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Angels Acquire Hunter Renfroe From Brewers

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The Angels’ early-offseason aggressiveness continues. The Halos announced the acquisition of outfielder Hunter Renfroe from the Brewers on Tuesday night. Pitchers Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris head to Milwaukee in return.

It’s the third early strike of the offseason for the Halos, who’ve already signed starter Tyler Anderson to a three-year free agent deal and acquired infielder Gio Urshela in a trade with the Twins. Now, they take a step towards fixing an outfield that had a major question mark alongside Mike Trout and Taylor Ward.

Renfroe should solidify the corner outfield spot opposite Ward. He’s been an above-average hitter in each of the past two seasons, with strikingly similar production for the Red Sox in 2021 and Brewers this year. The former first-rounder has combined for 60 home runs over the last two seasons, following up a 31-homer showing with the Sox with 29 more in Milwaukee. He had an identical .315 on-base percentage in each year but more than offset that modest number with big power production.

The right-handed hitter has hit between .255 and .260 in each of the last two years while slugging around .500 both seasons. He has a cumulative .257/.315/.496 line in just under 1100 plate appearances going back to the start of 2021. His 22.9% strikeout rate is right around average, while he’s walked at a slightly below-average 7.6% clip. He’s a lower-OBP slugger who has particularly decimated left-handed opposition. Renfroe carries a .269/.357/.508 line over that stretch while holding the platoon advantage. He’s had starker on-base concerns but hit for enough power to remain a decent option against right-handed pitching (.252/.292/.491).

That power production is Renfroe’s calling card, but he’s also a viable defender. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him right around league average in right field in each of the last three seasons. Statcast’s range-based metric has Renfroe a few runs below average annually, but he compensates for his fringy athleticism with top-tier arm strength. He’s picked up double-digit assists in each of the last two years, and he leads all MLB outfielders with 27 baserunners cut down in that time.

Renfroe’s excellent arm strength has kept him primarily in right field over the past few years, although he did log a number of innings in left earlier in his career. If he steps into right field at Angel Stadium, that’d push Ward over to left field. Former top prospect Jo Adell now looks as if he’ll be relegated to fourth outfield/bench duty after beginning his career with a .215/.259/.356 showing in roughly one full season’s worth of games. Adell is still just 23 years old and coming off a solid year in Triple-A Salt Lake, but the Angels don’t appear prepared to count on him for a regular role as they look to vault their way into the playoff picture in 2023.

As with last week’s Urshela trade, the Renfroe acquisition is about deepening the lineup with a productive but not elite veteran for a season. Renfroe turns 31 in January and is in his final season of club control. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $11.2MM salary, and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. That’s a reasonable sum for a player of this caliber, but one moderately expensive season of arbitration control over a lower-OBP corner slugger isn’t teeming with trade value. Renfroe is the second player of that ilk dealt in as many weeks.

The Blue Jays sent Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners for reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. That trade came as a surprise to a number of Toronto fans, but each of Swanson and Macko are arguably more appealing players than any of the trio of pitchers Milwaukee received in this swap. Hernández is a better hitter than Renfroe is, but the gap between the former’s .282/.332/.508 line over the past two seasons and the latter’s production isn’t all that dramatic. Nevertheless, Renfroe has had a hard time sticking in any one spot as his price tag has escalated throughout his arbitration seasons. The Halos will be his fifth team in as many years, as he’s successively played for the Padres, Rays, Red Sox and Brewers going back to 2019.

Adding his projected arbitration salary pushes the Halos’ estimated 2023 payroll up to around $192MM, per Roster Resource. That’d be the highest mark in franchise history, narrowly topping their approximate $189MM figure from this past season. They’re up to roughly $206MM in luxury tax commitments, around $27MM shy of the $233MM base threshold. The franchise’s spending capacity this winter has been in question with owner Arte Moreno exploring a sale of the franchise. There’s still no indication the club is willing to approach luxury tax territory, but the acquisitions of Anderson, Urshela and Renfroe have tacked on an estimated $31.9MM in 2023 spending. The latter two players represent one-year investments, but it seems Moreno is affording general manager Perry Minasian and his group some leeway to add to the roster in advance of the club’s final season of control over defending AL MVP runner-up Shohei Ohtani.

The Brewers add a trio of pitchers, two of whom already have big league experience. Junk is a former 22nd-round pick of the Yankees. He went to the Halos in the 2021 deadline deal that sent southpaw Andrew Heaney to the Bronx. The right-hander has pitched in seven MLB games over the past two seasons, starting six. He’s allowed a 4.74 ERA through 24 2/3 innings, striking out a below-average 19.4% of opponents but posting a sterling 4.4% walk rate.

Junk, 27 in January, leans primarily on a low-80s slider which prospect evaluators suggest could be an above-average pitch. He has decent spin on his 92-93 MPH four-seam but hasn’t cemented himself on a big league staff to this point. He spent most of this year on optional assignment to Salt Lake, where he posted a 4.64 ERA through 73 2/3 innings as a starter in a hitter-friendly environment. His 22.1% strikeout percentage was a touch below average, but he only walked 5.8% of opponents. The Seattle University product still has a pair of minor league option years remaining and can bounce between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville as rotation or middle relief depth.

