MLB now is mandating a ‘offseason’ for scouting amateurs
First reported by ESPN, the MLB sent a memo to all 30 MLB teams on Thursday, with new restrictions regarding draft eligible players. This is for players based in the United States and will take place during the MLB’s offseason.
The league cited that it was a need for “appropriate downtime” with the influx of injuries coming into the league for amateur pitchers. According to the American Medical Association, Sara Berg said that in 2024, 64.7% of UCL surgeries were performed on athletes ranged from 16 years old to 20 years old. Some ever being in little league when the surgeries took place.
In-person and remote evaluations by MLB personnel will no longer be permitted from October 15th to January 15th. Teams are not allowed to gather information from coaches, gather data and video. The same restrictions apply to MLB personnel who are scouting college players from Nov.15 to Jan.15.
In December 2024, MLB released a report on pitcher injuries that highlighted a troubling trend: the year-round grind of amateur baseball. The league pointed to the constant pressure on young pitchers to showcase their skills for scouts and colleges, often at the expense of rest and recovery, as a key factor behind the growing number of injuries.
To compile the report, MLB consulted with scouting directors, medical professionals, coaches, and others across the game. The findings revealed widespread agreement that offseason restrictions on scouting activities were necessary. For 2025, however, the league has made a few exceptions, allowing four college exhibition games — Stanford vs. Cal Poly, Southern vs. Southeastern Louisiana, Golden West JC vs. Loyola Marymount, and USC vs. UC San Diego, to proceed without any problems.
Under the updated guidelines, teams can still engage with players and their families outside of baseball contexts, such as home visits, and employees may attend games involving relatives provided it is done in a “personal, not professional” capacity. In addition, clubs may continue to evaluate athletes considered “passed over” — including those out of school for a full year, players in independent leagues, or those who have already used up their collegiate eligibility
Big 12 in talks to hold game at Wembley Stadium
Multiple reports came out on Thursday from multiple reports which stated that the Big 12 is in talks to hold a game at Wembley Stadium. Even though the game is not finalized, sources close to the discussion confirmed to The Athletic that it would take place on Sept. 19, 2026 between Kansas and Arizona State.
Both teams will likely need to move some opponents around to make this Sept.19 game work out.
Arizona State is slated to host Hawaii on the 19th, with Kansas set to host Middle Tennessee. Kansas would need to secure a waiver to move an opponent to Week 0, while ASU would be able to schedule a Week 0 game with no problem.
NFL tells refs to watch Eagles ‘Tush Push’ after missed calls vs Chiefs in Week 2
The NFL sent a training video to league officials and its teams on Wednesday. In that video, it included one of the Eagles tush plays from their matchup with the Chiefs.
Ramon George, NFL’s vice president of officiating training and development, told the referees to watch movement before the snap, specifically during plays like the ‘Tush Push’.
“Anytime we have this situation where we’re in short yardage, we know we want to make sure that we officiate these plays — the offensive team has to be perfect in every aspect,” George said in the video. “We want to officiate it tight. We want to be black and white and be as tight as we can be when we get into this situation where teams are in the bunch position and we have to officiate them being onsides, movement early.”
George highlighted one ‘Tush Push’ from that Chiefs game where the refs missed a false start. The Eagles converted on that ‘Tush Push’ and the Chiefs scored on their next drive.
No harm, no foul, right? Well in the fourth quarter, the refs missed yet another false start on the ‘Tush Push’ which resulted in an Eagles touchdown. This pushed the Eagles lead to 20-10, in a game which they won, 20-17.
“If guys are moving early, then you’ve got to call that,” Andy Reid said Monday when asked about the missed calls. “So they’ll go back and look at that and see what their evaluation is of it. It could be different than mine. Mine, I felt like the guys were moving. That’s why I was griping about it on the sideline there with the officials. But sometimes people see things different. So we’ll see where it goes. They’ll have a chance to evaluate it, and I’ll be curious to see what the response is.”
