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Once Aaron Rodgers decided, with the help of a monstrous contract, to return to the Green Bay Packers it seemed the NFC North race was already over.

The Packers have won three NFC North championships in a row. The Packers might not be quite as good as previous years, but it's not like the rest of the division is positioned to beat them.

The Packers are the third biggest favorite to win their division in BetMGM's odds, behind only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills. That speaks to the rest of the NFC North as much as the strength of the Packers.

The Packers lead the NFC North odds by a significant gap.

Packers -175

Minnesota Vikings +275

Chicago Bears +900

Detroit Lions +900

The Packers still have a strong team, though they took a huge hit in the offseason. Green Bay traded Davante Adams, arguably the best receiver in football and one of the most valuable non-quarterbacks in the NFL, to the Las Vegas Raiders. Green Bay didn't do much to replace him. They signed unreliable Sammy Watkins and drafted Christian Watson, making the transition from FCS North Dakota State, in the second round. It's an odd pairing: the NFL's back-to-back MVP with one of the thinnest receiver rooms in the league.

The Packers are still good on the offensive line, at running back and they made moves to improve the defense. If the loss of Adams and perhaps a little bit of regression from a 13-4 season knocks the Packers back a bit, it wouldn't be a big surprise.

But they can take a step back and still win the division.

The Packers and Aaron Rodgers are looking for a fourth straight division title. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Even if the Packers aren't quite as good as the past two seasons, when they got back-to-back No. 1 seeds in the NFC, who would you trust to beat them?

The Vikings have the second-best odds, and maybe a coaching change will help. They fired Mike Zimmer and hired former Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell. But Minnesota has been stuck in mediocrity for a while. They did OK in free agency but there still should be questions if the roster, with a rookie head coach, can surpass the Packers.

The Bears and Lions are further behind. The Bears seem set on a slow rebuild and didn't invest much in getting second-year quarterback Justin Fields any help. Chicago also has a first-time head coach in Matt Eberflus. The Lions were more competitive than expected last season but there's still a reason the Lions ended up with the second overall pick of this year's draft. There are reasons to believe the Lions can improve this season, but it's hard to buy them passing the Packers. Maybe the Lions are a little interesting at 9-to-1 odds, but it's still the Lions.

It's difficult to lay -175 odds on the Packers winning the division, given a few vulnerabilities. It's even harder finding a team you can realistically see knocking them off.

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NFL division betting: Can anyone challenge the Packers in the NFC North? - Yahoo Sports

When news hit that Kevin Durant was seeking a trade from the Brooklyn Nets and titanically shifting the NBA landscape, again, in the process, there was probably one team already celebrating.

It obviously wasn't the Nets, who did everything they could to acquire Durant and keep him happy. It wasn't the Phoenix Suns, reported by Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes to a preferred destination for Durant. It wasn't any Eastern Conference contender who just watched the collapse of a prospective superteam.

No, we're talking about the Houston Rockets, who could be on the verge of a very enjoyable decade if the Nets hit hard times.

Let's rewind back to Jan. 13, 2021.

After weeks of drama, the Houston Rockets relented and granted James Harden his trade request. The former MVP was sent to Brooklyn, where he'd play alongside his old teammate Durant (and then request another trade a little more than a year later).

For Harden, the Nets gave up promising young players Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert, as well as a metric ton of draft picks. Here's the full collection:

2021 first-round pick swap with Nets

2022 unprotected Nets first-round pick (since became Tari Eason, No. 17 overall)

2022 conditional Bucks first-round pick (since became MarJon Beauchamp, No. 24 overall)

2023 first-round pick swap with Nets

2024 unprotected Nets first-round pick

2025 first-round pick swap with Nets

2026 unprotected Nets first-round pick

2027 first-round pick swap with Nets

Basically, the Rockets have every Nets first-round draft pick until 2027, all unprotected, or the right to swap first-rounders if the Nets have the better pick. Which is fine if you're the Nets, because you're about to have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden for the foreseeable future. As long as you have that trio, you're probably making the playoffs and picking in the 20s for at least the next half-decade.

But if, say, the Nets' relationship with all three players were to sour and the team were forced to trade all of them away at a loss, leaving them with lesser players and draft selections, those picks are suddenly looking very valuable.

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The Houston Rockets have plenty of reason to thank Kevin Durant. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The Rockets were already looking good for the future thanks to a pair of top-three picks in Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr., plus a collection of other solid young players. But the opportunity to build on that young talent while enjoying a pipeline of draft picks from a different, ailing team? That comes up only once in about a decade.

