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Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dodgers boast best MLB team. But in fantasy baseball, is it smart to draft them?

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Poring over fantasy baseball player rankings can be jarring for diehard fans of a specific team who don't pay much attention to the other 29 clubs.

That might be especially true for the legions of devoted, deliriously satiated Dodgers followers this year.

Isn't this the most talented roster in history? Don't the Dodgers have a ...Read more

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Clint Hurdle on his new book, why he's pulling for the Pirates 'like a sled dog' and more

Sports / Baseball /

BRADENTON, Fla. — Clint Hurdle hasn't exactly been sipping lemonade by the pool lately. But the former Pirates manager also hasn't exactly slowed down since putting his uniform in the closet for the final time.

Hurdle, 67, works as a special assistant to the general manager with the Colorado Rockies. He has actually become a fantastic follow ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

John Romano: What's next for the Rays? Grab a seat because there is no end in sight.

Sports / Baseball /

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Once again, we are on the precipice. Inches from calamity and miles from comfort.

The decision by Rays owner Stuart Sternberg to pull out of a once-rejoiced plan to build a new baseball stadium in St. Petersburg has upended a major redevelopment project for the city and left the team’s future in Tampa Bay in doubt.

...Read more

Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Padres, Mariners making 'Vedder Cup' official

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — Wait. The Padres and Mariners are making the “Vedder Cup” official?

Talk about a grass-roots “campaign” sprouting out of press box shenanigans in Peoria, Ariz., and climbing all the way up the corporate ladder.

The Dodgers and Angels made sense in the “Freeway Series.” So did the A’s and Giants in the “Bay Bridge ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dodgers' Tokyo Series trip confirms the team's 'overwhelming' hold on Japan

Sports / Baseball /

TOKYO — For much of the last two years, the Dodgers have felt like Major League Baseball's Team of Japan.

They signed Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. They struck advertising deal after advertising deal with some of the country's biggest companies. All of their games are now shown on Japanese television. Team officials have ...Read more

Duane Burleson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yankees name Carlos Rodón opening day starter

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — With Gerrit Cole lost to Tommy John surgery, the Yankees have settled on a new opening day starter.

Carlos Rodón will take the ball when the Bombers host the Brewers on March 27. Aaron Boone made the announcement on Friday, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, though pitchers’ schedules were already trending that way following Cole’s ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

From tuna cutting to samurai warriors: Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki host welcome party for Cubs in Tokyo

Sports / Baseball /

TOKYO — Seiya Suzuki was too young and not yet into baseball when the Chicago Cubs last played at the Tokyo Dome 25 years ago.

But the memory of being in the ballpark in 2004 and watching Japanese great Hideki Matsui slug a home run for the New York Yankees still resonates with the 30-year-old Suzuki. He understands the impact the Cubs’ two...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dylan Hernández: Tokyo Series atmosphere shows Shohei Ohtani is more than 'a representative of Japan'

Sports / Baseball /

TOKYO — They screamed.

They screamed and made that noise that crowds make when thousands of people scream at the same time, that sound that is heard when the home team takes a lead late in a playoff game.

Shohei Ohtani had taken the field — for a workout.

"That," Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said, "was a pretty cool moment for all of ...Read more

Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America/TNS

'I haven't given my Japanese side its due': Dave Roberts reflects ahead of Dodgers' Tokyo opener

Sports / Baseball /

The smile got a little bigger, the emotions a little deeper, the meaning a little greater the more Dave Roberts looked around the room.

In the wake of last year’s World Series title, in which Roberts led the Dodgers to the second championship of his decorated tenure, the veteran manager spent weeks basking in the triumph. He sprayed champagne...Read more

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Evan Webeck: I tried out for the Oakland Ballers. Here's how it went.

Sports / Baseball /

OAKLAND, Calif. — Gather ‘round!

Skip had a message he wanted to relay to us, his ragtag bunch of wannabe ballplayers. We hustled in front of the third-base dugout and listened up.

“Five words,” Aaron Miles, second-year manager of the Pioneer League Oakland Ballers, told us. “Don’t quit your day jobs.”

