MLB

10:25 AM ET We have just a few weeks of exciting hot stove action while the cold reality of a likely work stoppage lurks. We’ve seen a few years of smaller labor skirmishes that have undercut joyful moments with financial truths. (It’s his big league debut! Ugh, but they manipulated his service time?) But this

7:00 AM ET Here’s how to win the offseason: Spend a lot of money. In the constant swirl of the sports news cycle, that’s as good a proxy for aggression as anything. Right? Well, no. While stingy owners should often be taken to task for their frugal ways, we simply cannot say that spending big

9:58 PM ET Starting pitcher Steven Matz, a key component to a turnaround season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, has agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, pending a physical, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Tuesday night. Matz could earn up to $48

11:26 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball and the players’ union have agreed to move the upcoming deadline for teams to offer contracts to certain players in order to keep them out of potential limbo in the event of a work stoppage next month. The tender deadline was moved from Dec.

3:56 PM ET Wander Franco‘s 12-year contract extension with the Tampa Bay Rays that guarantees him $182 million and could pay a maximum of $223 million is shocking in only one regard: that the Rays would make that kind of financial outlay, even to a burgeoning superstar like Franco. It is not just the largest

7:00 AM ET The MLB hot stove is up and running this month — there have been some significant signings already — but that could come to a halt when the current collective bargaining agreement ends on Dec. 1. If there is a lockout, trades and free-agent negotiations will stop until a new deal between

7:00 AM ET Welcome to the Hall of Fame ballot as devised by Stephen King, George R.R. Martin and Beelzebub. It’s the final appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Curt Schilling — and the first for Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. There are other

7:48 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and Baltimore Orioles slugger Trey Mancini were named baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year Award winners on Monday night. Posey, the National League winner, sat out the 2020 season after twin girls adopted by him and his wife were born prematurely.

1:53 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard and Tim Lincecum are among 13 first-time candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, joining 17 holdovers. Steroids-tainted stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens make their 10th and final appearance on the BBWAA ballot

7:00 AM ET We’re back with the fourth edition of free-agent superlatives — and this year’s free-agent class is certainly the most super we’ve seen in several years. What’s not so super is an offseason that may hit a wall thanks to the impending work stoppage at midnight on Dec. 1, when the owners will

5:10 PM ET Catcher Pedro Severino and the Milwaukee Brewers are in agreement on a one-year, $1.9 million contract, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday. The deal is pending a physical. Severino, 28, will join Omar Narvaez at catcher and has incentives in the deal that can earn him another

2:11 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Outfielder Seiya Suzuki will be posted Monday by his Japanese club and his rights will be available for bidding by the 30 Major League Baseball teams. MLB told its teams Sunday that the posting will start Monday morning and run through 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 22.

3:48 PM ET Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. — Noah Syndergaard got a qualifying offer and not much else from the New York Mets over the past two months. That’s one big reason he’s switching coasts to join Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels. The imposing right-hander known as Thor said Friday he

7:58 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Clint Frazier‘s tenure with the Yankees might have ended after five unfulfilling seasons when New York designated him for assignment on Friday to open a roster spot for a prospect ahead of the winter meeting draft. Frazier can be claimed by another major league team off waivers.

8:43 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers added infielder Kody Clemens, the youngest son of seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, to their 40-man roster. Detroit also added right-hander Angel De Jesus to the roster Friday. Niko Goodrum, who hit .214 in 90 games with the Tigers last season, cleared waivers and

6:49 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Short of 40-man roster spots to protect prospects ahead of next month’s winter meeting draft, the New York Yankees traded right-hander Nick Nelson to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday along with minor league catcher Donny Sands. New York received minor league infielder T.J. Rumfield and left-hander Joel

12:02 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — A special opening day for the newly named Cleveland Guardians began with a bang. Not the one they hoped for, either. While fans were buying the first available Guardians merchandise on Friday as the team officially transitioned from Indians after 106 years, a sign installed outside the team

Nov 19, 2021 The entire landscape of Major League Baseball is virtually guaranteed to change from one season to the next. The annual awards that were handed out over the course of this week are yet another example of that. Just to pick one race, let’s go with the AL MVP competition. Just before the