LOS ANGELES — When spring training rolls around, it will be one dozen years since the Angels last appeared in a postseason game and two dozen years since they won their first and only World Series championship. If baseball were scripted, two of the Angels' World Series heroes would take charge of the team and make it a winner again.

As it ...Read more

SEATTLE — Randy Johnson will officially join Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Ichiro in having his number retired by the Mariners on May 2, 2026 in a pregame ceremony. It will be the highlight of a weekend celebration of the Big Unit at T-Mobile Park.

While the Mariners had already announced the plans to retire Johnson’s No. 51 last ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Trust me, I would not even broach this topic — other than a quick laugh — if not for the reporter involved.

ESPN's Jeff Passan is the best insider in the baseball business. Outstanding reporter. Outstanding writer. Great on television. High integrity. Rightfully rips the Pirates and cheapskate owner Bob Nutting every chance ...Read more

BALTIMORE — I haven’t exactly been handing out praise for Mike Elias lately, but the Grayson Rodriguez trade earns a different response. After weeks of wondering whether the Orioles would match their words with action, they made a stunning move Tuesday that feels aligned with the moment they’re in.

By acquiring outfielder Taylor Ward in a...Read more

ATLANTA — Raisel Iglesias will be closing games for the Braves in 2026.

The team re-signed Iglesias to a one-year, $16 million deal, it announced Wednesday evening. The signing addresses one of the team’s most significant needs this winter. It also retains Iglesias at the same salary he earned last season.

Iglesias, 35, has spent the past ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After walking away from its TV rights deal with Major League Baseball earlier this year, ESPN has a new package that will provide additional games for its streaming customers.

The deal announced Wednesday by the league will also return baseball to NBC and bring three MLB events — an opening night game, the Home Run Derby and ...Read more

SEATTLE — The word of the day from Jerry Dipoto on Tuesday was tenacious.

As in, the Seattle Mariners made a tenacious appeal to Josh Naylor to retain the free-agent first baseman on a new five-year, $92.5-million contract.

Over the next couple months, the team’s president of baseball operations suggested he will have a similar approach to...Read more

DETROIT — Second baseman Gleyber Torres is returning to the Tigers for the 2026 season.

Torres Tuesday accepted $22.025 million qualifying offer.

Torres, who will turn 29 next month, is coming off an All-Star season. He played in 145 games and started every postseason game. He finished with a .358 on-base average, fourth in the American ...Read more

NEW YORK — Instead of chasing a multi-year deal, Trent Grisham is returning to the Bronx for another season.

The center fielder has accepted the one-year qualifying offer that the Yankees extended him earlier this month, multiple sources confirmed with the New York Daily News ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. The offer, worth $22.025 ...Read more

CHICAGO — Shota Imanaga is staying with the Chicago Cubs for at least one more season.

Imanaga accepted the Cubs’ qualifying offer ahead of Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline, a source confirmed to the Chicago Tribune. Kyle Tucker declined his qualifying offer as expected, which will net the Cubs draft-pick compensation if the 28-year-old right ...Read more

NEW YORK — Daniel Murphy, a New York Mets postseason hero and one of the top second basemen of his era, is up for Hall of Fame consideration for the first time.

Murphy is among the 12 first-time entries on the 2026 ballot, which the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) unveiled Monday.

Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun and Cole Hamels are ...Read more

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners were transparent about their most important priority going into perhaps the most important offseason in franchise history.

And Josh Naylor made it known how much he wanted to come back.

Turns out, a reunion was that simple.

The Mariners and Naylor are in the final stages of an agreement on a five-year contract...Read more

NEW YORK — MLB’s offseason is in full swing.

The Los Angeles Dodgers paraded as World Series champions, baseball’s general managers rolled up to Las Vegas for the GM meetings, and the major awards have all been handed out.

Now, the real fun begins.

Although free agency technically opened on Nov. 6, none of the marquee players have ...Read more

NEW YORK —The innate beauty of the Baseball Writers Association’s Most Valuable Player award — which sets it apart in terms of prestige from all the other sports awards — is that to this day, some 95 years after its adoption by both leagues, the debate rages on as to what exactly “most valuable” means. For instance, if it was simply ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — There has been a lot going on with the Padres.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller was consumed much of October with a managerial search and is now overseeing the execution of the Padres’ offseason.

Among the issues occupying team chairman John Seidler’s time has been the potential sale of the team.

In the midst of...Read more

CHICAGO — Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins went to Las Vegas this week to lay the groundwork for the 2026 season, just like the executives from the other 29 teams.

The message the top executives sent back to Chicago Cubs fans was they would focus on pitching, feeling the position players are basically set with everyone coming back but one guy.

...Read more

SEATTLE — Critics will call this a homer column. Maybe it is. Maybe it has to be, to understand why Cal Raleigh was the rightful American League MVP.

Because you had to be here, to see the signs outside Seattle businesses boasting, “Might as well go win the whole [expletive] thing.” To feel how much it mattered, as Seattle went 26-9 at ...Read more

CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong’s breakout season saw the Chicago Cubs center fielder garnered plenty of attention this year.

From being voted to start for the National League in July’s All-Star Game to producing the Cubs’ first 30-30 season since Sammy Sosa, Crow-Armstrong has quickly become one of the top young players in Major League ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Did you hear the news? The Pirates are going to have "a little more flexibility" on their payroll this offseason!

That is what general manager Ben Cherington told Randy Miller of nj.com at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas the other day, invoking a phrase made infamous by Pirate GMs past, beginning with Dave Littlefield ...Read more