It stood in contrast to ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Paul Sullivan: Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts sticks to the script when discussing his philosophy on spending

Sports / Baseball /

At their first Cubs Convention as owners in 2010, Tom, Laura, Pete and Todd Ricketts answered fans’ questions at a seminar and received a nice round of applause.

Todd Ricketts that day said the four siblings would stay out of the spotlight, much like previous Cubs bosses from Tribune Co.

“After today, I don’t think you’ll see a lot of ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Bill Shaikin: Dodgers fans in Japan can get a break on high ticket prices for team's visit

Sports / Baseball /

Shohei Ohtani is coming home as a World Series champion, and demand for tickets to the Dodgers' season-opening series in Tokyo is fierce.

Want one? The lowest-priced ticket available on StubHub as of Wednesday afternoon: $1,855 for the series opener next week; $1,352 for the second and final game, in both cases including fees. By the time you ...Read more

Ingrid Andress reflects on 'botching' national anthem at MLB's Home Run Derby

Sports / Baseball /

FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s been nearly eight months since singer Ingrid Andress admitted she was drunk during her rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the MLB Home Run Derby in Arlington.

Many viewers were taken aback by the Grammy nominee’s off-key performance at Globe Life Field on July 15, 2024. Just a day later, Andress ...Read more

Jason Getz / Jason.Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Ken Sugiura: As he waits to be cleared, Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. hitting legendary bombs

Sports / Baseball /

NORTH PORT, Fla. — Before Ronald Acuña Jr. gave baseball a season unlike anything it had ever witnessed, Braves assistant coach Eddie Pérez had a prophecy.

It was before the 2023 season, in which Acuña earned his first National League MVP award by becoming the first player in baseball history to hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases in a ...Read more

Dustin Satloff/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jason Mackey: Why Paul Skenes' best trait might rest between his ears

Sports / Baseball /

BRADENTON, Fla. — With the first true off day of spring training arriving on Wednesday, Paul Skenes was preparing for a welcomed deviation from his daily routine.

Skenes, who has taken up golf as a hobby, was going to hit some balls at a nearby range.

"I'm working on it," Skenes said, talking about his nascent golf game. "I'm not thinking ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

No longer anonymous, John Seidler takes over Padres with vow to 'continue trajectory towards the World Series championship'

Sports / Baseball /

PEORIA, Ariz. — John Seidler leaned back and shifted his glance upward while appearing to not be looking at anything.

He sighed.

It had just been pointed out to him that it seemed the situation was clear — that the beloved Padres chairman was being replaced by a man who did not ever want to run a baseball team and under normal ...Read more

Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Analysis: Why Dodgers don't necessarily need Shohei Ohtani to pitch to start the season

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Twenty-eight days later, the Dodgers have already packed up from Camelback Ranch and embarked on their defense of last year's World Series championship.

Their first stop: Japan, with the team flying out on Wednesday ahead of its season-opening two-game series against the Chicago Cubs next week at the Tokyo Dome.

Because of that...Read more

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Plenty of fanfare awaits Cubs for anticipated Tokyo Series vs. Dodgers. Here's what to know.

Sports / Baseball /

In the week separating his final spring training start and taking the mound at the Tokyo Dome, Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga has plenty of time to envision how he might attack the first hitter to open the regular season in his home country.

The anticipated matchup between the Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers will feature plenty of fanfare ...Read more

Oakland Athletics/Oakland Athletics/TNS

Bill Shaikin: The A's promised tourists for Nevada. Does Las Vegas risk pricing them out?

Sports / Baseball /

LAS VEGAS — In the days leading up to last month's Super Bowl, something curious happened in Las Vegas: The price of a hotel room crashed. In some of the fancier hotels, you could get a room for under $100. In some of the older hotels, you could get a room for under $50.

It was almost as if the Las Vegas of old had returned, the one where you...Read more

Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

John Romano: If stadium deal is dead, it's time for Stuart Sternberg to sell Rays

Sports / Baseball /

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — We never wanted any of them to leave.

Not Longo and not CC. Not Price, not Snell, not Kiermaier, not Zobrist.

All of the greatest players in Rays history have eventually been traded or walked away because of money issues. It’s the reality of the game, and the ramifications of a market that has always been near the ...Read more