Francesco Bagnaia quipped that he "won't pay anyone" to help him dethrone Fabio Quartararo and claim a first MotoGP title at the Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday.
The odds are stacked against reigning champion Quartararo, who needs to win at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and hope Bagnaia finishes 15th or lower in the final race of the season in order to retain his crown.
Monster Energy Yamaha rider Quartararo will start in fourth place, with Bagnaia only able to take eighth spot on the grid.
Jorge Martin sealed a third successive pole position, with Marc Marquez second and Bagnaia's Ducati team-mate Jack Miller set to start the decisive race in third.
Italian Bagnaia is not expecting any favours as he stands within touching distance of the biggest moment of his career.
"I won't pay anyone! Anyone can be my team-mate for this race," said the 25-year-old.
"It is difficult to do a strategy because it is impossible to predict what will happen. Maybe in the first two or three laps I have to take risks so I can then manage.
"I just say [to the team] that if Fabio is close to me, or behind me, then [the team should let him know] and then I will decide what to do."
He added: "My thing tomorrow is not to win - just be calm, understand. I will take risks at the start to get a gap. But then just be smart."
New Zealand eased to a 33rd consecutive Test win over Wales as Codie Taylor, Jordie Barrett and Aaron Smith grabbed two tries apiece in a 55-23 success in Cardiff.
The All Blacks have not lost to Wales in 69 years, a remarkable spell of dominance that was maintained as they scored at least 33 points in a 10th straight edition of this fixture.
This latest eight-try victory was ultimately every bit as straightforward as it appeared set to be when Taylor crossed twice in the opening 20 minutes, although there was a spell when Wales threatened to run their opponents close.
But every time the hosts came back into the match – as they did for the first time through Rio Dyer's dazzling debut try – New Zealand quickly moved through the gears to keep them at arm's length.
Barrett got on the scoresheet for the first time ahead of the interval, before a solo score from Smith stretched the All Blacks' advantage.
A lengthy review from the TMO awarded a Justin Tipuric try that looked to have restored Welsh hope, but it was one-way traffic in the final half an hour as Ardie Savea pulled the strings. He got the seventh try between further efforts from Smith and Barrett, with Samisoni Taukei'aho adding the final flourish.
Carlos Alcaraz will miss the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals after his season was cut short by an abdominal injury.
The world number one suffered an internal oblique muscle tear during a Paris Masters quarter-final against Holger Rune on Friday.
Alcaraz retired early in a second-set tie-break after losing the opening set 6-3 in the French capital.
The US Open champion on Saturday revealed it will take him six weeks to recover from the injury, so Taylor Fritz will take his place in the ATP Finals in Turin next week.
Teenager Alcaraz will also be unavailable for Spain's bid to win the Davis Cup on home soil, with the prestigious event getting under way on November 22 in Malaga.
He posted on Instagram: "After my withdrawal yesterday and having been evaluated by my medical team, Dr Juanjo Lopez and Juanjo Moreno, unfortunately this is the result of my injury: an internal oblique muscle tear in the left abdominal wall with an estimated recovery time of six weeks.
"Unfortunately I won't make the ATP Finals or the Davis Cup Finals. It is tough and painful for me to miss these two events, which are so important to me, but all I can do is be positive and focus on my recovery. Thank you for the support!"
The 19-year-old became the youngest player to top the ATP rankings after winning his maiden major title at Flushing Meadows in September and ends a magnificent season with a record of 57 wins and 13 defeats.
He has won five ATP Tour titles in 2022, with Masters 1000 triumphs in Miami and Madrid along with his finest hour in New York.
Fabio Quartararo will be "aggressive but intelligent" when he attempts to snatch the MotoGP title from Francesco Bagnaia at the Valencia Grand Prix.
Defending champion Quartararo will start the decisive final race of the season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in fourth place, with Bagnaia eighth on the grid.
Monster Energy Yamaha rider Quartararo must win and hope Bagnaia finishes 15th or lower to retain his crown, as he trails the Italian by 23 points.
Jorge Martin took a third consecutive pole position on Saturday courtesy of a lap of one minute, 29.621 seconds, with Marc Marquez second and Jack Miller third.
Quartararo will not be giving up his title without a fight in Spain.
Asked if he needs a miracle, the Frenchman replied: "I am not thinking about that. I am thinking about the race - if I win, maybe something will happen.
