Trial set for ex-Angels employee over role in pitcher Tyler Skaggs’ deathVideo
A former Los Angeles Angels employee accused of providing Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs with the drugs that caused his overdose death is set to go on trial in Texas, where Skaggs died in 2019. Eric Prescott Kay faces charges of drug distribution and drug conspiracy in Skaggs’ death. Jury selection...
Locked out MLB players reject offer of federal mediation, further threatening to delay spring trainingVideo
NEW YORK — The start of spring training likely will be a casualty of MLB’s lockout, which will threaten Opening Day unless the drawn-out talks lead to a deal in less than a month. After months of bickering over the sport’s economics, baseball’s warring factions couldn’t even agree on whether...
Chances of on-time spring training start for MLB all but vanishVideo
NEW YORK — Whatever little chance there was of an on-time start to spring training all but vanished Tuesday during a contentious 90-minute negotiating session between locked out players and MLB. Players made two slight moves during the first meeting in a week. The union lowered its proposed pool of...
Commentary: Baseball harmed itself more than Bonds ever did
Whatever harm Barry Bonds did to baseball pales in comparison to the damage baseball inflicted on itself both at the time and since. So say what you will about the steroids era, at least the games were still worth watching. You can’t say that about baseball today, assuming it’s even...
Carlos Beltrán brings his own baggage to next year’s Hall ballot
With Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling off the ballot, next year’s Hall of Fame vote figures to be a bit less contentious. Then again, the top newcomer arrives with his own recent baggage. Forget about steroids for a minute, it’s time to talk about sign stealing. Carlos Beltrán...
David Ortiz voted into Baseball Hall of Fame; Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens left out againVideo
Baseball turned a blind eye, and Hall of Fame voters a deaf ear. Despite a cacophony of calls for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, arguably the greatest hitter and pitcher of their generation, to earn enshrinement into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, both came up short of receiving the...
MLB negotiators meet in person for 1st time since Dec. 1Video
NEW YORK — Negotiators for locked-out baseball players and management met in person Monday for the first time since Dec. 1, the day before the start of the sport’s first work stoppage since 1995. Veteran reliever Andrew Miller was the only player to attend the two-hour bargaining session. Colorado Rockies...
David Ortiz, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds to be close calls for Hall of Fame
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, with eight MVPs and seven Cy Young Awards between them, are in the bottom of the last inning in their Hall of Fame bids. Either they get in Tuesday — and it’s going to be close — or Cooperstown may elude them entirely. David Ortiz...
Rays say split-season plan with Montreal rejected by MLBVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays’ proposed plan to split the season between Florida and Montreal has been rejected by Major League Baseball. Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg announced the news Thursday. “Today’s news is flat-out deflating,” Sternberg said. The idea of playing in both the Tampa Bay...
MLB talks resume after 42-day gap, little progress evidentVideo
NEW YORK — Baseball labor talks to end the lockout resumed Thursday for the first time in 1 1/2 months with little evident progress during a bargaining session that lasted about an hour, jeopardizing a timely start to spring training. MLB imposed the lockout Dec. 2 as soon as the...
Former Cubs, Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester announces retirement
CHICAGO — Jon Lester, a durable left-hander who won three World Series titles during 16 years in the majors, has announced his retirement. Lester, who turned 38 on Friday, finishes with a 200-117 record and a 3.66 ERA in 452 career games, including 451 starts. He also has been a...
AP source: MLB labor talks to resume after 42-day breakVideo
NEW YORK — MLB and the players’ association are scheduled to meet Thursday, ending a 42-day break in negotiations that began when management started a lockout in the sport’s first work stoppage since 1995. With the scheduled start of spring training five weeks away, management was planning to make a...
AP sources: Yanks’ Balkovec to be first female MiLB managerVideo
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees are promoting Rachel Balkovec to manager of the Low A Tampa Tarpons, making her the first woman to skipper a team affiliated with MLB, according to two people familiar with the move. The people spoke to the Associated Press on Sunday night on...
