MLB

7:05 AM ET What Kevin Mather did last week was to effectively trigger a klieg light over a pitch-dark, rat-infested corner of baseball. Everybody in the sport is aware of the noncompetitive behavior present among many of the 30 teams. Everybody can hear the gnawing on good faith and on the integrity of competition. Everybody

3:17 PM ET Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. — Albert Pujols woke up from a nap last Monday in Arizona to find several hundred messages and missed calls on his phone. While he was sleeping, the Los Angeles Angels slugger’s wife, Deidre, had put up a complimentary Instagram post about her husband that was widely interpreted

11:51 AM ET Francisco Lindor continues to endear himself to the fan base of his new team, rocking a replica of the New York Mets jacket worn by Eddie Murphy in the classic movie “Coming to America” while making his entrance at the team’s spring training facility Thursday morning. Francisco Lindor wearing the jacket from

5:07 PM ET Chicago Cubs shortstop Javy Baez and left fielder Joc Pederson have one thing in common besides being 28 years old and free agents after this season: Both have something to prove in 2021. The lefty-hitting Pederson wants to show he can be an everyday player instead of just a platoon guy against

7:00 AM ET The 2020 MLB draft was obviously tricky for teams to navigate, with very limited information and a much shorter draft. This year it will be a little bit easier, but with a different set of limitations. Because summer high school showcases still largely went on as planned, a number of prep prospects,

7:00 AM ET With MLB spring training games set to begin Sunday across Florida and Arizona, it is officially baseball season once again. The start of a new season means seeing players like Francisco Lindor, Trevor Bauer and Nolan Arenado in their new uniforms along with a chance to get a glimpse of some of

5:37 PM ET If Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper is to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2017, he knows his team will have to earn it by getting through a stacked NL East. “I think this is the best division in baseball; I don’t think that’s even a question,”

7:00 AM ET With the last few top free agents coming off the market in recent weeks, most of the dust has settled on the peculiar 2020-21 Major League Baseball hot stove season. It’s time to take stock. The last time we did this was just before the virtual winter meetings took place in nowhere-land

7:44 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber hopes to be talking about a new contract with the Cleveland Indians as soon as possible — maybe even this spring. They don’t seem to be in quite the same rush. Earlier this week, Bieber — who at just 25 led the

7:05 PM ET Shohei Ohtani said he topped out at 97 mph while throwing live batting practice on Wednesday, an encouraging development that further supports the enthusiasm voiced by prominent members of the Los Angeles Angels throughout the offseason. Ohtani, the Japanese two-way player who hasn’t pitched regularly since the start of the 2018 season,

9:49 PM ET Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — Free-agent outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has agreed to a one-year contract to play for a baseball club in his native South Korea. Choo, who spent the last seven seasons with the Texas Rangers, signed a 2.7 billion won ($2.4 million) deal with a Korean Baseball Organization team

7:00 AM ET You know, for all the grumbling throughout the MLB offseason, we ended up with a fascinating list of transactions. We saw two of the best all-around players in the game traded. That’s pretty fun, at least for Mets and Cardinals fans. We watched the reigning National League Cy Young winner, the NL

7:36 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — Trevor Story‘s priority list this season includes being a more vocal leader, taking his base stealing to another level, crushing early count fastballs and honing his footwork in the field. Not near the top of the list: Fretting about his long-term future with the Colorado Rockies. That’s outside

6:20 PM ET Marly RiveraESPN Writer Close Marly Rivera is a writer for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com. TAMPA — Add Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to the growing list of major leaguers that have sounded off on the way some MLB teams think internally about players in the wake of former Mariners president Kevin Mather’s inflammatory comments

7:15 AM ET When my little brother was at the very end of his teenage years, he stepped over the Vermont moat and joined me for spring training in Arizona. Eventually we made our way to Las Vegas for some exhibition games. As we drove down The Strip for the first time, bathed in its

9:22 PM ET This is the family that Freddie and Chelsea Freeman wanted: lots of siblings who will grow up playing together, loving each other, helping each other. But the Freemans never could’ve imagined how they would get to where they are now, with 4-year-old Charlie and his two baby brothers. After trying for pregnancy

5:50 PM ET Associated Press SAN DIEGO — In discussing options for a long-term deal with electrifying young shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., the San Diego Padres brought up the concept of “a statue contract.” As in, if the kid is as good as Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman were, maybe in 15

2:25 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Over the course of a 45-minute chat to a local Rotary Club in early February, Seattle Mariners CEO Kevin Mather disparaged a Japanese player for not learning English, belittled a star prospect