"My main objective will be to fight for victory. It is the only thing I can do by myself. We will start in a good position, the pace is good, so I am confident.
"Tomorrow is a day to do whatever I want! I am 23 points behind so it’s the only positive I can find. My situation is to go all-in.
"I don't need to prove anything. But I want to win. I need to be aggressive but intelligent. Of course, I have to go aggressively from the beginning."
Quartararo says he will not be giving any thought to where Bagnaia is positioned during the race.
He added: "I don't care. On TV it looks like it's only him and me. But I need to focus on myself.
"It's not like we have a five-point difference and are fighting closely. There is a massive difference. What he does is not my problem. When the plan is so clear, I give no energy to anything else."
CLASSIFICATION
1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) 1:29.621
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.205
3. Jack Miller (Ducati) + 0.213
4. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) + 0.279
5. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.319
6. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.334
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.418
8. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.428
9. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.481
10. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.503
11. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) + 0.522
12. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) 0.620
England made light work of Papua New Guinea, cruising to a 46-6 quarter-final victory in the Rugby League World Cup on Saturday.
Australia became the first team to make the final four with a 48-4 defeat of Lebanon on Friday and the tournament hosts also had little trouble in casting aside their last-eight opponents in Wigan.
Tommy Makinson was the star man, going over five times, matching Josh Adda-Carr's haul for Australia against Lebanon, while also adding 10 points with the boot.
With the Princess of Wales watching from the stands, England scored four tries in the first 27 minutes – Tom Burgess, Dom Young, Kallum Watkins and George Williams also going over.
Jimmy Ngutlik grabbed a consolation for Papua New Guinea midway through the second half, but the day belong to Makinson, and he fittingly crossed for his record-setting try late on, becoming the first England player to score five times in a World Cup match.
Emirates Stadium will be the venue for England's semi-final, with Tonga or Samoa their opponents.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls ended Friday’s day one of the Fast5 Netball Series at the Christchurch Arena in New Zealand winless after losses to Australia, Uganda and South Africa in their three games.
The first match saw them suffer a 24-goal loss to the mighty Australians, losing the quarters 14-5, 7-4, 9-3 and 9-3 for a total score of 39-15. Romelda Aiken-George scored four goals from six attempts and Gezelle Allison had the same number of goals in four more attempts.
They were then upset 33-22 by Uganda in their second outing.
The Ugandans got out to an early 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 17-7 at halftime. The second half was a lot closer as there was just one goal between the two teams with Uganda winning quarter three 9-8 and the fourth ending 7-7. Amanda Pinkney and Aiken-George combined for nine goals including two three pointers.
The third game was the closest as Jamaica suffered a one-point loss to South Africa after having a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
The first quarter saw only five points in total being scored as Jamaica prevailed 3-2 while the second quarter was tied 8-8 meaning the Sunshine Girls led 11-10 at the half.
Jamaica’s lead was then stretched to six after a 12-7 third quarter made it 23-17 before a spirited fourth quarter comeback by the South Africans gave them a 28-27 win. Amanda Pinkney scored eight goals from 13 attempts while Mischa Creary was perfect from her six attempts.
Jamaica will play England and New Zealand on day two at 12:00pm and 3:45pm local time (6:00pm and 9:45pm on Saturday in Jamaica) in their final two round robin games.
LeBron James has spoken out against former team-mate Kyrie Irving, making it clear he does not condone his behaviour.
The Brooklyn Nets point guard has been issued a five-game suspension by his team for posting a documentary featuring anti-semitic material on Twitter, and subsequently falling short of apologising until after he was banned.
Irving has been widely criticised for his actions, with Nike terminating their relationship with the 30-year-old, while his fellow Nets star Kevin Durant believes the entire process has been "unnecessary".
James, who has long been one of the NBA's vocal leaders on social issues, is disappointed with what he has seen from his former Cleveland Cavaliers team-mate.
"It's simple. Me, personally, I don't condone any hate to any kinds, any race, to Jewish communities, to black communities, to Asian communities. You guys know where I stand," he said after the Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday.
"I believe what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people. He has since, today, or was it yesterday, apologised. But he caused some harm, and I think it's unfortunate.
"I don't stand on the position to harm people when it comes to your voice or your platform or anything.
"So, it doesn't matter what colour your skin is, how tall you are, what position you're in. If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harm people, then I don't respect it. I don't condone it."