NCAA eliminates spring transfer portal in football
The NCAA have officially removed the spring transfer portal within college football. The committee announced the move on Wednesday but did not go further than that. The committee will meet again in October to discuss possibly ratifying the 10-day winter transfer portal. The length and dates are still up for discussion.
Coaches have been asking to remove the spring transfer portal since it just causes unnecessary chaos on their rosters. Earlier in the year, in January, the American Football Coaches Association gathered multiple coaches at their annual convention and voted unanimously in support for the 10-day transfer portal in January.
Since the transfer portal windows were introduced, the NCAA has made the period smaller each year. In 22’-23’, the transfer portal window was opened for a total of 60 days, 45 in the winter, 15 in the spring. The NCAA now only has 10 days within the year where their student-athletes would be allowed to transfer.
The majority of player movement occurs in the winter window. Of the more than 3,000 FBS scholarship players who entered the transfer portal last offseason, roughly 63 percent of them entered before the end of the winter window.
“One portal window should give us a bit more stability,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said last week. “If you have a roster of 100-plus players and you have free agency every six months, I think everybody can see that that instability is not good.”
SEC coaches largely came out in favor of the Jan. 2-11 date after the oversight committee’s early September recommendation.
“I think that’s the best window for the players, because ultimately, if they can get into the portal and get to their new school in January, that gives them an opportunity to get acclimated at their new school, that school’s culture, that school’s systems and schemes,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said last week. “I think that’s what’s best for the programs in general, because then we can figure out our roster and start developing our team of what that’ll look like through spring ball and into summer.”
MLB Postseason Update
The MLB playoffs are quickly approaching and while the Cubs, Brewers and Phillies have all clinched their spots in the postseason. Regardless, here is an update on the tightest races and games to watch this weekend.
TIGHTEST RACES
AL West: Astros and Mariners tied
NL Wild Card: Mets lead D-backs and Reds by 2 games for final berth
NL West: Dodgers lead Padres by 3 games
AL Wild Card: Red Sox lead Guardians by 1.5 games for final berth
GAMES TO WATCH
Mariners VS Astros – 8:10PM ET
Phillies VS D-backs – 9:40PM ET
Giants VS Dodgers – 10:10PM ET
Quick Bear Headlines
- Reds Hunter Greene completes one-hit complete game shutout against Cubs to inch closer to playoff hopes in NL.
- Cubs Moises Ballestros OK after 105mph liner went off his helmet.
- Justin Verlander still has desire to pitch in 2026.
- Luke Goedeke latest Bucs OL to hit IR, team is already without Cody Mauch and Tristan Wirfs, who is recovering from a surgery in the offseason. The team signed Dan Feeney from the Bills practice squad, promoted Luke Haggard to the main team and signed Sua Opeta to the practice squad.
- Max Fried has 13K day as Yankees blank Orioles.
- Clippers reportedly sent 32.4m to Aspiration; the same day that Leonard signed his 28m ‘no-show’ deal with the company.
Final Scores Across the Forest
NFL
Buffalo Bills 31 – Miami Dolphins 21
WNBA
Las Vegas Aces 74 – Seattle Storm 73 (Aces lead 2-1)
Indiana Fever 87 – Atlanta Dream 85 (Fever lead 2-1)
MLB
New York Mets 6 – San Diego Padres 1
Detroit Tigers 1 VS Cleveland Guardians 3
Tampa Bay Rays 4 – Toronto Blue Jays 0
Boston Red Sox 3 – Athletics 5
Kansas City Royals 0 – Seattle Mariners 2
Colorado Rockies 7 – Miami Marlins 9
Cincinnati Reds 1 – Chicago Cubs 0
Baltimore Orioles 0 – New York Yankees 7
Milwaukee Brewers 5 – Los Angeles Angels 2
Los Angeles Dodgers 2 – San Francisco Giants 1
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