Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer tops list of MLB free agentsVideo
The free agent market received a small boost this week, although it remains to be seen whether teams will be eager to take advantage. A record 59 players became free agents when their teams declined to offer them contracts by Wednesday night’s tender deadline. That group included a few well-known...
MLB launches league for draft prospects with teams in Morgantown, State College
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is creating a minor league for top eligible prospects leading to the summer draft. The wood-bat MLB Draft League is launching with five teams and could add a sixth, MLB said Monday. Teams will play a 68-game regular season that includes an All-Star break...
Charlie Morton signs with Braves for 1 year at $15 million
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves added another veteran arm to their rotation Tuesday, signing two-time All-Star Charlie Morton to a $15 million, one-year deal. The 37-year-old right-hander and former Pittsburgh Pirate is returning to the Braves after helping Tampa Bay reach the World Series this season. The announcement comes after...
Mets 2B Canó suspended 162 games by MLB after drug test
NEW YORK — Mets second baseman Robinson Canó was suspended for 162 games by Major League Baseball on Wednesday after his positive test for a performance-enhancing drug. The 38-year-old Canó will miss the entire 2021 season and lose $24 million in salary. The eight-time All-Star hit a robust .316 with...
Theo Epstein steps down after 9 seasons leading Cubs
CHICAGO — Theo Epstein, who transformed the long-suffering Chicago Cubs and helped bring home a drought-busting championship in 2016, is stepping down after nine seasons as the club’s president of baseball operations. The team announced Tuesday that Epstein is leaving the organization, and general manager Jed Hoyer is being promoted...
Schilling, Clemens, Bonds leading candidates on Hall of Fame ballot; former Pirates Aramis Ramirez, A.J. Burnett among newcomers
NEW YORK — Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are the leading candidates returning to baseball’s Hall of Fame ballot in a year without any favorites among the new names. Schilling was third behind Derek Jeter and Larry Walker with 278 of 397 votes last year, finishing at 70%...
Mark Madden’s hot take: Criticism of new Marlins GM will be frowned upon
Kim Ng is the new Miami Marlins’ GM. She is the first woman and first Asian American to hold that position in MLB. Ng is a fine hire. Her credentials are impeccable. She also has an advantage no GM in history has ever had: She is above criticism. Given her...
Breakthrough for women: Miami Marlins hire Kim Ng as GM
MIAMI — Kim Ng became the highest-ranking woman in baseball operations in the major leagues when she was hired Friday as general manager of the Miami Marlins. Ng is believed to be the first female general manager for a men’s team in a major professional sport in North America, the...
Sluggers Freddie Freeman, Jose Abreu win MLB MVP awardsVideo
NEW YORK — Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman easily won the NL MVP award Thursday, topping off a trying year that saw him become so ill with covid-19 he prayed “please don’t take me.” Chicago White Sox slugger José Abreu earned the AL MVP, a reward for powering his...
Cleveland’s Shane Bieber unanimously wins AL Cy Young AwardVideo
Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber was the unanimous winner of the AL Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, and Trevor Bauer became the first player to take home the NL honor for the Cincinnati Reds. Using a versatile repertoire that includes a looping curveball and a wipeout slider, Bieber went...
Miami’s Don Mattingly, Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash win MLB Manager of the Year awardsVideo
Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash won the AL Manager of the Year award Tuesday night, and Miami’s Don Mattingly took home the NL honor. Long regarded as one of baseball’s bright young minds, Cash guided Tampa Bay to an AL-best 40-20 record during the pandemic-shortened season. But he was roundly criticized...
Brewers reliever Devin Williams wins NL Rookie of the Year
Seattle Mariners center fielder Kyle Lewis is the unanimous winner of the AL Rookie of the Year award, and Milwaukee Brewers reliever Devin Williams won the NL honor Monday night. The 25-year-old Lewis was one of baseball’s breakout stars during the pandemic-shortened season, batting .262 with 11 homers and 28...