The Nets did not struggle in Irving's absence on Friday, as they claimed a 128-86 win over the Washington Wizards, overseen by interim coach Jacque Vaughn.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham did not hold back when discussing his side's poor performance in their 130-116 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday, calling their defense "inept at best".
The Jazz came out of the blocks on fire, putting up 40 points in the first quarter and another 35 in the second to lead 75-62 at halftime.
While the Lakers were able to muster a solid third period, winning the frame 33-25 and trimming the lead to 100-95 heading into the fourth quarter, they failed to keep that momentum up and gave up another 30 points in the last.
Utah's 130 points is the biggest score a team has put up against the Lakers this season, with no team managing more than the Golden State Warriors' total of 123 on opening night.
Speaking to the media after the loss, Ham said it was incredibly disappointing to see his team lose the momentum they have been trying to build as they entered the contest off back-to-back wins.
"We took a huge step backwards tonight," he said. "Giving up 75 points in the first half, giving them at least three 30-plus point quarters, we can't play like that.
"We were good during different small stretches, but the overall picture that was painted, by us defensively, sucks.
"That's got to be in your DNA, and it's a process to get it to be that way – where you want to defend at a high level night-in and night-out.
"It's not comfortable, but it's fun. It has to be fun, you have to enjoy getting stops and holding teams to one possession. Rebounding the ball, getting hits, whether you retrieve the ball or not.
"Just the little things of the game – keeping the ball in front of you, getting down in your stance, sprinting back in transition.
"Unfortunately we have a huge laundry list of things we can show them – that we're going to show them tomorrow.
"This is the first game where I felt like we really weren't there defensively."
When asked about any offensive struggles in the fourth quarter, Ham reinforced that this loss had nothing to do with that side of the ball.
"There's 60,000 points in our locker room, so I'm not worried about our offense," he said.
"We've got to defend. We scored enough points tonight to win a game, but our defense was inept at best."
One Lakers player who did perform well was Russell Westbrook, with the maligned former MVP actually drawing "M-V-P" chants from the home crowd at one point.
He finished with a team-high 26 points on nine-of-14 shooting, hitting three-of-five from long range while adding six assists and two steals, but he said the energy from his side was not there from the jump.
"They just started off playing a lot faster than us," he said. "[We were a] step slow, and it showed. We tried to pick it up in the second half, but we put ourselves in a bad position early."
The Lakers are now 2-6 through their first eight games, and will host the 7-1 Cleveland Cavaliers in their next fixture on Sunday.
Kevin Durant was excited by the style of basketball on display from his Brooklyn Nets in their 128-86 thumping of the Washington Wizards on Friday.
Durant, in the first game since Kyrie Irving's suspension, was at the center of everything the Nets were doing, finishing with team-highs in points (28), assists (11) and rebounds (nine).
As a team, the Nets dished out a season-high 32 assists, making it the first time they have eclipsed 29 in a game this season.
That unselfishness was at the forefront of Durant's mind when discussing the game during his on-court interview, saying his team felt confident in their game-plan and excelled in their execution of it.
"In shootaround we had some good sets that we drew up, and we knew some of that stuff would work against this team," he said.
"We just stayed in it and moved the basketball all night – everybody touched it, everybody got into the paint – we were able to generate some good offense, and that's how we want to play moving forward.
"That's the name of the game, playing off each other and being able to compliment one another."
His starring performance was highlighted with an emphatic ankle-breaker as he crossed over Washington's Daniel Gafford, nearly making his defender do the splits.
"I really thought he slipped on some sweat there, so I can't take full credit for it," he said. "But I was glad it was able to get us some momentum and give me some space to do my thing. I'm glad I finished the shot too."
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn also pointed to his side's team-first playing style when asked in his post-game interview what the key was to the blowout win.
"Offensively, the 32 assists really stand out," he said. "Guys were really moving the basketball.
"Kevin [Durant] was a hub for us tonight. He really put them in a tough bind of double-teaming him, then he was a willing passer, and he capitalised whenever he had the opportunities to."
On Durant's nasty crossover, Vaughn said his inner-fan may have come out in his reaction.
"I hope the camera wasn't on me, to be honest with you," he said. "I enjoy the game of basketball, and [Durant] is a special human being, a special player in this league. He enjoys the game of basketball, and he's fun to watch."
