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The $500 million Los Angeles Dodgers’ thrilling World Series win over the Toronto Blue Jays attracted record international attention for Major League Baseball, affirmed LA’s status as the sport’s best team and drew more attention to baseball’s payroll disparity heading into what is likely to be contentious labor negotiations.Los Angeles’ 5-4, 11-inning win over Toronto in Game 7 on Saturday night capped a postseason with seven winner-take-all games, two more than any previous year.Shohei Ohtani is building a case as the sport’s best player ever with his unprecedented two-way performances, captivating audiences outside the U.S. unlike any previous player.“It just absolutely been the greatest benefit to the game that you can imagine throughout the year,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.Toronto’s success this year sparked interest throughout Canada, which gave the Blue Jays nationwide support.Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Paul Skenes and Cal Raleigh already have committed to play for the United States in next year’s World Baseball Classic, which is gaining increased interest with each addition.And MLB is negotiating to send big league players to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics during an extended All-Star break.“Players are interested in playing, whether it’s for the Team USA or any number of other teams around the world,” union head Tony Clark said. The Dodgers are already talking about a three-peat Minutes after the Dodgers became the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees, Dodgers star Freddie Freeman said matching that pinstriped power was the next goal.“The Yankees are three-time back-to-back,” he said, “so we get to use that same narrative next year.”Those Yankees are among just four instances of teams winning three or more consecutive championships alongside five by the 1949-53 Yankees, four by the 1936-39 Yankees and three by the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics. Big market spending sparks talk of salary-cap proposal Dodgers manager Dave Roberts attracted attention after the National League Championship Series sweep of Milwaukee when he yelled to Los Angeles fans: “They said the Dodgers are ruining baseball. Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”Los Angeles entered the World Series having spent $509.5 million in major league payroll and projected luxury tax, plus another $6.5 million for pitcher Roki Sasaki’s minor league signing bonus.Including Sasaki’s bonus, the Dodgers spending for its two World Series title teams totaled at least $890 million. The New York Mets, who failed to reach the playoffs this year after getting knocked out in last year’s NLCS, have spent about $860 million in 2024 and ’25.In a sign of how much payroll disparity has increased, the Athletics spent less than $150 million over the same period.Manfred repeatedly has said owners haven’t settled on their labor proposals, but the players’ association is bracing to resist a push for a salary cap. Demand for a cap from owners is what led to a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 and the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.The labor contract expires on Dec. 2, 2026, and bargaining is likely to start this winter or spring. More Japanese players likely headed to MLB Following the success of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, more Japanese players may sign with MLB teams.Munetaka Murakami, a third baseman and first baseman who turns 26 in February, is expected to be posted by the Yakult Swallows. He hit .273 with 22 homers and 47 RBIs this year, limited to 56 games by an oblique injury. A two-time Central League MVP, in 2022 he hit 56 homers to break Sadaharu Oh’s record for a Japanese-born player while becoming the youngest player to earn Japan’s Triple Crown.Kazuma Okamoto, a 29-year-old third baseman and first baseman. will be posted by the Yomiuri Giants. He has 248 homers in 11 Central League seasons, hitting 30 or more from 2018-23.Tatsuya Imai, a 27-year-old right-hander, could be posted by the Seibu Lions. He struck out 17 against Yokohama on June 17, breaking Daisuke Matsuzaka’s prior team record of 16 from 2004. Here come the robots Game 7 of the World Series was MLB’s last with human umpires making all ball/strike calls.Starting next season, the Automated Ball/Strike System will be installed in all big league ballparks and batters, catchers and pitchers will be able to appeal decisions to a high-tech system of cameras tracking each pitch and judging whether it crossed home plate within the strike zone.Each team has the ability to challenge two calls per game and a team retains its challenge if successful, similar to the regulations for video review, which has been in place for many calls since 2014. Teams that exhaust their challenges get one additional challenge in each extra inning AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb Ronald Blum, AP Baseball Writer
