Just 58 single-team players among 273 in Hall of Fame after addition of Todd Helton and Joe Mauer
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Todd Helton and Joe Mauer will become only the sixth pair of players inducted together into the Hall of Fame after spending their big league careers with one organization. “A lot of things had to go right,” Helton said Thursday during a news conference in the Hall’s...
Ichiro Suzuki arrives on next year’s Hall of Fame ballot; CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez eligible too
It was a little past 8 a.m. in Tokyo when the newest inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame were announced. Next year there could be some big celebrations over breakfast in Japan. Ichiro Suzuki headlines the group of players who are eligible for voting a year from now. That...
Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, Joe Mauer elected to Baseball Hall of FameVideo
NEW YORK — Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer were elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday, while Billy Wagner and Gary Sheffield fell short. Beltre was picked on 366 of 385 ballots from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in his first ballot appearance for 95.1%. Helton...
Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg says he has metastatic prostate cancer
CHICAGO — Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg has been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. The 64-year-old Sandberg said Monday in a release put out by the Baseball Hall of Fame that he has started treatment. “I am surrounded by my loving wife Margaret, our incredibly supportive family, the...
Luke Weaver guaranteed $2 million by Yankees and could earn up to $8.25 million over 2 years
NEW YORK — Right-hander Luke Weaver is guaranteed $2 million as part of his one-year contract with the New York Yankees, a deal that includes a team option for 2025 and performance bonuses that allow him to earn up to $8.25 million over two seasons. As part of the deal...
Yankees cut Jeter Downs, likely ending his time in New York before it started
NEW YORK — Jeter Downs’ career with the New York Yankees could end before it started. Downs was designated for assignment Friday, one month after the Yankees claimed the 25-year-old shortstop off waivers from the Washington Nationals. The Yankees needed the roster spot after claiming infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo off waivers...
Report: Reliever Josh Hader agrees to 5-year, $95M contract with Astros
Hard-throwing reliever Josh Hader and the Houston Astros agreed to a $95 million, five-year contract Friday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical. Hader will get a $19 million salary in...
Strawberry and Gooden, honored by Mets with retired numbers, regret descent into drugs and alcohol
NEW YORK — Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden thought back to what might have been, how their starry accomplishments would have been so much greater had they not succumbed to the drugs and alcohol that shattered their careers. On the day the New York Mets announced they will retire Gooden’s...
Amazon will invest in Diamond Sports as part of a bankruptcy restructuring agreement
Amazon will partner with Diamond Sports as part of a restructuring agreement as the largest owner of regional sports networks looks to emerge from bankruptcy. Diamond owns 18 networks under the Bally Sports banner. Those networks have the rights to 37 professional teams — 11 baseball, 15 NBA and 11...
Dodgers finalize $23.5M deal with Teoscar Hernández
LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernández finalized a $23.5 million, one-year contract with the Dodgers on Friday, the latest deal by big-spending Los Angeles that includes deferred money. The outfielder agreed to defer $8.5 million that will be paid in 10 equal installments each July 1 from 2030-39. He also has...
Jordan Hicks, Giants agree to $44 million, 4-year contract
SAN FRANCISCO — Free-agent pitcher Jordan Hicks and the San Francisco Giants have agreed on a $44 million, four-year contract, a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations said Friday. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical and had...
Juan Soto, Yankees agree to $31M deal, record for arbitration-eligible player
NEW YORK — Juan Soto and the New York Yankees agreed Thursday to a $31 million, one-year contract, breaking Shohei Ohtani’s record for an arbitration-eligible player, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. All 10 Yankees eligible for arbitration reached agreements on the day players and teams...
Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers deal prompts California controller to ask Congress to cap deferred payments
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Controller Malia M. Cohen wants Congress to change the tax code to cap deferred payments, a change that could ensure the state is owed more money from Shohei Ohtani. Cohen made the request four weeks after the two-way star and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to...
