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CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs added Hoby Milner to their bullpen on Thursday, agreeing to a $3.75 million, one-year contract with the left-hander, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move was pending a physical.

Milner matched his career high with 73 appearances for Texas this season, finishing with a 3-4 record and a 3.84 ERA. He held lefty hitters to a .208 batting average and a .526 OPS.

The move reunites Milner with Craig Counsell, who managed Milwaukee for nine seasons before he was hired by the Cubs inNovember 2023. Milner pitched for the Brewers for four years before signing with the Rangers lastDecember.

Chicago is remaking its bullpen after it made it to the playoffs this year for the first time since 2020. Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz and Caleb Thielbar — three key relievers for the Cubs this season — are free agents.

The Cubs finalized a $14.5 million, two-year contract with right-handerPhil Matonlast month. Maton played for St. Louis and Texas last season, going 4-5 with a 2.79 ERA and five saves in 63 games.

Milner, who turns 35 in January, made his major league debut with Philadelphia in 2017. He is 13-9 with a 3.82 ERA in 367 career games, also pitching for Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Angels.

He had his best season with the Brewers in 2023, going 2-1 with a career-low 1.82 ERA in 73 appearances.

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/mlb

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen's ownership tenure has been defined by one thing: A willingness to spend in order to keep the Mets competitive. But followingthe free-agent departuresof both Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz, Mets fans have been left wondering whether that's still Cohen's goal.

Cohen attempted to commiserate with fans Wednesday, while also stressing that there's still plenty of time for theMets to build a playoff contenderthis winter, per the New York Post.

"I totally understand the fans' reaction," Mets owner Steve Cohen texted The Post. "There is lots of offseason left to put a playoff team on the field."

After missing the playoffs last season, the Mets find themselves noticeably weaker following the departures of Alonso and Díaz.

While the Mets can slide third baseman Mark Vientos over to first base to replace Alonso, it stretches the rest of the roster pretty thin. As currently constructed, the Mets could open the season starting two of Ronny Mauricio, Tyrone Taylor and Luisangel Acuña. All three players were below league average with the bat last season and are better served as bench pieces on a championship-caliber roster.

Losing Díaz, who posted a 1.63 ERA in his walk year, will hurt, though the team already found a replacement in Devin Williams. The 31-year-old Williams is coming off a down season with the New York Yankees, posting a 4.79 ERA, but his peripherals suggest a bounce-back year could be on tap.

Even if Williams is a downgrade, he should help. But the Williams addition alone isn't enough to suddenly turn the Mets back into contenders. That was the expectation last year, but the team collapsed down the stretch, going 28-37 in the second half to fall out of a playoff spot.

It was a highly disappointing result, especially after the team splurged to sign outfielder Juan Soto to amassive 15-year, $765 million deallast winter.

Avoiding that fate will be key for the Mets in 2026. But in order to do that, the team will need to add more talent before the offseason is over. Despite afew big namesfindingnew homes, there are still a handful of talented players still available.

Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Bo Bichette, three of the four best free agents this offseason, are still out there. Other than Dylan Cease, virtuallyevery pitcher is still available as well.

While the Mets haven't been heavily involved in rumors just yet, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them jump into the bidding on a number of prominent players. That's been Cohen's modus operandi since buying the team. Despite a slow and disappointing start to the offseason, there's still plenty of time for Cohen to make a splash that immediately turns the Mets back into World Series contenders.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is expected to return from his thigh contusion on Friday night against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 37-year-old guard has missed the past five games since sustaining the injury in a 104-100 home loss against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 26. The Warriors (13-12) were 3-2 in that stretch to climb above .500.

"It's looking good," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Curry was fully cleared to practice on Wednesday night in San Francisco.

Curry's injury resulted from a pair of collisions during the fourth quarter of the win against the Rockets. The two-time NBA MVP was whistled for a blocking foul on Houston's Amen Thompson and later called for a charge on his attempt for a driving layup.

Curry, 37, is averaging 27.9 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 16 games (all starts) this season.

The 11-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion is the league's all-time leader in 3-pointers (4,133) in the regular season and in the playoffs (650).

--Field Level Media

Seven students on a California high school's track team were injured in a crash Wednesday after police said the driver veered off the road in a suspected drunk driving incident.

The crash occurred around 3 p.m. near Harbor Boulevard and North Street in Anaheim, police said in a news release.