The win leaves the Nets with a 3-6 record through nine games, although they have now won two of their past three.
Jayson Tatum's 36 points ended up being just enough for the Boston Celtics to overcome the Chicago Bulls 123-119 on Friday.
In front of Boston's home fans, the Celtics used a 37-26 second quarter to fight back from a sluggish start and take a 63-57 lead into the halftime break.
Chicago's DeMar DeRozan would try to will his side back into the contest in the third period, putting up 16 points in the quarter to trim the lead to 88-85 and set up a thrilling final term.
DeRozan added another 11 points in the fourth, going on to finish with a game-high 46 as he lived at the free throw line. He hit 13 of his 23 field goal attempts, and added another 20 points from his 22 free throw attempts.
Tatum put together his big game in a similar fashion, although he was less efficient from the field. He finished eight-of-23, but hit 17-of-20 from the free throw line, and had 11 points of his own in the final quarter to repel the Bulls' late charge.
Tatum's running-mate Jaylen Brown had a quieter game, scoring 16 points on six-of-14 shooting, but Malcolm Brogdon rose to the occasion off the Celtics' bench.
Brogdon was clearly Boston's second-best player, shooting a hyper-efficient nine-of-10 from the field to put up 25 points and four assists in 29 minutes.
Luka magic leads to eighth straight 30-point performance
Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks is now one of two players to ever score at least 30 points in the first eight games of an NBA season, putting up 35 in a 111-110 win against the Toronto Raptors.
Doncic joins the great Wilt Chamberlain in that honour, with the 'Big Dipper' accomplishing it on two occasions. Chamberlain started the 1959-60 season with eight consecutive 30-point games, before hitting that benchmark in the first 23 games of the 1962-63 season for a record that will likely never be broken.
The 23-year-old Slovenian was 10-of-15 from the field for his 35 points, and he added eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block.
O.G. Anunoby was the shining light for the Raptors, putting up 27 points (11-of-21 shooting) with seven rebounds and five steals.
Mathurin shows star potential for the Pacers
Indiana Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin flashed some intriguing upside as he scored 23 points off the bench in a 101-99 upset win against the Miami Heat.
Mathurin, the sixth overall pick from this year's NBA Draft, has now scored at least 23 points in four of his nine NBA games, and has only scored fewer than 15 points on one occasion.
The six-foot-six scoring wing was five-of-11 from the field, three-for-seven from long range and 10-of-12 from the free throw line in a well-rounded performance, finishing with a plus/minus of plus four in his 37 minutes.
Bucks win again, remain undefeated
The Milwaukee Bucks, who are still missing All-Star Khris Middleton, continue to look like the best team in the league after moving to 8-0 with a convincing 115-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In a game where two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was not scoring the ball efficiently, finishing with 26 points on seven-of-17 shooting and a poor 10-of-20 from the free throw line, Jrue Holiday picked up the slack.
To Antetokounmpo's credit, he also added 13 rebounds and 11 assists for a strong triple-double, but Holiday was the star of the show, shooting 50 per cent from the field (12-of-24) for his 29 points, while grabbing eight rebounds, dishing six assists and snatching two steals to round out a terrific performance.
It is the first time in the Bucks' franchise history they have started a season 8-0.
Maria Sakkari had no issues in her last WTA Finals group stage match against Ons Jabeur, cruising through to the final-four with a 6-2 6-3 victory on Friday.
Sakkari needed only 69 minutes for the straight-sets win, making it her third straight-sets triumph in the Nancy Richey Group after also blowing past Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula.
Greece's Sakkari took advantage of some wastefulness from Jabeur, with the Tunisian posting 19 unforced errors with just eight errors. Her efficiency did not improve in the second set, managing only three winners with 12 unforced errors.
Sakkari's serve was a weapon throughout, landing 70 per cent of her first-serves fair and converting 82 per cent of those chances (27-of-33) into points.
Jabeur could have advanced through to the next round with a win, but instead Aryna Sabalenka will advance with Sakkari out of the Nancy Richey Group.
The only other player yet to lose a set in the tournament is Iga Swiatek in the Tracy Austin Group – who has only played two matches so far.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Sakkari - 11/10
Jabeur - 11/31
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Sakkari - 2/2
Jabeur - 0/3
BREAK POINTS WON
Sakkari - 4/7
Jabeur - 1/2
The New Orleans Saints have plenty of experience playing without Michael Thomas, and they’ll need to draw on that again with the wide receiver scheduled for toe surgery that is expected to wipe out another season.