Peguero, on the other hand, is a pure reliever. The righty debuted with three appearances as a COVID replacement late in the 2021 season. He earned a permanent 40-man roster spot last offseason and appeared in 13 games this year. Tasked with low-leverage innings, Peguero put up a 7.27 ERA across 17 1/3 innings. He only struck out 15.6% of opponents but got swinging strikes on a more impressive 12% of his total pitches. The Dominican Republic native induced grounders on roughly half the batted balls he surrendered in the majors.

He also had an excellent year in Salt Lake, where he tossed 44 1/3 frames of 2.84 ERA ball. Peguero fanned 27.5% of batters faced against a quality 7.1% walk rate and racked up grounders at a huge 57.5% clip. Like Junk, Peguero leaned primarily on a slider during his MLB look, although he throws much harder. Peguero’s slider checked in at 91 MPH on average while his fastball sat just north of 96. He turns 26 in March and also has two options remaining, so the Brewers can deploy him as an up-and-down middle reliever while hoping he can translate his Triple-A success against big league opponents.

Seminaris went in the fifth round in the 2020 draft out of Long Beach State. A 6’0″ southpaw, he wasn’t ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Anaheim system at Baseball America. He traversed three minor league levels this year, showing well at High-A against younger competition but struggling as he climbed the minor league ladder. Altogether, he worked 101 2/3 frames of 3.54 ERA ball with a 22.1% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk percentage. He’s not on the 40-man roster but will have to be added by the end of the 2023 season or be exposed in the Rule 5 draft.

While Milwaukee clearly likes all three mid-20’s hurlers, they’re each flexible depth options. Surely, a key motivator in the deal was reallocating Renfroe’s hefty arbitration projection. Slashing payroll wasn’t the sole impetus for the trade — the Brewers could’ve simply non-tendered Renfroe last week if they were committed to getting his money off the books — but GM Matt Arnold and his staff elected to clear some payroll room while bringing in a few depth arms of note.

The Brewers are projected for a salary around $115MM at Roster Resource thanks largely to an arbitration class that still includes Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames, among others. That’s about $17MM shy of this year’s Opening Day mark, and more roster shuffling figures to be on the horizon. Dealing a complementary player like Renfroe doesn’t suggest the Brewers are about to flip any of Burnes, Woodruff or Adames, but Milwaukee could consider moving second baseman Kolten Wong or a depth starter like Adrian Houser or Eric Lauer. They’ve already drawn some interest from the Mariners on Wong and are sure to contemplate a number of ways to try to balance the present and the future.

Milwaukee could now dip into the lower tiers of the free agent corner outfield market to backfill for Renfroe’s absence, with Tyrone Taylor standing as the current favorite for playing time alongside Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield. Highly-touted young players like Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer could play their way into the mix midseason, but it’d be a surprise if the Brewers didn’t add at least one veteran outfielder before Opening Day.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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Business

Crypto giant Binance to acquire rival FTX following ‘liquidity crunch’ • TechCrunch

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Binance said Tuesday it has signed a letter of intent to acquire its most formidable rival FTX, delivering a surprising twist to days-long public spat between the world’s two largest crypto exchanges that contributed to several digital tokens taking a tumble Tuesday.

The deal follows Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s months-long clash on social media, which escalated earlier this week.

Zhao (pictured above) said Binance reached the decision after the three-year-old exchange FTX asked the crypto behemoth for help. “To protect users, we signed a non-binding LOI, intending to fully acquire FTX and help cover the liquidity crunch. We will be conducting a full DD in the coming days,” he said in a tweet.

“Binance has the discretion to pull out from the deal at any time,” Zhao, more popularly known as CZ, cautioned. But “the important thing is that customers are protected,” said Bankman-Fried, or as many call him, SBF.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is the first investor that backed FTX, but as the younger firm grew in popularity, the relationship between the two started to wither. The firms haven’t disclosed the financial terms of the deal, but it is likely not great / utterly terrible for investors of FTX, which was valued at $32 billion in a financing round earlier this year.

The closure of the deal may attract regulatory scrutiny.

The two billionaires have been hurling snarky remarks at each other for several months, but the relationship hit an all-time low earlier this week after Zhao said that Binance was selling its holdings of FTT, the native token of FTX exchange, that it had received as part of an exit from the firm last year.

Zhao said the firm was liquidating its FTT holdings as a “post-exit risk management,” giving some credence to a widely circulated rumor about Alameda Research’s concerning financial health. Alameda and Bankman-Fried had earlier refuted such concerns.

Bankman-Fried also founded the prop trading and market making firm Alameda, which at least has some exposure to the FTT tokens. FTT token slid to as low as $14.32 from $25.47 earlier on Tuesday as investors lost faith, according to Binance’s trading view. (Hours after the news broke, the token dropped to as low as $2.51 before slight recovery.)

In a note to clients earlier Tuesday, research firm Bernstein suggested that FTX should consider shutting down Alameda due to the perceived risks.

“Binance is the immediate trigger, but FTX should resolve its relationship with Alameda. FTX cannot carry on its existing ownership structure with Alameda. FTX needs to completely ring-fence itself and potentially shut down the Alameda prop trading business. If Alameda’s trading operations impact FTX’s customer confidence (perception of Alameda trading against users on FTX and Alameda’s state of finances), then there is more downside to running Alameda than otherwise,” a Bernstein analyst wrote in the note.

