After a last-place finish in the MLS, the San Jose Earthquakes were bound to look different next season.

With a high-profile new coach already in hand, the Earthquakes continued to reshape their roster with a pair of transactions Wednesday.

While San Jose said farewell to longtime midfielder Jackson Yueill, the Earthquakes welcomed defender Nick Lima as the first free-agent addition under coach and sporting director Bruce Arena.

Lima signed a two-year contract with a club option for 2027 in a full-circle move that brings the Castro Valley native back to where he began his pro career.

“I look forward to having Nick on the team,” Arena said in a news release. “His experience in this league and versatility will help strengthen our defense. Nick grew up in the Bay Area and had a lot of success here coming up through the Quakes’ system, so there’s an added familiarity with the club.”

Lima, 30, graduated from the Quakes Academy in 2016 and signed a homegrown player contract with San Jose, where he played his first four professional seasons. After being traded from Austin FC to the New England Revolution last season, he started 20 of 25 matches while contributing one goal. In eight seasons, he has scored nine times and assisted on 20 other goals over 16,775 career minutes while also earning nine caps for the U.S. national team in CONCACAF competition.

“I’m really excited to get back to the Bay Area and play in front of everyone again, especially friends and family,” Lima said in the release. “I made some great memories with the Quakes in the past, and I look forward to making even better ones. I can’t wait to get back to work.”

Lima became the fourth former New England player to join the Earthquakes this offseason after the club swung a trade last week to acquire defender Dave Romney and midfielders Ian Harkes and Mark-Anthony Kaye from the Revolution.

And that’s not all the movement between the two clubs.

Yueill, who spent his first eight professional seasons with the Earthquakes, signed a three-year deal to join New England.

A Minnesota native who was named captain in 2021, the 27-year-old attacker was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dark stretch for the Earthquakes, who went a league-worst 6-25-3 in 2024. A first-round pick in 2017, Yueill went on to amass 13 goals and 19 assists over 232 career matches, tallying the sixth-most minutes of any player in the MLS since 2020.

The Earthquakes commemorated his time with the club with a highlight video posted on social media.

Bay FC bids farewell to inaugural player >> Thirteen months after becoming Bay FC’s first-ever player, Alex Loera, is leaving the club via trade executed by now-permanent sporting director Matt Potter.

Bay FC sent Loera to Utah in a deal for $25,000 in intra-league transfer fees and a 15% sell-on fee, the team announced Wednesday.

Loera was named Bay’s captain in the 2024 preseason but played only four matches in the team’s inaugural season before she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee during a late-April match against Kansas City, her former team. She had previously missed a match due to an “internal club matter.”

The central midfielder started all four matches she played, scoring a goal against Seattle in an April 14 win.

“I’m very thankful to (former Bay general manager) Lucy Rushton for valuing me enough, both as a person and player, to sign me as the first player in history,” Loera wrote in a goodbye Instagram post. “I’m excited and so ready for something different – this has been a very long, eye opening year & I’m more than ready for something new with Utah.”

Loera, 25, joined Bay FC via a November 2023 trade from Kansas City in the weeks before the club’s expansion draft. She had previously made a name for herself in the Bay Area as the captain of the 2021 Santa Clara team that won the NCAA championship, being named the defensive player of the tournament.

“As the first player ever announced to Bay FC’s roster, her legacy will always be a part of Bay FC,” Potter, the sporting director, said in a statement. “We want to thank Alex for her time with the club, even after her season-ending injury as she continued to be a key part of our group off the field all season.”

Bay also announced that Potter’s interim tag had been removed, making him the team’s full-time sporting director.

Potter, 54, took over the team’s football operations in June when general manager Lucy Rushton abruptly stepped down. He joined the club last December under Rushton as the technical director.

The Mere, England, native was previously the head coach of the KC Current from 2022-23 and worked before that for U.S. Soccer as a scout and under-23 head coach.

“He deeply understands the women’s game and what it takes to build a winning franchise, playing a key role in making our inaugural season a success,” team owner Alan Waxman said in a statement. “This is only the beginning, and we look forward to building on our 2024 season’s momentum as we look to create the premiere professional women’s soccer experience for our players, staff, and fans both on and off the field.”

MLB

south side rebrand >> The Chicago White Sox are changing the name of their ballpark. A change in luck can’t be guaranteed.

The White Sox’s home will now be known as Rate Field instead of Guaranteed Rate Field, a change that reflects a shortening of the stadium sponsor’s name, the team announced Wednesday.

The Chicago-based mortgage company, which took over the naming rights from U.S. Cellular in 2016, rebranded to “Rate” in July.

Auto racing

NASCAR loses Hall of famer >> Fred Lorenzen, a NASCAR Hall of Famer and the 1965 Daytona 500 champion, died Wednesday. He was 89.

NASCAR released a statement that Lorenzen had died and had confirmed the death with his family. A cause of death wasn’t given, but Lorenzen had been in declining health for years.

One of NASCAR’s first superstars, Lorenzen was known as the “Golden Boy” for his rugged, movie-star looks. He won 26 career Cup races and made starts in 12 seasons from 1956 to 1972. In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.