MLB

2:44 PM ET MAYFIELD, Ky. — The air just didn’t feel right. Luis “Chili” Pardo didn’t like it. Didn’t like how the moisture felt on his skin inside the Soccer Factory, the indoor field he had opened a year before. A couple of parents came over to talk with him. Some suggested canceling the rest

7:00 AM ET Carlos Correa is a generational talent. Carlos Correa is inconsistent and injury-prone. Carlos Correa is one of the best all-around players in the game. Carlos Correa is overrated. Carlos Correa is worth a $300 million contract. Carlos Correa is a risky investment. While MLB teams committed over $1.9 billion to 51 free

1:33 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball’s lockout has left the New York Yankees unaware of how DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Hicks, Jameson Taillon and Darren O’Day are progressing following surgery. Hicks, rehabbing from a May 26 operation to repair a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, hit .265 (13-for-49) in

7:00 AM ET The long-ballyhooed superstar shortstop free-agent class of 2021-22 is down to two: Carlos Correa and Trevor Story. Beginning with the 10-year, $341 million extension Francisco Lindor signed with the Mets just before the 2021 season, the shortstops have come off the board one by one: Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Javier Baez. That

6:33 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — The New York Yankees have finalized manager Aaron Boone’s coaching staff for 2022, including new additions at hitting coach, first-base coach and third-base coach. Bench coach Carlos Mendoza and pitching coach Matt Blake are back for their third seasons in pinstripes, while bullpen coach Mike Harkey

5:05 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball payrolls dropped 4% in 2021 compared to the league’s last full season, and the $4.05 billion total was the lowest in a fully completed year since 2015. Falling payrolls have sparked the labor unrest that led to the sport’s first work stoppage in more

3:17 PM ET Buck Showalter is 24th on the all-time wins list for managers. He’s managed three different teams to the postseason and is a three-time Manager of the Year. He’s also never won a World Series — and knows what the expectations will be for a Mets team that hasn’t made the playoffs since

2:09 PM ET Detroit Tigers first-base coach Kimera Bartee, who played six seasons in the majors, has died at the age of 49, the team announced Tuesday. No cause of death has been announced. “All of us in the Tigers baseball family were shocked and saddened,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said in a statement.

5:06 PM ET The Oakland Athletics have hired Mark Kotsay to be their next manager, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Monday, confirming an earlier report. Kotsay, 46, was Oakland’s third-base coach last season and is a former bench coach with the Athletics. He now takes over for Bob Melvin, who left to manage the

3:37 PM ET Associated Press SAN DIEGO — New San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin has rounded out his coaching staff with the addition of Matt Williams, a former All-Star third baseman and Washington Nationals manager, and Bryan Price, former manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Williams, best known for his 10 seasons with the NL

1:47 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Four minor league teams that lost their big league affiliations before the 2021 season have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Major League Baseball, using a law firm that has represented players’ unions. Parent companies of the Staten Island Yankees, Tri-City Valley Cats, Norwich Sea Unicorns and Salem-Keizer

7:00 AM ET The MLB lockout is nearly three weeks old, and it seems like not much has come out of the negotiations. So what exactly is going on between the owners and players? Are they moving any closer to a deal? And most importantly: When is it time to worry about the sport’s immediate

4:00 PM ET New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is an avid collector of art, his collection of Picasso and Doig and others reportedly worth many hundreds of millions of dollars. But one of his favorite pieces is round: the baseball that rolled between the legs of Bill Buckner to end Game 6 of the

1:53 PM ET New York Mets owner Steven Cohen announced the team has hired Buck Showalter as its new manager. Showalter, 65, has been a major league manager for four teams between 1992 and 2018. He won American League Manager of the Year honors during stints with the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Baltimore

3:13 PM ET Major League Baseball and the players’ association met Thursday for the first time since owners locked out the players while the sides negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the talks told ESPN. The conversations involved several noncore economic issues such as scheduling, grievance procedures, special events, and/or the drug

7:00 AM ET It’s probably best to forget about Kris Bryant‘s extraordinary first three years in the big leagues, when he captured a Rookie of the Year Award in 2015, was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2016 and boasted a .946 OPS in 2017. We might never see that guy again, and

12:16 AM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians said minor league catcher Andres Melendez died Thursday in Miami. He was 20. The team said Melendez died suddenly. There was no immediate word on the cause of his death. The Venezuela native began his career with Milwaukee’s organization in 2018. He spent two seasons

6:42 PM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks announced more than two dozen changes to their front office staff Thursday, including the addition of veteran baseball operations executive Jason McLeod. McLeod’s title is Special Assistant to D-backs Executive Vice President & General Manager Mike Hazen. McLeod has 26 years of baseball experience, including