Bankman-Fried offered a “huge thanks” to Zhao and Binance on Tuesday, adding that the deal was “a user-centric development that benefits the entire industry.”

“CZ has done, and will continue to do, an incredible job of building out the global crypto ecosystem, and creating a freer economic world,” Bankman-Fried said in a tweet.

FTX is working on clearing the withdrawal backlog, he said. “This will clear out liquidity crunches; all assets will be covered 1:1. This is one of the main reasons we’ve asked Binance to come in. It may take a bit to settle etc. — we apologize for that,” he said.

Binance is the world’s most valuable crypto exchange, estimated to be worth over $300 billion. FTX was valued at $32 billion in its most recent funding round (a Series C) in January this year. The firm counts Sequoia, BlackRock, Tiger Global, Paradigm, Thoma Bravo, SoftBank, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Altimeter Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Sino Global, Bond and Iconiq Growth among its long list of backers. FTX and its FTX US business raised over $2.2 billion across several funding rounds, according to Web3 Signals, a crypto dealbook.

Tuesday’s announcement shocked the business world and even the crypto community, which has grown accustomed to topsy-turvy developments this year. Bankman-Fried was hailed as a crypto savior earlier this year after he bought a series of firms. FTX Ventures, the ventures arm of the crypto exchange, is also a major investor in a large number of crypto startups including Aptos Labs, Messari, Sky Mavis, LayerZero, YugaLabs and 1inch Network, according to Web3 Signal.

Bankman-Fried attempted to raise additional capital from investors before approaching Binance, according to a source familiar with the matter. Axios suggests that many existing investors are surprised by the move.

Scores of companies are suffering from this week’s event. Shares of Bankman-Fried-backed Robinhood dropped nearly 20%, whereas crypto exchange Coinbase was down about 10% to the day at the time of publication.

In a statement after the Binance-FTX deal — and the subsequent crypto prices tumble — Coinbase assured investors that it has no exposure to the FTT tokens and “very little” exposure to FTX.

“Currently we have $15 million worth of deposits on FTX to facilitate business operations and client trades,” Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas wrote in a blog post. “We have no exposure to Alameda Research, and we have no loans to FTX. Second, as a publicly traded company in the US, we’ve also built our business in a way that allows us to be transparent about our track record, balance sheet strength, and effectively and prudently manage risk for our customers and ourselves.”

Want to hear from the best and brightest in crypto? Attend TechCrunch Sessions: Crypto on November 17 in Miami. Get your tickets here.



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Sports

Chiefs To Acquire Giants WR Kadarius Toney

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The Giants are already moving on from Kadarius Toney. Despite choosing the shifty wide receiver in the 2021 first round, the Giants are trading him to the Chiefs, NFL reporter Jordan Schultz tweets.

Kansas City is sending a compensatory third-round choice and a sixth-rounder to New York for Toney, who has again battled injuries this season. While Toney has shown promise when available, injuries have largely prevented him from playing as a pro. The Giants will receive the third-round pick the Chiefs obtained for the Bears’ Ryan Poles GM hire, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer (on Twitter). Both the third- and sixth-round picks going to the Giants will be 2023 choices, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Toney trade rumors emerged briefly this offseason, but the Giants shut them down. At the time, Big Blue’s new regime was keen on seeing how Toney looked in an offense that also housed Saquon Barkley. While Barkley has returned to top form, Toney has tumbled out of the starting blocks. Injuries to both hamstrings have plagued Toney this season — one featuring just 35 offensive snaps — and a Joe Schoen–Brian Daboll regime that did not draft him will cut bait.

Quadriceps and oblique injuries sidelined the Florida alum for seven combined games last season — one that did include a Toney game at Arrowhead Stadium — and an ankle malady forced him out of another game. Toney missed much of last year’s training camp with a hamstring injury and underwent a knee scope this offseason. The Chiefs are taking a gamble here, but the 6-foot wideout has flashed high-end athleticism during his brief cameo as a healthy receiver.

Toney caught 39 passes for 420 yards last year, showing rapid-fire run-after-catch ability. He made a big impact in the Giants’ upset win over the Saints — a six-catch, 89-yard performance — and dizzied the Cowboys for 10 receptions and 189 yards the following week. Illustrating Toney’s boom-or-bust career thus far, that game also included Toney throwing a punch at then-Cowboys safety Damontae Kazee. Toney was also tossed from a Giants practice for throwing a punch last year.

At Florida, Toney zoomed onto the first-round radar with a 70-catch, 984-yard, 10-touchdown senior season alongside Kyle Pitts. Prior to that season, however, the 2021 Giants investment did not surpass 300 yards in a college campaign. The Chiefs do not have much of a sample size to go on here, but they have turned to a Giants first-rounder in the recent past. The Giants cut 2019 Round 1 cornerback Deandre Baker, after an offseason arrest, and the Chiefs ended up adding him. The Chiefs are obviously aiming higher with Toney, as Baker did not make a big impact during his time in Missouri.

