7:16 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Free agent reliever Shawn Kelley and the Texas Rangers agreed to a one-year, $2.75 million deal Monday, lengthening Texas’ bullpen with a contract that includes a club option for 2020, league sources
MLB
6:31 PM ET Associated Press MILWAUKEE — Now 35, Ryan Braun is years past his dominant, MVP self. Yet the aging slugger is trying to set himself up to be a part of the Milwaukee Brewers‘ promising future. Specifically, Braun is doing something he’s never done: changing his swing. And to do that, he’s been
4:14 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals could have paid versatile second baseman Whit Merrifield relatively little this year, then given him a series of one-year contracts accompanied by increasing pressure each season. Instead, they chose to reward him for both his perseverance and play. The two sides agreed Monday to
6:31 AM ET Two offseasons ago, I wrote a column asking which 2016 playoff team was least likely to make the postseason in 2017. I picked the Toronto Blue Jays. I was right! The Blue Jays fell from 89 wins to 76 and missed the playoffs. If I remember correctly, my reasoning focused on the
1:08 PM ET The 2019 Caribbean Series will be played from Feb. 4-10 at the Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City, the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation confirmed on Monday. The annual series, which features the winter league champions from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, was set to be held in Barquisimeto,
9:16 AM ET It was a slow sports weekend, so I watched a couple of baseball games … from 1978. The YES Network, home of the New York Yankees, replayed some Yankee Classics — shockingly, the channel only shows games the Yankees win — and the two games I watched were Game 3 from the
9:53 PM ET Second baseman Whit Merrifield and the Kansas City Royals have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $16.25 million total, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Merrifield led the American League last season in both hits (192) and stolen bases (45), while batting .304 with 12 home runs and 60 RBIs. The
8:28 PM ET The San Francisco Giants said former club president and managing general partner Peter Magowan died on Sunday. He was 76. The Giants said in a statement that Magowan had cancer. “The Giants family, the entire Bay Area and the game of baseball lost a man whose passion and loyalty to his favorite
9:09 PM ET Associated Press The political turmoil in Venezuela has led baseball authorities to decide to move an international tournament away from the South American nation. The Caribbean Professional Baseball Leagues Confederation announced Sunday that it decided the upcoming Caribbean Series will be held elsewhere, though it did not say where. Major League Baseball
9:02 PM ET ESPN News Services SEATTLE — Reliever Hunter Strickland and the Seattle Mariners have finalized a $1.3 million, one-year contract. Strickland can earn $450,000 in performance bonuses for games as part of the deal announced Sunday: $75,000 for 25, $100,000 for 34, $125,000 for 45 and $150,000 for 50. He can make an