(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes catches a line drive hit by San Francisco Giants’ Wilmer Flores during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — When the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Ke’Bryan Hayes to a lengthy contract extension in the spring of 2022, both sides believed Hayes would be a vital part of a franchise-wide turnaround.

Three years later, the last-place Pirates are still running in place, and Hayes is moving on.

Pittsburgh traded the Gold Glove-winning third baseman to NL Central rival Cincinnati on Wednesday for veteran reliever Taylor Rogers, shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura and cash.

The swap gives the Reds an elite defender at the hot corner with a manageable contract. Hayes will make $7 million in 2026 and 2027 and $8 million in 2028 and 2029, with a club option of $12 million for 2030.

“He might be the best defender in baseball. If not, he’s right there,” Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said shortly after the deal was finalized. “We’re trying to find ways to get better. We care so much about trying to play clean baseball, and this will be a huge step in that direction.”

The Reds have used six different players at third this season. Noelvi Marte, who has been the primary third baseman of late, will move to the outfield.

Hayes finds himself going from last place to the playoff race. Cincinnati entered play on Wednesday three games behind San Diego for the National League’s third wild-card spot.

Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall pointed to the trade as a sign the club is moving in the right direction. Cincinnati is chasing just its second postseason berth since 2013.

“If you’re selling, that means you’re losing,” Krall said. “So if you’re a buyer, you’re in position to potentially get to the postseason and see what happens. So you always want to be a buyer. That’s that’s the most important thing. These guys are playing really hard right now. You want that to continue and to give them support as best we can.”

Hayes, the son of former major leaguer Charlie Hayes and a first-round draft pick by the Pirates in 2015, struggled to find consistency at the plate following his splashy debut during the final month of the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020. He hit .376 with five homers in 24 games immediately after being called up, numbers that he didn’t come close to matching while playing a full 162-game schedule.

Hayes hit .236 with two home runs and 36 RBIs this season for the Pirates, who sit in last place in the NL Central thanks largely to an offense that ranks near or at the bottom in the majors in most significant statistical categories.

“We know where the hitting has been and sometimes a change of scenery can help,” Francona said. “He seems excited and we’re excited to have him and see where it goes.”

The Pirates have several internal options to replace Hayes in the short term, including Jared Triolo, who won a Gold Glove as a utility infielder in 2024.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Pittsburgh’s everyday shortstop this season, moved over to third for the Pirates’ series finale against San Francisco on Thursday.

Rogers remains an effective left-handed option out of the bullpen at 34. The 10-year veteran, an All-Star with Minnesota in 2021, is 2-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 40 appearances with the Reds this season.

Stafura, 20, was a second-round pick by Cincinnati in 2023. He is hitting .262 with four home runs and 48 RBIs in 88 games with Class A Daytona this season.

Hayes finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2020 and appeared to hit full stride in 2023, when he had career highs in home runs (15), RBIs (61), doubles (31) and triples (7), while becoming one of the best defenders at his position.

Back injuries limited him to 96 games last season and while Hayes has been a fixture in the lineup this year, he’s been unable to be a difference-maker at the plate.

The move gives the Pirates some flexibility to find a third baseman with more offensive upside in the offseason, though it’s uncertain how the small-market club would address the position. Pittsburgh has almost exclusively used free agency to offer modest one-year contracts to veteran players in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Billy Wagner, left, Ichiro Suzuki, second from left, and CC Sabathia, center, pose for a photo with Willa Allen, second from right, widow of Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Dick Allen, and Dave Parker II, right, son of the late Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Dave Parker, at the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) 

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cooperstown, NY) On Sunday, the late former Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Dave Parker was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York as part of its 2025 class. Parker becomes the 45th former Pirates organization player to receive this honor following this induction ceremony on Sunday. The others to join Parker in the 2025 National Baseball Hall of Fame class are the late Dick Allen, who was also inducted posthumously and was born in Wampum, along with CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner.

(File photo: Source for Photo: FILE – The Olympic rings are reinstalled after being taken down for maintenance ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the Odaiba section in Tokyo, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.

The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC’s website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year.

The USOPC change is noted obliquely as a detail under “USOPC Athlete Safety Policy” and references Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” signed in February. That order, among other things, threatens to “rescind all funds” from organizations that allow transgender athlete participation in women’s sports.

U.S. Olympic officials told the national governing bodies they will need to follow suit, adding that “the USOPC has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials” since Trump signed the order.

“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”

The National Women’s Law Center put out a statement condemning the move.

“By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes,” said that organization’s president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves.

