SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners were transparent about their most important priority going into perhaps the most important offseason in franchise history.

And Josh Naylor made it known how much he wanted to come back.

Turns out, a reunion was that simple.

The Mariners and Naylor are in the final stages of an agreement on a five-year contract...Read more

NEW YORK — MLB’s offseason is in full swing.

The Los Angeles Dodgers paraded as World Series champions, baseball’s general managers rolled up to Las Vegas for the GM meetings, and the major awards have all been handed out.

Now, the real fun begins.

Although free agency technically opened on Nov. 6, none of the marquee players have ...Read more

NEW YORK —The innate beauty of the Baseball Writers Association’s Most Valuable Player award — which sets it apart in terms of prestige from all the other sports awards — is that to this day, some 95 years after its adoption by both leagues, the debate rages on as to what exactly “most valuable” means. For instance, if it was simply ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — There has been a lot going on with the Padres.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller was consumed much of October with a managerial search and is now overseeing the execution of the Padres’ offseason.

Among the issues occupying team chairman John Seidler’s time has been the potential sale of the team.

In the midst of...Read more

CHICAGO — Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins went to Las Vegas this week to lay the groundwork for the 2026 season, just like the executives from the other 29 teams.

The message the top executives sent back to Chicago Cubs fans was they would focus on pitching, feeling the position players are basically set with everyone coming back but one guy.

...Read more

SEATTLE — Critics will call this a homer column. Maybe it is. Maybe it has to be, to understand why Cal Raleigh was the rightful American League MVP.

Because you had to be here, to see the signs outside Seattle businesses boasting, “Might as well go win the whole [expletive] thing.” To feel how much it mattered, as Seattle went 26-9 at ...Read more

CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong’s breakout season saw the Chicago Cubs center fielder garnered plenty of attention this year.

From being voted to start for the National League in July’s All-Star Game to producing the Cubs’ first 30-30 season since Sammy Sosa, Crow-Armstrong has quickly become one of the top young players in Major League ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Did you hear the news? The Pirates are going to have "a little more flexibility" on their payroll this offseason!

That is what general manager Ben Cherington told Randy Miller of nj.com at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas the other day, invoking a phrase made infamous by Pirate GMs past, beginning with Dave Littlefield ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — After back-to-back winters in which they aggressively pursued the free-agent market, the early signs this offseason suggest the Dodgers could explore a different path.

They have not materialized as the kind of clear-cut frontrunner for top free-agent prize Kyle Tucker, as many around the industry had expected over the summer.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The players could be locked out after next season. Once-reliable broadcast revenue is being threatened by a shifting media landscape. The proliferation of sports gambling has already ensnared multiple players.

Baseball could have a reckoning in the relatively near future, but it certainly doesn't feel as if that's the case, does...Read more

NEW YORK — The agent for star Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase stepped out of an MLB players union meeting to make sure his high-profile client was free on bond in his sports betting conspiracy case Thursday.

“I’m walking outside the room right now,” pro agent Kelvin Nova said over the phone during Clase’s arraignment in ...Read more

NEW YORK — With Aaron Judge’s average sitting above .400 on May 20, Kyle Higashioka stood in Yankee Stadium’s visiting clubhouse and eagerly accepted an invitation to praise his former teammate.

“It’s just the continual drive to be better every year,” the Rangers catcher said when asked what about Judge impresses him the most. “A ...Read more

SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh produced the single greatest season for a catcher in MLB history, putting up historical numbers at the plate while enduring the physical beating of playing behind it all while embracing the many responsibilities that come with playing baseball’s toughest position.

Yet he was most proud to help lead the Mariners to ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — When it came to Major League Baseball’s history of the most valuable player award, there used to be Barry Bonds — and everyone else.

Over his 22-year career, Bonds won baseball’s highest individual honor a record seven times. Before this year, no one else had more than three.

But, like Bonds, accomplishing things no one ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Seidler family’s stewardship of the Padres appears headed to a close.

The team announced Thursday that the Seidlers are exploring their strategic options, which could result in the sale of part or all of the team. The announcement comes one day shy of exactly two years after Peter Seidler died.

“The family has decided to ...Read more

DETROIT — Tarik Skubal continues to entrench himself in the pantheon of great Detroit Tigers pitchers.

On Wednesday, by a vote of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Skubal won his second straight American League Cy Young Award.

He is the first American League pitcher to win the award in consecutive years since Boston Red Sox Hall ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — It’s more than likely the first of several.

It also wasn’t much of a surprise given Paul Skenes’ dominance in 2025.

A year after he burst onto the scene by winning National League Rookie of the Year, Skenes took both an impressive and logical next step Wednesday when the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced...Read more

DETROIT — Tarik Skubal continues to entrench himself in the pantheon of great Detroit Tigers pitchers.

On Wednesday, by a vote of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Skubal won his second straight American League Cy Young Award.

He is the first American League pitcher to win the award in consecutive years since Boston Red Sox Hall ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — In between meetings this week, the Phillies’ highest-ranking baseball official said he recently had a“good conversation” for “quite a while” with the face of the franchise and “everything went well.”

And with that, Dave Dombrowski declared an end to l’affaire Harper.

Swell. What says Bryce Harper?

“Well, look,�...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Frank McCourt’s proposed gondola from Union Station to Dodger Stadium hit what appears to be its most significant roadblock yet on Wednesday, when the Los Angeles City Council voted to urge Metro to kill the project.

The resolution, approved by an 11-2 vote, is not in itself any kind of formal decision. It would not take ...Read more