Like what happened with the Nets last decade.

The Nets betting big on veteran stars, trading every draft pick in sight and falling flat on their face should sound familiar, especially if you're a Boston Celtics fans.

Nine years ago, almost to the day, the Nets traded three unprotected first-round draft picks, a pick swap in 2017 and a plethora of players to acquire Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Celtics. Like when they signed Durant and Irving, the Nets were hoping to leap into the NBA's class of contenders and make the draft picks they sent away negligible in value.

Most basketball fans know what happened next. Garnett and Pierce played like they were past their prime and neither lasted two seasons in Brooklyn. Meanwhile, those Nets picks turned into the No. 17 overall pick in the 2014 draft (James Young), the No. 3 pick in the 2016 draft (Jaylen Brown) and the No. 8 pick in the 2018 draft (Collin Sexton, traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers). That 2017 pick swap also turned into the No. 1 pick in 2017, which was turned into the No. 3 pick (Jayson Tatum) and the No. 14 pick in the 2019 draft (Romeo Langford).

The Celtics reached the NBA Finals this year with Tatum and Brown running the show while the Nets languished for years until rebuilding to the point that Durant and Irving wanted to join them.

The Rockets will be hoping history repeats for the Nets over the next half-decade.

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Why the Rockets are the biggest winners from Kevin Durant's trade request - Yahoo Sports

(Bloomberg) -- Not many industry experts would shrug off a 35% drop for the S&P 500, but six-decade Wall Street veteran George Ball says a fall of that magnitude would be a normal adjustment.

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Ball, chairman of Houston-based investment firm Sanders Morris Harris, predicts the S&P 500 will bottom at 3,100 from its all-time high of 4,796 in January. While he said the plummet will be uncomfortable, he doesnt consider the outlook to be too grim, in part because of the huge gains the market racked up after the pandemic low.

We all have the tendency to count down from the top and it doesnt make any sense, Ball said by phone. Its an erosion of gains rather than the accumulation of terrible losses. A decline to 3,100 is a fairly normal cyclical adjustment, wiping out excesses of both economic stimulus and in psychology.

Throughout the easy-money era that made up much of the pandemic, valuation multiples had been as high as 24-times forward earnings. This year, however, sentiment has skewed lower and profit margins may be the next shoe to drop, he said. Corporate earnings will be a focus going forward, especially since analysts have been slow to revise forecasts meaningfully lower, Ball said.

Analysts like to be liked, he said. Particularly during good times, they anticipate that management and companies will beat earnings estimates and so they inflate somewhat to lead the target.

Read More: Morgan Stanleys Shalett Says Analysts Are Deer in Headlights

Ball, who began his career as a stockbroker at E.F. Hutton, stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of brokerage firm Prudential Bache Securities in 1991 after the firm lost roughly $300 million during his nearly nine years as head, according to the New York Times.

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The S&P Index is down more than 20% this year as the Federal Reserve aggressively raised interest rates to cool the hottest inflation in 40 years. The Feds more hawkish tightening path, combined with expectations for a downshift in earnings forecasts, factored into Balls lower S&P call.

I believe that the Fed is going to be more steadfast in stomping out inflation than what is going to be politically popular and is going to be more steadfast than I and others had thought a month ago, Ball said.

(Adds information on Balls role with Prudential Bache Securities)

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2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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60-Year Wall Street Veteran Says S&P 500 Will Sink to 3,100 - Yahoo Finance

Right around the time the last good teams fielded by the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals were fading, baseball gifted them a rosier path forward. In rapid succession, the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros vaulted from 100-loss depths to the playoffs and then to World Series titles. Instead of having good teams and bad teams, MLB fans quickly found that they were watching either good teams, disappointing teams or rebuilding teams.

These were franchises that had certainly experienced the best of times and the worst of times. The Royals suffered through almost 30 years of irrelevance before general manager Dayton Moores seemingly doomed focus on homegrown talent achieved critical mass with two World Series appearances and one ring in 2014 and 2015. The miserable 2003 Tigers lost 119 games with little buoyant hope for the future, but from 2006-14 the club finished over .500 in all but one season, made two World Series and minted two generational legends.

That those golden eras had to end, likely with dips back into cellar-dwelling days, wasnt news. What had changed was the level of intention behind the losing, or at least the branding of it.

The Astros under GM Jeff Luhnow (later fired over the sign-stealing scandal) and the Cubs under Theo Epstein dispensed with the notion of giving an honest effort every year and sold a few painful years as the price of a championship. The fact that they delivered lent legitimacy to the tactic, to the idea of running out a bad baseball team.

As Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas approached the end of their contracts in Kansas City, Moore initially resisted the idea that the window of contention was closing. But he eventually acknowledged the wings front offices had grown, a blend of trust and piqued prospect interest that allowed teams to coast through three, four, five seasons of failure without revolt.

Baseball fans, although they may get frustrated with the lack of wins at the major-league level at times, they enjoy the process of building a team, building an organization, being able to relate to the future stars, whoever theyre going to be, Moore told Buster Olney. And they get to play general manager, and scouting director and farm director right along with our leadership team.

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The assumption, based on those Cubs and Astros teams, was that enough losing would refuel the engines of winning soon enough. And the fans would feel connected to the players they had followed from the start.

What if the winning doesnt come, though?

The Royals, in the fifth year of their rebuilding stage, are 27-47. The Al Avila-led Tigers, in their sixth year of rebuilding, are 29-45. They each have top prospects in the lineup, draft spoils in the rotation. Yet theres an anxiety bubbling up through it all, that the result of these rebuilds are teams that need to be rebuilt again to compete.

The era of intentional rebuilding or tanking, if you please has begun to spit out cases where clubs that sent themselves down the mountain arent picking up enough speed to get back over the hump. Some, like the Phillies, have spent lavishly to try to add the necessary oomph. The Tigers started throwing money around this winter. The question nonetheless looms: When do we stop giving a stalled rebuild the benefit of the doubt? When do we revert to calling losing by its name?

Bobby Witt Jr. is the most promising young Royals player, but they will need more talent than just his to return to contention. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)

The more teams have tried it, the more the Cubs and Astros almost procedural marches from the self-imposed depths to mountaintop have appeared anomalies rather than the norm.

The Braves tore it down prior to 2015, focusing on young pitching before an international signing scandal got architect John Coppolella banned from baseball. Still, they scooped up stars in Ronald Acua Jr. and Ozzie Albies, new GM Alex Anthopoulos shot the moon at the 2021 trade deadline and, voila, a World Series banner is hanging in Atlanta.

The Phillies efforts, started in earnest in 2015, fizzled with disappointing prospects. The results are a bit more complicated to assess because they supplemented the meager fruits of their rebuild with Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto and Zack Wheeler. They havent reached the playoffs, but played .500 ball in 2019 and 2021.

The Padres' retrenchment under A.J. Preller began in 2016 and landed them in the NLDS in its fifth season.

The White Sox made it to the playoffs in the fourth season after their winter meetings sell-off bonanza prior to 2017.

The Tigers started down Rebuild Road in 2017 and the Royals and Baltimore Orioles followed in 2018. The Orioles were, much like the early 2000s Astros, in a state of total organizational disrepair. So they brought in a new regime led by former Astros deputy Mike Elias to run that playbook.

So far, Detroits second-half ride to 77-85 in 2021 is the high-water mark for that cohort. It was widely expected that at least one of them would break through and challenge to contend or at least break .500 this season, and the Tigers bought in on their own potential by adding Javy Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez in free agency.

That idea has turned sour. It's no shame to hit a skid in the road back to the top sometimes, but the Tigers' and Royals' struggles are confidence-shaking, so much so that the Orioles, 35-41 heading into Wednesdays action, might now be the closest of the bunch to contention.

Nothing about developing young baseball players and assembling winning teams in the majors is linear, but the clock is starting to tick nervously in Kansas City and especially Detroit.

Lets start with the good.

The Royals have perhaps the most promising rookie in the game. Bobby Witt Jr., who plays shortstop and third base, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft and just turned 22. Fantasy players will know he already has 11 homers and 12 steals, but hes also shown considerable improvement since the start of the season, turning a .247 April on-base percentage into a .321 mark in June with no additional strikeouts and more power. If he won an MVP award in the next five years, it would not come as a huge surprise.

The Tigers bright spot has probably been left-handed starter Tarik Skubal. The funky Skubal dominated to start the season, but has stumbled in June. Proof of concept in the form of a 2.15 ERA after 10 starts is a win for this team, but its a rare one.

Detroits version of Witt should be Spencer Torkelson. A prodigious college hitter they grabbed with the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, Torkelson took over the starting first baseman job this season. He has not exactly run with it. Hes sporting an ugly .190/.283/.290 slash line, with numbers actually getting worse from month to month.

The decay on the Royals side is happening with its pitchers. All of them. No pitcher with more than one start has managed an average ERA, even though the team devoted a raft of four 2018 first-round picks to near-ready college arms. And as the Kansas City Star pointed out this month, those prized pitchers arent progressing at the big-league level.

