MLB

2:00 PM ET What Major League Baseball wants is for its product to move and flow in a way that attracts new generations of fans, many of whom now treat any hint of boredom with a touch of the next app, moving on to the next thing. This concern was the motivating factor behind the

4:10 PM ET With great risk comes great reward in baseball, whether played on actual diamonds or the ones found in digital fantasy leagues. It’s not a monumental challenge to assemble an 81-win team in Major League Baseball or finish fifth in your 12-team fantasy league. But who wants to be an also-ran? At some

11:13 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” For baseball players taking advantage of a new drug policy in which marijuana use is permissible, the commissioner has a warning: Just don’t show up to the ballpark high. Even though Major

7:12 PM ET Associated Press SURPRISE, Ariz. — Salvador Perez was back behind the plate Friday for the first time since Tommy John surgery. The six-time All-Star caught the first four innings of the Kansas City Royals‘ 3-1 loss to a San Francisco split squad. “I was super excited to be back behind the home

6:46 PM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Clayton Kershaw struck out four batters without allowing a hit in his spring training debut Friday, the first step toward a possible Opening Day start for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw, the Dodgers’ longtime ace, faced a Milwaukee Brewers lineup with five expected regulars, including Brock Holt and

11:45 AM ET The narrative is spreading rapidly in the early days of spring training, told with a certain taste of glee. The Astros are getting hit by a lot of pitches! The cheaters are getting their comeuppance! They’re already being targeted and it’s not even the regular season! There are Twitter accounts with names

7:03 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — Curt Flood’s widow has a simple explanation for why her late husband, who is revered by players for sacrificing his career to advocate for free agency, has not been enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame. “I think the holdup is that he got on a lot of people’s

7:00 AM ET Just less than three weeks ago, news leaked that MLB was considering a new expanded playoff format that would blow up the bracket from 10 to 14 teams and add a reality-style selection show to the mix. I hated it. Look, I’m not a hot take guy. One of the reasons I

8:54 PM ET Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Houston’s Alex Bregman was hit on the back by a breaking ball from St. Louis reliever Ramon Santos on Wednesday, making him the seventh Astros player plunked in five spring training games. “It was a splitter,” Bregman said. “It just got away from him.” Some

3:51 PM ET New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton might miss the start of the season because of a strained calf. Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced Wednesday that Stanton has a Grade 1 strain in his right calf and will be out “a couple weeks.” 1 Related The Yankees open their season March 26 against

8:00 AM ET Rachel MarcusESPN Editor Close ESPN Editor Joined ESPN in 2013 Maryland native, Syracuse graduate The monocle almost didn’t make it to Justin Meekins’ picture day. Meekins, a senior outfielder at Salisbury University in Maryland who bears a strong resemblance to former MLB outfielder Jayson Werth, needed that monocle from Amazon Prime. It

8:00 AM ET Sam MillerESPN.com Close ESPN baseball columnist/feature writerFormer editor-in-chief of Baseball ProspectusCo-author of “The Only Rule Is It Has To Work” In 2009, before he was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels, Mike Trout had committed to play baseball at East Carolina University. Because Trout has gone on to have the most historically

7:00 AM ET TEMPE, Ariz. — We should all take a moment, before salivating at the promise of the inimitable Shohei Ohtani, to commend general manager Billy Eppler for his restraint. Think about it. The Los Angeles Angels carry hopes of contention into this season, as evidenced by the $245 million addition of Anthony Rendon.

7:08 PM ET Associated Press LAKELAND, Fla. — Jose Altuve insisted that he tuned out the hecklers. But he couldn’t avoid a pitch that grazed him. “He was hit in the foot. That ain’t nothing, you know what I mean?” Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker said Monday after his team’s 11-1 win over the Detroit

3:33 PM ET The New York Yankees won the MLB offseason when they gave Gerrit Cole the toll rights to the Henry Hudson to bring him to the Bronx, instantly transforming a good rotation into a great one. But that analysis counted on the Yankees having Luis Severino in the mix before Tuesday’s news that

7:00 AM ET Spring training games have started, and as you scroll through the box scores looking for your super-secret fantasy pickups, it’s worth noting which names you won’t see at the moment: Major League Baseball’s last few unsigned free agents. Yasiel Puig is the headliner here, but there are some other reasonably big names

9:12 PM ET Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner has been competing in rodeo events under the alias Mason Saunders and even won $26,560 in a team-roping competition in December, according to a story published Sunday by The Athletic. Bumgarner told the website he has discretely competed in rodeos for a

9:08 PM ET Associated Press GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Shogo Akiyama gave Cincinnati Reds fans a small taste of what he can provide at the top of the batting order and in the outfield Sunday in his first spring training game with the team. Akiyama, hitting leadoff and playing center field, lined the second pitch he