Dodgers’ Justin Turner will not be disciplined by MLB for return to field
NEW YORK — Justin Turner will not be disciplined by Major League Baseball for coming onto the field last week to celebrate the World Series title with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates after testing positive for covid-19. The third baseman was removed after seven innings of Game 6 against Tampa...
AP source: Red Sox to rehire Cora, manager from 2018 title
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox will rehire Alex Cora as manager, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press, restoring him to the dugout less than a year after letting him go because of his role in the Houston Astros cheating scandal. The person spoke to...
Pirates legend Honus Wagner rookie card sells for more than $1.4 million
RUNNEMEDE, N.J. — A Honus Wagner rookie baseball card sold for more than $1.4 million. The price was a record for the rare T-206 card of the Pittsburgh Pirates great, the highlight of the Goldin Auctions October Legends Auction. Also fetching a record price was the basketball rookie card of...
Mark Madden’s hot take: Baseball no longer belongs to fans, and they’re catching on
I hadn’t watched a baseball game in its entirety all year. Baseball is boring. Too rarely does anybody run the bases or chase the ball. I don’t give a flip about the three true outcomes. I want the ball to be in play. But I watched the World Series Tuesday...
Fresh off suspension, AJ Hinch takes over as Tigers manager
DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers hired AJ Hinch to be their new manager Friday, giving him a chance to return to a major league dugout after he was fired by Houston in the wake of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. The Tigers said they agreed to terms with Hinch on a...
Rays decline options on RHP Charlie Morton, catcher Mike Zunino
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays are declining 2021 options on pitcher Charlie Morton and catcher Mike Zunino but the AL champions say they remain hopeful of re-signing them. Morton, a former Pittsburgh Pirates starter who turns 37 next month, was due to earn $15 million. Zunino’s option...
White Sox reunite with Tony La Russa, hire Hall of Fame managerVideo
CHICAGO — Tony La Russa, the Hall of Famer who won a World Series with the Oakland Athletics and two more with the St. Louis Cardinals, is returning to manage the Chicago White Sox 34 years after they fired him. The 76-year-old La Russa rejoins the franchise where his managing...
MLB says Dodgers 3B Justin Turner violated protocols when he returned to fieldVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — Justin Turner violated coronavirus protocols when he celebrated on the Globe Life field with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates and he refused instructions from security to leave the field, behavior that Major League Baseball said risked the safety of others. The commissioner’s office said Wednesday that it...
Dodgers’ Justin Turner tests positive for covid-19, pulled during World Series clincher
ARLINGTON, Texas — No large dogpile, no champagne and a mask on nearly every face — the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated their first World Series title since 1988 in a manner no one could have imagined prior to the coronavirus pandemic. They started the party without Justin Turner, too, after...
Rays manager roasted for pulling ace Blake Snell early
ARLINGTON, Texas — Blake Snell turned away from his manager and yelled an expletive as Kevin Cash headed to the mound. In control all night, the Tampa Bay ace no longer had the ball in his potent left hand. Soon, the Rays no longer had a grip on the lead,...
Mookie Betts sparks Dodgers past Rays, clinching team’s first World Series since 1988
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mookie Betts came to the Dodgers to make a World Series difference. With a mad dash to home plate, he put Los Angeles over the top. The end of a frustrating championship drought for LA — and perhaps just the start for Betts and the Dodgers. Betts...
Clayton Kershaw stops steal of home, hands Dodgers 3-2 Series lead
ARLINGTON, Texas — As much as Clayton Kershaw has dominated hitters throughout a glittering career, he has not silenced those who cite his lack of baseball’s ultimate accomplishment. With a gritty performance, plus one particular delivery home that will long be remembered, he hushed the skeptics and moved the Los...
Home runs more than half of scoring in MLB playoffsVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — For all the talk about pride in advancing runners and manufacturing runs, teams in the postseason have really dug the long ball. Home runs drove in 235 of the 456 runs in the postseason through World Series Game 4, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That comes...
