6:56 PM ET In a rarity, the St. Louis Cardinals‘ Mike Shildt was named NL Manager of the Year on Tuesday, despite his receiving fewer first-place votes than Milwaukee‘s Craig Counsell. Shildt had 10 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to Counsell’s 13, but Shildt placed second on 14 ballots compared to
MLB
6:44 PM ET Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. — Tony La Russa has been hired by the Los Angeles Angels as senior adviser for baseball operations. Angels general manager Billy Eppler said Tuesday that La Russa will assist in all areas, including evaluations of players and minor-league development. La Russa recently was with the Boston Red
6:30 PM ET Using technology to steal signs is an ancient weapon in baseball, going back at least to the 1951 New York Giants, who used an elaborate buzzer system at the Polo Grounds to relay the catcher’s signs during that famous pennant race that ended with Bobby Thomson’s home run. Players rarely fess up
6:21 PM ET Rookie skipper Rocco Baldelli led the Minnesota Twins to one of baseball’s most surprising campaigns, a homer-happy season capped with Tuesday’s announcement that he had won the 2019 American League Manager of the Year award. He narrowly beat out Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees. Both received 13 first-place votes in
3:37 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” The Houston Astros used a center-field camera to help steal signs during their 2017 championship season, a former Astros pitcher told The Athletic, a practice that would have run afoul of rules
8:00 AM ET SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It’s a good week for the Chicago Cubs‘ front office to reacquaint themselves with many of their counterparts from other teams. After all, they could be huddled together behind closed doors for hours this winter. After years of utilizing the free-agent market to augment a young position player core,
11:20 AM ET The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to bring back free-agent pitcher Adam Wainwright on a one-year deal for 2020, the team announced Tuesday. Terms were not announced. Wainwright, 38, is coming off his best season since 2014. The right-hander went 14-10 with a 4.19 ERA and 153 strikeouts. He made two starts
7:13 AM ET With free agency underway, the offseason is going to pick up steam. What are the big questions facing all 30 teams? We now turn to the NL Central, where the top three teams have each won the division once in the past three years. NL East team-by-team preview St. Louis Cardinals: The
10:38 PM ET Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Tampa Bay Rays general manager Erik Neander has been voted Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year. Tampa Bay was 96-66, the second-most wins in team history, despite a big league-low payroll of $66 million. The Rays beat Oakland in the AL wild-card game, then lost to
10:25 PM ET Aces Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg will be the most sought after pitching free agents this offseason, and the New York Yankees will be among the interested teams, general manager Brian Cashman said Monday. “Of course, we’re going to talk to Strasburg. We’ll talk to Cole. We’ll talk to the higher-end guys,