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

LOS ANGELES — Closer extraordinaire Devin Williams had been told by the Milwaukee Brewers that he likely would be traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He went to the New York Yankees instead, a turn of events Williams described as "the Yankees snuck in under the table and got the deal done."

It's not a secret that fortifying the bullpen remains...Read more

CHICAGO — It seemed inevitable Cody Bellinger would be wearing a different uniform on opening day after the Chicago Cubs acquired right fielder Kyle Tucker to create a crowded outfield.

Less than three hours after the team introduced Tucker during a video news conference Tuesday afternoon, the Cubs traded Bellinger to the New York Yankees for...Read more

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Pinellas County Commission approved bonds to pay for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium late Tuesday, putting pressure on the team to hold up its end of the deal it signed onto over the summer.

On a board with a new majority of commissioners who are skeptical of the deal’s financial terms, the commission voted 5-2 to take ...Read more

NEW YORK — Plan B is officially taking shape.

In the fallout of Juan Soto walking across town, the Yankees have acquired first baseman and outfielder Cody Bellinger in a deal with the Chicago Cubs, according to multiple reports. Chicago is also sending $5 million to the Yanks in the deal.

The Bombers sent pitcher Cody Poteet in exchange for ...Read more

NEW YORK — Devin Williams figured he would be traded this offseason, but the Yankees were not on the closer’s radar.

Instead, the two-time National League Reliever of the Year expected the Milwaukee Brewers to send him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose interest was heavily rumored.

“That was what I was being told,” Williams, 30, said ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Orioles have addressed their pitching staff.

In a surprise move, Baltimore signed Japanese right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year deal, the team announced Monday. The deal will be for $13 million, a source with direct knowledge of the terms told The Baltimore Sun.

Sugano, 35, has spent his entire professional career with ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Would he do it all over again?

That was the one question I wanted to ask Benny Gallo. He wanted to talk baseball.

Baseball is not what he does. It is who he is.

It is the wonder at a glimpse of a freshly mowed field, the pride in identifying a teenager that just might be good enough to make a living playing the game, the ...Read more