MLB

4:00 PM ET Clayton Kershaw will pitch for Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, Major League Baseball announced Monday, making him the latest in a long line of high-profile stars to represent the United States. With Mike Trout serving as its captain, Team USA has also recruited the likes of J.T. Realmuto, Pete

6:54 AM ET CHAIM BLOOM HAS been reliving the negotiations with Xander Bogaerts in his head. “There are a couple of regrets,” the chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox told ESPN a week after Bogaerts signed with the San Diego Padres. When Bogaerts landed an 11-year, $280 million deal this month, the question

9:29 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired outfielder Connor Joe from Colorado on Sunday in exchange for pitching prospect Nick Garcia. The 30-year-old Joe hit .238 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs in 111 games with the Rockies. Joe split time between left field, right field, first base and designated

4:46 PM ET Free agent outfielder Michael Brantley is returning to the Houston Astros on a one-year, $12 million deal with a chance to make $4 million more in incentives, a source familiar with the situation told ESPN on Sunday. Brantley, 35, joined the Astros in 2019 and has been an instrumental part of their

6:56 PM ET The Los Angeles Dodgers, still looking to patch holes in their lineup, agreed to a one-year, $10 million contract with veteran designated hitter J.D. Martinez on Saturday, sources confirmed to ESPN. Martinez, a 35-year-old right-handed hitter, experienced a 77-point drop-off in OPS with the Boston Red Sox last season but was still

9:08 PM ET ESPN News Services The Pittsburgh Pirates and veteran catcher Austin Hedges agreed to a $5 million, one-year contract on Saturday, according to multiple reports. The deal, which is pending a physical, was first reported by The New York Post. The 30-year-old Hedges played for Cleveland last season, batting .163 with seven homers

4:31 PM ET Jesse Rogers Close ESPN Staff Writer Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Outfielder Andrew Benintendi and the Chicago White Sox agreed on a five-year, $75

6:49 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox designated veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer for assignment on Friday to make room for right-hander Wyatt Mills, who was acquired from Kansas City for minor league righty Jacob Wallace. 2 Related Hosmer, 33, batted .268 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs last season,

10:37 PM ET NEW YORK — — Not long after landing free-agent catcher Omar Narváez, the active New York Mets signed five players to minor league contracts Friday. Narváez and the Mets agreed to a $15 million, two-year deal, a person familiar with the negotiations confirmed to The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition

8:03 PM ET Left-handed starter Carlos Rodon is in agreement with the New York Yankees on a six-year, $162 million deal, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Thursday. Rodon, 30, was the top pitcher left on the market after he opted out of a contract with the San Francisco Giants following last season. He was

7:07 AM ET Scott Boras thought he was prepared when A.J. Preller called him around Thanksgiving. In front of him sat a list of available players who might fulfill the San Diego Padres‘ perceived needs, most of them first basemen and corner outfielders. Then Preller, the Padres’ ninth-year general manager, began to talk about high-priced

9:25 PM ET Two years and about two weeks ago — Dec. 2, 2020 — the deadline for teams to tender a contract offer to pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players was at hand. The Chicago White Sox did not tender an offer to Carlos Rodon, a pitcher they selected with the third pick of the 2014

7:00 AM ET At the news conference officially welcoming Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres, he tried on a pin-striped Padres jersey emblazoned with “2” on the back as A.J. Preller, the team’s president of baseball operations and general manager, looked on with a smile as big as the USS Midway docked in San

6:19 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Right-hander Noah Syndergaard and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a one-year contract, sources told ESPN, as the 30-year-old hopes to be the latest pitcher to find a midcareer renaissance

9:00 AM ET Under the front-office leadership of Farhan Zaidi, the San Francisco Giants have streamlined their payroll outlook in recent seasons while overhauling their organizational processes, revamping everything from how they develop pitchers to supplying manager Gabe Kapler with a horde of instructors better described as a faculty than a coaching staff. The four-year

7:00 AM ET BENEATH THE PINSTRIPED No. 99 uniform, behind the home runs and the good-natured smile and the perfect sound bites emitted day after day during Aaron Judge‘s historic season, New York Yankees staffers knew he harbored at least some anger. But they did not know the depth of his resentment, which came spilling

11:53 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Shortstop Carlos Correa and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a 13-year, $350 million contract, a record-long deal that is the richest ever for the position and gives the team

9:37 PM ET ESPN News Services KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Free agent left-hander Ryan Yarbrough signed a one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday after spending the past five seasons with Tampa Bay. The deal is for $3 million guaranteed, with an additional $1 million in performance bonuses, a source told ESPN’s Kiley