SEATTLE — On Sept. 28, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto faced a semicircle of media members, recorders and cameras inside T-Mobile Park’s press box. On the wall behind him, Dipoto was flanked by life-size photographs of Ichiro, Edgar Martinez and Julio Rodríguez — not-so-subtle reminders of this franchise’s past ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When the Dodgers and Cubs met at the beginning of August, it was notable that Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was even challenging Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani for National League most valuable player.

Ohtani was on a streak of three straight MVP seasons and working to return to the mound after what was expected to be...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — When Bob Boone died earlier this week at age 78, baseball lost a legendary catcher, a World Series champion and one of the greatest defensive players ever to squat behind home plate.

But Orlando lost something else. We lost another little piece of a big league baseball dream that has been dangling tantalizingly in front of us ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Just before spring training began last January, Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was part of a group of former Harvard-Westlake High players who returned to O’Malley Field to have their jersey numbers painted on the outfield wall. This was before PCA mania had erupted, before any MVP talk had surfaced, before anyone ...Read more

NEW YORK — Standing tall in Fenway Park’s visiting clubhouse, not too far from where he grew up, Cam Schlittler reflected on his childhood and high school years.

He recalled not being all that great at baseball, or all that interested. The way he remembers it, he was at the “bottom of the totem pole” on his AAU team when he was 12, and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers' early offseason to-do list includes a meeting with top free agent Tarik Skubal, the two-time Cy Young winner who they acquired at the trade deadline this year.

Other than the Dodgers' National League Championship Series exit, the three-month fling was as happy of a partnership as either side could have hoped.

...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Padres’ priority by a wide margin this offseason is adding quality starting pitchers.

That will be costly.

The Padres have signaled to several agents at this week’s general managers meetings that they are, in the words of one agent, “playing at the top of the market.”

As part of that effort, they have a meeting with ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Astros have hired Brad Ausmus to be their next manager, the team announced on Wednesday. That means the Yankees need a new bench coach, as Ausmus served as Aaron Boone’s right-hand man the past three seasons.

On Tuesday, Brian Cashman noted that Ausmus was still a candidate for Houston’s managerial vacancy, and that he was ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the hours before Game 1 of the World Series, as the Violent Femmes played "Kiss Off" before their hometown fans in Milwaukee, Bruce Meyer talked about getting blown off by baseball's owners.

He didn't put it quite that way. But Meyer, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, expressed his ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Standing outside of a packed conference room, half a day into General Managers meetings, Los Angeles Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes said none of his conversations leading up to or since arriving in Las Vegas had painted a clear picture of how the free agent or trade markets would play out over this month.

The Dodgers are going to take a...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Mets are meeting with free-agent ace Tarik Skubal next week in Los Angeles, a source confirmed to the New York Daily News, but it’s too early for David Stearns to be able to comment on the premier starting pitcher on the market. The club’s president of baseball operations can’t do that until Skubal becomes a Met.

As the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas sees manager Will Venable as a role model.

“I’ve been having great conversations with him during these past two years, and he’s helped me so much,” Vargas said during the American League Division Series. “The impact he (has), not just on the field but in my life, has been ...Read more

DETROIT — He wasn't certain he was going to win the award until it was announced on MLB Network Monday night. But that didn't stop Detroit Tigers' Kevin McGonigle from hosting a watch party at Barnaby's Pub in Havertown, Pa.

"Going in to it, I didn't know what was going to happen, but I felt like there was a lot to celebrate either way," ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — With Tampa Bay Rays baseball operations chief Erik Neander and his counterparts from the other 29 MLB teams gathering this week for the GM meetings in Las Vegas — and the traditional winter meetings expected to be canceled due to the looming Dec. 2 lockout — this could be an offseason when deals start happening fast and ...Read more

NEW YORK — SNY, the TV home of the Mets, underwent mass layoffs and canceled two of its flagship studio shows Friday in a sudden shift that rocked the sports journalism industry.

Many of the layoffs targeted SNY’s editorial staff, according to The Athletic.

As of Friday afternoon, the SNY website no longer featured web articles about the ...Read more

SEATTLE — Do you trust Jerry Dipoto?

Because this hire is all on him.

On Sept. 28, Seattle’s president of baseball operations said as much, confirming he had “full autonomy” to hire another Mariners manager. He also said “if that person has major league managerial experience, that would be preferred,” after both Scott Servais and ...Read more

SEATTLE — Whether it was a premeditated dig, understanding the rivalry between the team he now manages and the team he once worked for, or it was a completely spontaneous statement with a little sense of humor mixed in, Jason Kanzler likely won over more than a few skeptical Mariners fans and made even the jaded ones smile with one line early ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Here’s an interesting, and slightly unnerving, thought as we head into baseball’s offseason:

The Rays have Wander Franco under control longer than they have Junior Caminero.

On the one hand, it’s a meaningless distinction since Franco’s MLB career seems to be heading toward a cliff due to his legal problems in the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Can you have a Chicago Cubs Convention without the Cubs?

Apparently we’re about to find out.

The Cubs announced Monday that their annual convention will still take place on Jan. 15-17, 2027, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, referring to it as “three action packed days celebrating all things Cubs baseball.”

That could mean ...Read more

SEATTLE — After a monthlong search, the Mariners have again settled on a first-time manager to succeed Dan Wilson in the dugout.

And Jason Kanzler, a former high school science teacher, qualifies as the most surprising choice yet for Jerry Dipoto’s front office.

The Mariners are hiring Kanzler, a relatively unknown 36-year-old who has ...Read more