The talent spigot hasnt run dry for either team. Detroit recently called up Riley Greene, a strapping outfielder who was among the top 10 prospects in baseball. Kansas City is just starting to find out what catcher MJ Melendez and slugger Vinnie Pasquantino can do.

Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson has struggled mightily in his first taste of the big leagues. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

See, in addition to giving fans hope, the rebranding of rebuilding gave front offices cover. The Seattle Mariners Jerry Dipoto is testing the limits of that leeway alongside Moore and Avila, but their situations feel different.

They have resisted the turnover, the hunt for talent under every rock, that characterizes more recent rebuilds and even a shift away from them as a strategy. Everyone thought the San Francisco Giants would blow up its veteran core when Farhan Zaidi took over prior to 2019. Instead, they invested in making those veterans and a dizzying array of new faces constantly cycling in and out of the organization better through a focus on player development.

Now, there is undoubtedly some virtue in loyalty. Moore won plaudits for his commitment to Royals employees during the pandemic. If Witt truly is a star, Royals fans should feel confident he will work out a way to keep him instead of selling him off in a demoralizing value play.

It can also have the unfortunate side effect of creating stasis in an ever-evolving game.

Detroit held on to the stars of its previous contenders too long squeezing out minimal returns for Justin Verlander, J.D. Martinez and others. Avila declined to trade pitchers Matthew Boyd and Michael Fulmer at the peak of their powers. Kansas City has played the same (losing) waiting game with Whit Merrifield.

Whats missing from the equations in Detroit and Kansas City are the opportunistic gains of churn. The Astros unearthed and polished Jose Altuve and Dallas Keuchel. The Cubs sanded away the rough edges of Jake Arrieta. Other teams like the Padres accumulated such a glut of appealing prospects they traded them for established stars like Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove to speed up their return to contention.

Who, in other words, have the Tigers and Royals made better during their lean periods? What payoff are they seeing from half a decade with virtually no opportunity costs discouraging them from trying to maximize every shred of talent they can get their hands on?

The Tigers spent on Baez and Rodriguez, certainly a good-faith effort, but they have been disappointing and injured, respectively, in their first season. The Royals have overseen a bounce back to form for Andrew Benintendi, but also clogged up innings and playing time with a string of declining veterans.

Even when things arent going as planned, more future-focused gains should be evident.

The Tigers are on track to field one of the worst offenses of all time, scoring only 3 runs per game where the (already paltry) league average is 4.33. The Royals pitching staff, meanwhile, ranks dead last in the majors in K-BB% the difference between strikeout percentage and walk percentage, a crucial measure of effectiveness.

In a lot of ways, the en vogue rebuilds of 2012-15 have given way to a more familiar binary. There will always be different stages of contention, different circumstances around each season, but this question must be asked: Are you ahead or are you behind?

In both the standings and the times, the Tigers and Royals seem to have some catching up to do.

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When do the Tigers and Royals have to admit that 'rebuilding' has turned into plain old losing? - Yahoo Sports

James Harden will decline the $47.4 million option on his contract for the 2022-23 NBA season with the Philadelphia 76ers, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. He intends to work out a new contract with the team when NBA free agency opens, per the report.

He was always eligible this offseason for a maximum contract worth roughly $270 million over the next five years, regardless of whether or not he picked up the option, and that remains the case after this decision.

Asked in the aftermath of this past season if he plans to stay in Philadelphia, Harden said, "I'll be here."

Offering Harden anything close to his max salary would mean wildly overpaying a one-time MVP in steep decline. His average has dipped from a historically efficient 33.7 points per game from 2017-20, when he led the league in scoring each year, to 22 points on 41/33/88 shooting splits in 65 games for the Sixers and Brooklyn Nets last season. His production during Philadelphia's second-round playoff exit was worse.

This coming season will send James Harden's career earnings north of $300 million. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Over the past two years, Harden has quit on the Nets and Houston Rockets, reporting to both teams out of shape and forcing trades from each. It is no coincidence he has battled hamstring injuries since April 2021.

Harden left a chance to win a championship with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on the Oklahoma City Thunder in favor of a more prominent role with the Rockets in 2012. The move translated to incredible statistical and financial success, as six top-five MVP finishes sent his career earnings north of $300 million.

