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From Jack Harris: The Dodgers’ new-look roster got another modification Monday.
Shortly after the team agreed to trade outfielder Manuel Margot to the Minnesota Twins, they struck a one-year, $4-million contract with super-utility man Kiké Hernández, bringing back the veteran free agent after trading for him at the deadline last season.
The moves make sense for a Dodgers team still trying to improve around the margins.
Whereas Margot was expected to serve a more limited role as backup center fielder to James Outman, Hernández should give the Dodgers more “optionality,” a highly treasured asset to the club’s front office.
By sending Margot (and minor-league infielder Rayne Doncon) to Minnesota, the Dodgers added another prospect to their system, getting shortstop and former No. 36 overall draft pick Noah Miller in the deal.
Poised for improvement? Why Shohei Ohtani could be an even bigger offensive threat in 2024
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UCLA BASKETBALL
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: For five years, Charisma Osborne has delivered for UCLA. Of course, on her senior night, she did it again.
The fifth-year guard knocked down a critical three-pointer with 1:28 remaining against No. 13 Colorado to spur the No. 8 Bruins to a gritty 53-45 win at Pauley Pavilion on Monday. The Moreno Valley native who was one of five players honored before the game in senior night festivities finished with 14 points and two rebounds as the Bruins fought through a six-minute fourth-quarter scoring drought to move into a tie for second in the Pac-12.
Sophomore Kiki Rice led the Bruins with 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists. With UCLA needing to rely on its defense to secure a second top-20 win of the long weekend, Rice had three blocks and two steals. Osborne provided the offensive spark at the right moment, knocking down a three-pointer that ended UCLA’s six-minute and 12 second scoring drought in the fourth quarter.
UCLA (22-5, 11-5 Pac-12) moved into a three-way tie for second in the conference standings, matching USC and Oregon State. Each team has two more regular-season games to play before the conference tournament in Las Vegas.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: No more rebuild, remodel, reframe or however the Rams defined their frugal 2023 spending approach.
After achieving an unexpected 10-7 record and earning a playoff appearance, the Rams in the upcoming season will be regarded by some as potential Super Bowl contenders.
And they are flush with salary-cap space to build the roster.
Last week, the salary cap was set at $255.4 million, an increase of more than $30 million from 2023. The Rams currently have about $40 million in cap space, according to overthecap.com.
The NFL scouting combine begins Monday in Indianapolis, free agency opens in March and the draft will be held April 25-27 in Detroit.
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: After a year of too many losses, the Chargers decidedly won the start of the offseason, their addition of Jim Harbaugh trumpeted as one of the franchise’s most significant victories.
Coming off a national championship at Michigan, Harbaugh was considered by many the No. 1 option from the start , and on Jan. 24, the Chargers announced him as their new coach, employing an iconic religious image on social media.
Harbaugh has assembled a staff of 29 assistants, including two coordinators — Greg Roman on offense and Jesse Minter on defense — also new to the organization. Ryan Ficken was retained to lead the special teams.
The changes have been extensive, with the franchise also hiring a new general manager in Joe Hortiz, who has more than a quarter-century of NFL experience but never had been a full-time GM.
Now comes the business of building the roster, an endeavor that might prove trickier than landing a reigning national champion.
CLIPPERS
Clippers stars Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden wear the team’s uniforms for next season.
(Courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers)
From Chuck Schilken: The Clippers are starting a new era next season when they move to their state-of-the-art arena, Intuit Dome.
So why not have a brand new look to go with it?
On Monday, the Clippers unveiled a new logo and new uniforms, all of which will debut at the same time the team relocates from downtown Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena to Inglewood at the start of the 2024-25 season.