Toney, 23, is signed through the 2024 season and can be kept on his rookie deal through 2025 via the fifth-year option, though we are obviously a long way away from Toney being option-worthy. The Giants will save $1.2MM against the cap by making this move, which comes after the Chiefs created a bit of cap space by restructuring Travis Kelce‘s contract for the second time in 2022. Kansas City still has a third-rounder in next year’s draft, along with two fourths. Over the long haul, however, the Giants will avoid $5MM-plus in Toney salary payments.

Toney, who has not played since Week 2, will have a bit more time to acclimate in Andy Reid‘s offense. The Chiefs are in their bye week. Kansas City traded Tyreek Hill this offseason, leading to an overhaul of its receiving corps. Free agency additions JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling lead the Chiefs’ attack, and each is coming off 100-yard games in San Francisco. The Chiefs also roster Mecole Hardman, who is in a contract year, and drafted Skyy Moore in this year’s second round. Moore has struggled early in his rookie campaign, and the Chiefs have been linked to both Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandin Cooks ahead of the deadline. This Toney trade could take K.C. out of the OBJ sweepstakes, as it profiles somewhere between a flier and a blockbuster move due to the compensation involved.

The Giants, who had hoped to draft DeVonta Smith instead of Toney in 2021, entered the offseason with a crowded receiver room. But that group has not played together much. Massive free agency disappointment Kenny Golladay is still out with an MCL sprain. Giants hopes at trading the ex-Lions Pro Bowler have run into expected contractually based obstacles. The team also lost its longest-tenured wideout, Sterling Shepard, for the season.

Moving forward, Big Blue has Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson in place as its top targets. Slayton rising to such a perch is interesting, given his recent place on the trade block after an offseason that saw his stock drop to the point he accepted a pay cut. But this trade figures to make the contract-year wideout a more important piece while making wide receiver a major Giants need in 2023.



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Sports

Jets acquire James Robinson from Jaguars via trade after Breece Hall suffers torn ACL

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Breece Hall is out for the season after suffering a torn ACL in the Jets’ Week 7 win over the Broncos. One day later, New York has found a notable replacement for its star running back, acquiring James Robinson from the Jaguars in exchange for a future sixth-round draft pick, according to NFL Media and confirmed by CBS Sports NFL insider Josina Anderson. Robinson made a speedy return from his own serious injury to open 2022 in Jacksonville’s backfield, but Travis Etienne Jr. has emerged as the Jaguars’ lead ball-carrier in recent weeks.

The sixth-round pick acquired by the Jaguars can become a fifth-rounder depending on Robinson’s performance as New York’s presumptive RB1. Michael Carter was previously slated to take over as the Jets’ top back after Hall was carted off Sunday’s win and quickly ruled out. Now, Gang Green will have the 24-year-old Robinson not only for the remainder of 2022 but possibly beyond. As CBS Sports contributor Joel Corry notes, the Jets can eventually extend the veteran on a restricted free agent tender through 2023.

Robinson is two years removed from a 1,000-yard rushing campaign as a rookie. The former undrafted standout was off to a similarly productive start in 2021 before suffering a torn Achilles in Week 16. This year, splitting touches with Etienne, he wasn’t nearly as efficient, averaging less than four yards per carry in three different games, before taking zero carries in Week 6. Etienne, meanwhile, a 2021 first-round pick by Jacksonville, has emerged as one of the club’s top offensive play-makers as of late.

In New York, Hall quickly made a name for himself as one of this year’s top rookies, powering the Jets’ ground game with 463 rushing yards in seven games. Considering he faces a potentially long road to recovery following his ACL tear, it’s possible Robinson could also serve as the team’s starting ball-carrier, or at least split carries, to open 2023 as well.

Fantasy take

How James Robinson trade affects Michael Carter

From CBS Sports Fantasy analyst Dave Richard: When you think about the past year-plus for Carter — his inability to cement a large role in the Jets offense as a rookie, watching his team draft a stud rookie in April and then trade for a good veteran power back to replace the stud rookie — it’s tough to see him evolving into a serious Fantasy asset. That would change if he could start commanding targets on a week-to-week basis, but the Jets offense doesn’t call for a lot of throws to the running back, and quarterback Zach Wilson has a tendency to look downfield, not throw short. 

Carter has also gotten off to a pretty blah start. His rushing average sits at 3.5, his rush attempts per game is at a smallish 9.4 and his receiving numbers have all but dried up since Wilson has taken over at quarterback. His only highlight was scoring twice in a blowout win versus Miami in Week 5.

Carter is obviously worth rostering but isn’t likely to be any better than a No. 3 running back for however long Robinson makes an impact. He should still be on the hook for at least 10 touches per week and roughly 40% of the snaps with the Jets, but it’s unlikely he’ll be used regularly in high-value situations like near the goal line.

For more on the trade and how it affects both the Jets and Jaguars click here.

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Entertainment

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to acquire Parler platform

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Music, apparel & sports titan is acquiring leading free-speech Platform

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Parlement Technologies announced today that it has entered into an agreement in principle to sell Parler, the world’s pioneering uncancelable free speech platform, to Ye (formerly known as Kanye West). Ye has become the richest Black man in history through music and apparel and is taking a bold stance against his recent censorship from Big Tech, using his far-reaching talents to further lead the fight to create a truly non-cancelable environment.

Ye

Parler logo (PRNewsfoto/Parler)

Parlement Technologies

“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” says Ye.

