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Fitch downgrades US debt on debt ceiling drama and Jan. 6 insurrection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

(CNN) — Fitch Ratings downgraded its US debt rating on Tuesday from the highest AAA rating to AA+, citing “a steady deterioration in standards of governance.”The downgrade comes after lawmakers negotiated up until the last minute on a debt ceiling deal earlier this year, risking the nation’s first default. But the January 6 insurrection was also a major contributing factor.In a meeting with Biden administration officials, representatives from Fitch Ratings repeatedly highlighted the January 6th insurrection as a significant concern as it relates to US governance, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. The credit agency did not mention the insurrection in their full report on the downgrade.Fitch did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.US debt has long been considered the safest of safe havens, but Tuesday’s rating cut suggests it has lost some of its luster. The downgrade has potential reverberations on everything from the mortgage rates Amer...

Chicago White Sox trade infielder Jake Burger to the Miami Marlins, reportedly send Keynan Middleton to New York Yankees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

Jake Burger has been a power source for the Chicago White Sox.The infielder will provide some pop for the Marlins after the Sox dealt him to Miami on Tuesday for left-handed pitching prospect Jake Ede, the team has confirmed. Craig Mish had the initial report.Burger is slashing .214/.279/.527 with 25 home runs and 52 RBIs in 88 games. He’s tied for third in the American League in home runs, and was second on the Sox only trailing Luis Robert Jr., who has 29 home runs.A first-round pick in 2017, Burger has rebounded from injuries to become a fixture. He missed all of 2018 after suffering a ruptured left Achilles tendon and 2019 because of a bruised left heel.He played in 15 games with the Sox in 2021 and 51 last season. His long-distance home runs were a highlight at Guaranteed Rate Field, where he’s hit 17 of his 25 home runs this season. He’s improved at third base and has spent time at second.Middleton reportedly traded to the YankeesKeynan Middleton has worked t...

Yankees trade for pitchers Keynan Middleton, Spencer Howard before deadline

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

The Yankees added a pair of arms to their pitching staff before Tuesday’s trade deadline, acquiring reliever Keynan Middleton from the Chicago White Sox and starter/reliever Spencer Howard from the Texas Rangers.Middleton went 2-2 with a 3.96 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 36.1 innings with Chicago. The Yankees sent back right-handed starting pitching prospect Juan Carela, 21, who had a 3.67 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 83.1 innings with High-A Hudson Valley.The 29-year-old Middleton slots into a Yankees bullpen that entered Tuesday with an MLB-best 3.10 ERA. The former third-round pick boasts a mid-90s fastball, a slider and a changeup that he throws more than 44% of the time.Middleton has also played for the Angels, Mariners and Diamondbacks, pitching to a 4.00 career ERA across seven MLB seasons.The Yankees sent cash considerations to the Rangers to add Howard, a former second-round pick who has only appeared in three MLB games this year. He began the season on the injured list with...

Yankees Notebook: Another DH day for Aaron Judge against Rays as he monitors injured toe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

Aaron Judge was back in the Yankees’ lineup Tuesday — but not in right field — as he continues to monitor the injured big toe that kept him out nearly two months.Tuesday’s home game against the Rays marked the second day in a row that manager Aaron Boone listed Judge as the Yankees’ designated hitter.Judge was also the DH last Friday in his first game back. He played the outfield Saturday and had a scheduled day off Sunday.“He’s doing pretty well,” Boone said Tuesday. “He’s dealing with some soreness and stuff, but good enough to play. … Try and monitor it the best we can and hopefully through it he continues to get better. That’s the hope, that continued healing goes along with it.”Judge suffered a torn ligament in his right big toe after a running catch on June 3 took him into the Dodger Stadium right field wall.He appeared affected by the toe as he ran from first base to third base on an Anthony Rizzo s...

Trump allies in Michigan charged with felonies involving voting machines, illegal ‘testing’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI (Associated Press)LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two Michigan allies of former President Donald Trump, including a former Republican state attorney general candidate, were charged in connection with an effort to illegally access and tamper with voting machines in the state after the 2020 election, prosecutors announced Tuesday.Attorney Matthew DePerno was charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy, while Daire Rendon, a former Republican state representative, was charged with conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and false pretenses, special prosecutor D.J. Hilson announced in a news release. Both were arraigned Tuesday afternoon, according to Richard Lynch, the court administrator for Oakland County’s 6th Circuit. Michigan is just one of at least three states where prosecutors say people breached election systems while embracing and spreading Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.DePerno, who was endorse...

