MLB

5:29 PM ET Associated Press JUPITER, Fla. — With less than 4½ days until Major League Baseball’s deadline for a labor deal to salvage Opening Day and a 162-game season, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and Miami Marlins infielder Miguel Rojas joined negotiations Thursday. The sides met for

7:00 AM ET The start of a new college baseball season means it is time for my first 2022 (and 2023 and 2024) MLB draft rankings. There are a few big takeaways from this year’s early edition of these lists: Last year, Vanderbilt aces Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker were the No. 1 story of

6:48 PM ET Associated Press JUPITER, Fla. — Major League Baseball said Wednesday that the 2022 season will be shortened if no labor agreement has been reached by the end of Monday. Management had maintained that was the deadline for a deal that would allow the season to start as scheduled on March 31. Players

5:39 PM ET Associated Press Josh Jung, a top prospect for the Texas Rangers, had surgery Wednesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, ending the third baseman’s chance of being an option for the big league roster this spring. Jung was lifting weights before the opening of the team’s minor league camp

4:25 PM ET Associated Press SEATTLE — Julio Cruz, an original Seattle Mariners player from their inaugural season who later became a Spanish-language broadcaster for the franchise, has died, the team announced Wednesday. He was 67. Cruz died Tuesday at his home, according to a statement from his family. Cruz played for Seattle and the

8:45 AM ET AP Photo/Ron Blum JUPITER, Fla. — The two sides arrive daily at Roger Dean Stadium and break into camps — the players huddle in the parking lot for a few minutes, some fielding requests for autographs from fans nearby, as the league sets up inside. After more than two months of looking

7:46 PM ET JUPITER, Fla. — Day 2 of in-person meetings this week between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA once again produced little progress towards a new collective bargaining agreement while the league actually viewed the day as a step back. The union cut down on their proposal for players to enter arbitration after

7:41 PM ET Associated Press One-time Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor in a case arising from an altercation with his teenage daughter, officials said. Hamilton, 40, pleaded guilty Tuesday to unlawful restraint under a plea deal that dismisses a 2020 felony indictment for injury to a child, the Tarrant

7:00 AM ET When (and if) baseball resumes in 2022, general managers will work a lot like NFL coaches at the outset of games, with their first moves scripted. At the transaction kickoff, you can almost imagine Red Sox honcho Chaim Bloom, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and their peers staring down laminated cards, playcalling

8:13 PM ET JUPITER, Fla. — Five hours in the boardroom on Monday — sometimes together, sometimes in their own caucus — didn’t equate to major progress between MLB and the MLB Players Association as the sides remain far apart on a new collective bargaining agreement, sources told ESPN. In the offices overlooking the spring

7:00 AM ET I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve never craved stories on which players have reported to spring training in the best shape of their lives more than I do right now. As the labor impasse stretches deep into its third month, with the start of the regular season now in

2:35 PM ET Spring training games won’t begin until at least March 5, Major League Baseball announced in a statement on Friday. “We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of spring training games,” the statement said. “All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring

7:00 AM ET After ranking the top 100 prospects heading into the 2022 MLB season, it’s time to turn our attention to each team’s farm system as a whole. I’ve always found it both overwhelming and too subjective to line up 30 lists of players and say this list is better than that one with

2:19 PM ET Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association intend to hold multiple bargaining sessions – perhaps every day – as early as Monday, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. While exact plans are not finalized, multiple owners and players expect to fly in for sessions leading up to MLB’s stated Feb. 28 deadline.

4:06 PM ET ESPN News Services The jury in the case against former Los Angeles Angels communications director Eric Kay has found him guilty of distributing fentanyl and causing the death of former pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019. The jury, which began deliberations Thursday morning, wasted little time in reaching its conclusion. The 10-woman, two-man

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN This week ESPN MLB draft and prospect expert Kiley McDaniel ranked his top 100 MLB prospects for 2022. Now, it’s time to have some fun with the biggest names on the list. We asked our MLB experts to give us one bold 2022 prediction for the one prospect in the

6:27 PM ET If Matt Harvey can find a team willing to sign him, he could immediately be suspended for at least 60 days for saying that he provided opioids to Tyler Skaggs on several occasions, a Major League Baseball official told ESPN on Wednesday. Harvey’s admission in federal court Tuesday qualifies as distribution under

8:04 PM ET FORT WORTH, Texas — The trial of Eric Kay, the former Los Angeles Angels communications director charged with the 2019 death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, is headed to the jury. The defense rested Wednesday after presenting a brief case, and closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday morning. After that, 10 women and