BASEBALL

Sean Casey was hired Monday as hitting coach of the struggling New York Yankees, a day after the team fired Dillon Lawson.

Casey, a three-time All-Star during a 12-year big league career that ended in 2008, had spent the past 15 years with MLB Network, where the 49-year-old was an analyst.

“I’ve been able to keep my finger on the pulse of the game, speaking with current big leaguers, watching a tremendous amount of video, breaking down film as part of my job and trying to figure out what hitters are doing physically and mentally,” Casey said in a statement. “So I feel good about being ready for this opportunity to teach and impart my experience and ideas.”

Casey and Yankees Manager Aaron Boone were teammates on the Cincinnati Reds from 1998 to 2003.
“His passion for hitting is infectious,” Boone said in a statement. “His ability to inspire is one of his greatest gifts, and I can’t wait for him to tap into our players and help them reach their potential. There’s no doubt in my mind that he will have a tremendous impact on our team.”

Lawson was fired following Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs. The Yankees are eight games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and have lost four of five.

New York’s .231 batting average is 28th among the 30 major league teams, ahead of only Detroit and Oakland. The Yankees are batting a major league-worst .218 in 31 games since Aaron Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe on June 3, going 14-17.

Casey batted .302 with 130 home runs and 735 RBI over 12 seasons, including eight with the Reds highlighted by three NL All-Star selections.

Know as “The Mayor” for his chatting with runners at first base and his charitable work, Casey also played with Pittsburgh, Detroit and Boston.

“There’s no way to cookie-cut hitters, and if you start doing that, you get into trouble and underutilize strengths they may have,” Casey said. “One thing I will stress is controlling the zone and hunting in the zone. I want them to control their process and stick to their approach with the goal of winning every pitch.”

Brian Cashman had never before fired a coach during a season since he became general manager in 1998.

HOCKEY

ECHL: Tim Tebow will be part of an ownership group bringing an expansion hockey team to Lake Tahoe, the ECHL announced Monday.

The league, in conjunction with Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, said the team will begin play in the 2024-25 season. The Lake Tahoe team expects to announce an NHL affiliation in February 2024.

Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL player, will partner with David Hodges, the CEO of Hodges Management Group LLC, in the venture. The team, currently unnamed, will play at the new Tahoe Blue Events Center and help expand the league’s reach.

Tebow is already a minority partner in the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen and Savannah Ghost Pirates.

The team will be the 29th in the league, “expanding our geography in the western part of the continent, and creating natural rivalries for visiting fans with the Idaho Steelheads, Utah Grizzlies, and the entire Mountain Division,” ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin said.

The ECHL currently has affiliations with 28 of the 32 NHL teams, including the Maine Mariners, who have an affiliation with the Boston Bruins.

NHL: The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenseman Cam York to a two-year contract and agreed to terms with forward Noah Cates on a two-year deal, the team announced.

York, 22, agreed to a deal worth $3.2 million and Cates to a contract worth $5.25 million, GM Danny Briere said.

A former first-round draft pick (14th overall), York had two goals and 18 assists for the Flyers in 54 games this past season, part of which he spent with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. In part of three seasons with the Flyers, he has scored five goals and collected 25 assists in 87 games.

Cates, 24, had 13 goals and 25 assists as a rookie this past season. The former fifth-round draft pick shared the team lead and led all rookies in the league with five winning goals. He was one of just three Flyers players and four NHL rookies to appear in each of his team’s 82 games.

Cates, who also played for the U.S. in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, got better as the season went along, accounting for 11 points in his final 14 games.

FOOTBALL

NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Doug Pederson’s son is the team’s newest tight end.

The Jaguars signed Josh Pederson, bringing him aboard nearly a month after he finished the USFL season with the Houston Gamblers. Pederson caught 24 passes for 325 yards in 10 games. The Gamblers terminated his contract last week so he could sign with a then-unnamed NFL team.

He replaces undrafted rookie Leonard Taylor, who was waived with an injury designation.

Despite being the coach’s kid, Pederson could have a tough time making Jacksonville’s opening-day roster. The Jags have veteran Evan Engram, who has yet to sign his franchise tender, atop a depth chart that includes second-round draft pick Brenton Strange, 2021 fifth-rounder Luke Farrell and Gerrit Prince.

Josh Pederson has yet to play an NFL snap, but he spent time with San Francisco (2021), New Orleans (2021) and Kansas City (2022) since his four-year college career at Louisiana-Monroe. He caught 99 passes for 1,191 yards and 11 touchdowns with the Warhawks.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: Northwestern fired Coach Pat Fitzgerald amid a hazing scandal that called into question his leadership of the program and damaged the university’s reputation after it mishandled its response to the allegations.

Fitzgerald’s dismissal completed a rapid fall from grace for the former Northwestern linebacker. The 48-year-old Fitzgerald had been firmly entrenched at his alma mater, an annual fixture on any list of college coaches with the most job security.