⚾️ Y! Sports AM: Billion-dollar series

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🚨 HEADLINES

🏀 Draft night: The Dallas Wings selected Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, reuniting her with former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers. Rounding out the top five: TCU's Olivia Miles (Lynx), Spain's Awa Fam (Storm), UCLA's Lauren Betts (Mystics) and UCLA's Gabriela Jaquez (Sky).

⚾️ Home run bonanza: Nine different players had multi-homer games on Monday, tied for the second-most on a single day in MLB history. The sluggers: Aaron Judge (NYY), Mike Trout (LAA), Kyle Schwarber (PHI), Ketel Marte (AZ), Nolan Arenado (AZ), Josh Naylor (SEA), Trent Grisham (NYY), Jake Burger (TEX) and Jeremiah Jackson (BAL).

🏀 Curry tops jersey sales: Stephen Curry led all NBA players in jersey sales this season despite injuries limiting him to just 43 games. Luka Dončić, Jalen Brunson, Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James rounded out the top five.

🐎 Triple Crown shakeup: The Preakness Stakes will reportedly move back one week in May — to three weeks after the Kentucky Derby instead of two — beginning next year. The change should allow more horses to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown, which has become less common under the current schedule.

⚾️ Bohm fires Boras: Phillies 3B Alec Bohm has fired agent Scott Boras in the midst of his legal dispute with his parents over the mismanagement of his finances, per The Athletic ($). Bohm alleges that his parents steered him toward hiring Boras under "considerable duress" to "further their own interests, to my detriment."

See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.

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⚾️ BASEBALL'S BILLION-DOLLAR SERIES

(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)

The most expensive series in MLB history began* on Monday night in Hollywood, where the Dodgers are hosting the Mets in a matchup of financial behemoths.

A billion dollars on the diamond: The Dodgers and Mets' combined tax payrolls this season, including their estimated tax bills, is $1.07 billion, per Spotrac. That's the largest such figure ever, surpassing the previous record set last season by the same two teams ($1.025B).

• Consider this: Los Angeles will pay more this season just in taxes ($161.5M) than the bottom 12 teams in the league will each pay for their entire rosters. New York ($123.9M) will pay more than the bottom seven.
• Or, how about this: The combined 2026 salaries of the four players with the highest AAV in this series (Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Juan Soto, Bo Bichette) is more than the total payroll of 14 MLB teams, notes ESPN.

Put another way: You could put MLB's nine lowest-spending teams on the field together ($1.04B) and they still wouldn't be paying as much as the Dodgers and Mets ($1.07B).

Looking ahead: This league-wide spending discrepancy is precisely why so many believe we're headed for a lockout when the CBA expires this offseason — and why a salary cap could be in MLB's future. No use in worrying about that now, though. We're two weeks into a six-month marathon, and there's baseball on tonight.

*Game 1 recap: The Dodgers shutout the reeling Mets, 4-0, handing New York its sixth straight loss behind eight near-perfect innings from righty Justin Wrobleski.

🏒 NHL PLAYOFFS: THE FIELD IS SET

The Flyers won in a shootout on Monday to clinch their first playoff berth since 2020. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

The Flyers, Ducks and Kings clinched the NHL's final three playoff spots on Monday to complete the 16-team postseason field with three days remaining in the regular season.

Who's in? The following teams will be in the field when the playoffs begin this weekend. All that's left to determine is their seeding.

• East: Hurricanes (111 points), Sabres (108), Lightning (106), Canadiens (106), Penguins (98), Bruins (98), Senators (97), Flyers (96)
• West: Avalanche (117 points), Stars (110), Wild (102), Golden Knights (93), Oilers (91), Ducks (90), Mammoth (90), Kings (89)

Bracket: Here's what it would look like if the season ended today

Metropolitan meltdown: For the first time ever, the Rangers, Islanders and Devils will all miss the playoffs in the same season.

🏀 NBA MVP: SGA, JOKER OR WEMBY?

(Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports)

It's a three-man race for NBA MVP, and Yahoo Sports' Nekias Duncan makes a strong argument for every candidate.

Shai Gilgeous Alexander: Who's been more consistently unstoppable?

I've been struggling with a way to simplify SGA's case, aside from invoking the name of the (arguable) GOAT — so I'm just going to stop struggling. SGA's blend of interior scoring dominance, coverage-bending due to that dominance and context-proof winning is the closest thing we've seen to Michael Jordan. Full stop.

(Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports)

Nikola Jokić: Who's doing more, this efficiently?

Jokić has once again diced up defenses in whatever way he's needed to, averaging a triple-double for the second straight season and becoming the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounds and assists (while ranking eighth in points). He's filling the box score to an absurd degree — and doing so on efficiency that doesn't make sense.

(Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports)

Victor Wembanyama: Who's providing more per-possession impact?

To be frank, we've never seen a defender like this: 7-foot-4 with an 8-foot wingspan that isn't stuck in quicksand as a mover. It's hard to comprehend, much less actually quantify, what Wemby's presence alone does to opposing offenses. He covers an insane amount of real estate, amplified by the Spurs essentially using him as a one-man zone to make the paint inaccessible.

