MLB

9:00 PM ET Timing is everything, in sports as well as life. If the timing is right between Corey Kluber and the New York Yankees, with whom the longtime ace was finalizing a one-year, $11 million deal late Friday, it will be good news for the pitcher in the long term — and perhaps even

7:34 PM ET Right-hander Corey Kluber and the New York Yankees are finalizing a one-year, $11 million deal that would bring the two-time AL Cy Young winner to the Bronx, pending a physical, sources familiar with the agreement told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Kluber’s first season with the Texas Rangers came to an abrupt halt when

12:40 PM ET The New York Yankees finally crossed off the top item on their to-do list, agreeing with second baseman DJ LeMahieu on a six-year, $90 million contract. The deal keeps the 2020 batting champion in the Bronx through 2026, his age-32 though age-37 seasons. Here are some thoughts on the signing and what

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN Glacial. Snail’s pace. Tortoise-like. Pick your favorite metaphor for slow, and that will aptly describe the free-agent market of the 2020-21 MLB offseason. Some numbers to paint that picture: The free-agent tracker at Baseball Reference lists three-year WAR totals for all the players who have signed with a new team,

9:31 PM ET Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Left-hander Alex Wood agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. Wood, who turned 30 on Tuesday, can make an additional $3 million in performance bonuses for games in which he gets 10 or more outs: $125,000 each for 12 and

4:45 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — New Dodgers reliever Corey Knebel agreed to a one-year, $5.25 million contract on Thursday to avoid salary arbitration. The 29-year-old was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers on Dec. 2 ahead of the deadline for teams to offer 2021 contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters. He

7:00 AM ET After a season ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, amidst a precedent-setting, slow-moving free-agency period, against the backdrop of MLB revenues in sharp decline, with multiple clubs nakedly dumping payroll and a bitter CBA fight on the horizon, baseball could use a purely positive story. Fernando Tatis Jr., the emphatic, electrifying, marketable 22-year-old

6:32 PM ET Right-handed reliever Pedro Baez has agreed to a two-year contract with the Houston Astros, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan, confirming multiple reports. The deal is pending a physical. Baez, 32, finished the 2020 season as the third-longest-tenured member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, behind only Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen.

3:24 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is suspending all political contributions in the wake of last week’s invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a mob loyal to President Donald Trump, joining a wave of major corporations rethinking their efforts to lobby Washington. “In light of the unprecedented events last week

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN On Jan. 13, 2020, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred released his findings and announced the Houston Astros‘ punishment for electronically stealing signs during the team’s 2017 World Series run. Manager AJ Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow were each suspended one year by MLB before they were both fired by the Astros,

7:38 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — Right-hander Michael Fulmer and the Detroit Tigers agreed Tuesday to a $3.1 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration. The 2016 AL Rookie of the Year went 0-2 with an 8.78 ERA in 10 starts last season after missing all of 2019 because of Tommy John surgery. He earned

4:31 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Carlos Carrasco got a welcome call from new Mets owner Steven Cohen. “He was so excited. He can’t wait to meet me. I can’t wait to meet him, too,” the pitcher said Tuesday. “The way he talked, the way he said everything is — he looked like

8:20 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” While the trade market has brought most of MLB’s headlines this offseason, the Chicago White Sox spending big to land closer Liam Hendriks shows free agency could soon heat up as well.

10:57 PM ET Free agent closer Liam Hendriks and the Chicago White Sox are in agreement on a multiyear deal, pending a physical, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal is for three years and includes an option for a fourth, and guarantees Hendriks $54 million, sources said. Hendriks will make $39 million in the

12:25 PM ET The New York Mets have been searching for years for a superstar position player. They now have one in Francisco Lindor, and the big question on everyone’s mind: Will he sign a long-term deal with the Mets? Lindor, eligible for free agency after the 2021 season, said during a video call Monday

7:00 AM ET Yu Darvish is gone and many predict the next player the Chicago Cubs will trade is catcher Willson Contreras, even though president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer denied a report that the Cubs were extensively shopping Contreras, calling it “fiction.” “I think he’s one of the top handful of catchers in baseball,”

12:31 AM ET Associated Press SYDNEY — Manny Ramirez has been released by the Sydney Blue Sox because of uncertainty over the Australian Baseball League season during the COVID-19 pandemic and a medical issue that is preventing him from playing or training with the club. Blue Sox chief executive Adam Dobb issued a statement Monday

7:32 AM ET At the contractual rate of roughly $1.1 million per start, Gerrit Cole is in line to make $20 million by August, if baseball has a full season at full pay this year. So it says a lot about how slow this offseason has been that two-and-half months into this winter, there has