MLB

9:15 AM ET International amateur baseball is a confusing market to these not well acquainted with it. It used to be that the first day of the new signing period, when the top 16-year-olds around Latin America are first eligible to sign with MLB teams, was July 2nd. Due to the pandemic, it was moved

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN Glacial. Snail’s pace. Tortoise-like. Pick your favorite metaphor for slow, and that will aptly describe the free-agent market of the 2020-21 MLB offseason. Some numbers to paint that picture: The free-agent tracker at Baseball Reference lists three-year WAR totals for all the players who have signed with a new team,

9:31 PM ET Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Left-hander Alex Wood agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. Wood, who turned 30 on Tuesday, can make an additional $3 million in performance bonuses for games in which he gets 10 or more outs: $125,000 each for 12 and

8:35 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — Right-handed reliever Mychal Givens and the Colorado Rockies agreed Thursday to a one-year, $4.05 million contract. Colorado acquired Givens in a deal with Baltimore on Aug. 30. He allowed at least a run in five of 10 appearances for the Rockies. Givens appeared in 12 games for the

6:01 PM ET Relief pitcher Archie Bradley has reached a one-year, $6 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. Bradley was not re-signed by the Cincinnati Reds after he was acquired in a midseason trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The right-hander pitched well in his six regular-season appearances with Cincinnati,

4:45 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — New Dodgers reliever Corey Knebel agreed to a one-year, $5.25 million contract on Thursday to avoid salary arbitration. The 29-year-old was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers on Dec. 2 ahead of the deadline for teams to offer 2021 contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters. He

3:52 PM ET Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. — Left-hander Nik Turley was traded to the Athletics on Thursday from the Pittsburgh Pirates for $60,000, giving Oakland a reliable reliever for late in games after losing closer Liam Hendriks in free agency. Turley went 0-3 with a 4.98 ERA and one save over 25 relief outings

2:34 PM ET Former three-time World Series-winning executive Theo Epstein was hired by Major League Baseball on Thursday as a consultant to “on-field matters” as the sport contemplates rule changes to create more action and pace to the game. “As the game evolves, we all have an interest in ensuring the changes we see on

8:00 AM ET A Mickey Mantle baseball card has shattered a 5-month-old record for highest-selling sports card of all time, going for $5.2 million, PWCC Marketplace announced on Thursday. The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 9 — PSA is a grading system that ranges from 1-10 — took the record from a one-of-one Mike Trout

7:00 AM ET After a season ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, amidst a precedent-setting, slow-moving free-agency period, against the backdrop of MLB revenues in sharp decline, with multiple clubs nakedly dumping payroll and a bitter CBA fight on the horizon, baseball could use a purely positive story. Fernando Tatis Jr., the emphatic, electrifying, marketable 22-year-old

6:32 PM ET Right-handed reliever Pedro Baez has agreed to a two-year contract with the Houston Astros, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan, confirming multiple reports. The deal is pending a physical. Baez, 32, finished the 2020 season as the third-longest-tenured member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, behind only Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen.

3:24 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is suspending all political contributions in the wake of last week’s invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a mob loyal to President Donald Trump, joining a wave of major corporations rethinking their efforts to lobby Washington. “In light of the unprecedented events last week

10:34 AM ET TORONTO — Mark Shapiro has been given a five-year contract extension as the Toronto Blue Jays‘ president and chief executive officer. Rogers Communications, which owns the team, made the announcement Wednesday. Rogers announces five-year contract extension for @BlueJays President & CEO @MarkShapiro pic.twitter.com/nqgHhp64lw — Rogers News (@AboutRogers) January 13, 2021 Shapiro worked

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN On Jan. 13, 2020, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred released his findings and announced the Houston Astros‘ punishment for electronically stealing signs during the team’s 2017 World Series run. Manager AJ Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow were each suspended one year by MLB before they were both fired by the Astros,

7:38 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — Right-hander Michael Fulmer and the Detroit Tigers agreed Tuesday to a $3.1 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration. The 2016 AL Rookie of the Year went 0-2 with an 8.78 ERA in 10 starts last season after missing all of 2019 because of Tommy John surgery. He earned

4:31 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Carlos Carrasco got a welcome call from new Mets owner Steven Cohen. “He was so excited. He can’t wait to meet me. I can’t wait to meet him, too,” the pitcher said Tuesday. “The way he talked, the way he said everything is — he looked like

9:26 AM ET Free agent Corey Kluber is out to prove he’s healthy, as the right-hander prepares for a bullpen session in front of major league teams Wednesday in Florida. The two time Cy Young winner has pitched in just eight games over the past two seasons but says his injuries are a thing of

8:20 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” While the trade market has brought most of MLB’s headlines this offseason, the Chicago White Sox spending big to land closer Liam Hendriks shows free agency could soon heat up as well.