The proposed acquisition will assure Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome. Ye can be found on Parler here.

Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer welcomes Ye as a compatriot in the fight for free speech. “This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech. Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again. Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals.”

Under the terms of their agreement in principle, the parties intend to enter into a definitive purchase agreement and expect to close during the fourth quarter of 2022. The terms of the proposed transaction would include ongoing technical support from Parlement and the use of private cloud services via Parlement’s private cloud and data center infrastructure.

About Parlement Technologies: Parlement serves as the parent company and home of premier free speech social media app, Parler, and leading technology systems, including Web3 and secure cloud services, known as DeepRedSky and Dynascale. The company is a guiding force in the fight against Big Tech, Big Government, censorship, and cancel culture. Parlement is based in Nashville, TN, and has a growing global community of industry trailblazers, product and service providers, content creators, freethinkers, and loyal platform users. To learn more, visit https://parler.com or download on the Google Play Store or App Store now.

Media Inquiries:

Josh Levine, COO
Parlement Technologies
[email protected]

SOURCE Parler

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Business

CVS takes lead in talks to acquire Signify Health: report

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Check out what’s clicking on FoxBusiness.com

CVS Health Corp. has reportedly taken the lead in the battle among heavyweights for the home-healthcare company Signify Health Inc.

CVS is said to be in advanced talks with a bid of around $8 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Signify is a provider of technology and services for home health.

The companies could announce a deal next week with a value of more than $30 a share.

UNITEDHEALTH, AMAZON, CVS HEALTH, OPTION CARE BIDDING ON SIGNIFY HEALTH

CVS was reportedly offering to purchase Signify as the retail company pursues efforts to expand in-home health services. (Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Amazon.com and UnitedHealth Group have also been interested in making a deal.

There is still no guarantee that CVS will reach a deal for Signify, which has been exploring strategic alternatives since earlier this summer.

Representatives for Signify and CVS declined to comment.

UnitedHealth Group, Amazon, CVS Health and Option Care Health have been interested in bidding for Signify Health. (Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Amazon announced in July that it will acquire U.S. primary health care provider One Medical for $18 per share, in an all-cash deal valued at about $3.9 billion.

CVS PLANS TO MAKE A MOVE INTO PRIMARY CARE BY END OF 2022

That deal is under investigation as the Federal Trade Commission has asked for more information on the acquisition.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
CVS CVS HEALTH CORP. 99.47 -0.43 -0.43%
SGFY SIGNIFY HEALTH INC 28.77 +0.38 +1.34%
UNH UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC. 516.35 -7.65 -1.46%
AMZN AMAZON.COM INC. 127.51 -0.31 -0.24%

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that CVS was in advanced talks to buy Signify. 

 A CVS pharmacy is seen in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. ( Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Signify rose 1.3% to close at $28.77 in New York trading Friday, giving it a market value of about $6.7 billion. 

FOX Business’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.

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Sports

Donovan Mitchell trade: Cavaliers acquire All-Star for Collin Sexton, three unprotected picks, per report

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded for Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. The three-time All-Star guard is going to Cleveland in exchange for a package centered around draft picks and young players. 

The Jazz have acquired Cleveland’s unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, plus pick swaps in 2026 and 2028, per ESPN. Also going to Utah, as first reported by Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes: Ochai Agbaji, the No. 14 pick in the 2022 draft; Collin Sexton, who will arrive via sign-and-trade; and Lauri Markkanen. 

Sexton’s new contract is for four years and $72 million, according to Shams Charania.

Mitchell, who turns 26 next week, joins a Cavs core that also includes the 22-year-old Darius Garland, the 24-year-old Jarrett Allen and the 21-year-old Evan Mobley. Garland and Allen both made the All-Star team last season, and Mobley finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

The Jazz, meanwhile, are pivoting to a full rebuild, having already traded Mitchell’s former co-star, Rudy Gobert, for a similar package in a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves this offseason.

The Cavs are going big and small at the same time 

Cleveland did not have to do anything big this summer. Despite a long list of injuries last season, it won 44 games, which was good enough to qualify for the play-in tournament. Mobley was an All-Defense candidate as a rookie and has franchise-player upside. Garland is ascending, and is equally dangerous with and without the ball. Allen is a premier rim protector, and he’s developing on offense exactly as the Cavs hoped. Had they simply added Agbaji to the mix, reunited with Ricky Rubio and called it an offseason, they would have been on an upward trajectory, with cap space ahead of them next summer. Agbaji, a 3-and-D wing, is exactly the type of player they didn’t have. Maybe they could have brought Sexton back, too.

Instead, with an elite playmaker on the market, Cleveland decided to go for it. The rationale here is simple: For all the good vibes surrounding the Cavs last season, they finished with the 20th-best offense in the NBA (111 points per 100 possessions) and were absolutely horrendous (103 per 100) when Garland was off the court. Garland’s ability to shoot on the move makes him a clean fit with Mitchell on offense, and Cleveland can keep one of them on the floor at all times. Maybe this means Caris LeVert, acquired in a midseason trade with the Indiana Pacers, will be the Cavs’ long-term sixth man; maybe it means he’ll be moved before this year’s deadline. 

