PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies took a big step in the latter direction Sunday, trading for lefty Jesús Luzardo from the Marlins for 19-year-old shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba and minor league outfielder Emaarion Boyd, two league sources confirmed and the team later announced. The Phillies also received double-A catcher Paul McIntosh.

Luzardo, ...Read more

At all levels of baseball, pitchers are breaking down far too often.

The question is why.

Major League Baseball’s findings released Tuesday linked the injury crisis to rising velocities, pitch shaping and maximum effort.

An underlying cause should be taken into account, too, although MLB won’t be cranking out a 62-page report on that ...Read more

It’s nearly too much to bear.

It’s one thing for Oakland to lose its last big league team this year. The reality of that situation hasn’t fully hit yet, but sadly, it’s hardly a new experience for the East Bay city.

But for Oakland to lose its greatest son — the man who perfectly encapsulated the excellence and swagger of The Town �...Read more

NEW YORK — The Yankees found their first baseman.

Paul Goldschmidt has agreed to a one-year contract with the club, YES Network’s Jack Curry reported Saturday, adding another former MVP to the Yankees’ new-look lineup.

The deal is for $12.5 million, according to reports.

Goldschmidt, 37, hit .245 with 22 home runs, 65 RBIs and a .716 ...Read more

SEATTLE — As Mariners fans await an answer to the most pressing (depressing?) question hovering over the team this offseason — will they have to trade staff anchor Luis Castillo to upgrade the lineup? — the club has already executed its most meaningful move to complement the offense.

When the Mariners last month announced the return of ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — For the Phillies, the hot stove has been more like an induction cooktop with the cord unplugged. Even a tangential morsel of gossip sounds like a Christmas ham, at this point. So sharpen up those knives and find that apple chutney.

Nolan Arenado has reportedly rejected a trade to the Houston Astros in hopes of landing with a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Bryan Cranston is such a huge Dodgers fan that he got goosebumps in a Los Angeles studio six years ago while narrating an MLB Network documentary on the team's 1988 season, which culminated with one of the most dramatic home runs in World Series history, Kirk Gibson's Game 1, pinch-hit, walk-off shot off Dennis Eckersley.

The 68...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Sasaki Mania? More like a Sasaki snub.

The Phillies haven’t been asked to make a presentation to world-class pitcher Roki Sasaki, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski conceded Friday, leaving them to presume they didn’t make the list of teams that the Japanese pitching phenom wishes to meet.

“We have not been...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Max Kepler, the Phillies’ new everyday left fielder, has never played an inning of left field in the major leagues.

The 31-year-old has played 927 games in right field and 159 games in center over the last 10 years with the Minnesota Twins. But when the Phillies signed him to a one-year deal on Friday, it was technically to ...Read more

BOSTON — The Red Sox won’t lack in lefties next year.

They’ve spent December prioritizing southpaws, signing relievers Justin Wilson and Aroldis Chapman, making a bid to free-agent star Max Fried, then pivoting to a massive trade for White Sox breakout arm Garrett Crochet when Fried chose the Yankees.

On Friday, the Red Sox reached an ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The news was not news, not really, because while it was distressing, it was also hardly surprising. On Tuesday, Major League Baseball released the results of a yearlong study of pitching injuries, a 62-page examination of the factors, thinking, and trends that have led, over the last two decades, to an increase in the number of ...Read more

NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger made his interest in the Yankees known.

About a week before the Yankees traded for the 2019 National League MVP, general manager Brian Cashman heard how badly Bellinger wanted to be a Bronx Bomber.

“I’ve been hearing it for a long time, including his agent, Scott Boras, saying, ‘Can you get him over here? He�...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs are welcoming Sammy Sosa back to the organization following the slugger’s public apology for past “mistakes.”

Sosa released a statement Thursday, paving the way for the former National League MVP, who has been estranged from the organization since he left the Cubs after the 2004 season. Sosa had been linked to...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Give the Phillies credit. It’s difficult to have the worst winter in the city when you play in the same city as the Sixers. But, by golly, Dave Dombrowski is doing it. More than a month into the free-agent signing period, the Phillies president is still talking like a professional magician who isn’t quite sure why he is in a...Read more

ST. LOUIS — As the Cardinals spent time the past month talking with teams to explore trading All-Star Nolan Arenado, the club knew ultimately it would have to take any potential deal back to their third baseman for approval.

A complete no-trade clause, one he once waived to make a deal to St. Louis possible, gave Arenado all the say in where ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Yankees don’t know exactly where they stand in the arms race for Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, but they do know one thing.

They’ve made it further in this process than they did in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes seven years ago.

The Yankees have been granted an in-person meeting with Sasaki, general manager Brian Cashman ...Read more

NEW YORK — Shortly after Max Fried agreed to the largest contract ever for a left-handed pitcher, the Yankees’ new ace did not consider splurging on a fancy car or a lavish home.

“The first thing that kind of popped into my mind was probably just, like, getting my dog a bunch of dog food,” Fried said Wednesday after his introductory ...Read more

CHICAGO — As the Chicago White Sox pursue a new home ballpark, their current stadium has a new name.

The Sox will spend the 2025 season at Rate Field, the team formally announced Wednesday. The Sox posted a video announcing the name change on social media Tuesday evening.

The ballpark has been known as Guaranteed Rate Field since November ...Read more

NEW YORK — New Year, new Clay Holmes.

The Mets’ newest pitching acquisition is already undergoing a transformation of sorts with his new team. Tuesday afternoon on a Zoom call, the right-hander was sporting a beard, something forbidden while playing for the Yankees, and a t-shirt from the brand Meanwhile Back in Queens, a local company that...Read more