LOS ANGELES — Two years ago, the Dodgers set out to become Japan's team. The Toronto Blue Jays are Canada's team.

When the teams collided in this year's World Series, the ratings hit the stratosphere.

The deciding Game 7 of the World Series attracted a record 51 million viewers across the United States, Canada and Japan, Major League ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The most impressive general manager in baseball has never been a general manager.

It’s a semantic thing, but it’s also at the heart of this tale. It was just over 20 years ago that Stuart Sternberg took over the running of the Tampa Bay Rays and announced Andrew Friedman would be the executive vice president in ...Read more

ATLANTA — In a lot of ways, Walt Weiss is not Brian Snitker.

And that is a good thing.

Unlike Snitker, he played in the major leagues, grinding out 14 seasons, including three with the Braves. He has been a part of four organizations, where Snitker, who retired as Braves manager at the end of the regular season, famously worked for only one....Read more

PITTSBURGH — Along with strategy, suspense and uneven economics, Major League Baseball specializes in irony. Make a great defensive play? Lead off the next inning. Ignore splits? Get ready to get burned.

It's no different with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, where voting has sports writers invoking a morality clause — in ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals star Salvador Perez is staying for the long haul.

On Tuesday, the Royals and Perez agreed to a new two-year contract extension.

Perez will remain with the Royals through 2027. He was eligible for a $13.5 million club option this offseason. The new deal will keep him in Kansas City through his age-37 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — When Derek Shelton was hired as the Minnesota Twins bench coach ahead of the 2018 season, he didn’t have a beard — more like that stylish stubble.

On Tuesday, Shelton officially returned to the organization with more of a goatee. And even more gray hair than he had during two years as bench coach.

“And it is getting ...Read more

CHICAGO — Watching Tuesday’s early morning sports debate shows for news on the NFL trade deadline proved to be an exercise in boredom.

Unlike the annual MLB trade deadline, the lack of trade rumors or frenzied reports from analysts back in the New York-area studios made it seem like just another ordinary day in the NFL.

Then came the ...Read more

DETROIT — Jack Flaherty on Tuesday exercised his option to remain with the Tigers for the 2026 season.

He will earn $20 million in his age-30 season.

“I love these guys,” Flaherty said in Seattle last month after the Tigers lost Game 5 of the American League Division Series. “I came back here for a reason, to be with these guys, play ...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox took care of some important offseason business on Tuesday, agreeing to a new one-year deal with outfielder Jarren Duran.

Duran remained under team control and would not have been a free agent this offseason no matter what, but the new contract resolves what otherwise could have been a messy situation.

Last ...Read more

BOSTON — One of the least surprising developments of the offseason is now official.

Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman has formally opted out of his contract and is now a free agent, according to multiple reports.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported Bregman’s intention to opt out, and Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe was...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers walked into a packed home stadium when their World Series parade was over, waving to an adoring crowd that viewed them as more than back-to-back champions.

They were beloved Angelenos.

Many of the players are on a first-name basis with the city, and if they aren't, they're identified by a nickname.

...Read more

CHICAGO — Less than an hour after the Chicago Cubs season ended in Milwaukee with a Game 5 loss in the National League Division Series, a somber Shota Imanaga reflected on what-ifs.

After an All-Star rookie season in 2024, Imanaga’s 2025 season featured a hamstring injury that cost him seven weeks, uneven results in the second half that ...Read more

CHICAGO — The dramatic ending of the World Series on Saturday night, in which the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings in Game 7 to repeat as champions, was closely followed by pronouncements calling it the greatest ever.

It’s an argument that never ends because whenever there is a great World Series, we ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — One advantage the Phillies have with Dave Dombrowski calling the shots is that they won’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. It would be an easy offseason to do it, not least because a lot of fans are calling for it.

The Phillies have reached a point in their competitive cycle where people start talking themselves into ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Braves have a shortstop vacancy.

Ha-Seong Kim has opted out of his contract, as expected. Kim passed on a $16 million player option and will test free agency instead.

This was the anticipated result after Kim enjoyed a fruitful month with the Braves. He had endured a wasted season with the Rays because of injury before the ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — For the second consecutive year, Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes is a Cy Young award finalist.

On Monday night, the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America) announced its top three finalists for the Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year awards. Skenes, the favorite for the National ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves have their new manager, announcing they’ve promoted bench coach Walt Weiss to the position Monday evening.

President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos oversaw a month-long process to find the franchise’s replacement for Brian Snitker, who transitioned into an advisory role after one of the most ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The celebration had hardly begun, when Shohei Ohtani first voiced the theme of the day.

“I’m already thinking about the third time,” he said in Japanese, standing atop a double-decker bus in downtown Los Angeles with hundreds of thousands of blue-clad, flag-waving, championship-celebrating Dodgers fans lining the streets ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers' left-hander who sparked Fernandomania in 1981, is among the eight names that will be considered by the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Contemporary Baseball Era Committee for induction into next year's class.

The 16-person committee meets every three years and considers players ...Read more

NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger officially opted out of his contract with the New York Yankees on Monday, making him a free agent, a source confirmed to the New York Daily News.

It’s been expected that Bellinger would decline his $25 million player option in pursuit of a long-term deal this winter, as he enjoyed a stellar season with the Yankees...Read more