CHICAGO -- Here are four takeaways from this weekend's Cubs Convention.

1. Lee Smith is back home with the Cubs and has plenty to say.

After serving as a roving minor-league pitching coach for the Giants for 20 seasons, Smith rejoined the Cubs, the team with which he embarked on a Hall of Fame career as a closer.

Smith, 62, will serve as an ...Read more

Baseball Twitter was set ablaze this week, and the continuing rumors and accusations connected to the Houston Astros' cheating scandal have only further fanned the flames. The latest chapter has many players, especially pitchers and including Indians starter Mike Clevinger, upset.

On Monday, Major League Baseball concluded its investigation ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- An ugly week for baseball marred by the fallout from the Houston Astros' sign-steal scandal ended with the commissioner's office and the players association forcefully shooting down speculation that Angels star Mike Trout has been using human growth hormone.

Trout, the three-time American League most valuable player and eight-...Read more

Former White Sox ace Jack McDowell said during a radio interview Friday that the team had a sign-stealing system involving a camera at Comiskey Park.

"We had a system at Old Comiskey Park in the late '80s, Gatorade sign out in right-center had a light, there was a toggle switch in the manager's office and a camera zoomed in on the catcher," ...Read more

This weekend could mark the final time slugger Kris Bryant -- the center of trade speculation all offseason -- participates in a Cubs Convention as a player.

And Anthony Rizzo, the thickest pillar of the franchise, didn't rule out the possibility he could end up playing elsewhere, too, before his storied career ends.

"It would be naive for me ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- Every winter, a new batch of free-agent contracts in baseball populate the list of the richest ever signed. The Orioles don't have much occasion to swim in that end of the pool anymore, but when they did four years ago Thursday in signing first baseman Chris Davis to a seven-year, $161 million contract, they established a cautionary...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote within the next week on a resolution urging Major League Baseball to recall the championship trophies presented to the Houston Astros in 2017 and the Boston Red Sox in 2018 "and award them to the Los Angeles Dodgers."

Councilman Gil Cedillo, one of the sponsors of the resolution, ...Read more

NEW YORK -- Two days after the Super Bowl, the New York Yankees' equipment truck will leave the Bronx, headed for Tampa, Fla.

Less than a month away from spring training, the 2020 Yankees are a strong favorite to win the American League pennant, advantaged by signing free agent starter Gerrit Cole away from the defending AL champion Houston ...Read more

CHICAGO -- An arbitrator ultimately will decide whether Kris Bryant is one or two years away from free agency, but the Twins' signing Tuesday night of free-agent third baseman Josh Donaldson didn't hurt the Cubs.

Donaldson electing to sign a four-year, $92 million contract with the Twins instead of returning to the Braves leaves open the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Odubel Herrera's time with the Phillies may have come to an end as the outfielder was designated for assignment on Tuesday afternoon, a transaction that removes Herrera from the 40-man roster and could begin the process of releasing him.

The Phillies have seven days to either trade Herrera or place him on waivers. Herrera is ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Angels added to their pitching depth Tuesday by acquiring veteran right-hander Matt Andriese from the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Jeremy Beasley.

Andriese, 30, pitched out of the bullpen for most of the past two seasons in Tampa Bay and Arizona, but Angels general manager Billy Eppler said ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- It's official: The Houston Astros are cheaters. The commissioner of baseball himself said so, in a nine-page report issued Monday.

In his report, Rob Manfred cited the 2017 Astros for repeated violations of rules that banned the use of video equipment to steal signs during a game. In the last game of the 2017 season, the Astros ...Read more