MLB

7:00 AM ET The Aug. 31 trade deadline is still nearly three weeks off, but let’s take an early look at some of the factors that will influence what might happen. Or won’t happen. It’s possible this year’s deadline will be a dud for several reasons: lack of talent available, more teams in the playoff

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN The 2020 Major League Baseball season was going to be remarkable from the get-go for a number of proposed rule changes. Now that we’re more than a quarter of the way through the season, we have a sense of how much these new rules have had an impact on the

7:00 AM ET Yes, there would an asterisk. Charlie Blackmon acknowledges it. Everyone in Major League Baseball acknowledges it. If Ted Williams were alive, you can be damn sure he would say hitting .400 over 60 games is a terrific feat but not the same accomplishment as doing it over a full season. In Blackmon’s

7:00 AM ET The numbers stand out more than they normally would after 16 Major League Baseball games — for reasons we are all too familiar with that involved banging garbage cans and other Houston Astros-related nonsense in 2017 and into the 2018 season: Jose Altuve: .183George Springer: .182Alex Bregman: .224 Those were the batting

2:56 PM ET Oakland Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano has been suspended 6 games and Houston Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron has been suspended 20 games for their roles in Sunday’s benches-clearing incident between the teams, according to ESPN and multiple reports. After being hit by a pitch for the third time in the series and

7:00 AM ET On May 23, 1885, a dispatch from Montana by a New York Sun correspondent went national, declaring that the American buffalo had been hunted into extinction. The writer went on to describe the thundering herds that once roamed the great expanses of the plains as far as the eye could see but

5:28 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Houston Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron made a vile comment to Oakland Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano regarding his mother, prompting Laureano to charge the Astros’ bench Sunday and leading to a melee

12:47 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball’s eye-popping salaries took an astonishing dive during the coronavirus pandemic to their lowest level in nearly a quarter-century, according to a study by The Associated Press. Washington pitcher Max Scherzer topped the shortened season’s list at $17.8 million, his income partially protected by a

7:00 AM ET ESPN.com staff As the Major League Baseball season heads into a third week of action, we’re seeing plenty of drama on the diamond. That’s reflected in our rankings, as our panel of voters took stock of whose hot starts to take seriously — hello, Colorado Rockies — and which teams doing better

2:04 AM ET We saw fighting in the time of social distancing. We saw one of the Major League Baseball’s most athletic players suffer through one of its most unpleasant blunders. And we saw a 21-year-old superstar continue to emerge in front of our eyes. Here’s a look through a wild Sunday for baseball’s West

8:00 AM ET Bradford Doolittle Close ESPN Staff Writer Sports reporter, Kansas City Star, 2002-09 Writer, Baseball, Baseball Prospectus Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus Member, Baseball Writers Association of America Member, Professional Basketball Writers Association David Schoenfield Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior writer of SweetSpot baseball blog Former deputy editor of Page 2 Been with ESPN.com

12:42 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Pirates utility infielder Phillip Evans will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a concussion and fracturing his jaw in a collision with teammate Gregory Polanco in foul territory. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Sunday that Evans was in good spirits but is still dealing

11:26 PM ET The Pittsburgh Pirates‘ flight to St. Louis on Sunday has been canceled and their game on Monday against the Cardinals has been postponed, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. By Sunday, the teams will have a better sense as to whether they’ll play Tuesday and Wednesday, sources told Passan. The Cardinals’ three-game series

8:25 PM ET Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gerrit Cole came within one strike of earning his 20th straight regular-season win before getting pulled, and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 Saturday in the opener of a seven-inning doubleheader. Cole, who had won his first three starts since signing a

8:08 AM ET In the wake of a COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined 18 players and two coaches, the Miami Marlins were forced to make an unprecedented number of roster moves this week. But perhaps no call-up from the taxi squad was more improbable or intriguing than Eddy Alvarez, a 30-year-old rookie who has spent most

7:00 AM ET The fish pounce on everything thrown at them, and Pete Alonso and friends haul in reds, snook and trout from this semi-secret spot off Tampa Bay like they’re grabbing M&M’s out of a bowl. A catch-and-release derby is suddenly on, and Alonso starts happily handing the rods to the interlopers on the

1:10 PM ET ESPN News Services Friday’s series opener between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals has been postponed after at least one more positive COVID-19 test in the St. Louis clubhouse, a source confirmed to ESPN. The Cardinals have not played since July 29 due to positive coronavirus tests. The team previously announced

7:00 AM ET Mike Trout homered in his first at-bat as a father on Tuesday, and anybody who has ever spent any time around the Los Angeles Angels‘ star probably muttered something like, “Of course he did.” He does stuff like that all the time, some of it in front of the cameras but much