Both the Houston Astros and the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic squad were dealt a significant blow when imaging revealed shortstop Jeremy Peña suffered a fracture in the tip of his right ring finger, the Astros announced March 5.

The injury will knock Peña out of the WBC and land him on the 10-day injured list to begin the regular season. The Astros announced Peña will be reevaluated in two weeks; they open the season March 26 at home against the Los Angeles Angels.

Jeremy Peña stats

Though Peña’s finger should heal in time for the vast majority of the regular season, it’s nonetheless a tough break for a player coming off a career season in which he produced 5.6 WAR and career highs in batting average (.304), on-base percentage (.363) and slugging (.477, with an .840 OPS).

All that came across 125 games, keeping his homer total down to 17. Yet at 27, it’s clear Peña is reaching the zenith of his potential. He was already an elite defender who deftly replaced Carlos Correa and clutched up in the 2022 postseason as the Astros won the World Series championship.

Who replaces Jeremy Peña with Astros, Dominican Republic?

Given the timing that’s naturally a far more pressing concern for manager Albert Pujols’ WBC squad. Fortunately, that team is just about as loaded as Team USA’s star-studded team. Pujols can simply slide Geraldo Perdomo – a 7-win player who finished fourth in NL MVP voting last season – into the shortstop spot.

While it certainly thins the Dominicans’ depth, they still have Junior Caminero, Manny Machado and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the corner infield spots, with Perdomo and Ketel Marte up the middle and Amed Rosario available anywhere off the bench.

As for the Astros, Correa will slide back to his old position and, at least for now, the quandary of where Isaac Paredes will play has been solved. He’ll man third base in Correa’s stead, though the Astros will still have little room at the inn – or infield – once Peña returns.

Jeremy Peña contract

Peña is entering his fifth season and will make $9.475 million in his second year of arbitration eligibility. He can become a free agent after the 2027 season.

The Buffalo Bills have made their long-awaited move for a marquee wide receiver.

The Chicago Bears are trading DJ Moore and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the team in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick, according to multiple reports.

With the move, Bills general manager Brandon Beane has completed an about-face on the composition of his receiving corps after last April delivering an explicit rant to radio hosts who questioned his approach at the position. The Bears, meanwhile, move on from a high-priced target whose standing in a youth-driven pass-catching crew looked uncertain.

Who came out ahead in the deal? Here are our grades for each team:

Bills trade grade: B-

Last April, Beane defiantly concluded that complaining about the Bills’ receiver setup is ‘one of the dumbest arguments I’ve ever heard.”

Safe to say he’s not standing by that after last season.

Not only did second-year veteran Keon Coleman’s disappointing production become a flashpoint after coach Sean McDermott’s firing, but the group as a whole was also propped up by 32-year-old late-season signing Brandin Cooks. With reports that Beane unsuccessfully fished around for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle at the trade deadline, it’s clear that the general manager saw the error of his ways.

Acquiring Moore clearly gives Josh Allen more firepower than he had at his disposal last season. Yet this change might still fall short of what’s needed to take Joe Brady’s offense to the next level.

Moore will turn 29 in April and is coming off career lows in both catches (50) and receiving yards (682). That’s largely a reflection of an offense that spread the ball around fairly evenly among its top options, but the eight-year veteran doesn’t exactly resemble a go-to threat coming off this campaign. But at least Brady should know how to get the most out of him. The two worked together in 2020 and 2021, when Brady was Moore’s offensive coordinator on the Carolina Panthers and helped the receiver set career bests in several categories.

Moore still has enough separation ability to be an asset in the intermediate to deep game – just look back to how he was utilized in the Week 16 win over the Green Bay Packers, when he caught a season-high 97 yards and the game-winning score in overtime. That could make him a potent weapon for Allen, particularly when the quarterback feels the need to dial up his aggressiveness. But Moore is also modestly sized at 6-0 and 213 pounds, and the receiver room still lacks the consistent above-the-rim winner that Buffalo hoped Coleman would become.

Beane deserves credit for getting out in front of free agency and the draft to change his outlook at a key spot. At No. 26 in the first round, Buffalo might have been relegated to scrounging through the second or third tiers of receiver options. And landing a true game-changer such as A.J. Brown via a trade or Alec Pierce in free agency might have been a non-starter.

The compensation here is fairly surprising, but the overall cost is even higher. Moore is set to earn $24.5 million in each of the next two seasons, with his full 2027 salary becoming guaranteed next week and Buffalo guaranteeing $15.5 million for 2028 as part of the deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. That’s not breathtaking money in a booming receiver market, but it’s not a pittance for a team with a tight cap look. And the long-term commitment is hard to square with what should be expected of Moore at this point in his career.