The USOPC oversees around 50 national governing bodies, most of which play a role in everything from the grassroots to elite levels of their sports. That raises the possibility that rules might need to be changed at local sports clubs to retain their memberships in the NGBs.

Some of those organizations — for instance, USA Track and Field — have long followed guidelines set by their own world federation. World Athletics is considering changes to its policies that would mostly fall in line with Trump’s order.

A USA Swimming spokesman said the federation had been made aware of the USOPC’s change and was consulting with the committee to figure out what changes it needs to make. USA Fencing changed its policy effective Aug. 1 to allow only “athletes who are of the female sex” in women’s competition and opening men’s events to “all athletes not eligible for the women’s category, including transgender women, transgender men, non-binary and intersex athletes and cisgender male athletes.”

The nationwide battle over transgender girls on girls’ and women’s sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court after critics challenged the policies as discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes.

The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Trump signed the executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.

Female eligibility is a key issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry, who has signaled an effort to “protect the female category.” The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics — and some have already taken steps on the topic.

Stricter rules on transgender athletes — barring from women’s events anyone who went through male puberty — have been passed by swimming, cycling and track and field. Soccer is reviewing its eligibility rules for women and could set limits on testosterone.

Trump has said he wants the IOC to change everything “having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.” Los Angeles will host the Summer Games in 2028.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) celebrates his sack during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams, File)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — T.J. Watt has wanted to be a “one-helmet guy” from the second he arrived in Pittsburgh eight years ago.

The star outside linebacker took one big step toward that goal on Thursday, agreeing to a new pact that will make him the league’s highest-paid defender and keep the perennial All-Pro in black-and gold well into his 30s.

Watt, who was entering the final season of the four-year extension he signed in 2021, is scheduled to make $123 million over the course of the three-year agreement, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract had not yet been made public.

ESPN first reported the extension.

Watt appeared to celebrate by making a rare Instagram post on Thursday afternoon, sharing a picture of him flexing in his signature No. 90 jersey. Watt also posted a photo in his Instagram stories of him posing alongside protégé and third-year Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig.

The agreement’s average annual value of $41 million eclipses the previous record contract for a defender set by Cleveland defensive lineman and reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett in March.

The annual average salary is also tick above what Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase received when he (briefly) became the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback a few days after Garrett agreed to terms with the Browns.

The fact that Watt’s extension is worth 2.5% more per season than Garrett’s (whose overall total value of $204 million is still higher than Watt’s) is not a coincidence. Watt, the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year and a four-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, has long believed he is the best edge rusher in the NFL.

For the second time in four years, he’s being paid like it, though he might not hold the distinction of being the league’s highest-paid defender for long. Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons is also due for an extension that — given Parsons’ age (26) and the league’s ever-rising salary cap — figures to set the bar even higher.

Watt, who turns 31 in November, took the unusual step of skipping mandatory minicamp last month in hopes of putting pressure on Pittsburgh’s front office to get something done. Head coach Mike Tomlin brushed off Watt’s absence, saying it was only a matter of time before things worked themselves out.

The timing couldn’t be better. The new-look Steelers — now led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers — report to training camp at Saint Vincent College next Wednesday.

They’ll do it with a familiar face in tow. Watt, who tied an NFL record by racking up 22 1/2 sacks in 2021, is the linchpin of a defense that will be relied on heavily if the Steelers want to end a playoff drought that stretches to the 2016 AFC Championship, a few months before the Steelers selected Watt with the 30th overall pick in the 2017 draft.

While Watt is putting together a Hall-of-Fame worthy resume, the one thing he is lacking is any sort of postseason success. Watt’s singular brilliance has helped keep the Steelers competitive during his tenure, Pittsburgh is winless in the postseason with Watt in the lineup, most of them losses in which the defense has struggled.

Watt, who has 108 sacks in 121 regular-season games, has just one in four playoff appearances.

The Steelers are taking a flyer on 2025 — signing Rodgers and trading for veteran defensive back Jalen Ramsey, among other notable moves — and are intent on trying to find their next franchise quarterback in the 2026 draft, which just so happens to be taking place in Pittsburgh.

The lack of star power under center, however, has given the team the financial flexibility to take care of Watt now, hoping he can remain an impact player into his mid-30s in the same way longtime teammate Cam Heyward has done.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Adam Frazier walks back to the dugout after striking out during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals reacquired veteran utility player Adam Frazier on Wednesday in an All-Star break trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Kansas City sent minor league infielder Cam Devanney to Pittsburgh.