The students, all ages 16 and 17, were on a training run and were waiting for the traffic light to change when they were struck. Seven teens were taken to the hospital with various non-life-threatening injuries, the release states. They were accompanied by an adult coach at the time of the crash.

The driver, Anthony Alva-Palafox, 27, was traveling southbound on a green light when he veered off the road and struck the group, according to the release.

Police said the crash is being investigated as a possible DUI and that Alva-Palafox "displayed objective signs of intoxication." He was also taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the crash.

Video from the scene taken byNBC Los Angelesshowed a car on the sidewalk after crashing into the perimeter wall of a home. The news station reported that at least one person was seen being treated on a stretcher.

"There was probable cause to believe Mr. Alva-Palafox was operating a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner due to his level of intoxication," police said. "He was arrested on suspicion of DUI for both alcohol and drugs. His level of intoxication and drug type will be determined later through blood analysis."

California Rep. Lou Correa said in apost Wednesday on Xthat "all of the students appear to be recovering, with one student still waiting for results of additional medical tests."

"Our prayers are with the families," he said.

Anaheim Union High School District said its "thoughts and prayers are with our students and their families during this time."

Police said Alva-Palafox's car was impounded, and a search warrant is pending to determine if there was any evidence in the vehicle. Speed and other factors contributing to the crash are under investigation, police said.

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday ordered Kilmar Abrego, whose wrongful deportation became a ​flashpoint in President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, released from ‌immigration detention as he awaits a potential second deportation.

The order from U.S. ‌District Judge Paula Xinis means that Abrego will at least temporarily be allowed to return to his Maryland home despite repeated declarations from Trump administration officials that he would never ⁠again be free in ‌the U.S.

The judge's decision to free Abrego marked the latest major development in a saga that ‍began in March when Abrego was wrongfully deported to a prison in his native El Salvador and then brought back to the ​U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges. His ‌case has become a symbol of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown, with Trump officials portraying Abrego as a danger to public safety and critics accusing the administration of trampling legal rights in its bid to deport millions living illegally in ⁠the United States.

Abrego, 30, has ​been held in immigration detention since ​August, when immigration authorities arrested him shortly after being released from custody in his criminal case. Xinis ‍found that he ⁠was entitled to release in part because an immigration judge had not issued a formal deportation order in ⁠2019, when he was barred from being deported to El Salvador because ‌of a risk of gang persecution.

(Reporting by Andrew ‌Goudsward; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

It took an American private rescue team 15 to 16 hours to get Venezuelan opposition leaderMaría Corina Machadoout of her country and safely on her way to Norway to collecther Nobel Peace Prize, and to be reunited with her family on Wednesday. The vast majority of that time was spent in rough seas, and the man who led the operation and met Machado on a boat told CBS News, "no one was enjoying that ride, especially Maria!"

"No one's blood pressure was low, throughout any phase of this operation, including mine," said Bryan Stern, a U.S. special forces veteran who heads the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation. "It was dangerous. It was scary. The sea conditions were ideal for us, but certainly not water that you would want to be on ... the higher the waves, the harder it is for radar to see. That's how it works."

In an interview Wednesday with CBS News, Stern gave some insight into the complex operation his organization undertook to get Machado out of Venezuela and on a plane to Norway, where she was reunited with her children for the first time in about two years. A representative for Machado confirmed to CBS News on Thursday that Grey Bull was behind the rescue operation that began on Tuesday.

Of the hundreds of rescues his organization has carried out, he said this was both one of the most challenging and the most rewarding. Machado has lived in hiding in her own country for almost a year, fearing persecution by the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, who is under increasing pressure from President Trump amid a U.S. military buildup off his shores.

"She has a very large target on her back," Stern said of Machado. "This is not a random shopkeeper who doesn't wanna be in Venezuela anymore. This is moving around a rock star."

"She's the first Nobel Prize winner that we've ever rescued, you know? She's the first person that we've ever rescued that has billboards with her face all over it in a country, where there's protests in her favor. We've never rescued anybody with her status, with her stature," he said.

Her high profile, combined with the Maduro regime taking "a very defensive posture because of the American military buildup," meant huge risks for the operation, and Stern was reluctant to divulge much detail about the operation on land, "because we still have other work to do in Venezuela, and we don't want to put sources and methods and people who worked on this at risk."

But once Machado had been spirited off Venezuelan soil onto a boat, she was ferried to a rendezvous at sea, and Stern was there himself to welcome her onto his boat for a 13-14 hour journey to an undisclosed location where she caught her flight to Oslo.

