8:33 AM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks picked up the $14.5 million option on Paul Goldschmidt‘s contract for the 2019 season on Monday. The club option was attached to the five-year, $32 million deal Goldschmidt signed in 2014, a deal considered one of the most team-friendly in baseball considering Goldschmidt’s production through
MLB
8:38 AM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox have declined their $16 million option on James Shields and exercised a $2 million buyout, making the veteran right-hander a free agent. Chicago also exercised a $4.65 million team option on reliever Nate Jones and reinstated right-hander Michael Kopech from the 60-day disabled list
11:55 PM ET Associated Press ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright became a free agent Monday, then finalized a $2 million, one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals that allows him to earn $8 million in performance bonuses as a starting pitcher, $3 million in bonuses for relief appearances and $4 million more in bonuses for
8:00 AM ET One of the great misnomers of the baseball lexicon is the offseason. There is no offseason anymore. The World Series leads immediately to critical roster decisions and contract options, including that of Clayton Kershaw. Then come the GM meetings, relentless trade talk, postseason awards, Hall of Fame voting, an apocalyptic free-agency season
11:29 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — The World Series champion Boston Red Sox have returned to Fenway Park, carrying the championship trophy they won a night earlier. A caravan of buses arrived at Fenway on Monday night, less than 24 hours after the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 to win the
8:08 PM ET Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner‘s $12 million contract option for the 2019 season has been exercised by the San Francisco Giants, keeping the 2014 World Series MVP and ace left-hander with the club for at least one more season after his past two years were shortened by injuries. The Giants
6:45 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals have exercised their $6 million club option for 2019 on lefty closer Sean Doolittle. The Nationals announced the move Monday. His contract has another team option, at $6.5 million, for 2020. The 32-year-old Doolittle had 25 saves and a 3-3 record with a 1.60 ERA
3:09 PM ET The Oakland Athletics, who pulled off perhaps the most surprising run to the playoffs this season, rewarded manager Bob Melvin, executive vice president Billy Beane and general manager David Forst with long-term extensions on Monday. “I’m proud of the tremendous success of our team under the leadership of Billy, David and Bob
12:00 PM ET It was fitting that when Fox’s cameras scanned the Boston bullpen Sunday to see which relievers were warming up for the ninth inning of Game 5, the two men on the mounds were Nathan Eovaldi and Chris Sale, a pair of starters. The 2018 baseball season might well go down as the
1:58 PM ET Associated Press ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals have hired Jeff Albert as their hitting coach and Stubby Clapp as their first base coach, rounding out manager Mike Schildt’s coaching staff for next season. Albert spent time with the Cardinals before spending the past six years with the Astros, while Clapp