretched on one of the several back fields, bantering with his new teammates and hearing greetings from fans.

"Welcome to the team!" one man exclaimed a few times. "Bring us to glory!"

Soto took batting practice in a group with veterans on the main field at Clover Park, and effortlessly lined balls around the diamond. He launched one ball nearly over the batter's eye in straightaway center field. It was business as usual even if it wasn't.

"It's exciting," Mendoza said. "You could see it. All the people. There's a lot more cameras. As soon as he stepped on the field, he was walking toward the cage, you could just feel it. And when he stepped in that batting cage with all the boys who were there ... heads turned around. It was like, 'OK. Here he is.'''

For Soto, Sunday represented the beginning of some long-awaited stability. The Mets are his fourth franchise in fewer than three years. His impending free agency had been a subject that lingered over him from the moment it was leaked that he had turned down a 15-year, $440 million contract extension from the Washington Nationals -- the organization that signed him out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager, called him up for his major league debut at 19 and won a World Series with him in 2019.

In July 2022, the Nationals traded him to the San Diego Padres, who traded him to the New York Yankees in December 2023. Soto's one season in the Bronx was a tremendous success. He clubbed a career-high 41 home runs with a .989 OPS, helped fuel the Yankees to their first World Series appearance in 15 years and finished third in the American League MVP race, setting the stage for a free agent frenzy at age 26. In December, he chose to cross over to Queens, marking the end of the uncertainty.

"It feels pretty good to be sitting here, that I'm going to be here for a long time and be sitting in the same chair for a long time," Soto said. "It's really exciting. I can't wait to see how it goes through the years and how we can enjoy it and embrace it every year."

For Starling Marte, Soto's arrival represented a demotion. Marte, the Mets' primary right fielder the previous three seasons, enters spring training slated for a lesser role in a platoon at designated hitter against left-handed pitchers, with the occasional start in the outfield for the final year of his four-year, $78 million contract.

The 36-year-old Marte said the team was transparent with him during the offseason, informing him after signing Soto that he could be traded. But a move for the 13-year veteran never happened.

"Nobody wants to be traded from a team where they've spent some years," Marte said in Spanish. "The comfort that you feel with the team and the staff, you get used to that. But at the same time, you want to play every day. ... Wherever they need me, I'll be here doing my best each day."

Soto, meanwhile, will replace Marte as the team's every-day right fielder, with some designated hitter sprinkled into his workload, Mendoza said. Where Soto will hit in the lineup is less clear: Mendoza said he expects him to bat either second -- behind All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor -- or third. Soto said he'll bat wherever the team prefers.

"I started that conversation today," Mendoza said.

Off the field, Soto, who was surrounded by older stars in his previous stops, will take the next step as a franchise cornerstone and veteran leader, given his status and contract, even if he doesn't seek it.

"I'm here to be the same guy I've been since day one," Soto said. "That is Juan Soto. Now I'm just with a different uniform, but I'm going to be the same guy."

That guy, the Mets hope, will help the organization win its first World Series in nearly 40 years in 2025, and more championships beyond that. For now, he's the new guy again, introducing himself to everybody and beginning what he expects to be his final transition to a new club for years to come.