The Houston Texans have suspended Azeez Al-Shaair for three games after a Wednesday appeal hearing.  Al-Shaair’s suspension was levied on Tuesday and was due to an illegal hit on Sunday against Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Hearing officer Ramon Foster, who was appointed by the NFL and NFL Players Association, took his appeal hearing. Al-Shaair will now miss out on Houston’s Week 15 match on December 15th against the Miami Dolphins. He will miss a Week 16 road fixture against the Kansas City Chiefs and a Christmas Day game with the Baltimore Ravens. The Texans, who are first place in the AFC South, are on bye this week. Azeez will return for their Week 18 finale against the Tennessee Titans.  He reacted to his suspension on social media by posting, “if you want me to be your villain, I’ll be your villain,” followed by a middle finger emoji. Al-Shaair was punished for hitting a sliding Lawrence in the first half of Houston’s 23-20 victory.  The decision to hold the appeal was a day after Al-Shaair’s suspension was announced and followed by stern words from NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan. “Your lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach, and enjoy watching it, is troubling and does not reflect the core values of the NFL,” Runyan wrote. “…Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules puts the health and safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy and will not be tolerated.”

The Kiwoom Heroes posted Hyeseong Kim, who is one of the best hitters in the KBO. Thursday will signify the start of a 30-day window for the second baseman to join an MLB team. He has a deadline of 5 p.m. ET on January 3rd to reach an agreement.  Starting Thursday, any team ready to pay the Heroes the release fee and any applicable supplemental fees can have Kim. He recently told Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News Agency that he will go to the United States once he is posted.  Hyseong has batted .3-4 and logged a .364 on-base percentage over eight campaigns with the Kiwoom Heroes. He has stolen up to 20 bases in all of the last seven terms, reaching as high as 46 in 2021. A left-handed Kim slashed .326/.383/.458 with 11 homers and 30 steals for the Heroes this year.  He is also a strong defender, as he has won a KBO Golden Glove at second in 2022 and ‘23. Kim won the same award at shortstop in ‘21.  The Seattle Mariners are one of the clubs interested in Kim, per reports by MLB Network insider Jon Paul Morosi. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand also identified him as a player who could be perfect for the Mariners.  Seattle’s second baseman has an average of .209, .658 OPS, and 27.1% strikeout rate in 2024. Kim has a 16.3% K rate through 3,819 plate appearances in the KBO. 

The New York Yankees are hopeful about bringing Juan Soto back to their side, but if that does not happen, they can use Willy Adames as backup.  According to sources, one of the players the Yankees are considering in place of Soto is Adames. He is a top free-agent shortstop available after posting a career year with 32 homers and 112 RBIs in 161 matches.  While Anthony Volpe has played well during his first two years in the Majors, he posted a 3.3 and 3.4 bWAR in those terms. Volpe won a Gold Glove while posting a 20-20 term in his rookie year of 2023. New York could move him to second base, filling the gap Glyeber Torres left.  The Yankees can find some versatility in Jazz Chisholm Junior, who can play second base, third base or center field. That allows them to seek out players for any of those positions, although it seems they prefer to keep him at third, where he posted a career-best 8 Outs Above Average and 1.5 bWAR in 46 matches after joining the club in a midseason trade.  If New York signs Adames, they could keep Volpe at Shortstop, move Chisholm to second base and play Adames at third. Adames wants to stay at shortstop, but he is open to moving places for the right situation and right contract.  “I do think he would prefer shortstop, but it’s always a sliding scale on dollars,” a source said. “If someone is going to pay you substantially more to play another position, you tend to be more OK with it.”

Tyler Seguin will be absent for 4-6 months for the Dallas Stars due to a hip injury that will require surgery.  He will have surgery on Thursday to repair a left side femoroacetabular impingement and the hip labrum.   Seguin was put on injured reserve Monday, one day after he played 15:08 and was plus-2 in a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. He played his last shift in the final minute of the third period. Seguin did not play in a 2-1 victory against the Utah Hockey Club on Monday.  “Tyler’s been dealing with this, been managing, I guess is the best way to say it, for a while,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said Wednesday. “And it just got to a point where it’s really this time to have surgery, and it’s a wear and tear injury. You don’t really know the time frame. And he was managing as well as he could. I was talking to him the other day. He’s off to probably, he said, probably the second-best start he’s ever had in his career, so tough timing for him and for the team. But get the surgery done and he’ll be back better than ever.” Seguin is third in Dallas with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) and he has a plus-14 rating in 19 matches this year.  Last campaign, Seguin was absent for 11 matches due to a lower-body injury. He was limited to three matches in 2020-2 due to a hip arthroscopy and labral repair in November 2020 and knee scope a month later.  “He’s responded well,” Nill said. “He had his other hip done and labrum done … on the other side and recovered well from that. So he’ll recover well from this and be back with us.”