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The next stop on the rapid rise of Blue Jays' Trey Yesavage? World Series Game 1 starter at 22: 'He's one of a kind.'

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — Trey Yesavage took a deep breath.

The noise around him was deafening. But he looked up at the top of the dugout and focused there for a beat. Then he put his hat on and he walked out to the mound to do his job.

“It was funny,” said Boyertown (Pa.) Area head baseball coach Todd Moyer, “because I’ve seen him do that lots of ...Read more

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/TNS

'It's just in our DNA.' Why Dodgers treat title pressure as routine while chasing dynasty.

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — They did not come charging out of the dugout. They did not mob one another with a dog pile by the mound.

When the Dodgers won the National League pennant last week, their on-field celebration hardly looked any different than normal. What would be a frenzied moment of accomplishment for others, they seemed to treat as almost routine....Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia might not pitch in World Series because of personal matter

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — The Dodgers announced Thursday that reliever Alex Vesia is away from the team as he and his wife “navigate a deeply personal family matter,” and manager Dave Roberts said his availability for the World Series is uncertain.

Vesia, who has been the Dodgers’ top left-handed pitcher in the bullpen this season, was not present at ...Read more

Peter Aiken/Getty Images North America/TNS

Dieter Kurtenbach: Giants' new manager is a walking stick of dynamite. Buster Posey just lit the fuse.

Sports / Baseball /

Buster Posey is the walking embodiment of quiet professionalism. Cool. Calm. Contemplative. Collected.

I doubt his pulse has ever gone over 80 beats per minute.

And he just hired a manager who carries himself as if life is a giant knife fight.

Hiring Tony Vitello to manage the Giants is bold. It’s brash. I have no idea if it will work, but ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Tom Krasovic: Albert Pujols could be ideal fit for Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Padres

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — If Albert Pujols becomes manager of the Padres, Manny Machado might feel like he’s gone to baseball heaven.

Manny being Manny would become easier, what with Pujols, 45, serving as a big brother across an annual journey that spans up to nine full months.

Game recognizes game, and Machado, 33, knows Pujols was a baseball god.

...Read more

Dimitrios Kambouris/Sports Illustrated Swimsuit/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bill Shaikin: 'I let down an entire nation.' Canadians wanted Ohtani. They got a 'Shark Tank' star instead.

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — No sooner had the Toronto Blue Jays clinched a World Series spot against the Dodgers than the torrent of memes, posts and tweets flowed, all with some version of this one-liner: Finally, Shohei Ohtani is on the plane to Toronto.

On a December day two years ago, as Ohtani navigated free agency: three reports surfaced: there was a...Read more

Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register/TNS

New Angels manager Kurt Suzuki looks to prove himself with 1-year deal

Sports / Baseball /

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kurt Suzuki is starting his managerial career on the hot seat.

When the Angels introduced Suzuki as their new manager on Wednesday, General Manager Perry Minasian said they signed the 42-year-old first-time manager to a one-year deal.

“I’ve been playing on one-year deals my whole career,” Suzuki joked.

It’s unusual...Read more

Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mets' Francisco Lindor expected to be ready for start of season after right elbow surgery

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — The Mets announced a minor procedure for Francisco Lindor on Wednesday afternoon, with the star shortstop having undergone a debridement in his right elbow. It’s not clear when Lindor had the procedure performed, with the team only saying it happened “recently.”

The surgery is not expected to delay the start to his 2026 ...Read more

Peter Aiken/Getty Images North America/TNS

Giants to hire Tennessee's Tony Vitello as manager in unprecedented move

Sports / Baseball /

Buster Posey was not a conventional hire when he assumed the role of the Giants’ president of baseball operations last year. It should come as no surprise, then, that Posey was equally bold and daring in his first managerial search.

The Giants have finalized a deal with Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello, who will make an unprecedented leap ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Bill Shaikin: Most MLB owners want to curb big spenders like the Dodgers. What does the union say?

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — If this World Series is going to turn into a food fight about the economics of baseball, Dave Roberts tossed the first meatball.