Luis Urias acquisition the lone Red Sox move at MLB trade deadline

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

After weeks of speculation as to whether they’d buy or sell, Major League Baseball’s annual midsummer trade deadline almost passed the Red Sox by entirely.Never truly linked to any trade targets, the club was radio silent right up to Tuesday’s 6 p.m. cutoff. Only minutes after did the news break that they’d acquired infielder Luis Urias from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for 22-year-old minor league right-hander Bradley Blalock.The trade is far from a deadline splash; like most moves of the Chaim Bloom era, the key qualities of this buzzer beater transaction are depth and club control. In his arbitration eligibility years, Urias is an affordable infield option now and down the road; his total salary for the season is $4.7 million, and he won’t reach free agency until 2026.Urias debuted with the San Diego Padres in 2018, and they traded him to the Brewers in November 2019. Defensively, he’s played between 130-183 regular-season games each at second, third, and s...

Orioles reportedly acquire pitcher Jack Flaherty from Cardinals, fortifying rotation at MLB trade deadline

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

The Orioles hoped to use the trade deadline to upgrade their starting rotation. As the time ticked away for them to do so, they made their move.Minutes before Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline, Baltimore reportedly acquired right-hander Jack Flaherty, a pending free agent, from the St. Louis Cardinals for Triple-A Norfolk infielder César Prieto and left-hander Drew Rom and Low-A Delmarva right-hander Zack Showalter, the organization’s Nos. 13, 15 and 16 prospects according to Baseball America.In 20 starts with the Cardinals, the 27-year-old Flaherty had a 4.43 ERA, only a tick better than the 4.48 mark Baltimore’s starters have collectively posted through Monday. He’s coming off a strong July, however, recording a 3.03 ERA in five starts and pitching at least six innings in four of them.Flaherty looked like a future star in 2019, when as a 23-year-old he finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award voting thanks to a 2.75 ERA and NL-best 0.968 WHIP. In t...

Acknowledging Red Sox are ‘underdogs,’ Chaim Bloom opts to hold his cards

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

As well as they’ve played recently, most level-headed observers would admit the Red Sox are still at least a year away from true championship contention.Through his understated trade deadline and in his own words immediately afterwards, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom acknowledged that reality Tuesday as well.After weeks of speculation over whether the Red Sox would be buyers or sellers, the answer turned out to be neither. The club wound up holding onto all of its big league trade pieces and made a single addition, acquiring infielder Luis Urías from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for low-minors pitching prospect Bradley Blalock.Bloom said they like the core they’re building and have high hopes for the current group, but he also called the Red Sox “underdogs,” adding they didn’t want to cut corners by making a short-sighted move that wouldn’t help them achieve their ultimate goals.“Look at the odds, we know what the odds are. We don&#...

Memorial honoring Boston’s Black veterans unveiled in Roxbury’s Nubian Square

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

Edward O. Gourdin is said to have been a man of firsts, and on Tuesday, community members and his family locked their eyes on a statue in his honor for the first time in Roxbury’s Nubian Square.Lore Shelton-Amber , granddaughter of General Edward O. Gourdin, touches the shoe of his statue during the opening ceremony of the Gourdin African American Veterans Park in Boston. Staff Photo by Nancy Lane/Boston Herald (Tuesday,August 1, 2023).Joseph Okafor, a private in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, stands next to the recently unveiled statue of General Edward O. Gourdin during the opening ceremony of the Gourdin African American Veterans Park in Boston. Staff Photo by Nancy Lane/Boston Herald (Tuesday,August 1, 2023).Haywood Fennel speaks during the opening ceremony of the Gourdin African American Veterans Park in Boston. Staff Photo by Nancy Lane/Boston Herald (Tuesday,August 1, 2023).Maria Chestnut Corman, Lore Shelton-Amber and Velicia Gourdin, granddaughters of General Ed...

Mike Lupica: Cohen’s Mets decide to dig themselves out of the hole, while Yanks just keep digging

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:48 GMT

Steve Cohen has stopped kidding himself about the Mets, which means a very smart guy stopped acting like a sucker about baseball. It’s why Cohen’s baseball people have now traded just about everybody except Mr. Met over the past few days. At least the Mets did something. The Yankees did nothing. Maybe the only suckers left at the table are Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman.All the Yankees did on Tuesday was add a pair of marginal pitchers, Keynan Middleton of the White Sox and Spencer Howard of the Rangers. They must think they can relief-pitch their way into the tournament in the American League. Or maybe the people in charge just continue to tell themselves their team is better than it really is.Across town, what Cohen is doing, to borrow an expression from the world of money, is a baseball version of selling off a losing position. His Mets made a big bet this season – that Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer could anchor a contender – and ended up with the ...