Pairing Mobley with Allen — and starting the 6-foot-11 Markkanen next to them — was an interesting experiment in an era where bigs are routinely played off the floor in the playoffs. After a successful bet on their mobility and talent, Cleveland has doubled down, effectively announcing that it believes its exceptionally large frontcourt can mask the weaknesses of its exceptionally small backcourt. In theory, if Garland and Mitchell, both of them 6-foot-1, neither of them a versatile defender, can survive anywhere defensively, then it would be on a team that has Mobley and Allen behind them.

It is reasonable to be skeptical about that. While most of the NBA is trying to acquire as many big, strong, switchable wings as possible, the Cavs have assembled a (wildly talented) core with either one or zero of them, depending on whether or not you think Isaac Okoro can still be considered part of the core. As Daryl Morey likes to say, though, you can’t just go into the superstar store and pick the one you want. If the Cavs had waited, maybe they could have acquired another player of Mitchell’s caliber, without the obvious fit issue. But that perfect trade opportunity might never had presented itself.  

What’s next for Utah?

The Jazz felt they’d hit their ceiling with Gobert and Mitchell, so lead executive Danny Ainge charted a new course. They got four first-round picks for Gobert, only one of them (lightly) protected, plus a pick swap. The Cavaliers sent them three more unprotected firsts, plus two swaps. Between Agbaji and big man Walker Kessler, picked No. 24 by Minnesota in this year’s draft and then included in the Gobert trade, they essentially got two more first-rounders. Utah picked up another first in the deal that sent Royce O’Neale to the Brooklyn Nets. And in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, it turned veteran Patrick Beverley, acquired from the Timberwolves, into 21-year-old Talen Horton-Tucker. 

And Ainge isn’t done. 

Mike Conley, who turns 35 next month, is not part of the Jazz’s long-term plans. Neither is Bojan Bogdanovic, who will turn 34 during next season’s playoffs. Jordan Clarkson, 30, figures to be available as well, and the same is likely true of Malik Beasley, who turns 26 in November. ESPN reported that Utah considers Sexton, 23, and Markkanen, 25, to be keepers, but there’s no guarantee that they finish their respective contracts in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz have a large collection of future picks now, and they’ll have even more by the deadline, if not by the beginning of training camp. They’ve set themselves up to lose a ton of games next season, and, if the lottery breaks right, they might get to draft their next franchise player. The losses will be painful, but they’ll come with a side of hope. The same can’t be said of banging your head against the same wall year after year. 

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Technology

Tencent And Sony Acquire 30% Of Elden Ring Maker FromSoftware

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Image: FromSoftware

Elden Ring wasn’t just a hit with fans of FromSoftware’s notoriously difficult action-RPGs. Today Tencent Holdings and Sony announced they’ve acquired 30% of the Souls-series developer’s shares, split in favor of Tencent. FromSoftware is expected to gain $260 million from the arrangement.

Today’s announcement from FromSoft’s parent company Kadokawa revealed that Sony and Tencent are acquiring 14.09% and 16.25% of FromSoft, respectively. The statement indicates that Kadokawa wants FromSoftware to be able to expand its development efforts; Kadokawa sees the “enhancement of capabilities for the creation, development and deployment of [FromSoft] game IP as one of the [Kadokawa] Group’s highest priorities.”

One of the aims is to give FromSoft the resources needed to grow Elden Ring into a franchise that extends beyond just video games.

Elden Ring was a long time coming, built on a foundation first laid down in FromSoftware’s pioneering 2009 PS3 game Demon’s Souls. A set of three spiritual sequels in the form of the Dark Souls trilogy, as well as two other similar titles (Bloodborne and Sekiro), certainly broadened the audience for these difficult and cryptic action-RPGs. But none have reached critical mass quite like Elden Ring, which outsold household names like Call of Duty and led to viral streaming sensations and hype that just won’t die.

Tencent, a Shanghai-based conglomerate, has continued its trend of investments and acquisitions. It owns 5% of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry publisher Ubisoft, completed an acquisition of League of Legends’ developer Riot Games, owns 40% of Epic Games, and has stakes in many, many, many, many other game companies. As Polygon notes, it also owns 5% of Activision Blizzard, which will transfer over to Microsoft should that megacorp’s notable attempt to acquire the Call of Duty publisher clear regulatory screening.

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Up to 90% off

Humble Bundle’s Summer Sale

Game and Save
Great news for PC gamers out there looking to save money and add more games to your backlog which you’ll eventually get to. Humble Bundle has kicked off its Summer Sale in which you can save up to 90% on games.

Sony has also been on a spending spree too, though it looks a bit more modest compared to Tencent. Perhaps most notably, Sony acquired the once Microsoft-affiliated Bungie for $3.6 billion in January. The house of PlayStation also made a move to acquire Bluepoint, the studio which made a name for itself with critically acclaimed remakes. Sony also invested a billion dollars in Epic Games back in April.

Anyway, maybe FromSoft can use the new money to add an easy mode so I can finally finish the damn things.

 

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Technology

Tencent and Sony Interactive Entertainment collectively acquire 30.34 percent of FromSoftware

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Through the third-party allotment, Sixjoy Hong Kong will own 16.25 percent of FromSoftware’s shares, and Sony Interactive Entertainment will own 14.09 percent. Kadokawa Corporation remains the largest shareholder of the company with 69.66 percent of shares.