He said around two dozen people were involved directly within his team, but many more played a role - from providing intelligence to translation and logistics - including some who may never even know that they helped.

Stern and Grey Bull were in charge of the land and maritime portion of the extraction, which he said had to be planned in only about four days, though his organization has been preparing for operations in Venezuela for months.

He said the operation was funded by "a few generous donors," none of whom – to his knowledge – were U.S. government officials.

"The U.S. government did not contribute a single penny to this operation, at least not that I know of," Stern said.

He acknowledged that he and his organization did "unofficially collaborate" with the U.S. military about positioning and plans, largely to avoid being targeted inadvertently.

Asked about reports that a private extractions specialist contracted by the Trump administration had met Machado in the small Caribbean island nation of Curaçao, Stern told CBS News: "I'm the contractor who specializes in extractions, and I've never been hired by Donald Trump."

"I did not meet her in Curaçao. I met her somewhere else. I met her really far away from Curacao. Extremely far," he said.

The moment when Machado climbed onto his boat was among the "moments of transition" that present the most risk for any rescue operation, he said.

Stern wouldn't say where exactly that happened, beyond it being on a boat in the Caribbean, but he did say the nighttime rendezvous, and the conversation he had with the Venezuelan "freedom fighter" in the ensuing hours, made an impression on him.

"Personally, I was starstruck. She's a hero of mine," said Stern. "When I got to see her for the first time and validate that it was her, my heart skipped a beat."

The rough seas and dark skies on Tuesday night were perfect for operating covertly, he said, but they didn't make for an enjoyable ride.

"The maritime domain is the most unforgiving domain. This was in the middle of the night - very little moon, a little bit of cloud cover, very hard to see, boats have no lights."

By the time she climbed aboard, "all of us were pretty wet. My team and I were soaked to the gills. She was pretty cold and wet, too. She had a very arduous journey."

"She was very happy. She was very excited. She was very tired," he said.

Asked about the fact that Machado eventually arrived in Oslo too late to attend Wednesday's Nobel Prize ceremony in person, Stern said "nothing went wrong, it just took time."

"From my perspective at least, her life was the most important aspect of this. A ceremony is great, but I don't look at this operation as getting Maria to a ceremony on time," he said. "I look at this operation as saving a freedom fighter's life, as saving a mother's life."

"We talked about her seeing her children for the first time in two years and I almost cried," Stern told CBS News. "She's a tough-as-nails, hard-as-woodpecker-lips woman, person, but she's still a mom, and she talked about how excited she was to see her children. It's been two long years."

He said being able to facilitate that reunion "truly was a blessing. We could not feel more privileged or honored to support this operation. She truly is a hero of mine. I've looked at her as an inspirational defender of freedom as long as I've known of her. So to be asked to support this, to conduct this operation, truly was a huge honor, a privilege for us."

Machado and her daughter, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother's behalf Wednesday, said the opposition leaderintended to return to Venezuela. Stern said he advised her point blank against it.

"I think she's crazy. She's such a tough — you know, they call her the iron lady for a reason. I told her, 'Don't go back.'"

Asked if Grey Bull would help her get back into the country, Stern told CBS News, "we've never done an infil, we've only done exfil. So, I don't think so … That's for her to determine and for her to decide. But I think she should not go back. But she wants to. Maria is truly inspirational."

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The trial between Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing and NASCAR is over, with Jordan and Co. coming out as the big winner.

Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney representing Jordan's 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports in the teams' antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR,told Judge Kenneth Bellthat the parties had reached a settlement Thursday "in a way that will benefit the industry going forward."

That "way" is what the two sides are calling "evergreen charters" — which are essentially permanent team charters, the main sticking point between Jordan's side and NASCAR.

"From the beginning, this lawsuit was about progress," Jordan said in a statement after the settlement. "It was about making sure our sport evolves in a way that supports everyone: teams, drivers, partners, employees and fans. With a foundation to build equity and invest in the future and a stronger voice in the decisions ahead, we now have the chance to grow together and make the sport even better for generations to come."

Per the terms of the settlement, the financial agreements between the teams and NASCAR will not be publicly disclosed.

What Michael Jordan and Jim France said about the settlement.pic.twitter.com/vWzCg4Uzu1

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass)December 11, 2025

What was the trial about?

The future of NASCAR, really.

