FORT WORTH, Texas — Since implementing new rules, MLB has celebrated a resurgence in attendance, interest, TV ratings and we are to believe the team at the top during this revival is the same one that is “ruining” it, too.

The L.A. Dodgers have replaced the New York Yankees as the evilest of evil empires; a financial behemoth that J.P. ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants have traded outfielder Heliot Ramos to the New York Yankees in exchange for prospects Henry LaLane and Kaeden Kent, according to multiple reports. Kent is the son of 2026 Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Kent, while Lalane is one of New York’s top pitching prospects.

Ken Rosenthal was the first to report ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The late actor and director Rob Reiner was a devoted Los Angeles Dodgers fan.

Sunday would have meant a lot to him.

Jake and Romy Reiner threw out the ceremonial first pitches at Dodger Stadium before the team’s game against the Boston Red Sox, more than seven months after their parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, were found ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs have landed another starting pitcher, and it has cost them a top prospect.

After acquiring left-hander David Peterson from the New York Mets in June, the Cubs and Mets reached a deal on Monday to send right-hander Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor to Chicago, a source has confirmed to the Chicago Tribune.

In...Read more

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners have addressed their biggest roster need on trade-deadline day, acquiring outfielder Taylor Ward from the Baltimore Orioles in a four-player trade Monday, industry sources with knowledge of the deal told The Seattle Times.

In another strong signal of their intention to push for a playoff berth, the Mariners do ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Moments before his MLB debut, catcher Adley Rutschman took 10 seconds for himself.

Rutschman, seen as the savior of Baltimore baseball since he was selected No. 1 overall in the 2019 draft, had arrived. He stood behind the plate and took a visual lap of Camden Yards, his new home, before putting on his mask, squatting down and ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Luis Arraez is neither an outfielder nor a right-handed hitter.

But he’s the Phillies’ solution to help the offense.

The Phillies beat the trade deadline Monday by acquiring Arraez and reliever Caleb Kilian from the San Francisco Giants. They will send breakout pitching prospect Ramon Marquez and minor league reliever ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers added catching depth on Monday with a familiar name.

They acquired journeyman backstop Ben Rortvedt from the New York Mets for right-hander Chayce McDermott, the team announced hours before the trade deadline.

The move marked the third time in a little over a year that the Dodgers have acquired Rortvedt....Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Let’s begin with this premise:

The Tampa Bay Rays could have gotten Tarik Skubal.

We don’t know that for certain, but it seems like a reasonable assumption. The Los Angeles Dodgers gave up the No. 55 prospect in baseball and a couple other intriguing, but not scintillating, minor-leaguers to get the two-time Cy Young Award ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — There’s a piano in every studio, a room full of guitars and a mixing console shipped from Los Angeles that was used to record some of hip-hop’s iconic albums. Everything an artist needs, Will Yip said, is waiting for them in his South Philadelphia music studio.

But perhaps the most important thing is the TV in the lobby ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Let the selling commence.

The San Francisco Giants have made their first move ahead of Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, sending right-hander Tyler Mahle in exchange for right-hander Anthony Molina, the team announced on Sunday evening.

Molina has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.

Assuming the Giants also trade left-...Read more

CHICAGO — One of the biggest changes in my four decades of covering Major League Baseball has been the way the trade deadline is reported.

What once was a few weeks of rumors from beat writers about what might happen, producing a couple of lines in a notebook and an occasional headline if something was close, has morphed into a full-blown, 24...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs’ search for a starting pitcher has landed them a veteran with postseason experience.

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman is heading to the Cubs, a source confirmed to the Chicago Tribune, in exchange for two minor leaguers, outfielder Brett Bateman and infielder Ty Southisene.

Gausman, 35, gives the Cubs...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The manager of the team that most needed Tarik Skubal sat in his office Sunday at Angel Stadium. The Milwaukee Brewers, the team that opened play Sunday with the best record in the major leagues, did not get Skubal.

The Dodgers did. Of course they did.

"L.A. is America's team," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Not based on the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman felt good enough about his trade discussions with the Detroit Tigers for two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal that he gave manager Dave Roberts a positive update shortly before the team's game against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

"I heard that it was pretty...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers supposedly can’t be beat. The two-time defending World Series champions boast arguably the most talented roster ever assembled and further established their position as championship favorites over the weekend by trading for two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Just don’t tell that to the ...Read more

DETROIT — Hope is a strategy, it turns out.

But only because baseball requires it these days. Insists on it, really.

Saturday night’s surreal scene in Sacramento, Calif., only reinforced that notion, as a major-league trade played out in real time in a minor-league ballpark. And as a would-be World Series contender effectively threw in the...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Nobody wants to admit it, but the Los Angeles Dodgers deserve Tarik Skubal. They landed him the old fashioned way. They drafted, developed, traded and signed their way to a circumstance where they could trade a highly valued outfield prospect for three months of service that will only pad their odds of completing a three-peat ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Bryson Stott was back in his room at the Phillies’ hotel here late Saturday night when the news came across his phone.

Tarik Skubal was traded ...

... to the Dodgers.

Gulp?

“No, I mean, you don’t say that,” Stott said Sunday — a.k.a., Trade Deadline Eve — before the Phillies wrapped up a series against the Orioles...Read more