💯 BIG NUMBERS

Olson high fives his teammates after scoring a run in Monday's game. (Cole Carter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

⚾️ 799 straight games

Braves 1B Matt Olson played in his 799th consecutive game on Monday, passing Hall of Famer Nellie Fox for the 11th-longest streak in MLB history.

How high can he climb? Olson's streak began in May 2021, and assuming he doesn't miss a game this year he'll pass Gus Suhr, Eddie Yost and Stan Musial for eighth place by season's end. Beyond that, the 32-year-old could realistically climb to third place, which he'd reach early in the 2029 season. But that would still leave him 822 games behind Lou Gehrig (2,130), and 1,324 games — or over eight full seasons — behind Cal Ripken Jr. (2,632).

🏀 +28 wins

The Spurs (62-20) won 28 more games this season than last (34-48) for the biggest year-over-year improvement in the NBA. But theirs wasn't the only big jump, as the Hornets (+25), 76ers (+21), Pistons (+16) and Raptors (+16) also improved their records by 10+ wins.

The other side: Seven teams won at least 10 fewer games than last season. While the fourth-seeded Cavaliers (-12) and injury-depleted Warriors (-11) can be forgiven, the tank was on for the Pacers (-31), Grizzlies (-23), Kings (-18), Bucks (-16) and Mavericks (-13).

Denver celebrates after winning the championship on Saturday. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

🏒 8 titles in 13 years

Denver's latest national championship in men's hockey was the third in a row for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference — and the eighth in 13 years since the league debuted in 2013.

NCHC members: Denver (titles during the NCHC era: 2017, 2022, 2024, 2026), Western Michigan (2025), Minnesota-Duluth (2018, 2019) and North Dakota (2016) are joined by Colorado College, Arizona State, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska (Omaha) and St. Cloud State. The league is also adding St. Thomas next season as its 10th member.

⚽️ 105 goals

Bayern Munich have smashed the Bundesliga record for most goals in a season, scoring 105 times to surpass the previous mark of 101, also set by Bayern back in 1972. With five matches left, the question now is whether they can catch the record-holders across the rest of Europe's "Big Five" soccer leagues.

Who they're chasing: They're a lock to eclipse Manchester City's Premier League record (106 goals in 2017-18) and PSG's Ligue 1 record (108 in 2017-18), while they're on pace to finish between Real Madrid's La Liga record (121 in 2011-12) and Torino's Serie A record (125 in 1947-48).

📺 WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, APRIL 14

(Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

🏀 NBA Play-In Tournament

The postseason begins today with the Hornets hosting the Heat in the East's 9-10 game (7:30pm ET, Prime) and the Suns hosting the Trail Blazers in the West's 7-8 game (10pm, Prime).

What's at stake: The Hornets-Heat loser is eliminated, while the winner will get one more chance to earn the East's No. 8 seed. The Suns-Trail Blazers winner gets the West's No. 7 seed, while the loser will get one more chance to earn the No. 8 seed.

⚽️ Champions League, Quarterfinals

The second legs kick off today in Spain and England, where Atlético Madrid (up 2-0) host Barcelona (3pm, Paramount+) and Liverpool (down 2-0) host PSG (3pm, Paramount+) for spots in the semifinals.

What's at stake: Atlético Madrid are 90 minutes away from reaching their first Champions League semifinal since 2017 after going 0-3 in the quarterfinals over the last five years. Liverpool last made it in 2022, Barcelona seeks a second straight trip and reigning champion PSG seeks a third straight trip.

More to watch:

• 🏒 NHL: Capitals at Blue Jackets (7pm, ESPN); Penguins at Blues (9:30pm, ESPN) … The penultimate ESPN doubleheader of the regular season.
• ⚾️ MLB: Cubs at Phillies (6:40pm, TBS) … Colin Rea (1-0, 3.18 ERA) gets the start for Chicago, while Aaron Nola (1-1, 3.63 ERA) takes the ball for Philly.
• ⚽️ Friendly: USWNT vs. Japan (10pm, TNT) … Seattle hosts the second game in a three-match series after the U.S. won Saturday's opener, 2-1, for their 10th straight victory.

Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!

🏀 WNBA TRIVIA

(Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)

Azzi Fudd is the seventh UConn player to be drafted with the No. 1 overall pick.

Question: Can you name the other six?

Hint: 2002, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2025.

Answer at the bottom.

🍿 NOW STREAMING

(Netflix)

"Untold: Jail Blazers," out today on Netflix, explores the notorious early-2000s era of Portland Trail Blazers basketball that, while successful, was overshadowed by off-the-court transgressions and legal troubles. Eventually, the city turned on the team.

From Netflix:

"Through firsthand accounts from star players Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire and Bonzi Wells, plus archival footage and other insider perspectives, Jail Blazers offers an unfiltered look at a team caught between brilliance and notoriety, examining how culture, race and media shaped one of the most infamous chapters in NBA history."

Coming soon: "Rafa," Netflix’s upcoming documentary on Rafael Nadal, will premiere on May 29 — appropriately timed to release in the middle of the French Open.

Trivia answer: Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, Paige Bueckers

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