Thomas, who hasn’t played since September 25, was placed on injured reserve Thursday because his dislocated toe did not respond well to rehab, Saints coach Dennis Allen said.
"I’m not going to get into any time frames right now. I don’t know," Allen said. "He’s going to go on IR. I don’t anticipate that he’ll be able to return this year."
After missing just one game in his first four NFL seasons, Thomas was limited to seven games in 2020 and did not play at all in 2021 due to an ankle injury and complications related to surgery in summer 2021. He will have missed most of the past three seasons since his five-year, $96million extension went into effect in 2020.
"I think Mike worked his tail off and did everything he possibly could to try to rehab it," Allen said. "This is just something that happens from time to time. It didn’t respond the way we wanted it to, so we felt like surgery was the best option to go ahead and repair it and try to get him healthy."
Thomas had at least 92 receptions in each of his first four seasons and was an All-Pro in 2019, when he set an NFL record with 149 catches and finished that season with 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns.
His 470 receptions from 2016 to 2019 led the league, with DeAndre Hopkins in second with 393.
Running back Alvin Kamara strongly defended Thomas.
"I just saw a couple comments in the media about him," he said. "Basically like, ‘You can't’ trust him, he’s not being honest about his injury, why is he waiting until now to be ruled out?'
"I’m like, man, nobody knows what we go through in here. The masses get to see Sunday. It’s a lot of s--- we’ve got to go through.
"A player like that, that’s fighting to get back, not only for his team, but for the fans and for his city… for people to be talking s---, it’s like, ah, it hurts my soul to see that."
Through 36 holes at the World Wide Technologies Championship at Mayakoba, Russell Henley has 16 birdies and zero bogeys to sit three strokes clear of the chasing field at 16 under.
Henley closed his opening round with six birdies on the back-nine to seal a 63, and his second time around El Camaleon Golf Club he evenly split his birdies with four on the front and four on the back.
The 33-year-old American has three PGA Tour victories to his name, but none since the 2017 Shell Houston Open.
Tied for second at 13 under is American duo Sam Ryder and Will Gordon, while compatriot Patton Kizzire is the only player in fourth at 12 under.
Sweden's David Lingmerth is the top international talent, alone in fifth at 11 under, and one further back in a tie for sixth is Harry Higgs, who shot Friday's round-of-the-day with his 62 – including an eagle on the par-four third hole.
Matt Kuchar headlines the group tied for ninth at nine under, while some big names are at eight under, eight strokes off the lead.
Reigning back-to-back champion at this event Viktor Hovland is at that number, and he is joined by Collin Morikawa, Francesco Molinari, Davis Riley and Matthias Schwab.
Last week's winner at the Bermuda Championship, Seamus Power, is at seven under, while world number two Scottie Scheffler is with former Masters champion Danny Willett at six under, and former world number one Jason Day is one stroke inside the cut-line at five under.
The biggest name to miss the cut was world number 14 Tony Finau, who bogeyed the 18th hole to lose his right to play on the weekend.
Aryna Sabalenka kept her hopes of progressing to last four of the WTA Finals alive with a straight-sets win over Jessica Pegula.
Sabalenka claimed her second win in three matches with a 6-3 7-5 triumph against her American opponent in Fort Worth, Texas.
Having dominated the opening set, Sabalenka twice failed to consolidate a break of serve in the second.
However, she struck for a third and final time to claim a win that means she will go through in second place in Group Nancy Richey if Maria Sakkari, who is already through, wins a set against Ons Jabeur in the final round-robin match. Pegula exits having lost all three of her matches.
"I’m just happy that I was really focused from the beginning to the end and I was able to finish this match in two sets," Sabalenka said afterwards.
Sabalenka struck 31 winners en route to victory, hitting at least 30 for the 16th match this season.
Only Caroline Garcia (18) and Elena Rybakina (17) have had more such matches on the WTA Tour in 2022, indicating that, if Sabalenka does go through, she has the firepower to threaten to claim the trophy.
BREAK POINTS WON
Sabalenka - 6/12
Pegula - 3/5
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Swiatek - 1/3
Kasatkina - 1/1
Novak Djokovic outclassed Lorenzo Musetti to reach the Paris Masters semi-finals after Carlos Alcaraz retired due to an abdominal injury.