His heliocentric brand of basketball has also fractured partnerships with All-NBA stars Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Westbrook, Durant and Kyrie Irving over the past six years. Still, the Sixers tied prime years of back-to-back MVP runner-up Joel Embiid to Harden in a February trade that sent Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two future first-round draft picks to the Nets. The move was made by former Rockets and current Sixers executive Daryl Morey, who has linked his career to Harden's for a decade.

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The hope is that Harden's recommitment to Morey will result in a healthy career resurgence for a 33-year-old. The question is how much longer Philadelphia wants to tie the careers of Embiid and Harden together.

Harden indicated at season's end he could be open to a contract that pays him less than his full max, telling reporters, "Whatever allows this team to grow and get better and do the things necessary to win."

Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer reported earlier this month that Harden and the Sixers were expected to reach an agreement on a shorter-term contract extension this summer, and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski later confirmed that report, hinting at "a significant commitment" that runs through the 2024-25 season.

That would bring Embiid past his 31st birthday and halfway through the four-year maximum contract extension he recently signed. Embiid has made clear anything short of a championship is a failure in his mind, and Harden has delivered everything but a title. Something must give next season, or the Sixers run the risk of losing a disgruntled franchise player to trade demands, a feeling familiar to Morey in Houston.

Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

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NBA free agency 2022: James Harden reportedly declines $47M option with 76ers, intends to return on new deal - Yahoo Sports

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. Last week, the PGA Tour announced increased pay and new events among other measures to combat the Saudi-funded LIV tour.

How does that hit the LIV golfers?

"I think it's great for the guys out there, that LIV maybe made other tours to elevate their possibilities," Martin Kaymer said Wednesday. "I think it's good for all the players. I think the bottom line is it's great for the members of the tour, but somehow it comes across that everybody is fighting against each other. That's not the case, or that shouldn't be the case."

Kaymer and his LIV colleagues may not be interested in trading barbs, but those are still coming their way. As LIV stages its first stateside tournament and second overall this week at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club outside Portland, it does so amid further criticism from Rory McIroy, who said players who left the PGA Tour to join LIV did so in "duplicitous" fashion, and several Oregon officials including Senator Ron Wyden, who note Saudi Arabia's ugly human rights record.

With more big names signing with LIV in recent days, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan unveiled changes for the 2023 season designed to retain talent. That includes a prize money increase of several million dollars at eight of the PGA Tour's prime tournaments, as well as a calendar-year schedule to relax the demand on its golfers, which is one of LIV's appeals besides the untold gobs of cash thrown players' way.

It doesn't, however, sound like there's much regret on the LIV side.

"For me personally, Im happy for the guys on the PGA Tour," Sergio Garcia said. "I'm happy that they can enjoy that. I'll just say it that way."

Was there anything the Tour could have done to stop more players from leaving? Garcia, Kaymer and Lee Westwood all mentioned transparency and communication as pitfalls, without delving into specifics.

(Left to right) LIV golfers Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia responded Wednesday to the PGA Tour's increased prize money and other changes. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf/via Getty Images)

They also expressed disappointment with the European Tour, which just announced a 13-year partnership extension with the PGA Tour and recently fined LIV players $120,000 each and banned them from participating in three of its next four events. The exception is The Open Championship, which has already announced LIV players can compete next month at St. Andrews in Scotland.

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"I've been a European Tour member for 29 years," said Westwood, who like Kaymer and Garcia is a European native, "and a lot of those years I've also been a member of the PGA Tour as well, and the European Tour, as long as I've played my four (events to retain membership), have never had any problems with me playing anywhere else. And now it seems to be a problem.

"Yeah, communication, and as far as fines and sanctions and things like that, I'm disappointed."

Monahan has been outspoken against Saudi Arabia and its seemingly bottomless sovereign wealth fund, which finances LIV Golf.

Less than two events in, LIV players are already seasoned veterans at dancing around those questions. But they're also stressing that their own handsome compensation is a net good among golfers.

"I think when we look back in 12 months' time, yeah, there were some issues. There were some difficulties. But I strongly believe in all the tours," Kaymer said. "... If LIV Golf helps the PGA Tour and the European Tour to provide even better playing opportunities and financially to support players even more, I think it's a win-win."

"Competition is good," Westwood added. "Keep it simple."

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Here's what LIV golfers think of the PGA Tour's increased prize money, other changes - Yahoo Sports

As the second event of the LIV Golf Series is set to begin Thursday in Oregon, many are speculating about who might be the next PGA Tour player to jump to the Saudi-backed league.

One website, Bookies.com, has already put odds on the next player who will make the leap and ultimately grab as much cash as possible. According to a release from the site, it examined public comments from the remaining 21 players in order to look at the odds that any one of them will jump ship and commit to LIV in the near future.

