MLB

7:13 PM ET ESPN News Services Howie Kendrick announced his retirement Monday after 15 major league seasons. In an Instagram post, Kendrick thanked each of the teams he played for in the majors, finishing with the Washington Nationals, the team he won a World Series title with in 2019. “To the fans, without your support

1:05 PM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa pleaded guilty to a lesser charge to resolve misdemeanor drunken-driving charges stemming from his arrest nearly 10 months ago on a freeway in metro Phoenix. The 76-year-old pleaded guilty to reckless driving Monday in Maricopa County Justice Court. La Russa was

7:00 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” It was not a very eventful week in the MLB offseason, and with the holiday season ramping up this week and next, we could have more of the same. But that doesn’t

8:15 AM ET Steve Cohen is the ghost of Christmas future for some Yankees fans who fear that the Mets’ new owner will begin hoarding the type of pricey players who have long been the exclusive domain of the Steinbrenner family. This is the context in which Brian Cashman has been answering questions lately, and

8:23 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball payrolls plunged to $1.75 billion during the pandemic-shortened season from $4.22 billion, and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers led with $98.6 million — the smallest for the top spender in 20 years. Base wages for 40-man rosters tumbled to $1.54 billion, according

8:18 PM ET Jo Adell, quite possibly the best prospect the Los Angeles Angels have had since Mike Trout, struggled as a rookie in 2020, batting .161 while showing clear struggles defensively. And though Angels manager Joe Maddon considers it unfair to judge players based off such an unconventional season, he also said he believes

4:48 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Each time Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo has made a pitch to free agents this offseason, there’s one topic he has known will come up. “The No. 1 question is if we’re going to play in Toronto,” Montoyo said Friday. “That’s rightly so. Our answer is, ‘Yeah, we’re

2:52 AM ET Associated Press ESPN will open its Sunday Night Baseball schedule on April 4 when the Los Angeles Angels host the Chicago White Sox. The game will feature the past two American League MVPs, with the Angels’ Mike Trout facing reigning MVP and White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu at 8:30 p.m. ET.

10:00 AM ET ESPN News Services The Tampa Bay Rays have signed right-hander Michael Wacha to a one-year, $3 million contract, the team announced Friday. Wacha spent the 2020 season with the New York Mets, going 1-4 with a 6.62 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts). The 29-year-old Wacha shined as a rookie for the

5:47 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — Alex Cora is expecting to see the J.D. Martinez of old again in 2021. And the Red Sox manager wouldn’t be surprised if Andrew Benintendi and Eduardo Rodríguez bounce back with him. Cora predicted better things from some of the Boston players who had an off year during

9:00 AM ET Major League Baseball’s decision to alter the status of the Negro Leagues to major league and incorporate Negro Leagues statistics into a historical record in which they did not participate is consistent with two opposing but defining forces of our time. One is the racial reckoning that has defined America post-George Floyd’s

7:00 AM ET Pedro GomezMLB Close ESPN’s Pedro Gomez covered the Oakland A’s home and away nearly every day from 1992-97 for the San Jose Mercury News and Sacramento Bee and then became the national baseball writer and later a general columnist at the Arizona Republic before becoming an ESPN bureau reporter in 2003. There

8:03 PM ET Associated Press MILWAUKEE — Brewers manager Craig Counsell is confident former MVP Christian Yelich‘s 2020 hitting struggles won’t carry over to next season. After winning consecutive National League batting titles in 2018 and 2019 during his first two years with the Brewers, Yelich hit just .205 with 12 homers and 22 RBIs

11:49 AM ET Throughout the summer, each completed game signified hope that pandemic baseball could succeed, and each COVID-19 positive, seven-inning doubleheader and protocol breach reflected institutional recklessness. At a safe distance from the clamor, the referendum on the 2020 Major League Baseball season was not whether it was a success or an abomination —

7:00 AM ET Free agents on the whole tend to be a little older than the average player. The requirement of six or nearly seven big league seasons after some time in the minors puts most free agents around 30 years old or older. With most teams already slowing down the past few seasons when

8:32 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — Bud Black hears the Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story trade rumors, and he is entertained. It’s just that time of year, the Colorado Rockies manager contended Wednesday in a Zoom call. “My expectation is that they’ll be with us come Opening Day,” Black said of his star players.

2:21 PM ET The decision by Kevin Cash to take out Blake Snell in a 1-0 game in the sixth inning of Game 6 of the World Series against the Dodgers sparked controversy around baseball regarding the balance of analytics and traditional baseball savvy. More than a month after the final out, the Rays manager

7:00 AM ET The last time we saw Blake Snell in a baseball uniform was Game 6 of the World Series and the Hook Heard ‘Round the World, when Kevin Cash removed him after 73 pitches despite Snell dominating the Dodgers. The next time we see him he could be wearing a new jersey if