Djokovic moved into the last four of a Masters 1000 event for a staggering 74th time with a commanding 6-0 6-3 victory over Musetti on Friday.
The defending champion will do battle with Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the final as he eyes a seventh Paris Masters title.
Sixth seed Djokovic made only 10 unforced errors and broke five times, not allowing his Italian opponent to have a game point until early in the second set.
The 21-time grand slam champion only needed 74 minutes to dispatch the unseeded Musetti, moving two victories away from a fifth title of the season.
Meanwhile, world number one Alcaraz's participation in the ATP Finals next week is in doubt after he was injured in his quarter-final against Holger Rune.
Rune won the first set 6-3 and the Dane was 3-1 up in a second-set tie-break when US Open champion Alcaraz brought the match to a premature end.
As Alcaraz prepares to discover whether he can play in the season-ending tournament in Turin, Rune can look forward to facing Felix Auger-Aliassime in his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final.
Auger-Aliassime beat Rune to take the title in Basel last weekend and the Canadian stretched his winning run to 16 matches by beating Frances Tiafoe 6-1 6-4.
Tsitsipas was the last man to seal his place in the semi-finals, getting the better of Tommy Paul, who beat Rafael Nadal earlier in the week, 6-2 6-4.
Brian Cashman strayed away from confirming whether the New York Yankees have held contract talks with Aaron Judge.
Star slugger Judge opted to enter free agency, turning down a seven-year contract with the Yankees before the season started.
His stock has risen since then, with Judge having scored a record-breaking 62 home runs in the regular season and racked up 131 RBIs.
Yankees general manager Cashman on Friday gave little away when asked about the possibility of Judge returning next season.
"When you make these commitments on players, you know he's a fan favourite," Cashman said during a press conference.
"He interacts with our fans extremely well. He's respected within that clubhouse, handles his business as good as you possibly can. He's an elite performer – among the game's best, if not the best player. With all that being said, those are the types of players you want to retain and have as long as you possibly can."
Cashman added: "As George Steinbrenner [the former Yankees owner] said, he puts fannies in the seats. People want to go watch that guy play, and you want to put great teams on the field that they want to come here to watch compete and win.
"Certain individual players transcend the team and everything stops when they're at the bat or they have the ball in their hand. He's one of those types of talents."
Cashman, whose future is also unclear after his contract expired, has no issue with Judge biding his time.
"[Judge is] going to dictate the dance steps to his free agency and he has worked extremely hard to earn this position, so we'll see how this plays out," Cashman said. "It can tie you up a little bit along the way, but he's not the only guy that we're needing to deal with.
"He's the most important, but if he came in here today and said, 'Oh, man, I'm signing up, let's go,' there's still a lot of work to be done."
Aaron Boone spoke to Judge in his office after the Yankees missed out on the World Series when they were subjected to a clean sweep by the Houston Astros.
The Yankees boss reiterated that he hopes Judge will be back to lead the team.
He said: "Of course I hope he's back and a Yankee forever. I can't think of a better guy that you want to be leading your team and leading your organisation, and hopefully that all works out.
"But my conversations with him now are just communicating with him through the winter and hoping that it works out. But obviously, that's above me."
Australia brushed aside minnows Lebanon 48-4 to take their place in the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals.
Inspired by Josh Addo-Carr's five tries, Australia never offered up any chance of an upset at the John Smith's Stadium in Huddersfield.
Not that the reigning world champions were at their very best, though Lebanon – whose coach Michael Cheika will be switching codes to take charge of Argentina against England on Sunday – only managed to capitalise once, with Josh Mansour going over in the second half.
Addo-Carr's 19-minute hat-trick had Australia way ahead, with Latrell Mitchell's try and a double from Cameron Murray nudging Mal Meninga's team to 30-0 up by the interval.
Australia's star man Addo-Carr had his fourth early in the second half, and was on hand to take his tally for the tournament to 11 after Mansour had snatched a consolation for Lebanon.
Liam Martin barged in to round off the scoring for Australia, who were unable to push on and reach the 50-point mark.
Next up for Australia is a last-four encounter with Fiji or New Zealand, convincing winners of Group C, at Elland Road.
The Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers meet in Week 9 in a matchup between two preseason NFC favourites who have spectacularly failed to live up to expectations.