Get the full press release below.

1. Purposes of and reason for the Third- Party [17 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/party”>Party Allotment

The Kadokawa Group advocates a “global media mix with technology” as its fundamental strategy that combines the stable creation of intellectual property (IP) consisting of a variety of portfolio content chiefly in the Publication, Video, Game, Web Service, and Education businesses as well as the rollout of this IP on a global scale through the extended use of technology, seeking to achieve sustained growth and enhance corporate value from medium- to long term perspectives. FromSoftware is driving the Game Business as it has continually been creating world-famous works, such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring [21 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/games/elden-ring”>Elden Ring, leveraging its advanced game IP development strength. With an eye on further expansion of the Game Business, the Group recognizes the enhancement of capabilities for the creation, development and deployment of game IP as one of the Group’s highest priorities. In line with this policy, the Company has decided to have FromSoftware implement fund procurement by way of a Third-Party Allotment to Sixjoy and SIE, the scheduled allottees, for the reasons outlined below.

Tencent acquired capital in Guangzhou Tianwen Kadokawa Animation and Comics Co., Ltd., a consolidated subsidiary of the Company, in 2016, and the two companies have been jointly promoting their media mix strategy targeting the Chinese market. In addition, the Company, Sixjoy and Tencent Japan entered into a capital and business alliance agreement as of October 2021 to strengthen their strategic alliance in the anime and game fields. Tencent and its subsidiaries and affiliates (hereinafter, the “Tencent Group”) are a global Internet group that provides communication, social, gaming, digital content, advertising, fintech and cloud services, and operates the leading communication and social platform in the Internet industry in China.

Sony and its subsidiaries (hereinafter the “Sony Group”) and the Company have developed a collaborative business relationship across a wide range of areas related to the Sony Group’s global Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business operations, branded hardware business and games business. In February 2021, the Company conducted a third-party allotment with Sony as the allottee with the aim of strengthening its relationship with the Sony Group over the long term, and creating new IP of the Company and maximizing the utilization of its existing IP in anime and game fields.

Through the implementation of the fund procurement, FromSoftware will aim to proactively invest in development of more powerful game IP for itself to strengthen FromSoftware’s development capabilities and will seek to establish a framework that allows the expansion of the scope of its own publishing in the significantly growing global market. In addition to these purposes, for an increase of the number of users in the global market for game IP that FromSoftware creates and develops, FromSoftware decided to conduct the Third-Party Allotment to Sixjoy within the Tencent Group, which has strength in its capabilities to develop and deploy mobile games and other network technologies in the global market including China, and SIE within the Sony Group, which has strength in its capabilities to deploy IP in games, videos and various other media in the global market, concurrently and separately.

2. Outline of Third-party Allotment

  • Payment Period: From September 7, 2022 to September 12, 2022
  • Number of New Shares to Be Issued: 3,179 shares of common stock
  • Issuance Price: 11,450,000 yen per share
  • Capital to Be Acquire [274 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/gungho-online-entertainment/acquire”>Acquired: 36,399,550,000 yen
  • Method of Subscription or Allotment (Scheduled Subscriber): By way of a third-party allotment (Sixjoy 1,703 shares, SIE 1,476 shares)
  • Shareholding Ratio After Issuance:
    • Kadokawa Corporation: 69.66%
    • Sixjoy Hong Kong Limited: 16.25%
    • Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.: 14.09%

(Note) Payment related to the Third-Party Allotment, which is expected to be made on September 7, 2022, may take place on another day during the above payment period due to procedures required for international remittance, among other factors.

3. Use of the Capital (Total Paid-In Capital: 36,399,550,000 yen)

  • Specific Use of Funds:
    • For strengthening FromSoftware’s capabilities to create and develop game IP.
    • For establishing a framework that allows expansion of the scope of FromSoftware’s own publishing in the global market.

4. Outline of Subsidiary Subject to Capital Increase

    • Title: FromSoftware, Inc.
    • Location: 2-26-2 Sasazuka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
    • Title / Name of Representative: Hidetaka Miyazaki [25 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/people/hidetaka-miyazaki”>Hidetaka Miyazaki, Representative Director and President
    • Business Contents:
      • Planning, development, sales regarding game software.
      • Planning and development of internet content.
    • Capital: 268,500,000 yen
  • Date of Establishment: November 1, 1986
  • Major Shareholders and Their Shareholding Ratios:
  • Relationship between the listed company and the relevant company:
    • Capital relationships The Company holds 100% of the outstanding shares of the company.
    • Personnel relationships Two officers of the Company are seconded to the relevant company.
    • Business relationships The Company and the relevant company have business transactions.

5. Outline of Scheduled Subscribers

  • Title: Sixjoy Hong Kong Limited
  • Location: 29/F., Three Pacific Place, No. 1 Queen’s Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong
  • Title / Name of Representative: Wang Zheng, Director; Ai Ximin, Director; Byun Jung-won Elizabeth, Director; and Tse Cheuk Yin Tiffany, Director
  • Business Contents: Licensing and publishing of mobile games.
  • Capital: 1,000 Hong Kong dollars
  • Date of Establishment: February 28, 2011
  • Major Shareholders and Their Shareholding Ratios:
    • Tencent Holdings Limited:
  • Relationship Between the Listed Company and the Relevant Company:
    • Capital Relationships:
      • The relevant company is a holder of 9,724,400 shares (ratio of ownership voting rights: 6.86%) of the Company’s stock (Note 1).
    • Personnel Relationships:
    • Business Relationships:
      • The Company and the Tencent Group have maintained a strategic partnership in the publishing business through a joint venture company in Guangzhou, China since 2016. In addition, the Company, Tencent Japan, and the allottee Sixjoy entered into a business alliance agreement as of October 29, 2021 to strengthen their strategic alliance in the animation business.

