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Sports

Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong and the White Sox’s Oscar Colás are named to the All-Star Futures Game

Pete Crow-Armstrong has earned a notable honor in his first full professional baseball season.A torn labrum in his right shoulder ended his year six games into the 2021 season before the New York Mets traded him to the Chicago Cubs for shortstop Javier Báez. Crow-Armstrong has shown why the Mets drafted him 19th overall in 2020 as he quickly has risen the prospect rankings.AdvertisementAmid a great performance this year in the Cubs system, Crow-Armstrong on Thursday was named to the All-Star Futures Game as the team’s lone representative. The 20-year-old outfielder owns a .315/.382/.523 slash line with eight doubles, seven triples, nine home runs and 53 runs scored in 56 games between Low-A Myrtle Beach and High-A South Bend. His offensive production complements stellar defense in center field.Baseball America ranks Crow-Armstrong at No. 43 among all minor-league prospects and sits third in the organization behind Brennen Davis and Seiya Suzuki. He also is one of four Cubs prospects in MLB.com’s latest prospect rankings, at No. 80, joining Davis (No. 30), Cristian Hernandez (No. 69) and Kevin Alcantara (No. 99), who is the latest addition.AdvertisementThe White Sox are represented in the Futures Game by outfielder Oscar Colás. The 23-year-old Cuban native is slashing .316/.374/.487 with 13 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 42 RBIs in 56 games at High-A Winston-Salem.Colás is rated sixth in the Sox organization by Baseball America while MLB.com puts him second overall behind shortstop Colson Montgomery.

Sports

Chicago Blackhawks trade star Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for the Nos. 7 and 39 picks in the draft

The Chicago Blackhawks traded star winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for the Nos. 7 and 39 picks in this year’s NHL draft and a third-rounder in 2024.The Hawks closed the chapter on DeBrincat’s five-season run in which the 2016 second-round pick emerged into their top goal-producer and heir apparent to Patrick Kane.AdvertisementGeneral manager Kyle Davidson reportedly turned down several offers for DeBrincat, who scored 41 goals last season, until he got the wow deal he was looking for, which will serve as the building block for a yearslong rebuild.“We thank Alex for his tireless dedication to the Blackhawks organization over the last five seasons and wish him the best in Ottawa,” Davidson said in a team statement. “It was an incredibly difficult decision to trade a player of Alex’s caliber. We feel as if this move sets the Blackhawks up for future success by giving us additional flexibility and future talent. Securing this early of a first-round pick for tonight and an additional second-round selection tomorrow allows us to fortify our prospect base with high-end players who we expect to be a difference makers in the coming years.”AdvertisementOn the surface, it wasn’t the haul that Brandon Hagel’s trade fetched — two conditional first-round picks and two prospects from the Tampa Bay Lightning — but Davidson had been working furiously to get a first-round pick in this year’s draft.Several factors paved the way for the trade to happen.The Seth Jones trade in July, executed by Davidson’s predecessor, Stan Bowman, required the Hawks to send their first-round pick this year to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since Davidson replaced Bowman in late October, he has lamented losing that pick — especially now that he has embarked on a rebuild.And with that decision to hit the reset button on the franchise, the Hawks extended the clock on returning to Stanley Cup contention.Another mitigating factor: The Hawks needed to find a trade partner that not only had the assets they wanted but the space to accommodate DeBrincat’s cap hit both now and in the future.Even at age 24, the Hawks might risk seeing DeBrincat pass his prime before they’re competitive again. Also, the Hawks have said they want to be cautious with their spending, and a qualifying offer to DeBrincat would cost them $9 million.The Hawks also are trying to build up picks and prospects, so trading DeBrincat now serves two purposes: adding a two more picks in the first two rounds this year and — with the loss of their most dynamic winger besides Kane — putting them firmly in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes in 2023.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.Amateur scouting director described Bedard as a “generational” talent as well as Matvei Michkov and Adam Fantilli, giving the Hawks three chances at a franchise player if they lose enough games to end up in the top three of the lottery.AdvertisementBut that might be little consolation, at least in the early going, for Hawks fans who’ve embraced DeBrincat as the future of the franchise.The question is, is the return worth the cost?Part of Davidson’s self-imposed mandate was to restock with a lot of picks and/or prospects, so mission accomplished there.Now, the Hawks have seven picks in the first three rounds of this year’s draft.One first-rounder, No. 7 overallThree in the second roundThree in the third roundThe Hawks have two first-round picks (one of them top-10 protected) and two second-round picks in 2023 and two first-round picks (one, top-10 protected) and two third-round picks in 2024.If the Hawks don’t make any other moves, they could end up with 17 picks in the first three rounds over the next three seasons.

