6:45 PM ET San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller flew to Miami last week and met with free-agent infielder Manny Machado, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. It’s the second meeting the Padres and Machado have had this offseason and signals a deepening interest San Diego has for the four-time All-Star. Machado is one
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7:08 AM ET GLENDALE, Ariz. — A.J. Pollock ventured into the free-agent market with no expectations. What he experienced, as time went on, alarmed him nonetheless. “It was kind of a weird process, something I’ve never gone through before,” he said. “You have teams that are telling you they’re interested. Next thing you know, you
4:58 PM ET Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins says that the team has no firm timeline for when megaprospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will join the big league club this season. Speaking on Thursday at Toronto’s spring training home in Dunedin, Florida, Atkins said the most likely scenario will be Brandon Drury opening the season
3:05 PM ET FORT MYERS, Florida — Forget those boring “He’s in the best shape of his life” spring training stories. Thanks to David Price, we have a new type of spring training mystery: Figure out why the postseason hero is changing his uniform number from 24 to 10. Price wouldn’t reveal the reason for
2:21 PM ET WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — Mad Max is angry about the current state of free agency. “When there’s too many teams that are not trying to win, that poisons the game, poisons the fan experience, and it creates bandwagon fans,” Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer said on Thursday morning before his team’s
2:05 PM ET Associated Press CLEARWATER, Fla. — Aaron Nola hopes to win titles with the Philadelphia Phillies, and a four-year, $45 million contract will give him a chance. “This is pretty surreal and special for me,” the pitcher said Thursday, a day after agreeing to the deal. “I love it here. I love the
1:54 PM ET Associated Press TEMPE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Angels right-hander Matt Harvey will be sidelined about 10 days because of a glute strain he felt during agility drills. Harvey signed a one-year, $11 million deal with the Angels in December, looking to bounce back after last season. He went 7-9 with a 4.94
12:40 PM ET ESPN News Services GOODYEAR, Ariz. — All-Star pitcher Trevor Bauer said the final 10 minutes of his salary arbitration hearing with the Cleveland Indians was “character assassination” against him. Bauer beat Cleveland in arbitration for the second straight year and was awarded $13 million by the three-person panel over the Indians’ $11
10:03 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Shortstop Jorge Polanco and the Minnesota Twins are finalizing a contract extension that will cover seven years and guarantee around $25 million, a league source with knowledge of the deal told ESPN
9:30 AM ET The trigger that sets off Jacob deGrom‘s full competitive fury, in the eyes of his pitching coach, Dave Eiland, seems to be the arrival of a runner at third base. As Eiland related last summer in the midst of deGrom’s incredible season of zeros, the pitcher’s face hardens whenever a runner somehow