After McDermott’s firing, Beane and co-owner Terry Pegula made clear that they were all in on a Super Bowl push with the current roster. Moore’s arrival aids that effort, but this still resembles a collection of receivers who will need to get by with a group effort rather than having any one figure lead the way.

Bears trade grade: A-

The math for the Bears is relatively straightforward.

By trading Moore, Chicago cleared his full $16.5 million in cap space. Cutting him wasn’t a suitable option, but neither was hanging onto him and allowing a sizable chunk of his 2025 salary to become guaranteed. With the swap, the Bears found an out and received a nice boost in draft capital in return.

With the space afforded by the move and center Drew Dalman’s retirement, might Ryan Poles make a push for another bold trade? The Bears have been widely linked to Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, who could be the prize of this offseason and one of the few figures capable of single-handedly revitalizing the Bears’ dormant pass rush. After Thursday, it doesn’t seem quite so far-fetched.

The Bears’ receiving corps will be more than fine without Moore. Rookie wideout Luther Burden III came on strong down the stretch, as did tight end Colston Loveland, and expectations remain high for 2024 first-rounder Rome Odunze.

Moore served Chicago well in a transitional era prior to coach Ben Johnson’s arrival, but he ultimately became a superfluous piece for the offense. A clean break was best for both sides.

Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jazzy Davidson went down with an apparent arm injury early in USC’s Big Ten Tournament loss to Washington on Thursday afternoon.

Five minutes into the game, Davidson was hit in front of the USC bench while running up the backcourt in transition. She was immediately surrounded by USC coaches and medical staff as she grabbed her shoulder, looking to be in pain.

She then went to the locker room, holding her right arm, as officials reviewed the play and deemed it incidental. Davidson returned to the bench just one minute of game time later, talking quickly with coach Lindsay Gottlieb before going to check back into the game.

“She took a pretty significant hit,” Gottlieb said. “She’s a really tough kid. She wants to play through it. But I was just checking with her to make sure there wasn’t anything that was getting worse, and also at times trying to settle her down. She plays so hard and wants to win.”

Davidson played through most of the game, but she was shaking out her right arm multiple times after shots. She shot 2-of-13 from the floor for eight points.

Eventually, the medical staff made the decision in the fourth quarter to sit her for the rest of the game; Davidson subbed out for the final time with seven minutes left.

“I trust our medical staff when they said she was okay to go back in,” Gottlieb said. “But then I thought it was bothering her and nagging her, and when someone can’t be at their best, you’re not mentally as present. And I was told, collective decision, down the stretch there, let’s shut her down for the rest of the game. But the hope is that she will be okay with some rest.’

Gottlieb is hopeful Davidson will be good to go by the start of the NCAA Tournament, which will come in just over two weeks. USC is projected to be a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and Gottlieb doesn’t expect the Trojans’ positioning to change after their early exit from the Big Ten Tournament.

“There were eight teams that finished above us in our league. Seven of them in the last reveal are hosting, and the other one here is obviously a tournament team that now we’ve split with,” Gottlieb said. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s in question. It becomes about matchups in the tournament. Send us wherever. You usually get what you earn. We earned our way into the 8-9 game here, and we’ll do the same with the NCAA Tournament.”

After nearly 10 months rehabbing a ruptured Achilles tendon, Jayson Tatum will reportedly play basketball for the Boston Celtics this season.

According to ESPN, Tatum may make his much-anticipated return as soon as Friday, March 6 against the Dallas Mavericks. Per ESPN, Tatum will inform the team over the next day about his availability against Dallas.

In the first injury report for the game, the Celtics officially listed Tatum as questionable. Presumably, Tatum will undergo final preparations to ensure he’s ready to go, but, either way, Tatum had been ramping up his rehab.

Last month, the Celtics announced that Tatum participated in portions of a G League practice.

The news comes as a boost for a Celtics team that has outperformed external expectations, compiling a 41-21 record without its six-time All-Star. Boston is currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and is just 5 games back of the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.

Tatum, 27, had suffered the injury May 12, 2025, during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks. He has remained a steady presence around the team through its first 53 games of the season.

In September, Tatum told USA TODAY Sports that he hadn’t fully ruled out a return to the court for the 2025-26 season, so this aggressive timeline indicates that he and the Celtics likely feel they can contend for an Eastern Conference championship this season.

Last season, Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.