SOCCER
From Kevin Baxter: Goals by Lizbeth Ovalle and Mayra Pelayo lifted Mexico to a stunning 2-0 win over the U.S. women’s national team Monday in the final group-play game of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup before a crowd of 11,612 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The win was just the second for Mexico against the U.S. in 43 games, the first coming nearly 14 years ago in Cancun. And the result was well deserved, with Ovalle putting Mexico ahead to stay in the 38th minute and Pelayo doubling the advantage midway through the second-half stoppage time.
Mexico came out aggressive and physical, making the U.S. very uncomfortable in the opening half, much of which was played in the American end. As a result, the U.S. didn’t get its first shot on goal until the 35th minute, when Emily Fox’s try from outside the box was parried wide by Mexican keeper Esthefanny Barreras at the left post.
With the win, Mexico (2-0-1) heads into this weekend’s tournament quarterfinals at BMO Stadium as the group champion. The U.S. (2-1-0) also advances as the second-place team.
GALAXY
From Dylan Hernández: Lionel Messi looked washed up.
Until he didn’t.
Intercepting a pass by Riqui Puig in the Galaxy’s half of the field, Messi played a couple of successive one-twos with longtime partner Jordi Alba and slid into a slanted return pass to redirect it past goalie John McCarthy.
The packed house erupted with euphoria.
Never mind that visiting Inter Miami had just leveled the score. If only for an instant, the announced crowd of 27,642 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park watched the 36-year-old Messi perform the kind of sorcery that made him the most decorated player in the world’s most competitive sport.
Messi’s strike of lightning during the 1-1 draw might have minimized the importance of the preceding 91 minutes, but only temporarily.
At some point, Inter Miami will have to deal with the reality that was uncovered Sunday night.
Messi is old.
KINGS
Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Kings 4-2 on Monday night to snap a three-game skid.
Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and Connor McDavid had two assists to help the Oilers move two points up on the Kings for the third place in the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner stopped 38 shots.
Trevor Moore and Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings, who had won five of their previous six games. David Rittich finished with 27 saves.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1955 — Boston beats Milwaukee 62-57 at Providence, R.I. in a game which set records for fewest points scored by one team, and by both teams, since the introduction of the 24-second clock.
1959 — The Boston Celtics beat the Minneapolis Lakers 173-139 as seven NBA records fall. The Celtics set records for most points (179), most points in a half (90), most points in a quarter (52) and most field goals (72). Boston’s Tom Heinsohn leads all scorers with 43 points and Bob Cousy adds 31 while setting an NBA record with 28 assists.
1966 — Richard Petty wins the rain-shortened Daytona 500 by more than a lap at a speed of 160.927 mph. Petty holds the lead for the last 212 miles of the scheduled 500-mile event, which is called five miles from the finish. Cale Yarborough finishes second.
1977 — Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks scores his 500th goal in a 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
1982 — Florida apprentice Mary Russ becomes the first female jockey to win a Grade I stakes in North America when she captures the Widener Handicap aboard Lord Darnley at Hialeah (Fla.) Park.
1992 — Prairie View sets an NCAA Division I record for most defeats in a season with a 112-79 loss to Mississippi Valley State in the first round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament. Prairie View’s 0-28 mark breaks the record of 27 losses shared by four teams.
1994 — Sweden wins its first hockey gold medal, defeating Canada 3-2 in the first shootout for a championship at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
1998 — Indiana’s 124-59 victory over Portland marks the first time in the NBA’s 51-year history that one team scores more than twice as many points as the other.
2006 — Effa Manley is the first woman elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. The former Newark Eagles co-owner is among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen by a special committee.
2010 — Steven Holcomb drives USA-1 to the Olympic gold medal in four-man bobsledding, ending a 62-year drought for the Americans in the event. Holcomb’s four-run time was 3:24.46, with Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz pushing for him.
2015 — Travis Kvapil’s NASCAR Sprint Cup car is stolen early in the day from a hotel parking lot, forcing him to withdraw from a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The team didn’t have a backup car in Atlanta, so it’s forced to drop out when the stolen machine couldn’t be located in time for NASCAR’s mandatory inspection.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.