The Dodgers had just been presented with the National League Championship trophy. Roberts, the Dodgers' manager, had something to say to a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium, and to an audience watching ...Read more

Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times/TNS

Mike Vorel: Mariners' most magical season in recent memory was not enough. Will it ever be?

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — It came to this.

Finally, fatefully, after 49 years. After a nationally dismissed upstart in the Pacific Northwest went its first 14 seasons without a winning team. After Ken Griffey Jr. became iconic with a backwards cap and baseball’s sweetest swing. After Edgar Martinez drilled a double down the left field line, and Dave ...Read more

Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Paul Sullivan: Will Pope Leo XIV rewatch Game 1 on the 20th anniversary of White Sox World Series?

Sports / Baseball /

CHICAGO — Pope Leo XIV isn’t paid to be a spokesman for the Chicago White Sox, but he sent a message from the Vatican last week that warmed the hearts of many Sox fans.

“Han perdido! They lost!” Leo said as he waved to the masses in his popemobile.

The brief message was in response to someone yelling “Go Cubs,” an apparent appeal ...Read more

Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times/TNS

Will pain of Game 7 loss fuel Mariners to push further next season?

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — Eyes were red and swollen. Tears were shielded from cameras. Conversations were few, hugs were plentiful and there was at least one audible scream of anger, frustration, sadness — all of it — in a single outburst from a restricted area just for the players.

It was how a clubhouse should feel and sound after a loss of such ...Read more

Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times/TNS

Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Blue Jays in the World Series

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — The last time the Dodgers visited Toronto, the Blue Jays organization was at rock bottom.

The club was barreling toward a last-place finish in the American League East in 2024. Its fan base was disgruntled with a sorely disappointing offseason. And the Rogers Centre crowd was booing Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who spurned the ...Read more

Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Angels star Mike Trout: Eric Kay had a drug problem and Tyler Skaggs was a valued friend

Sports / Baseball /

Angels superstar Mike Trout testified Tuesday morning that he knew team employee Eric Kay had a drug problem but that pitcher Tyler Skaggs showed no signs of drug use.

Trout, a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, has played with the Angels his entire 15-year career and is under contract through the 2030 season. He was a teammate of...Read more

Jeff Gritchen/Orange County Register/TNS

Angels to hire Kurt Suzuki as manager

Sports / Baseball /

The Angels have selected former big-league catcher Kurt Suzuki as their next manager, a source said Tuesday.

Suzuki, 42, was working as a special assistant to general manager Perry Minasian. This will be his first job as a manager.

The Angels have not made an official announcement about Suzuki’s hiring yet.

Suzuki, a product of Cal State ...Read more

Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times/TNS

Matt Calkins: Why Mariners' Game 7 loss will sting Seattle fans for a long, long time

Sports / Baseball /

SEATTLE — The record says George Springer hit the ball with an exit velocity of 99.1 mph into the left-field bleachers at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Seattleites will tell you it went 300 mph into their hearts.

Viewers from the rest of the world saw Springer use a bat to hit one of the most dramatic home runs in MLB history.

Seattleites will ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Why the Dodgers' return to the World Series was only a matter of time

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — From the outside, the Dodgers know the easy narrative to their season.

About how, after beginning the campaign with the highest expectations imaginable, they spent much of the year failing to live up to the hype.

How, during what was already a dismal second-half slump, they seemed to reach rock bottom when they squandered a no-...Read more

Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times/TNS

Mariners' season ends in heartbreaking Game 7 loss to Blue Jays

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — For a franchise steeped in pain and misery, this was an entirely new sensation for both.

Heartbreak isn’t a strong enough word to describe what happened to the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.

Just eight outs away from the first World Series appearance in Seattle history — closer than they’ve ever been — the Mariners ...Read more

Padres plan to interview Albert Pujols for manager position

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — One of the game’s biggest names is among the candidates the Padres will interview for their vacant manager position.

The team will meet with future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, sources said, as they seek to replace Mike Shildt, who announced his retirement last week. It is not known when the interview of Pujols will take place. ...Read more