6:33 PM ET Right-hander Josh Lindblom, who spent the past two seasons pitching in South Korea, is in agreement on a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, sources tell ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Lindblom’s contract will be for three years and guarantee $9.125 million, according to a source. With performance bonuses, it can max out at more
MLB
6:01 PM ET Free-agent starting pitcher Tanner Roark has reached a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Wednesday. The two-year deal is for $24 million, according to MLB Network. A 33-year-old right-hander, Roark had a 4.35 ERA and a 10-10 record in 31 starts last season for the Cincinnati
5:45 PM ET SAN DIEGO — MLB commissioner Rob Manfred shared details about the extent of the league’s investigation into sign-stealing allegations regarding the Houston Astros on Wednesday, but did not offer a timeline for when the result of the probe, and its consequences, will be known. “I think that this is probably the most
4:44 PM ET SAN DIEGO — Major League Baseball will have expanded netting in place for next season at all 30 ballparks, commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Wednesday. The extent of the expansion will vary by ballpark, according to Manfred, but all netting will at minimum extend “substantially beyond” the far end of the dugout
2:03 PM ET Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, a former player who called Chicago White Sox games for 34 years, won the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick award for excellence in broadcasting on Wednesday. The 78-year-old was an outfielder and first baseman from 1963-71 for the Kansas City Athletics, Boston, Cleveland and Washington, then had a
10:06 AM ET SAN DIEGO — Though the Chicago Cubs front office indicated they would be attempting to complete extensions this offseason for several of its players with two years of club control remaining, that apparently doesn’t apply to popular first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo, 30, is beginning the first of two option years but
9:43 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” SAN DIEGO — Decreases in air resistance spurred by inconsistent seam height on the baseball and “changes in player behavior” that produced different launch angles and exit velocities led to the dramatic
7:05 AM ET SAN DIEGO — The past five years, the average win total needed to earn a playoff spot in the American League has rounded out to 91. For the Los Angeles Angels, striving to launch themselves into legitimate contention as quickly as possible, that means finding 19 more wins in one offseason. Teams
7:11 AM ET Every January, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman aims to take a vacation, his one and only real, extended vacation of the year. In a lot of winters, his vacation is either postponed — to never — or it’s truncated because of the seemingly year-round fretting that accompanies his particular position. But now
7:20 AM ET Stephen Strasburg, exit stage left, your run as MLB’s highest-paid pitcher with your $245 million contract was short-lived. Step on up, Gerrit Cole, owner of a new, nine-year, $324 million contract, courtesy of the New York Yankees. Both pitchers shattered the previous record contract for a pitcher, so I thought it would