Sports

Biden awards Medal of Freedom to Simone Biles, John McCain, Gabby Giffords and others

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday presented the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles, the late John McCain, the Arizona Republican whom Biden served with in the Senate, and gun-control advocate Gabby Giffords.“Today, she adds to her medal count,” Biden said as he introduced Biles, a former foster child whose 32 Olympic and World Championship medals make her the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history.Advertisement“I don’t know how you’re going to find room,” for another medal, Biden joked. The 25-year-old is an advocate for athletes’ mental health, foster care children and sexual assault victims. She’s also the youngest person to ever receive the medal, Biden said.The Democratic president, who took office at a critical point during the coronavirus pandemic, also honored Sandra Lindsay, the Queens, New York, nurse who was the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19 outside of clinical trials during a live television appearance in December 2020.AdvertisementIt was the first time Biden had awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His recipient list included both living and deceased honorees, some of them representing various stages of the president’s life, from the Catholic nuns who taught him as a boy growing up in Claymont, Delaware, to Republican lawmakers he served with in the Senate to a college professor like his wife, Jill, to advocates of tightening access to firearms.Biden introduced Giffords as “one of the most courageous people I have ever known.”The former Arizona congresswoman founded the organization named Giffords to campaign for an end to gun violence and restrictions on access to guns. The Democrat almost died after she was shot in the head in January 2011 during a constituent event in Tucson.Biden noted that he recently signed the most sweeping gun-control legislation in decades — though he and others would like even more restrictions — and credited Giffords and families like her own whose lives have been altered by gun violence for helping to make it happen.“She’s the embodiment of a single signature American trait: never, ever give up,” Biden said.Biden also recognized former Republican Sens. Alan Simpson of Wyoming and John McCain of Arizona, recalling a less partisan era of Washington in which members of different parties would argue over issues during the day and then meet over dinner at night.McCain died of brain cancer in 2018. He spent more than five years in captivity in Vietnam while serving in the U.S. Navy. He later represented Arizona in the House and Senate, and was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, competing against Democrats Barack Obama and Biden.Biden said he didn’t appreciate the political competition, but “I never stopped admiring John … I knew his honor, his courage and commitment.”AdvertisementThe 17 people receiving honors “have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities, and across the world, while blazing trails for generations to come,” the White House said.Biden himself knows what it’s like to receive the medal. Then-President Obama honored Biden’s decades of public service by awarding him a Presidential Medal of Freedom “with distinction” during a ceremony shortly before they left office in January 2017.Biden closed the ceremony by declaring, “This is America.”The other 13 medal recipients are:— Sister Simone Campbell, a member of the Sister of Social Service and a former executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization.— Julieta Garcia, a former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville. Garcia was the first Latina to become a college president, the White House said.Advertisement— Fred Gray, one of the first Black members of the Alabama Legislature after Reconstruction. He was a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr. and, at age 91, continues to practice law.— Steve Jobs, the co-founder, chief executive and chair of Apple Inc. He died in 2011.— Father Alexander Karloutsos, the assistant to Archbishop Demetrios of America. Karloutsos has counseled several U.S. presidents, the White House said. Biden said he is “one of my dear friends.”— Khizr Khan, a n immigrant from Pakistan, Khan’s Army officer son was killed in Iraq. Khan gained national prominence, and became a target of Donald Trump’s wrath, after speaking at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.— Diane Nash, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who organized some of the most important 20th century civil rights campaigns and worked with King.— Megan Rapinoe. The Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup soccer champion captains the OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice and LGBTQI+ rights. Biden said she is the first soccer play to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.Advertisement— Simpson, who served in the Senate with Biden and has been a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform, responsible governance and marriage equality. Biden called Simpson the “real deal” and joked that “he never takes himself too seriously nor takes me seriously.”— Richard Trumka, who had been president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade at the time of his August 2021 death. He was a past president of the United Mine Workers.— Wilma Vaught. A brigadier general, Vaught is one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history, breaking gender barriers as she has risen through the ranks. When Vaught retired in 1985, she was one of only seven female generals in the Armed Forces.— Denzel Washington, a double Oscar-winning actor, director and producer. He also has a Tony award, two Golden Globes and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a longtime spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Washington could not attend Thursday’s ceremony after testing positive for COVID-19, the White House said. Biden said Washington will receive his medal “when he’s able to get here.”— Raúl Yzaguirre. A civil rights advocate, Yzaguirre was president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years.

News

Not just another remake

Remakes, prequels, reboots, sequels, requels, and the like constitute the majority of what we watch these days. Seems like reimagining what’s been done (and redone) is…