Is it pure speculation? Most definitely. Rory McIlroy, as you might expect after his comments about those who have left the PGA Tour, is a long shot. However, the site has a number of prominent players listed as favorites to be the next to sell out.

Here are the odds listed by the website:

Patrick Cantlay +350

2022 RBC Heritage

Patrick Cantlay reacts after making birdie on the 11th green during the final round of the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links on April 17, 2022 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Hideki Matsuyama +350

Hideki Matsuyama PGA Championship - Round 2

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan reacts to his birdie putt on the third green during the second round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club on May 20, 2022 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Viktor Hovland +450

2022 U.S. Open

Viktor Hovland reacts after a putt on the eighth green during the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

Daniel Berger +450

2022 Players Championship

Daniel Berger plays his shot from the 15th tee during the final round of the 2022 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Tony Finau +450

2022 U.S. Open

Tony Finau plays his shot from a bunker on the 17th hole during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Will Zalatoris +600

Will Zalatoris lines up a putt on the 18th green during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament on Jun 19, 2022 in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

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Collin Morikawa +600

2022 U.S. Open

Collin Morikawa looks on during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Sungjae Im +600

2022 Masters

Sungjae Im looks over the No. 6 green during the second round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Course. (Katie Goodale-Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY Sports)

Cameron Smith +650

Cameron Smith of Australia looks at his golf ball on the 14th green during Round 1 of the 122nd U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club on June 16, 2022, in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Xander Schauffele +650

Xander Schauffele's hat - Dressed for Success

Xander Schauffele talks with his caddie on the third fairway during the first round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament (Vincent Carchietta USA TODAY Sports)

Matt Fitzpatrick +800

2022 U.S. Open

Matthew Fitzpatrick poses with the trophy after winning the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)

Sam Burns +800

2022 Travelers Championship

Sam Burns walks on the 12th hole during the second round of Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 24, 2022 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Joaquin Niemann +800

Joaquin Niemann plays a shot from a bunker on the fourth hole during the first round of the Honda Classic. (Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)

Billy Horschel +900

Billy Horschel celebrates an eagle putt on 15 during the final round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 5, 2022.(Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK)

Max Homa +900

2022 Wells Fargo Championship

Caddie Joe Greiner and Max Homa hold the trophies after winning the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. (Photo: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports)

Shane Lowry +1000

2022 RBC Canadian Open

Matt Fitzpatrick of England and Shane Lowry of Ireland walk to the 13th green during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open at St. Georges Golf and Country Club on June 09, 2022 in Etobicoke, Ontario. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Scottie Scheffler +1000

2022 U.S. Open

Scottie Scheffler and caddie Ted Scott walk to the second green during the third round of the U.S. Open. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Jon Rahm +2000

2022 U.S. Open

Jon Rahm lines up a putt on the 17th green during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Justin Thomas +2000

Justin Thomas

Justin Thomas reacts after missing a putt at the sixth hole during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open golf tournament. (Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)

Jordan Spieth +2000

Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth and his caddie Michael Greller at Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy +3000

2022 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands

Rory McIlroy talks with his caddie on the ninth tee during the third round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

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Who will be next to make the jump to LIV Golf? Gambling site has Patrick Cantlay, Hideki Matsuyama as the leaders - Yahoo Sports

Health inequity is costing the U.S. health system billions of dollars annually, and could reach $1 trillion by 2040, according to a new report from Deloitte.

But, according to the report's authors, there is one bright spot on the horizon. Boards of health companies are increasingly focused on addressing inequity.

Health equity became a popular phrase during the pandemic and following the murder of George Floyd as calls grew to address systemic inequities in the U.S.

For years, studies have underlined the need to address health inequities, and numerous pilot programs have been tested to provide more efficient health care, but no scalable solutions have ever been realized.

Deloitte estimates that health inequities account for $320 billion in annual health care spending today, or cost about $1,000 per American annually. Its analysis projected the trajectory of unnecessary healthcare spend that is higher among poorer populations and minorities. Researchers analyzed five diseases that predominantly affect these populations, including heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, colorectal cancer and asthma.

The researchers analyzed five high-cost diseases diabetes, heart disease, asthma, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer and determined common health disparities among the patient populations. They then used this data to establish the proportion of spending that could be attributed to health inequities.

Neal Batra, a principal in Deloittes Life Sciences and Health Care practice, said the key to tackle the issue is pressure from consumers and investors.

"You have more energy and attention around it than ever before. What we also know is that this topic is a genuine topic of discussion at the board and C-suite level in a way it's never been before," Batra said.

