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AARON JUDGE AND THE NEW YORK YANKEES
The Arson Aaron Judge sweepstakes is over, and, despite some confusing drama that briefly connected him to the Bay Area on Tuesday afternoon, he is staying in the Big Apple. The slugger agreed to a massive nine-year deal worth $360 million on Wednesday morning, CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden confirmed.
Let’s break it down:
This was a move the Yankees simply had to make. Judge was far and away the top player in our free agent rankings, he’s a homegrown, record-setting talent and he kept the Yankees afloat while so many players struggled last year.
Could there be sharp decline by the end of his contract? Sure. But for now, he’s a star in his prime staying in Pinstripes. That’s a huge win for the Yankees.
AND ALSO A GOOD MORNING TO THE ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
Illinois lost a lot of players from a very good team last year. The new faces might make this year’s Fighting Illini even better. No. 17 Illinois beat No. 2 Texas, 85-78 in overtime in Madison Square Garden.
Our Matt Norlander was on hand at Madison Square Garden for the game and has takeaways.
JON ROBINSON
In a somewhat surprising move given the timing and the circumstances, the Titans fired GM Jon Robinson on Tuesday. Vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden has been named interim GM.
The Titans have lost two straight but still have a three-game lead in the AFC South and a 96% chance to make the playoffs, according to SportsLine projections.
It’s ok to be conflicted about this firing. Robinson entered an awful situation — Tennessee went 2-14 in 2014 and 3-13 in 2015 — and turned everything around: The Titans had a winning record in each of his seven seasons and were the AFC No. 1 seed last year. With the Titans preparing for another likely playoff appearance, this move is a bit odd. Why now?
On the other hand, it’s worth wondering if Robinson’s approach had run its course. After making the 2019 AFC Championship, the Titans lost their playoff opener in both 2020 and 2021. This year’s Titans are 0-5 against teams in the current playoff field. Another early playoff exit seems likely, and with a veteran core, the Titans are in the tough spot of having a win-now roster without quite enough to win it all. Robinson’s firing shows Tennessee will try a new path forward. Time will tell what that path is.
The Eagles’ win over the Titans didn’t just lead to Jon Robinson getting fired. It also sent Philadelphia to the top of Pete Prisco’s latest NFL Power Rankings. Here’s the top five:
The 49ers, meanwhile, received positive news Tuesday: Jimmy Garoppolo could return if San Francisco makes a postseason run. Of course, said run would have to come with Brock Purdy at the helm. Even with the rookie now in a key role, Pete kept the 49ers at seventh in his rankings.
The team Purdy beat — the Dolphins — were this week’s biggest fallers, going from third to eighth.
There are four quarterbacks headed to New York as Heisman finalists, but only one could earn the prestigious spot on the CBS Sports All-America first team revealed Tuesday, and that quarterback was Caleb Williams. The USC star is responsible for an FBS-best 47 touchdowns (37 passing, 10 rushing) this season.
Here are some other notes:
You can see all of the picks from our CBS Sports and 247Sports experts — which include players from 32 different schools — here.
For the fourth time ever, an African nation is into the World Cup quarterfinal: Morocco held strong for a 0-0 scoreline through 120 minutes and then shocked Spain, winning in penalty kicks 3-0.
As if that wasn’t enough drama, Portugal made headlines by not including Cristiano Ronaldo in its starting lineup following his conduct against South Korea. After the initial shock, Portugal dominated, with Ronaldo’s replacement, Goncalo Ramos, scoring a hat trick in a 6-1 rout of Switzerland.
Given how good Portugal looked with Ramos in Ronaldo’s place, Ramos has officially stolen the spotlight — and maybe Ronaldo’s spot, period — writes soccer scribe James Benge.
Even with the sting of defeat still fresh, the U.S. men’s national team is looking to turn the page and focus on the future. We discussed that a bit in Monday’s newsletter, and now we have a 2026 roster projection from our soccer guru Chuck Booth.
Obviously a lot can and will happen between now and then, but Chuck has 10 roster locks. None of them play striker, though, and the USMNT’s answer there could come from two guys who didn’t make the 2022 squad.
This was a great look at the large and ever-changing potential pool of players for four years from now.
🏀 No. 10 Iowa State at No. 16 Iowa, 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Hawks at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Sabres at Blue Jackets, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Celtics at Suns, 10 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Rangers at Golden Knights, 10 p.m. on TNT
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