— Detroit Tigers signed P Framber Valdez for three years, $115M, the day before they lost their arbitration case with Tarik Skubal, when they only offered him $19M.
Valdez is 81-52, 3.36 in 166 career starts; the last four years, he’s started 121 games, so he’s been durable, but Skubal is 31-10 the last two years, leading the league in ERA both years. Leads you to believe that Detroit might trade Skubal before he hits free agency.
— When it was announced that the Tigers signed Valdez, their over/under win total in Las Vegas for this season jumped from 84.5 to 86.5.
— Speaking of the Tigers, RIP to former Detroit star Mickey Lolich, who passed away this week at age 85. Lolich won 217 games in his 16-year career; he won three games for the Tigers in the 1968 World Series, later won 25 games in 1971.
— San Diego Padres signed OF Miguel Andujar for one year, $4M; he hit .318 last year for the A’s/Reds, with an .822 OPS but that was playing home games in two of the best hitters’ parks/
— Rams-49ers will play a game in Australia next season; Dallas Cowboys will play a game in Brazil; dates won’t be announced until the 2026 schedule comes out in May. Last year the game in Brazil was the Friday night in Week 1.
— There has never been a punt returned for a touchdown in a Super Bowl.
— Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss lost his appeal for an extra year of college eligibility, so he’ll be in April’s NFL Draft. Someone compared him to Russell Wilson, a pretty big compliment.
— Good news for the Philadelphia Eagles:
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will be back next year, for his third season with the Eagles, who ranked 2nd/5th in points allowed the last two years.
Bad news for the Philadelphia Eagles:
Jeff Stoutland quit as the Eagles’ offensive line coach, after 13 years in Philly; Eagles hired a new offensive coordinator, so a coach who helped lead seven players to 26 Pro Bowls and five players to All-Pro honors is walking away from the team.
— Famous birthdays, February 6th:
Mike Farrell, 87
Richie Zisk, 77
Tom Tupa, 60
Kris Humphries, 42
Kevon Looney, 30
Adley Rutschman, 28
— Memphis 90, UAB 80
Sincere Parker scored 40 points in 26:00; he didn’t start.
UAB was only 9-37 on the arc, 21-35 on foul line.
Memphis scored 90+ points in its last three wins.
— West Virginia 59, Cincinnati 54
Bearcats led by 14 early in second half.
WVU has won six of its last nine games; they shot 55.6% inside arc.
Cincinnati is 5-10 in its last 15 games, 1-4 in last five.
— Cal-Davis 85, Cal-Santa Barbara 75
Cal-Davis shot 10-18 on the arc, scored 1.31 ppp.
Loss snaps the Gauchos’ six-game winning streak.
Cal-Irvine leads Hawai’i by a game atop the Big West standings.
— Eastern Kentucky 76, Florida Gulf Coast 74
Eagles led by 21 with 13:28 left in the game.
Colonels snapped a four-game losing skid.
EKU was 20-25 on the foul line, FGCU was 10-13.
— Cal-Fullerton 78, Cal-Riverside 72
Riverside led 15-0 out of the gate, led by 6 with 8:48 left.
Titans were 27-32 on foul line, Riverside was 9-16.
Fullerton is forcing turnovers 22.9% of time in Big West games, best in league.
— Utah Tech 87, Tex-Arlington 84, 2OTs
Utah Tech led by 10 with 13:39 left in the game.
Utah Tech has won four in row; they’re shooting 38.3% on arc in WAC tilts (#1)
Tex-Arlington lost its last two games, both in overtime.
— Ohio State 82, Maryland 62
Maryland is 8-14, 1-10 and they start three seniors.
Terrapins lost 13 of their last 16 games.
Ohio State is shooting 59.6% inside arc (#13)
— Latest Bracketology:
#1-seeds- Arizona, UConn, Michigan, Duke
#2-seeds- Gonzaga, Houston, Iowa State, Illinois
#3-seeds- Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue, Kansas
#4-seeds- Vanderbilt, BYU, Texas Tech, Florida