"I think boards care about this because investors care about this. I think investors care about this because they genuinely believe consumers care about this. And they believe consumers care about this, in large part, because of...George Floyd," he added.

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A demonstrator holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manhattan, New York, U.S., June 13, 2020. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

And the business case has now become intimately tied to the ethical case.

"I think investors care about this because they recognize that if they are on the wrong side of this narrative...your business can get punished very quickly and very severely," Batra said.

But there are multiple ways the industry has to respond, the report said.

"Health care incumbents, industry disruptors, community organizations, and government agencies each have a role to play in removing the barriers that lead to health inequities and turning unaffordable costs into opportunities," the authors wrote.

There has been lots of M&A activity in recent years, and concerns remain about whether or not regional monopolies and scale translate to savings. But Batra said the country is seeing a surge in small players that could be true disruptors, as more virtual options appear and technology gains footing in the health space.

"I'm actually calling this the age of fragmentation. Where you have enormous explosion of smaller enterprises that are showing up in these spaces to do it differently," he said.

Which is what the latest report aims to highlight, especially for larger entities.

"I think this guidance is meant to help the large enterprises move, but ... change never comes from the incumbents. It comes from pressure from the outside, and the incumbents reacting. And I think we are in that moment right now," Batra said.

Andy Davis, a principal for Deloitte Consulting LLPs Health Care practice, said among the incumbents, insurers in particular are still getting a grip on their role.

"I think they're just starting to see some of the impacts they can have around what they offer around products, what they offer on solutions, how they actually reach out to individuals," he said.

"That all, at some point, comes back to premium and what you end up having to pass on to the consumer, which is pretty unsustainable," he said.

The federal government has taken a lead in trying to find a model, with society inequity adjustments, rather than just risk adjustment, in Medicare and Medicaid.

But all of this, despite years of focus on population health and social determinants of health, is still in the beginning stages, Davis said.

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Investors, consumers are pushing the health care industry to tackle health inequity: Deloitte - Yahoo Finance

Rob Manfred has some big plans for the next few years. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Just because MLB has a new collective bargaining agreement doesn't mean MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is done tinkering with the sport he has been charged with stewarding.

In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr., Manfred hinted at multiple on-field reforms he would like to see reach the big leagues in the near future, from robot umpires to an increased number of teams.

Such changes have been a stated intention of Manfred's for years, but he presented some of them in more real terms than previously seen, most notably throwing out a potential timeline for the introduction of automated balls and strikes, or robot umps.

Manfred apparently wants to see the change by the 2024 season, with the possibility of giving managers several challenges for calls during a game.

From ESPN:

In 2024, Manfred says, the automated ball-strike zone system, or as it's commonly called, "robot umpires," will likely be introduced. One possibility is for the automated system to call every pitch and transmit the balls and strikes to a home plate umpire via an ear piece. Another option is a replay review system of balls and strikes with each manager getting several challenges a game. The system is being tested in the minor leagues and has shaved nine additional minutes off the average game length this season, MLB data shows. "We have an automated strike zone system that works," Manfred says.

As in other interviews, Manfred again banged the drum of a pitch clock, in which pitchers would get 14 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 18 or 19 seconds with runners on base. ESPN reports the current average between-pitch time to be 23.8 seconds, with MLB reportedly projecting an average of 30 minutes shaved off games.

The clocks have been used in the minor leagues for a while, with encouraging results according to MLB. There have been, of course, detractors in the past.

Manfred also hinted that MLB's often-criticized blackouts, in which streaming fans are forbidden from watching games involving teams from their local markets. The commissioner claimed MLB is keen to phase the practice out:

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"Our No. 1 business priority right now is reach," Manfred says. The topic was a main discussion at an owners meeting in June. "Believe me," he says, "we hate blackouts as much as fans do." Manfred notes that the blackout clauses are written into broadcast deals which he has overseen but he says it's now a "top priority" for MLB to phase them out.

Such a sentiment could be related to MLB's reported plans to introduce a streaming service for home games.

There could be more teams to stream in the future as well. Manfred hinted that a number of billionaires are interested in acquiring an expansion franchise and said he "would love to get to 32 teams."

These are topics that have frequently come up during Manfred's tenure as commissioner. He could also soon address a major one of his predecessor Bud Selig's, namely the ban of Pete Rose. The all-time MLB hits leader has reportedly submitted a third petition for reinstatement and his lawyers are arguing that the lack of repercussions for the Houston Astros demonstrates Rose has been treated unfairly.

