CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker’s introduction to the Chicago Cubs organization won’t involve an arbitration hearing during spring training.

The Cubs and their new slugger have agreed to a $16.5 million salary for 2025 to avoid arbitration, a source confirmed to the Chicago Tribune on Thursday. Tucker had filed at $17.5 million while the Cubs were ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Mets are bringing back one favorite while rumors and reports about another seem to be changing by the hour.

Pending a physical, Jesse Winker is coming back to the Mets on a one-year contract, $8 million contract with incentives, the New York Daily News confirmed Thursday. This gives the Mets a left-handed bat to platoon at DH ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In an effort to beat the heat and dodge the summer rain while playing outdoors at Steinbrenner Field, the Rays have pushed back the start of weeknight home games and moved up some weekend games.

In March, April and May, most weeknight home games will be scheduled for a 7:05 first pitch. Starting on June 3, most ...Read more

A jury trial in the high-profile wrongful death lawsuit brought by Tyler Skaggs’ family against the Angels has been delayed until the fall, as a contentious legal clash between attorneys about potential evidence continues.

An Orange County (Calif.) Superior Court judge late last week agreed to push the start of the civil trial from April 7 to...Read more

ATLANTA — Sporting legend Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson is abandoning a $21 million judgment he won in his civil extortion case against his niece and nephew, whom he accused of relentless harassment and intimidation.

Jackson, a former Heisman Trophy winner who played in both the National Football League and Major League Baseball, has agreed...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Let the waiting game commence.

On Wednesday, Major League Baseball's 2025 international signing period opened, an annual date of significance around the sport in which top international amateur players can begin signing with MLB teams.

For 27 clubs, that meant an afternoon of flurried activity, with top international prospects ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Padres have walked away from the last two international signing periods with arguably the best prospects on the board.

Expect crickets when this year’s window opens Wednesday — at least until Japanese superstar Roki Sasaki makes his decision.

The Padres have joined the Dodgers and Blue Jays as finalists for the Japanese ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Former Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz likely died last week of a drug overdose, according to Phoenix police.

Matusz, 37, died Jan. 6 at his home in Arizona. His mother, Elizabeth Matusz, found him with drug paraphernalia on the floor next to his body and a white substance in his mouth, according to a police report obtained by The ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A little more than a year ago, the Dodgers saw an opportunity on the horizon.

Entering last offseason, the team knew two-way Japanese star Shohei Ohtani was entering a historic free agency. They knew decorated Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto was planning to come from Japan to the majors. And they knew another generational ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It is getting close to announcement time for Roki Sasaki, and the chances the Padres will have him in their starting rotation in 2025 appear as strong as ever.

The Japanese pitching star met with the Padres in San Diego last week, two sources confirmed Monday. The Athletic was the first to report Sasaki was in San Diego over the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Yes, they lost out on retaining Juan Soto, but if you were to grade the Yankees on their offseason, you would still have to give them a “B” for more than adequately addressing their primary needs — Cody Bellinger for center field to hopefully offset a lot of the lost offense from Soto, Max Fried for the top of the rotation and...Read more

CHICAGO — When the Chicago Cubs went into the offseason, they had two key areas to upgrade offensively.

They landed the superstar bat they needed when they acquired slugger Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros on Dec. 13. That same day the Cubs announced the signing of veteran catcher Carson Kelly to bolster the other area of their lineup that...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was opened in 1923 with public financing. The University of Southern California campus is adjacent. It has remained the home for Trojans football for over a century.

Notre Dame and USC started a football series on Dec. 4, 1926, at the Coliseum. A crowd of 78,000 attended Notre Dame’s 13-12 ...Read more

SEATTLE — This is a column in which being wrong would be welcomed. If the Mariners are stacked when the season begins, or 20 games above .500 in August, or winning a division title in October, I will welcome the emails with “You were saying???” in the subject line.

Seattle deserves a World Series run. An MLB championship might mean more ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mookie Betts made the catch in Game 4 of the World Series last October. And this week, Major League Baseball ruled the New York Yankees' fans who tried interfering with him out, for good.

Three months after Betts had his glove and arm grabbed by two spectators at Yankee Stadium during last year's Fall Classic, MLB has decided to ...Read more

NEW YORK — Remember when Brian Cashman said, “I think we’re pretty f------ good” at the 2023 GM meetings?

Yankees fans who saw that quote out of context may have fumed at the general manager after the pinstripers missed the playoffs in 2023. But Cashman, who spoke for over 100 contentious minutes that day, wasn’t referring to the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins again are signaling they want to play at Target Field until at least 2059, if they have an ongoing source of taxpayer funding to help keep the ballpark in top shape.

The Minnesota Ballpark Authority, the public entity created to manage the Minneapolis stadium, approved a “principles of agreement” with the Twins ...Read more

DETROIT — The Tigers and lefty ace Tarik Skubal might not have been able to work out a multi-year extension this offseason, but the reigning American League Cy Young winner got a handsome pay raise nevertheless.

The two sides on Thursday agreed on a one-year deal for 2025 worth $10.15 million. Skubal, who was eligible for arbitration, earned ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — A.J. Preller’s most important pursuit of this offseason became more difficult Monday, when a dispute among Padres shareholders over control of the team went public via a 97-page legal complaint filed by Sheel Seidler against two brothers of her late husband, Peter Seidler.

This month, Preller is attempting to persuade Japanese ...Read more

NEW YORK — When you think of great players linked throughout Mets history, you think of players who played on the same team. Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry as young phenoms. Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling, teammates on the 1986 World Series squad and now teammates in the SNY booth calling Mets games on TV.

Tom Seaver might have retired ...Read more