MLB

11:29 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” The San Diego Padres are finalizing a trade to acquire former Cy Young winner Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays for prospects, sources told ESPN. The prospective deal would be centered

12:33 PM ET Phil Niekro, a pitcher who used his signature knuckleball to fool generations of hitters as well as craft a Hall of Fame career, died Saturday night in his sleep after a long battle with cancer, the Atlanta Braves announced Sunday. He was 81. Niekro, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997,

8:00 AM ET The last time a team other than the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West, LeBron James had just won his first NBA title, in 2012. Since then, L.A. has dominated the division, and won the 2020 World Series two months ago. And if the Dodgers are the best team in the

10:47 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco broke a bone in his right wrist playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. The Pirates said Saturday that Polanco has a small nondisplaced fracture of the triquetrum bone and that the wrist will be immobilized for a short time. The team did

5:38 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — – Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo says the team isn’t ruling out a reunion with Ryan Zimmerman after acquiring slugger Josh Bell to play first base this week. The Nationals acquired Bell, a 2019 All-Star, from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday for two pitching prospects, and Bell

10:24 PM ET Japanese right-hander Kohei Arihara and the Texas Rangers are in agreement on a two-year contract in the $6 million to $7 million range, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Arihara, 28, has a 3.74 ERA in six seasons with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters. He went 8-9 in 20 appearances for the team

2:07 PM ET First baseman Josh Bell has been traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Washington Nationals, it was announced Thursday. In return, the Pirates will get young pitchers Wil Crowe, who made his debut with the Nats in 2020, and Eddy Yean. “We are thrilled to be adding a player of Josh Bell’s

4:15 PM ET If 2015 feels like a long time ago, it must feel like an entire lifetime to Pittsburgh Pirates fans. Pittsburgh won 98 games that season and made the playoffs for a third straight time, the Pirates were Baseball America’s organization of the year, Travis Sawchik was writing a book called “Big Data

6:30 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” The planned opening of MLB’s spring camp is less than two months away, and nobody in baseball — not the players, not the owners, not the commissioner — has any clue whether

7:00 AM ET The unknown, the uncertainty, the unseen surrounded Freddie Freeman in his isolation, haunting him, as we’ve all been haunted in this awful year, his fear germinating after he was informed in the middle of the summer that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Freddie and Chelsea, his wife, had been very careful,

8:04 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — The Red Sox have signed right-hander Matt Andriese to a $2.1 million, one-year deal to bolster the back end of their starting rotation, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Wednesday. Andriese will earn a $1.85 million salary for 2021 and has a $3.5 million club option for 2022

8:07 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers signed right-hander José Ureña to a $3.25 million, one-year deal Wednesday. Ureña can earn $250,000 in performance bonuses based on starts, $50,000 each for 15, 18, 21, 24 and 27. The 29-year-old starter has spent the past six season with the Miami Marlins, compiling a

5:19 PM ET The Los Angeles Dodgers have reached a two-year deal with reliever Tommy Kahnle that is worth $4.75 million guaranteed, sources told ESPN on Wednesday, confirming multiple reports The hard-throwing 31-year-old right-hander had Tommy John surgery on Aug. 4 with New York Yankees head physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad and is likely to return

7:00 AM ET The most significant number of the 2020 baseball season was 60 — the number of games most teams played in this pandemic-ravaged year. The Los Angeles Dodgers finally earned their place as World Series champions, and after going 43-17 in the regular season — a record-tying 116-win pace — a lingering question

7:39 PM ET Associated Press MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers have claimed utilityman Tim Lopes off waivers from the Seattle Mariners. Lopes, 26, batted .238 with two homers and 15 RBIs in 46 games for Seattle last season. He posted a .278 on-base percentage and a .364 slugging percentage. He hit .270 with one homer

2:25 PM ET The New York Mets have avoided salary arbitration with Noah Syndergaard, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $9.7 million, sources confirm to ESPN. The deal was first reported Tuesday by USA Today Sports. Syndergaard, 28 missed the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow last March. The

2:35 PM ET The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to name Sam Fuld as their general manager, ESPN has confirmed. The promotion would be the latest in a front-office overhaul for the Phillies, who reassigned former GM Matt Klentak in October and named Dave Dombrowski their new president of baseball operations earlier this month. Fuld, 39,

7:00 AM ET Normally by this time on the calendar, the MLB hot stove is already cooking with at least some major free-agent signings and offseason trades. But this year? Not so much. While we wait for the movement to pick up, we asked a panel of experts for their opinion on what’s to come.