MLB

7:08 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Major League Baseball canceled the second week of the regular season Wednesday after days of discussion with the MLB Players Association failed to generate a new collective-bargaining agreement. The international draft, long

1:57 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz, perhaps the most prominent voice in Dominican baseball, says he is open to the idea of an international draft but is wary of its implementation

7:54 PM ET MESA, Ariz. — The pop of leather and the crack of wood reverberated through Bell Bank Park, a sprawling sports and entertainment facility outfitted with turf baseball fields and an expansive weight room. Professional baseball players, somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 of them, threw bullpen sessions and took batting practice there

3:10 PM ET Associated Press CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple will enter the live sports coverage arena with “Friday Night Baseball.” Apple and Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that Apple TV+ will carry a weekly doubleheader on Friday nights in eight countries when the regular season begins. Games will initially be available without the need for

Mar 8, 2022 Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball launched a $1 million fund Tuesday to support spring training workers impacted by canceled games, matching the amount of the fund the players’ association announced last week. MLB said the money will be administered by teams to part-time and seasonal workers based on financial

9:25 PM ET There will be no MLB games until at least April 14. After talks between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA broke down on Wednesday, the league canceled the second week of the 2022 regular season. How far apart are the two sides in negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement? How concerned should

7:00 AM ET The MLB lockout is nearly three weeks old, and it seems like not much has come out of the negotiations. So what exactly is going on between the owners and players? Are they moving any closer to a deal? And most importantly: When is it time to worry about the sport’s immediate

5:07 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Indians manager Terry Francona is confident he’ll return next season after missing most of the past two because of serious health issues. Francona was forced to step away from the club in late July to undergo hip replacement surgery as well as a procedure on a big toe

4:26 PM ET Associated Press Major League Baseball is finalizing a policy that will mandate COVID-19 vaccines for minor league players for the 2022 season. While the league could face legal challenges in requiring vaccination for major leaguers without the cooperation of the players association, minor leaguers are not included in the big league union.

7:00 AM ET Seventeen might be the defining number of the St. Louis Cardinals‘ season. As in how many games in a row they won during a record-setting September stretch. But there’s another number that tells an even more dramatic tale of their year: 1.3. According to FanGraphs, the Cardinals’ playoff odds hit a season-low

3:52 PM ET The San Diego Padres have fired manager Jayce Tingler after the team failed to make the playoffs despite entering the season with hopes of challenging for a World Series title. Tingler is out after two seasons, finishing with a 116-106 overall record, including a disappointing 79-83 this year. He had one year

3:53 PM ET The Chicago White Sox are hopeful the reigning AL MVP, Jose Abreu, will be available to them in Game 1 of their division series against the Houston Astros on Thursday. Abreu, 34, has been ill since the weekend and didn’t travel with the team to Houston on Tuesday. He’ll be a game-day

4:10 PM ET Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto could be in line for some more hardware when the MLB season comes to a close. Soto is a World Series champion, a 2021 All-Star, an NL batting champion and winner of the 2020 Silver Slugger Award, given annually to the best hitter at each position. After

8:30 PM ET Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez remains a question for the team’s American League Wild Card Game against the visiting New York Yankees on Tuesday night at Fenway Park as he continues to recover from a sprained left ankle. Martinez suffered the injury in the fifth inning when he tripped over the

6:05 PM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox think pitcher Carlos Rodon will be healthy enough to help them in the playoffs after the All-Star left-hander was limited down the regular-season stretch. “We remain optimistic that he’s going to be able to contribute over the course of the next month,” general manager

2:08 PM ET Umpire Joe West has officially informed Major League Baseball he will retire after the postseason. West, 68, broke the record for most games umpired, held by Bill Klem, when he was behind the plate for No. 5,376 in May. “Breaking the record was the goal,” West told ESPN on Monday. “I thought

1:05 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Mookie Betts and the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers had four of the top-10-selling jerseys in Major League Baseball this season. Betts’ No. 50 uniform claimed the top spot for the second straight year after he was acquired prior to the 2020 season from the

4:49 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball drew 45.3 million fans this year as fans gradually were allowed to return, down from 68.5 million over 2019 in the last season before the coronavirus pandemic. The Dodgers led the major leagues in home attendance at 2.8 million. They did not start selling