Cone, Perez, Ravech replace A-Rod, Vasgersian on ESPN Sunday
BRISTOL, Conn. — Former players David Cone and Eduardo Perez are joining Karl Ravech to form a new broadcast team for ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” telecasts. Alex Rodriguez, the scandal-tainted three-time MVP who had been on the telecasts during the past four seasons, will shift to eight Sunday night alternate...
One of a kind: Shohei Ohtani wins AP Male Athlete of Year award
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Most of the time in professional sports, it’s easy to think it’s all been done before. With so many finetuned athletes constantly pushing each other to the peak of human potential, we can experience unprecedented demonstrations of sporting brilliance every week of our lives. But it’s truly...
New York Mets hire Buck Showalter as managerVideo
NEW YORK — Buck Showalter is back on the bench in New York. Nearly 30 years since making his name in pinstripes, Showalter has been hired as manager of the Mets as he returns to the Big Apple to take over his fifth major league team. The former New York...
Trickle-down economics at heart of MLB labor disputeVideo
NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor’s $341 million contract with the New York Mets was supposed to be a boon for other shortstops. Same for pitchers when aces Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer signed megadeals. Baseball players long have benefited from trickle-down economics, where stars set a market that leads to...
Breaking down the main issues of MLB’s lockoutVideo
NEW YORK — When baseball players agreed a decade ago to restraints on signing bonuses for draft picks, then-union head Michael Weiner said: “If it doesn’t work, we can always try something else.” Getting a side to give back something it gained previously in collective bargaining can lead to difficult...
Even if games go on, MLB lockout could alienate Gen ZVideo
NEW YORK — Max Scherzer stars in the last video posted to MLB’s TikTok account before the league locked out the players Thursday morning. The clip, viewed more than 400,000 times, shows the final out from Scherzer’s first no-hitter in 2015 with Washington, followed by teammates dousing the three-time Cy...
Winter of waiting: Baseball fans hope MLB lockout fleetingVideo
PHOENIX — The only hint of activity outside of Chase Field on Thursday afternoon was the low humming noise from a construction crew, which was busy hanging some signs for an upcoming college football bowl game. Otherwise, the home of MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks was quiet, almost serene. That’s fine —...
Manfred, Clark divergent views point to lengthy MLB lockoutVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — Hours into MLB’s first work stoppage in 26 years, commissioner Rob Manfred and union head Tony Clark presented diametrically opposed views of each side’s negotiating positions that point to a lengthy lockout. In separate news conferences less than half a day into baseball’s ninth work stoppage, Manfred...
1983 AL Cy Young Award winner LaMarr Hoyt dies at 66
CHICAGO — LaMarr Hoyt, who won the 1983 AL Cy Young Award with the Chicago White Sox, has died. He was 66. The White Sox announced his death on Wednesday. The team said he died Monday in his hometown of Columbia, S.C., following a lengthy illness. Hoyt went 98-68 with...
MLB lockout begins as collective bargaining agreement expires
IRVING, Texas — Major League Baseball plunged into its first work stoppage in a quarter-century when the sport’s collective bargaining agreement expired Wednesday night and owners immediately locked out players in a move that threatens spring training and opening day. The strategy, management’s equivalent of a strike under federal labor...
Tigers, Javy Baez agree to $140 million, 6-year dealVideo
Javier Baez is taking his high motor to Motor City. Baez has agreed to a $140 million, six-year contract with Detroit, giving the Tigers a dynamic bat for the middle of their order. Baez, who turns 29 on Wednesday, hit .265 with 31 homers and 87 RBIs in 138 games...
AP source: Rangers land Corey Seager on $325M, 10-year deal
The Texas Rangers reached an agreement on a $325 million, 10-year deal with shortstop Corey Seager, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal was pending a physical and wasn’t finalized. Seager was the World...