In 2016, NASCAR implemented charter agreements, NASCAR's version of franchising. The charter agreement were not in perpetuity, but they provided 36 teams guaranteed entry into every race of the season and a larger share of purse money than "open" (or non-charter) teams.

The old charter agreement expired at the end of the 2024 season in concurrence with NASCAR's previous media rights deal. In the fall of 2024, NASCAR presented teams with a new charter agreement that would run from 2025-2031. Given less than one day to agree to the new agreement — which NASCAR said was its final offer after months of contentious negotiations — most teams signed on. Two did not. 23XI, co-owned by Michael Jordan and driver Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports held out.

They, along with many other teams who signed the deal, wanted the charters to be permanent, but NASCAR and the France family, the sanctioning body's longtime owners, didn't acquiesce to that request.

NASCAR granted teams a larger portion of media rights money in the current charter agreement, however the sanctioning body and its tracks continue to receive the majority of revenue. Teams have said that costs have skyrocketed in recent years and especially since the implementation of NASCAR's "NextGen" car in 2022. Teams are forced to use NASCAR-approved, single-source suppliers to build their cars instead of building many of their own parts in-house.

23XI and Front Row accused NASCAR of monopolistic and anticompetitive behavior as NASCAR gave teams just hours to sign its final charter offer in September of 2024. Because they didn't sign the charter agreement, the two teams forfeited their charter status for the 2025 season. After a legal back-and-forth which saw them temporarily regain those charters, 23XI and Front Row raced as open teams for much of the 2025 season.

The two sides spent the last few months wrangling for a settlement but were unable to come to an agreement. On Dec. 1, the two sides — 23XI/Front Row and NASCAR — went to court, an all-or-nothing proposition for Jordan who likely would have shut his team down had he lost.

The trial

Jordan said on the stand that he felt he needed to challenge NASCAR and that attorneys advised him that the charter agreement could be in violation of antitrust laws. The charter agreement included a non-disparagement clause that teams needed to agree to.

Over eight days, some of NASCAR's biggest names — Jordan, Hamlin, team owner Richard Childress — along with executives — Jim France, NASCAR's principal owner; commissioner Steve Phelps; and president Steve O'Donnell — took the stand in Charlotte, North Carolina, where both sides made their case. In simplistic terms, the Jordan side argued they're losing money because NASCAR is keeping too much of it, NASCAR arguing the current agreement provides stability for a sport in an uncertain time.

Maybe the most impactful testimony came from Heather Gibbs, daughter-in-law of longtime team owner and former NFL coach Joe Gibbs and co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. Heather Gibbs explained that while they did sign the new charter agreement, it came "like you have a gun to your head."

"We said we have to sign this," Gibbs testified, per Fox Sports. "We can't lose this. We have too many employees. … I did not think it's a fair deal for the teams.

"... If you don't sign it … everything is gone."

Before the trial reached its ninth day, the two sides came to an agreement.

As part of the settlement, both 23XI and Front Row will receive their charters back.

"This outcome gives all parties the flexibility and confidence to continue delivering unforgettable racing moments for our fans, which has always benefited our highest priority since the sport was founded in 1948," Jim France said. "We worked closely with race teams to create the NASCAR charter system in 2016, and it has proven invaluable to their operations and to the quality of racing across the Cup Series. Today's agreement reaffirms our commitment to preserving and enhancing that value, ensuring our fans continue to enjoy the very best of stock car racing for generations to come."

23XI Racing is one of NASCAR's newest Cup Series teams. The team, co-owned by Jordan, his longtime business manager Curtis Polk and current Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, began in 2021 with Bubba Wallace and has since expanded to a three-car team.

Front Row Motorsports is also a three-car team and has fielded cars in the Cup Series since 2005.

The teams had expanded from two to three cars ahead of the 2025 season as each reached an agreement to purchase a charter from the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing. Because of the lawsuit, those deals had officially been on hold, though they'll now be allowed to close.

"I've cared deeply about the sport of NASCAR my entire life," Hamlin said. "Racing is all I've ever known, and this sport shaped who I am. That's why we were willing to shoulder the challenges that came with taking this stand. We believed it was worth fighting for a stronger and more sustainable future for everyone in the industry. Teams, drivers and partners will now have the stability and opportunity they deserve. Our commitment to the fans and to the entire NASCAR community has never been stronger. I'm proud of what we accomplished, and now it is time to move forward together and build the stronger future this sport deserves."