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Microsoft said Monday it will be shipping Nvidia‘s most advanced artificial intelligence chips to the United Arab Emirates as part of a deal approved by the U.S. Commerce Department. The Redmond, Washington software giant said licenses approved in September under stringent safeguards enable it to ship more than 60,000 Nvidia chips, including the California chipmaker’s advanced GB300 Grace Blackwell chips, for use in data centers in the Middle Eastern country. The agreement appeared to contradict President Donald Trump’s remarks in a 60 Minutes interview aired Sunday that such chips would not be exported outside the U.S. Asked by CBS News Norah ODonnell if he will allow Nvidia to sell its most advanced chips to China, Trump said he wouldnt. We will let them deal with Nvidia but not in terms of the most advanced, Trump said. The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States. The UAEs ability to access chips is tied to its pledge to invest $1.4 trillion in U.S. energy and AI-related projects, an outsized sum given its annual GDP is roughly $540 billion. The UAE ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al Otaiba, said in a statement earlier this year that the arrangement was setting a new Gold Standard for securing AI models, chips, data and access. Microsoft’s announcement Monday was part of the company’s planned $15.2 billion investment in technology in the UAE, which it says has some of the highest per-capita usage of AI. Microsoft had already accumulated in the UAE more than 21,000 of Nvidia’s graphics processor chips, known as GPUs, through licenses approved under then-President Joe Biden. Were using these GPUs to provide access to advanced AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source providers, and Microsoft itself, said a company statement.
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Its been a tough few weeks for the consumer health company Kenvue, after President Trump publicly spread unproven claims about Tylenol, one of its core subsidiary brands. Today, though, it seems like there might finally be some good news for Kenvue. This morning, Kimberly-Clark, the personal care corporation behind brands like Kleenex, Huggies, and Cottonelle, announced that its struck an agreement to acquire Kenvue (which, alongside Tylenol, also owns brands like Band-Aid, Zyrtec, and Listerine). The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2026, will proceed through a cash and stock transaction thats set to value Kenvue at around $48.7 billion. Kenvue stock was up as much as 19% in premarket trading. As of this writing, Kenvue stock is up more than 17%, while Kimberly-Clark stock is down about 12%. The proposed acquisition news comes nearly a month after President Trump spread a widely debunked claim that suggested a link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism, causing a temporary dip in Kenvue stock and posing a more serious reputational risk to the company. Now, it seems like investors are feeling hopeful about the companys latest move. What to know about Kenvue ahead of Kimberly-Clark acquisition Kenvue shares have been on a bit of a roller coaster over the past several weeks. On the morning of September 22, shares of the company dropped around 7.5% as shareholders caught wind of President Trumps plans to publicly claim that Tylenol consumption could be linked to autism. Later that afternoon, Trump did just that at a White House conference where he instructed pregnant women, around a dozen times, Dont take Tylenol. The claim that Tylenol use is connected to autism has been widely debunked by experts and is not backed by medical science. In response to Trumps comments, Kenvue disputed any link between Tylenol and autism, and warned that if pregnant mothers dont use the drug when in need, they could face a dangerous choice between suffering fevers or using riskier alternatives. The companys stock jumped back up around 6% on September 23. The recent tumult surrounding Kenvue follows several years of stock price decline for the company, which first broke off from Johnson & Johnson back in 2023. Since then, Kenvues share prices have slumped by almost 35% from their initial public offering price. Year-over-year, the companys stock is down almost 27%. In a press release published today, Mike Hsu, CEO of Kimberly-Clark, explained that acquiring Kenvue was part of a larger plan to pivot our portfolio to higher-growth, higher-margin businesses. Kirk Perry, Kenvues CEO, added, “Our combination with Kimberly-Clark unites two highly complementary portfolios filled with iconic, beloved brands and everyday essentials that people trust and count on throughout their lives. If the acquisition proceeds as planned, it will create a personal care giant that encompasses 10 different billion-dollar brands under one corporate umbrella.
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