SAN DIEGO — By now, the depths of Jackson Merrill’s terrific 2024 season have been duly plumbed. All that remains is to find out Monday if baseball writers chose the Padres’ center fielder as the National League’s Rookie of the Year.

But worth a few moments of exploring, here, following, are side benefits to A.J. Preller being right ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some 23 months ago, the Royals launched a “listening tour,” they called it, an attempt to sell Kansas City on the idea of downtown baseball.

OK, baseball in or around downtown, they said — before, hey, how about baseball in the Northtown?

Two years later now, the Royals have expanded their stadium considerations once...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Rays shortstop Wander Franco will have to check in monthly with Dominican Republic court officials while awaiting a hearing as the result of his latest legal issue, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Franco, 23, was arrested Sunday in San Juan de la Maguana after an altercation in the parking lot of an apartment building in which guns ...Read more

SEATTLE — The words "payroll flexibility" hadn't quite entered the Mariners' offseason lexicon back on Nov. 22 of last year when they somewhat surprisingly traded Eugenio Suarez to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for catcher Seby Zavala and right-handed reliever Carlos Vargas.

While Suarez was coming off a year that didn't quite meet his...Read more

The Dodgers’ championship season is filling a lot of shelves with fresh hardware.

The Dodgers were recognized as the top offensive team in baseball, winning the Silver Slugger team award on Tuesday. Three individuals — Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Mookie Betts — also won Silver Slugger awards as the top hitter in the National ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — When it comes to value, no player the Padres will pursue this offseason matches Roki Sasaki.

The Japanese ace and 2023 World Baseball Classic star stands as one of the sport’s best pitchers, yet he’ll cost mere pennies on the dollars relative to the likely returns he’ll generate. For several years, Sasaki’s salary will ...Read more

It is now clear that one of the Angels’ main strategies for improving this winter is by adding players they believe can have a positive influence on the ones they already had.

The Angels signed veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year, $12 million deal on Tuesday.

General manager Perry Minasian then described the value he believes d�...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It was just last month when 63-year-old Fernando Valenzuela, the beloved Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who sparked Fernandomania, died from a mysterious illness.

A newly published copy of his death certificate dispels much of the mystery: According to that document, Valenzuela's underlying cause of death was possibly related to a ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tropicana Field can be repaired in time for the Rays’ 2026 season for about $55.7 million, according to the damage assessment report sent to St. Petersburg City Council members on Tuesday.

The report, which does not include all items to be repaired, estimates that Hurricane Milton caused $39 million in damage and an ...Read more

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Manny Ramirez turned to the man next to him, his former captain, and shared a little secret.

“When I came to Boston, I watched you and I looked up to you,”: Ramirez told Jason Varitek. “When you went 4 for 4 or 0 for 4, you worked hard. It made me a better player.”

It was a poignant moment during an evening of ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — As the night deepened on Oct. 30, Walker Buehler was summoned from the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen with his team needing three New York Yankees outs to claim the 2024 World Series championship.

It was to be the Lexington native’s first appearance as a relief pitcher since 2018.

In the stands at Yankee Stadium, the pitcher�...Read more

ATLANTA — Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale is a finalist for the National League Cy Young Award, voted on by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

This is no surprise. The only surprise would be if Sale did not win the award.

The other finalists are Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes and Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.

The ...Read more

NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor heard chants of “MVP” in nearly every ballpark the Mets played in over the second half of the 2024 season. The shortstop is getting some recognition for the way he carried the Mets into the postseason as a finalist for the NL MVP Award.

The league announced the finalists for the major awards Monday with Lindor ...Read more

When the television company that airs Angels games filed for bankruptcy last year, the team appeared to be faced with a stark choice: take less money to stay on its longtime broadcast home or take much less money now in the hope that a streaming-first alternative would pay off later.

Either way, the prospect of lower revenue raised the prospect...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Rays shortstop Wander Franco, already facing a December trial on charges stemming from a relationship with a minor, was arrested Monday in the Dominican Republic following a gun-related incident.

Franco was involved in an altercation Sunday in San Juan de la Maguana in which guns were drawn in the parking lot of an apartment ...Read more

CHICAGO — Kyle Hendricks figured he would be sitting around all offseason and wait it out before finding his next big-league opportunity.

Instead, Hendricks’ first experience with free agency didn’t even last a week — he finalized a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. Although all signs pointed to ...Read more

The Dodgers' World Series-winning coaching staff won't remain entirely intact next season.

On Sunday, the Miami Marlins hired Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough to be their new manager, as ESPN first reported, creating the first opening on the Dodgers' coaching staff in two seasons.

A 44-year-old former minor-league catcher, ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — There’s no doubt Padres manager Mike Shildt and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller are in lockstep, beyond the two-year extension that will carry the dugout boss through 2027.

How do we know?

The Zoom call with media Wednesday that announced the deal felt bro-huggy to the point of wondering if a tailgate bash was ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA— A world-class pitcher reached the cusp of free agency Saturday with the announcement that Roki Sasaki will be made available by his team in Japan.

But unlike most free agents, all 30 teams figure to have interest, including the Phillies, who scouted Sasaki this season, according to two sources.

In a statement, the Chiba Lotte ...Read more