MLB

7:00 AM ET Six first basemen have attained nine-figure contracts in their 30s, and the results haven’t necessarily been great. The megadeals for Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols became problems almost immediately. So did the one for Ryan Howard. Deals for Jason Giambi and Carlos Lee started off well but fizzled in the back halves.

7:00 AM ET NEW YORK — Three days into the MLB lockout, when New York Yankees fan Ray Sbarra checked Reddit for his baseball fix, he came up empty. So, with the lockout leaving the hot stove freezing cold and no end in sight, he decided to fill in the gap. “I just figured, let

4:32 PM ET Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The death of Tampa Bay Rays bullpen catcher Jean Ramirez near his home in Fort Worth, Texas, has been ruled a suicide. The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office released the finding on Thursday, three days after the 28-year-old’s body was found. The Ramirez family released a

1:37 PM ET Brad Ausmus, former manager of the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels, has been hired as bench coach for the Oakland Athletics, providing some much-needed experience to the coaching staff of rookie manager Mark Kotsay. The A’s finalized Kotsay’s coaching staff on Friday, also announcing the promotion of Tommy Everidge to

7:00 AM ET A lot of the credit for the Atlanta Braves’ postseason surge was rightly attributed to the midseason deals made by general manager Alex Anthopoulos, because without Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall and Joc Pederson, Atlanta would not have hosted a championship parade. But what may have been lost in that narrative

12:54 PM ET Associated Press Travis Snider says he has retired after eight major league seasons. “I have contemplated this day for for a while but the time has finally come for me to hang up the spikes,” he wrote Thursday on Instagram. “I have spent many waking hours and sleepless nights trying to find

5:37 PM ET Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Jesse Rogers Close ESPN Staff Writer Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. Major League Baseball on Thursday made its first labor proposal since locking out

4:15 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The Atlantic League is restoring its pitching mound to 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate and returning strike zone judgment to umpires after experimenting with moving the rubber back a foot and using an automatic ball-strike system. The independent league announced the changes Thursday as part

7:00 AM ET About 15 minutes before first pitch of a Nationals-Braves game last summer, one of Juan Soto‘s sprints took him into the outfield, out behind second base, and he paused to say hi to Ozzie Albies, who talks to everyone, and after a moment, Ronald Acuña Jr. joined in, listening more than talking.

4:36 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Rachel Balkovec is aware of the negativity in her social media feeds and tries to leave it there. Her sisters see it, too, and can’t help but pass along certain disparaging reactions to her barrier-breaking journey. “It’s hilarious to me,” Balkovec said. “Because it’s the American dream.”

6:26 PM ET ESPN News Services While the magnitude of having his number being retired by the New York Mets is “sinking in,” Keith Hernandez can only wonder if the Hall of Fame could still be in his future after falling off the ballot in 2004 after nine years. Hernandez, a captain and commentator beloved

5:10 PM ET Elian Soto, Juan Soto‘s younger sibling, has verbally agreed to join his brother’s Washington Nationals just days after declaring his intentions to sign with the New York Mets, a source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Elian Soto, a 16-year-old outfielder and third baseman, wouldn’t be eligible to formally sign until next year’s

7:00 AM ET Now that Jon Lester has announced his retirement from baseball after 16 major league seasons, there will undoubtedly be a good discussion about his Hall of Fame candidacy in five years. But as far as his teammates are concerned, there is no debate. “I told my kids, I’m not going until Jon

10:37 PM ET Tampa Bay Rays bullpen catcher Jean Ramirez died Monday, the team announced. He was 28. No further details were provided by the team. “Jean was an incredible teammate and friend,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said in a statement Tuesday. “He brought so much passion and energy each day to our clubhouse and

6:56 PM ET The New York Mets this season will retire the No. 17 jersey of former first baseman Keith Hernandez, who becomes just the fourth player in franchise history to receive the honor. The ceremony is scheduled to take place Saturday, July 9, the team announced Tuesday. Hernandez, who has been with the franchise

7:00 AM ET The intrigue around the greatest class of free-agent shortstops is down to a final pair. Soon after the next collective bargaining agreement is concluded, Carlos Correa and Trevor Story will sign whopper deals, and then a lot of the sport’s transactional focus will shift to another position — third base, including the

7:00 AM ET The Jacob deGrom of 2021 was a synthesis of exceptional athleticism, acumen, competitiveness and analytics, and it stands to reason that what he was last summer — before he was sidelined with an elbow issue — was the best starting pitcher we will ever see. He accounted for 10 runs as a

9:30 PM ET ESPN News Services Rachel Balkovec will manage the Low-A team for the New York Yankees this season, making her the first female skipper in affiliated professional baseball, according to a report by The Athletic. Balkovec, who joined the Yankees as a minor league hitting coach in November 2019, will lead the minor