Frazier, 33, has played in 78 games this season split between second base, left field and right field, hitting .255 with 21 RBIs. He spent last season with KC after bouncing around the majors following his start with the Pirates and has played every position except catcher and pitcher during his career since debuting in 2016.

Frazier joins the Royals as they are 4 1/2 games back of the American League’s final wild-card spot. They are 12 games behind Detroit for first in the AL Central.

Devanney, 28, has spent this season at Triple-A Omaha and has not yet made his major league debut.

(File Photo of Busses Parked at South Side Area School District)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Hookstown, PA) A high school football player that stood out at South Side High School in Hookstown committed to Syracuse University to play college football there as a punter on Thursday. The commitment by Mateja Pavlovich to Syracuse University is rare air for South Side High School to get an athlete to commit to a Power football program. According to the South Side Area School District Athletic Department, the commitment by Pavlovich is potentially the first South Side football player to commit to a Power football program since the early 1980s. Aside to being a punter at South Side High School, he was a running back, tight end and kicker there during his four years there. He also got offers to be a punter at Robert Morris University, Bowling Green and West Virginia and as a linebacker at some Division II schools. He also got kicker offers in 2023, with Kentucky most notably. He also joins former South Side standouts to go to Division I programs, joining Harold Garren, who committed to the University of Virginia, Mark Shaw who committed to the University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) and Doug Wassel, who committed to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the third inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

ATLANTA (AP) — Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes will start his second straight All-Star Game for the National League and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal will open for the American League on Tuesday night at Truist Park.

Major League Baseball made the announcement Saturday night.

Skenes will become the first pitcher to start consecutive All-Star Games since Washington’s Max Scherzer and Boston’s Chris Sale in 2017 and ’18. Sale started three in a row beginning in 2016.

Skenes and Skubal are 1-2 in average four-seam fastball velocity among those with 1,500 or more pitches this season, Skenes at 98.2 mph and Skubal at 97.6 mph, according to MLB Statcast.

Skenes worked around Juan Soto’s walk in a scoreless first at Arlington, Texas, last year, throwing at up to 100.1 mph. He made the start after just 11 major league appearances, the fewest for an All-Star.

Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, with five appearances, could take over that mark Tuesday if he pitches.

Skubal pitched a perfect second inning in his first All-Star appearance last year, following Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes to the mound.

A 23-year-old right-hander, Skenes is 4-8 despite a major league-best 2.01 ERA for the Pirates, who are last in the NL Central. The 2024 NL Rookie of the Year has 131 strikeouts and 30 walks in 131 innings.

Skubal, a 28-year-old left-hander, is the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. He is 10-3 with a 2.23 ERA, striking out 153 and walking 16 in 121 innings.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: The WNBA logo and hoop are seen at a WNBA basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena, Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/ Jessica Hill, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh made a push for an expansion team in Pittsburgh to join the WNBA, but it did not work out. The company started considering the idea in the fall of 2023 and paid out $90,000 for this Pittsburgh expansion team in the spring of 2024. The city of Philadelphia got an expansion team in the WNBA starting in 2030 on June 30th, 2025 during the most recent expansion of the professional basketball league for women.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Oneil Cruz celebrates with third base coach Mike Rabelo (58) after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, known more for delivering hard-hit homers than producing them in quantity, was added Tuesday to next week’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta.

He is the fifth player named as a participant in Monday’s event at Truist Park, which hosts the All-Star Game a night later. Also competing are Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and Washington’s James Wood.

“I’m really, really happy just because that’s what I do,” Cruz said ahead of Tuesday night’s game at Kansas City. “I like to hit balls far. I think I’m going to enjoy it a lot.”

During the fourth inning against the Royals, he hit his 16th homer, a 458-foot blast with an exit velocity of 115.6 mph.

The 26-year-old Cruz hit a career-best 21 homers last season.

“They’ve been trying to get me in the Home Run Derby for the last couple years, but last year, I was coming back from an ankle injury and was not feeling that good at that time,” Cruz said. “But I’m in a good spot right now.”

When the 6-foot-7 Cruz hits a homer, he often hits it hard. On May 25 against visiting Milwaukee, he hit a ball measured at 122.9 mph into the Allegheny River, the highest exit velocity on a home run since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

“Oh, man, I can’t wait to see him hit down there,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “He’s going to make Atlanta look small after seeing him hit (batting practice) down there last year and the year before. Just really excited for him and the opportunity he’s got to go be a part of that.”

Cruz also showed off his arm Sunday with a 105.2 mph throw to nail Seattle’s J.P. Crawford at the plate. That was the second-hardest thrown ball to produce an outfield assist recorded by Statcast.