CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs enter 2025 as the consensus favorites to win the National League Central, thanks to the addition of Kyle Tucker and a general lack of offseason spending by their division counterparts.

While it should be a given considering the team’s many resources and big-market status, this is a new feeling for some in the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Tim Anderson pulled an extra-large glove off the top shelf of his locker in the Angels clubhouse, slipped it on his left hand and began pounding his right fist into the massive pocket.

"It feels weird," he admitted.

Anderson has started 946 regular-season games in the major leagues, all but two at shortstop. But six seasons ...Read more

LAKELAND, Fla. — It hasn’t taken Tommy Pham long to make his present felt around the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The home run he hit Sunday during a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium was fun, sure. Fastball away, 97 mph, other way out to right.

Even the throw he made to nail Detroit right fielder Kerry Carpenter trying to ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Mets appear to be lacking some catching depth on paper. They’ll now put that to the test in reality with Francisco Alvarez out for the next 6-8 weeks.

Alvarez will join pitchers Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea on the injured list at the start of the season with a fractured hamate bone in left hand. It’s a relatively common ...Read more

PHOENIX — Right-hander Michael Grove won't pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year after undergoing season-ending surgery last week to repair his right labrum.

Grove walked into the Dodgers clubhouse with his right arm in a sling Sunday morning but quietly declined to speak with reporters. He threw a couple of bullpen sessions this spring...Read more

SARASOTA, Fla. — So, you want to be a baseball GM?

Want to make the calls, do the deals, endure the barbs. You want an owner looking over your shoulder, a manager expecting a better roster and the baseball gods occasionally throwing you a curve.

If so, let’s start with this simple challenge:

Should the Rays trade one of their starting ...Read more

MESA, Ariz. — A pitch-dark sky greets Jerry Weinstein every morning when he arrives at the Chicago Cubs spring training complex.

The 81-year-old coach is known for being the first among the staff to arrive each day, typically pulling up around 4:30 or 5 a.m.

“He’s done working out before the rest get there,” bench coach Ryan Flaherty ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — This was a week ago at LECOM Park in Bradenton where the Yankees were in the process of dismantling a seemingly overmatched Pirates team, 12-3, and a couple of scouts were discussing the 2025 prospects for Aaron Boone’s boys in the aftermath of the Juan Soto defection.

“I give [Brian] Cashman a lot of credit,” said one of ...Read more

NEW YORK — Things aren’t looking too great for Giancarlo Stanton.

The Yankees slugger said Saturday his tendon injuries are “severe in both elbows,” which is a result from bat adjustments from last season, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Stanton is unsure when he came resume baseball activities.

Stanton returned to Yankees camp ...Read more

PHOENIX — Michael Conforto isn't the new Teoscar Hernández yet.

But as Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts discussed Conforto last week, he couldn't help but note the similarities between the two veteran outfielders.

Last year, of course, the Dodgers struck gold when they signed Hernández to a one-year, $23.5-million contract. It ...Read more

The Doctor has a prescription for the Mets: A staff ace.

Former Mets great Dwight “Doc” Gooden recently spent time in Port St. Lucie at Mets camp talking with the pitching staff and watching some bullpens and Grapefruit League games. The legendary right-hander came away with the impression that the rotation is strong, but it’s lacking a ...Read more

A month ago, Dave Roberts was asked if the Dodgers’ hope was for Shohei Ohtani to be back in the team’s pitching rotation by May this season.

“I think that’s about right, yeah,” the manager responded, speaking on Feb. 1 at the club’s preseason fan fest event. “And it might be earlier.”

Fast-forward to Thursday, however, and ...Read more

Another baseball season, heavy with hope, begins on March 17 with the first of two games between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers in, of all the “we are the world” places, Tokyo.

What is being called “traditional” Opening Day is set to take on March 27, with one Opening Day game moved to March 28 so that George M. ...Read more

Giancarlo Stanton’s return to Tampa is imminent. His return to the field is a different story.

On Thursday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters that Stanton is expected to rejoin the club in Tampa this weekend. The designated hitter has been in New York due to a personal matter while also dealing with tennis elbows. Those ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Padres seem headed to another competitive season in a 15-team league that serves up six playoff berths, with two or three teams that raise a figurative white flag on Opening Day and a few others that lack the pitching to really go for it.

A constant to this unprecedented Padres era of consistent competitive relevance is the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It took some four hours of work, roughly 1,200 Rubik's Cubes, and years' worth of knowledge with the six-side, 54-panel puzzle.

Ever since high school, minor league Dodgers reliever Jack Dreyer has been able to master the Rubik's Cube; getting so good he not only solves them in as little as 20 seconds, but has learned to arrange...Read more

PEORIA, Ariz. — Baseball can beat you down.

Will Mitch Garver bounce back?

In the fourth inning of an 18-9 loss to the White Sox on Saturday, the 34-year-old veteran crouched in a slightly open stance, his bat resting below his helmet, peering at the pitcher. Chicago’s Nick Nastrini set from the stretch and unfurled a 95-mph fastball along...Read more

PHOENIX — It all came as advertised.

The 99-mph heat. The late-diving, hard-biting splitter. The overwhelming, if still raw, stuff that many expect will make him a future ace … if not more.

In his first official Major League Baseball contest, in the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds in Cactus League play at Camelback Ranch, ...Read more