Los Angeles and Tampa Bay produced a thrilling NFC Divisional Round playoff game last season, the Rams prevailing in overtime following a furious Bucs comeback en route to winning Super Bowl LVI.
Such excitement has been thin on the ground for both teams in 2022. They are a combined 6-9, with both of their offenses enduring significant struggles.
Last week, the Rams (3-4) were thrashed 31-14 by their NFC West rivals the San Francisco 49ers, who completed a fourth successive regular-season sweep of Los Angeles.
That defeat marked the fourth time this season the Rams have scored 14 or fewer points and lost by double-digits. From 2017 through 2021 (head coach Sean McVay’s tenure prior to this season), they had six such games. Five of those 10 games have been against San Francisco.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 187 yards on 33 attempts against San Francisco. It was the 11th time in his career that he has thrown the ball at least 30 times and finished with fewer than 200 passing yards. His teams are 2-9 in those games.
Stafford averaged 4.71 air yards per attempt in the loss to the 49ers, the Rams' offense relying largely on the screen pass and rendered impotent in the second half after San Francisco succeeded in taking that away.
Los Angeles' lack of counterpunches when the Rams cannot get the ball to Cooper Kupp should offer the Tampa Bay defense, which is allowing the fourth-fewest yards per pass play (5.7) in the NFL, confidence it can contain Stafford and Co. as the 49ers did.
The Rams' distinct lack of a running game -- Los Angeles' run success rate of 24.3 per cent is by far the worst in the league -- will only further Tampa Bay's confidence in that regard, and the Buccaneers appeared closer to solving their problems on offense in Week 8.
Though the Buccaneers (3-5) lost for the third consecutive game, suffering a 27-22 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens, Tom Brady threw for 325 yards and zero interceptions. In his career, he is 54-7 when throwing 300 yards and no interceptions but is 1-2 in such games this season.
Still, Tampa Bay's three-game losing streak is their longest such run since the Buccaneers lost four in a row between Week 5 and Week 9 in 2019. In addition, they have scored 28 points just once this season, in a 41-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bucs were 12-0 when reaching that mark last season.
Both offenses appear likely to face plenty of third-and-long situations, and it may be the offense that does a better job of overcoming them that comes out on top.
The Buccaneers are five of 50 (10 per cent) on third down with six or more yards to go. That percentage ranks last in the NFL. The Rams' 17.5 per cent mark (7-for-40) is 28th in the NFL. Last season, the Rams were third at 35.0 per cent while the Bucs were 12th at 25.6 per cent.
It's a tale of two offenses experiencing a substantial downturn, but neither team is dead in the water, with the Buccaneers one game out of the NFC South lead and the Rams a game back in the loss column in the NFC West, which is led by the 5-3 Seattle Seahawks.
But time is running out for these teams to right their respective ships, and the loser of this game will be at significant risk of sinking out of contention even in an open NFC.
Kyrie Irving's apology is a "step in the right direction" but he must do more to prove his contrition, according to Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks.
The NBA star was suspended indefinitely by the Nets in light of his initial unapologetic response to widespread backlash for allegedly endorsing an antisemitic film.
Irving belatedly issued an apology after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had expressed his disappointment at the lack of one, and the Nets had responded later on Thursday with a press statement confirming the player would be suspended for a minimum of five games with no pay, adding he is "currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets".
Around four hours after that announcement, the seven-time All-Star posted an apology on Instagram: "To all Jewish families and communities that are hurt and affected from my post."
Speaking to reporters about the situation on Friday, Marks said: "I think after anything like this, you would always hope that there's a change in feelings, a change in attitude. And you know, I think per his apology last night, that's a step in the right direction.
"But again, as we've sort of stated, actions speak louder than words and so he's had some time and there'll be some more time to reflect on this.
"The apology is a step in the right direction [but] that's certainly not enough."
In terms of further steps expected of Irving, Marks elaborated: "There is going to be some remedial steps and measures that have been put in place for him to obviously seek some counselling, designated by the team from dealing with some anti-hate and some Jewish leaders within our community.
"He's gonna have to sit down with them, he's gonna have to sit down with the organisation after this and and we'll evaluate and see if this is the right opportunity to bring him back."
When asked if the Nets had considered waiving or releasing Irving, Marks said: "No, not at this particular time."
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