Giants acquire former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray from Mariners in deal for OF Mitch Haniger
SAN FRANCISCO — Outfielder Mitch Haniger returned to the Seattle Mariners when he was acquired from the San Francisco Giants on Friday with right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and $6 million for 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray in a trade of underperforming players coming off injuries. Ray, 32, pitched 3 1/3...
Rays shortstop Wander Franco faces judge as prosecutors accuse him of having sex with a 14-year-old
PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco appeared in a Dominican court Friday to face allegations that he had a brief relationship with a 14-year-old girl and gave her mother a small car and thousands of dollars in exchange for her consent, according to court documents...
Mets and center fielder Harrison Bader agree to 1-year deal for about $10 million, AP source says
NEW YORK — Center fielder Harrison Bader and the New York Mets have agreed to a one-year contract for about $10 million, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the move was pending a physical and...
Braves rework Sale’s contract, agree to $38 million, 2-year deal with ’26 club option
ATLANTA — Chris Sale will admit he didn’t live up to his end of a big-money deal with the Boston Red Sox. Now, with a reworked contract and feeling better than he has in years, the injury-plagued pitcher is hoping to earn his hefty paycheck from the Atlanta Braves. The...
Red Rox trade oft-injured left-hander Chris Sale to Braves for infielder Vaughn Grissom
ATLANTA — Chris Sale’s injury-filled career with the Boston Red Sox ended Saturday when the 34-year-old left-hander was traded to the Atlanta Braves for infielder Vaughn Grissom. Boston also is sending cash to the Braves, covering a portion of the $27.5 million salary the seven-time All-Star is owed in 2024,...
Dodgers announce signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto to 12-year, $325 million deal
LOS ANGELES — It’s official: Yoshinobu Yamamoto is a Dodger. The team announced the signing of the Japanese right-hander to a 12-year, $325-million contract on Wednesday. Two weeks after securing two-way star Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700-million deal, the Dodgers beat out at least a dozen other clubs that...
Plans abounding for new sports stadiums across the U.S., carrying hefty public costs
Standing on a portable stage erected at home plate of the Milwaukee Brewers ballpark, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers recently praised the professional baseball team as an “essential part” of the state’s “culture and identity” and “economic success.” With fanfare, Evers then signed off on $500 million in public aid for...
Ryan Minor, Orioles 3B who replaced Cal Ripken at the end of his record-setting streak, dies at 49
Ryan Minor, the Baltimore Orioles infielder who became part of baseball history when he replaced Cal Ripken at the end of his record-setting consecutive games streak in 1998, has died. He was 49. The University of Oklahoma — where Minor starred in baseball and basketball — said he died of...
Yoshinobu Yamamoto the next Dodgers ace? Scouts praise his skill, question durability.
LOS ANGELES — As the center fielder for Team Japan in last spring’s World Baseball Classic, Lars Nootbaar had a unique view of the jaw-dropping four-pitch repertoire of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese right-hander who agreed to a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers on Thursday. Nootbaar, the St. Louis...
Dodgers agree to sign prized pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to $325 million deal
LOS ANGELES — Prized free-agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a $325 million, 12-year contract, according to multiple reports. Yamamoto is set to join Japanese countryman Shohei Ohtani with the Dodgers, who signed the two-way superstar to a record $700 million, 10-year deal last...
MLB is widening the runner’s lane to first, changing a rule that has caused World Series controversyVideo
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is widening the runner’s lane approaching first base to include a portion of fair territory, changing a more than century-old rule that caused World Series controversy over interference calls. MLB also is shortening the pitch clock with runners on base by 2 seconds to...
Shohei Ohtani is the AP Male Athlete of the Year for the 2nd time in 3 years
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Before Shohei Ohtani stepped into the bright lights of Hollywood and signed the most lucrative contract in professional sports history, baseball’s two-way superstar put together yet another season of unparalleled brilliance from Tokyo to Anaheim. What can this singular talent possibly do next? The Los Angeles Dodgers...