(Note 1): This item is based on the large shareholder report submitted by Sixjoy on November 16, 2021.

(Note 2): In the share subscription agreement that the Company and FromSoftware entered into with Sixjoy the Company and FromSoftware have received a representation and warranty from Sixjoy that it is not an antisocial force and it has no relationships with antisocial forces. The Company also commissioned JP Research & Consulting, Inc.

(Address: 3-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Keisuke Furuno, Representative Director), an independent research organization, to conduct an investigation. The report they produced states that there are no facts that indicate Sixjoy is involved with antisocial forces. Based on the above, the Company determined that Sixjoy, Tencent, their officers and major shareholders have no relationships with antisocial forces.

  • Title: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
  • Location: 1-7-1, Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo
  • Title / Name of Representative: Jim Ryan, Representative Director and President
  • Business Contents:
    • Planning, development, and sales of hardware, software, content, and network services for PlayStation [40,966 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation”>PlayStation.
    • Planning, development, and sales of “toio,” software, and content.
  • Capital: 110,000,000 yen
  • Date of Establishment: April 1, 2010
  • Major Shareholders and Their Shareholding Ratios:
  • Relationship Between the Listed Company and the Relevant Company:
    • Capital Relationships:
      • Sony, the parent of the relevant company, is a holder of 2,844,950 shares (ratio of ownership voting rights: 2.01%) of the Company’s stock (as of the end of March 2022).
    • Personnel Relationships:
    • Business Relationships:
      • The Company engages in transactions such as the sale and purchase of finished products and services with Sony and its affiliated companies.

(Note) In the share subscription agreement entered into with SIE, the Company and FromSoftware received a representation and warranty from SIE that it and its officers are not an antisocial force and they have no relationships with antisocial forces in reference to the share subscription agreement. Sony, the parent company of SIE, is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. By confirming its basic stance for the elimination of antisocial forces and establishment of relevant systems therefor, which were referred to as matters concerning the internal control systems in the Corporate Governance Report that Sony submitted to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. on July 5, 2022 the Company determined that Sony and its officers had no connection whatsoever with antisocial forces.

6. Schedule for the Third-Party Allotment

  • Resolution of the Board of Directors and General Shareholder Meeting of FromSoftware: August 31, 2022
  • Date of Share Subscription Agreement Regarding the Third-Party Allotment: August 31, 2022
  • Payment Period: From September 7, 2022 to September 12, 2022

(Note) Payment for this third-party allotment is scheduled to be made on September 7, 2022.

7. Future Outlook

The Company believes that the Third-Party Allotment will contribute to the medium- to long-term improvement of the Group’s corporate value, while the impact of the Third-Party Allotment on the Company’s consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 is expected, at the time of this report, to be minor. When there is a need for the disclosure of information, the Company will promptly provide the information.

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Sports

Seeking backup options behind Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings acquire quarterback Nick Mullens from Las Vegas Raiders

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EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings acquired quarterback Nick Mullens from the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday for a conditional 2024 draft pick, giving them an additional option behind starter Kirk Cousins amid an uneven summer for his incumbent backups.

Mullens will get a chance to unseat Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond, who have been competing for the job. Neither has stood out in training camp or in two preseason games, where the two have split reps evenly. Coach Kevin O’Connell declined to endorse either of them after Saturday night’s 17-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, during which they combined to complete 20 of 35 passes for 147 yards, with Mond throwing two interceptions.

“Ultimately you would have loved to come out of the night feeling like, shoot, they both moved the team and scored a lot of points and we’ve got a heck of a hard discussion and conversation ahead as a staff and as an organization,” O’Connell said Saturday night. “Although we didn’t do that, I still think there were some real teachable moments and then some real moments where we’ll be able to evaluate and kind of really look at where we are at that position as we kind of restack everything to go into this week to see how we need to allow those guys to compete.

“Because as we’ve talked about, in my mind the clock is going. Although I feel like our starters are in a great spot for Sept. 11, and that’s where our emphasis is really on, there’s a lot of jobs that we have to still allow to play themselves out so we feel good about the overall depth of our team, and we’ll certainly allow that in practice this week.”

Mullens started 16 games for the San Francisco 49ers from 2018 through 2020, playing in an offense similar to the one O’Connell is installing with the Vikings. He added one start last season for the Cleveland Browns, but he was behind Derek Carr and Jarrett Stidham on the Raiders’ depth chart this summer.

The Vikings overhauled their football operations this offseason, but new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah decided to bring back all three of their 2021 quarterbacks for training camp. Cousins signed a contract extension, and Mannion signed a one-year deal. Mond was a third-round pick in the 2021 draft and has not looked ready to take over as a No. 2 quarterback this summer.

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