MLB

4:47 PM ET CHICAGO — Calling 2023 a “big year” for him, new Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger is hopeful his struggles of recent seasons are behind him after signing a one-year, $17.5 million contract earlier this month. “It’s definitely important,” Bellinger said Tuesday afternoon. “Not going to say it’s not, but I think that

7:00 AM ET It’s not an exaggeration to suggest we are in a golden era of shortstops. This past season, 12 shortstops reached at least 4.0 WAR via the Baseball-Reference measurement of the metric, one more than in 2021 and matching 2019 for the most ever. Before 2018, there had never been even 10 shortstops

9:22 PM ET ESPN News Services Tom Browning, the former 20-game winner and World Series champion who crafted the only perfect game in Reds history, died Monday. He was 62. Browning, the National League Rookie of the Year runner-up in 1985 who won 14 or more games six times in his career, was found unresponsive

6:55 PM ET ESPN News Services ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves signed veteran outfielder Jordan Luplow to a $1.4 million, one-year contract on Monday. The 29-year-old Luplow hit .176 with 11 homers and drove in 28 runs in 83 games with Arizona in 2022. The right-handed hitter had eight homers against left-handers last season. Luplow

6:54 AM ET CHAIM BLOOM HAS been reliving the negotiations with Xander Bogaerts in his head. “There are a couple of regrets,” the chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox told ESPN a week after Bogaerts signed with the San Diego Padres. When Bogaerts landed an 11-year, $280 million deal this month, the question

9:29 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired outfielder Connor Joe from Colorado on Sunday in exchange for pitching prospect Nick Garcia. The 30-year-old Joe hit .238 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs in 111 games with the Rockies. Joe split time between left field, right field, first base and designated

6:10 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Third baseman Justin Turner and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a two-year contract worth just shy of $22 million that includes an opt-out after the first season, sources told

4:22 PM ET The Chicago Cubs are finalizing a 7-year, $177 million deal with free agent shortstop Dansby Swanson, sources told ESPN on Saturday. The deal includes a full no-trade clause, a source told ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Swanson, 28, immediately becomes one of the key faces for the Cubs’ rebuilding effort as he arrives in

9:08 PM ET ESPN News Services The Pittsburgh Pirates and veteran catcher Austin Hedges agreed to a $5 million, one-year contract on Saturday, according to multiple reports. The deal, which is pending a physical, was first reported by The New York Post. The 30-year-old Hedges played for Cleveland last season, batting .163 with seven homers

6:56 PM ET The Los Angeles Dodgers, still looking to patch holes in their lineup, agreed on a one-year, $10 million contract with veteran designated hitter J.D. Martinez on Saturday, sources confirmed to ESPN. Martinez, a 35-year-old right-handed hitter, experienced a 77-point drop-off in OPS with the Boston Red Sox last season but was still

10:37 PM ET NEW YORK — — Not long after landing free-agent catcher Omar Narváez, the active New York Mets signed five players to minor league contracts Friday. Narváez and the Mets agreed to a $15 million, two-year deal, a person familiar with the negotiations confirmed to The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition

6:49 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox designated veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer for assignment on Friday to make room for right-hander Wyatt Mills, who was acquired from Kansas City for minor league righty Jacob Wallace. 2 Related Hosmer, 33, batted .268 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs last season,

4:31 PM ET Jesse Rogers Close ESPN Staff Writer Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Outfielder Andrew Benintendi and the Chicago White Sox agreed on a five-year, $75

7:07 AM ET Scott Boras thought he was prepared when A.J. Preller called him around Thanksgiving. In front of him sat a list of available players who might fulfill the San Diego Padres‘ perceived needs, most of them first basemen and corner outfielders. Then Preller, the Padres’ ninth-year general manager, began to talk about high-priced

9:25 PM ET Two years and about two weeks ago — Dec. 2, 2020 — the deadline for teams to tender a contract offer to pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players was at hand. The Chicago White Sox did not tender an offer to Carlos Rodon, a pitcher they selected with the third pick of the 2014

6:36 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday acquired infielder Yonny Hernández from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash. The 24-year-old switch-hitter played in 12 games for Arizona last season after being traded by Texas in April. Hernández was claimed by Oakland last month and was designated for

7:00 AM ET At the news conference officially welcoming Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres, he tried on a pin-striped Padres jersey emblazoned with “2” on the back as A.J. Preller, the team’s president of baseball operations and general manager, looked on with a smile as big as the USS Midway docked in San

6:27 PM ET Associated Press MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired infielder Owen Miller from the Cleveland Guardians for a player to be named and cash. Miller, 26, batted .243 with six homers, 51 RBI, a .301 on-base percentage and .351 slugging percentage in 130 games with the Guardians last season. He primarily played