NEW YORK — The Mets blew past the luxury tax benchmark with their splashy winter meetings acquisitions and general manager Billy Eppler promised even more talent. One day after the meetings wrapped up, the club made good on that promise by re-signing outfielder Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year, $162 million contract and reliever David Robertson ...Read more

Padres chairman Peter Seidler spoke with a childlike enthusiasm about his interactions with fans, especially children, during the postseason.

"Just being able to plant so many seeds, getting kids in the ballpark," Seidler said a couple days after the Padres' playoff run ended in late October. "These kids are crying after we lose. 'There's no ...Read more

Last month — nobody seems to recall the exact date, but it was between the end of the World Series and Thanksgiving — Dave Dombrowski, Sam Fuld, and Rob Thomson flew to Florida, sat down at Trea and Kristen Turner’s dinner table, and talked.

“It was just an afternoon, just really informal to get to know one another,” said Fuld, the ...Read more

Jon Lester, Mookie Betts and now Xander Bogaerts.

While John Henry, Tom Werner and rest of the Red Sox ownership group have been able to bring four trophies to Boston since purchasing the club in 2002, they’ve now thrown almost as many daggers into the backs of their most beloved franchise icons.

In the earliest hours of Thursday morning, ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It was Tuesday afternoon, just about halfway through Major League Baseball's first in-person winter meetings in three years, and Andrew Friedman wasn't sure how to assess the three-day affair.

"It's a real love-hate," the Dodgers' president of baseball operations said. "It's not the healthiest three days of the year for me. But it...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The third try was the charm.

The Padres, who already had two shortstops, got their shortstop.

Shortly after the Winter Meetings ended, the team and free agent Xander Bogaerts reached an agreement on an 11-year, $280 million deal Wednesday night.

That came after the Padres' unsuccessful attempts to land shortstop Trea Turner on ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Back in the city where their season ended, the Dodgers resorted to familiar behavior this week. Like their hitters in October, their executives froze in the batter's box at baseball's winter meetings.

Justin Verlander signed with the New York Mets.

Strike one.

Trea Turner abandoned them for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Strike two...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Two days after the Chicago Cubs took a chance on former Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers did the same with a former Cubs star trying to revitalize his career.

Jason Heyward signed with the Dodgers on Thursday, the team announced, agreeing to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Mets are leaving the Winter Meetings with four new pitchers but have yet to find a center fielder or address the lack of power in the lineup.

However, they aren’t done yet.

“It’s nice to get some some things in the rearview mirror, but my family, who is here, asked if I could get together tonight and they kind of sent ...Read more

Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer assuredly said all the right things about catcher Willson Contreras after his agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals was revealed.

The Cubs will miss him.

Oh, he was such a great person.

All the luck in the world, Willson.

It was everything you would expect Cubs management to say after losing one of the team...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It’s not the move Red Sox fans have been waiting for, but for the first time in years they made a franchise-altering free-agent signing that will completely change the way they look on the field.

Masataka Yoshida, the Japanese star who has the best plate approach in Nippon Professional Baseball and should immediately slot into ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs’ upgrades at the winter meetings aren’t stopping in center field.

Right-hander Jameson Taillon reached an agreement with the team Tuesday, a source confirmed to the Chicago Tribune. The deal reportedly is for $68 million over four years.

The Cubs needed to find upper-tier pitching to strengthen a rotation that ...Read more

Those annoying dinging sounds that you hear are the push alerts from John Middleton’s online banking apps. Two more transactions have gone through. Taijuan Walker, Matt Strahm ... welcome to the club, and stay tuned.

It’s been a whirlwind few days. The Phillies have added a superstar shortstop, a sturdy but uncertain No. 4 starter, and a ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — As Dave Dombrowski packed his garment bag Wednesday and checked out of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, he might have considered borrowing a line from Michael Corleone near the end of The Godfather.

”Today, I settled all family business.”

Because when Dombrowski led the Phillies’ delegation of executives and scouts to the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The catcher who wanted a chance to sell the Cardinals on his ability to follow Yadier Molina behind the plate at Busch Stadium will get that chance.

The Cardinals have an agreement in place with All-Star catcher Willson Contreras, multiple sources told the Post-Dispatch.

Deterred by the ongoing asking price for the top catcher ...Read more

NEW YORK — In the wee hours of Wednesday morning a beleaguered and resigned Hal Steinbrenner firmly cemented his membership in baseball’s One Dumb Owner club by re-signing soon-to-be 31-year-old Aaron Judge for an astounding nine years and $360 million.

Or $146.5 million more than the seven-year, $213.5 million the Yankees offered Judge ...Read more