MLB has recently embraced gambling as well, which could be another boon for Rose's argument. Then again, it could be reason for enforcing an even stronger firewall between players and gambling.

Either way, Manfred is apparently willing to hear Rose out:

"Rule 21, the gambling prohibition, is regarded to be the most important rule in baseball," Manfred said. "It is the bedrock of ensuring that our fans see fair, all-out competition, unaffected by any outside forces, on the field."

He says he will hear Rose out. "Pete will be given an opportunity to come in and be heard, if that's what he wants to do, before I make a decision," Manfred says.

Link:

Rob Manfred says he wants robot umps in MLB by 2024, hints at expansion to 32 teams - Yahoo Sports

Quishon Walker.Quishon Walker

Quishon Walker is a former recruiter at Tesla. He was laid off on June 17.

He says the layoffs were sudden and he feels for all the other people left looking for work.

This is his story, as told to the reporter Jenna Gyimesi.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Quishon Walker, a former Tesla recruiter. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I worked as a recruiter at Tesla for two months before being laid off on June 17. And I'm not alone the company is planning to lay off 10% of salaried employees.

There was no warning. I wasn't on any performance plan, and I had received nothing but positive feedback during my short stint.

And for what? All for billionaires to continue to save a little more money so they can stay afloat while uprooting the lives of thousands of people.

I previously worked at Apple and Google and consider myself a tech nerd. I was excited to work at Tesla it has always been a dream company of mine.

My job was to look for candidates to work on the Autopilot self-driving software and on the deep-learning team. I live in Austin, Texas, and worked remotely. I really loved my job and ordered two Teslas for myself, which I have since canceled.

On the last day of April, our company's CEO, Elon Musk, sent an email saying we needed to return to the office.

My understanding was that I would be a fully remote employee since my entire team was remote. I was transparent with my manager about my intention to work remotely when I was hired, especially since there wouldn't be anyone to collaborate with or support me if I went into the office. And they shared a lot of my concerns.

I was at an Autopilot recruiting event in California on June 2 when I got the email announcing a hiring freeze at Tesla. It was shocking for me. I hadn't been through this situation at any other point in my career.

But my colleagues reassured me that I shouldn't worry about it and that our team would be fine since Autopilot was one of Musk's priorities and personal favorites. We didn't slow down; we just started recruiting at a higher bar and made sure only exceptional candidates got through.

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It was just back-to-back-to-back. The day after the hiring-freeze announcement, we were told the company planned to reduce its salaried workforce by 10%. My colleagues were a bit on edge but still not worried. I was concerned, but I trusted their expertise since they'd been at the company longer than I had. But this was also why I was worried: As the new hire, I didn't have the data or metrics to prove my worth on the team just yet.

Two weeks later, on June 17, while I was on a call with a candidate, I got a text from my colleague that said someone on their team had been laid off.

Once a meeting popped up on my calendar that said only "Meeting-Tesla," I knew my time at the company was coming to an end.

I joined the virtual meeting about 45 minutes later, and it was my manager and a member of human resources telling me I would be terminated immediately. They basically read off a script. I know it wasn't their fault, but I struggled to maintain my composure and not cry during the meeting.

When it ended, I took a couple of minutes and sat in shock. And then I cried.

I called my friends and told them what happened. I walked to a friend's apartment, and they made me food, and we came up with something to post on LinkedIn.

I tried to log back in to my computer within minutes of being laid off, and it said my email was inactive. I had lost access to everything.

Though I couldn't email my colleagues, I've received messages from them over LinkedIn, and they've been supportive and have helped me try to find other opportunities.

But at the end of the day this situation still sucks, especially because we're most likely at the beginning of a recession, and everything seems to get more expensive as the weeks drag on.

Now I'm on the hunt for a new job, along with thousands of others who have also been laid off. While I'm in a better financial position than most, it's still tough.

I also feel for current Tesla employees who are still at the company. Their workload just doubled, and they may feel pressured to perform and do their jobs effectively, with so many reductions in headcount across the board.

And it's especially disheartening to see so many people on LinkedIn who have been affected by layoffs but then to also see that Tesla is still hiring in so many areas at this moment.

I advise everyone to look into company culture before accepting a new position. Reach out to current employees and ask hard questions. Lean on the people closest to you and do what you need for your mental health.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

If you've been laid off and want to share your story, email Jenna Gyimesi at jgyimesi@insider.com.

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I just got laid off from my dream job at Tesla without warning. I feel like my life got uprooted so a billionaire could save some money. - Yahoo...