Axios

Former President Obama on Saturday praised Major League Baseball for moving its All-Star Game out of Atlanta due to Georgia's new law curbing voting access.

What he's saying: "Congratulations to @MLB for taking a stand on behalf of voting rights for all citizens," Obama tweeted. "There’s no better way for America’s pastime to honor the great Hank Aaron, who always led by example."

More than 400 French coaches, teachers and other figures are suspected of sexual abuse or helping to cover it up, a new report by the French sports ministry released Friday revealed, AP reports.

Why it matters: Majority of the victims were under 15 years old, and the abuse included sexual assault, harassment or other violence, AP notes.

Former President Trump late Friday night called for a boycott of Major League Baseball after the league's commissioner announced plans to move its All-Star Game out of Georgia due to the state's new law curbing voting access.

What he's saying: "Baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans, and now they leave Atlanta with their All-Star Game because they are afraid of the Radical Left Democrats who do not want voter I.D., which is desperately needed, to have anything to do with our elections," Trump said in a statement.

Houston police on Friday announced an investigation into Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson after a report was filed with the department.

The big picture: The football player currently faces 21 civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault and harassment. Watson has denied any wrongdoing. It's unclear whether the report filed with police is connected to the any of the specific allegations made in the lawsuits.

MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred announced Friday that the 2021 All-Star Game will be moved out of Atlanta due to Georgia's law curbing voting access, which will disproportionately affect people of color.

What they're saying: "Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box," Manfred said in a statement.

Major League Baseball has postponed its opening series between the Washington Nationals and New York Mets to double down on testing and contact tracing for Nationals players, coaches and staff, the league announced Friday.

Why it matters: After three Nationals players tested positive for the coronavirus this week, MLB is taking precautions to prevent further delays.

Our Tampa Bay Rays are back again.

The question on everyone's minds: How will they fare a year after winning the AL East for the first time in years and ousting the Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros in the playoffs before losing the World Series to the Dodgers in Game 6?

• If history serves: After finishing 2008 with 97 wins and 65 losses and a World Series appearance (we see you, Philly), the Rays took a step back the following year, finishing third and missing the playoffs.
• This year's team has a bunch of questions marks, and that should make for a fun season. Almost always does.

Here's what the experts are thinking:

• The Tampa Bay Times' John Romano: "It may not be the classic model of five starters combining for 750 innings or more — the way the Dodgers, Yankees, Padres and Nationals will likely do it — and the Rays are not making any top-10 lists of MLB rotations, but don’t be shocked to see Tampa Bay in a familiar place come September."
• FiveThirtyEight predicts they'll finish with a 88-74 record and have a 51% chance of making the playoffs, a 21% chance of winning the division, and a 4% of winning the World Series.
• 30 of ESPN's 37 baseball experts picked the Yankees to win the AL East, with just 3 going for the Rays. "While the Yankees certainly face formidable competition from the Rays, the upstart Blue Jays and potentially the Red Sox, I think their top-tier talent will win out," wrote Joon Lee.

If you're thinking about going to a game, the Rays fall on the higher end of the pack in terms of COVID-era capacity — and they do play in the MLB's only fully enclosed stadium:

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The hosts of both of the two biggest global sporting events on the 2022 calendar are facing boycott threats, but they're handling the scrutiny much differently.

Driving the news: When European qualifying for the 2022 World Cup kicked off last week, players from three countries seized the opportunity to protest the human rights conditions in host nation Qatar.