MLB

Howie Kendrick, who capped the Nationals’ improbable run to their first World Series title last season with a Game 7 home run, has reached an agreement on a one-year, $6.25 million deal to return to Washington, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Friday. Steady-handed, versatile and battle-tested, Kendrick came through at the biggest moments

12:41 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” The San Diego Padres, intent on winning in 2020, agreed to a trade for outfielder Tommy Pham and two-way prospect Jake Cronenworth from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for outfielder Hunter

Editor’s note: This story originally ran on Nov. 22. Zack Wheeler agreed to a five-year deal worth $118 million with the Philadelphia Phillies on Dec. 4. The final image we have of Gerrit Cole’s tenure with the Houston Astros was after Game 7 of the World Series, when he was wearing a Scott Boras Corporation

Steve Cohen, a billionaire who owns a small percentage of the New York Mets, is negotiating an agreement to increase his investment, a move that could signal that Fred and Jeff Wilpon’s longtime control of the franchise will be over within five years. Sterling Partners, the company that runs the Mets, and Cohen released a

NEW YORK — Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco and Atlanta Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson have won the Comeback Player of the Year awards. Major League Baseball made the announcement on Wednesday. Carrasco won the American League award. He was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in early June, missed three months while undergoing treatment and

The Los Angeles Angels addressed one of at least two holes in their starting rotation Wednesday, using four of their lower-tier pitching prospects to acquire right-hander Dylan Bundy from the Baltimore Orioles. “Our work’s not done,” Angels general manager Billy Eppler said during a conference call, “but we’re thankful to get one of our goals

The bidding for right-hander Zack Wheeler continues to progress toward resolution, with the Philadelphia Phillies seen by sources as the most potent bidders — and the Reds, White Sox and Rangers also involved. Wheeler, 29, is widely viewed in the industry as the best of the second tier of free-agent starting pitchers, underneath the mega-expensive

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants and left-hander Tyler Anderson agreed to a one-year deal Tuesday, a day after the club declined to tender him a contract and made him a free agent. Anderson, who turns 30 on Dec. 30, was claimed off waivers from National League West rival Colorado on Oct. 30 and

NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole, the top pitcher on the free-agent market, was set to meet with New York Yankees officials in California on Tuesday. General manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone and new Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake made the trip to speak with the 29-year-old right-hander, according to multiple reports. The news was

Some high-ranking club executives believe that third baseman Anthony Rendon will be the first of the mega-dollar free agents to come off the board this winter. Rendon has already had meetings with teams, including the Dodgers and Rangers, and before Rendon reached the open market, Washington made an offer in an effort to keep him.

WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman figures he’ll either find himself back with the World Series champions next season — or out of baseball. “I think I’ve made my intentions pretty clear,” Zimmerman said Monday night, when he attended the premiere of a documentary about last season’s title. “It’s either play some more

CHICAGO — All-Star catcher James McCann agreed to a $5.4 million, one-year contract with the Chicago White Sox on Monday, more than doubling his salary. The 29-year-old McCann was eligible for arbitration. He signed a $2.5 million, one-year deal with Chicago last December after Detroit didn’t offer him a contract for the 2019 season. McCann

Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale has been cleared to begin throwing. Chaim Bloom, the team’s chief baseball officer, told WEEI in Boston that Sale saw Dr. James Andrews last week in Pensacola, Florida, and got permission to being throwing, with the goal of participating in spring training. Sale last threw a pitch Aug. 13

Once during every winter meetings, agent Scott Boras descends from his suite to answer media questions about his clients or some larger issue hovering over baseball. At least that’s the billing this session is given. But really, it’s a performance, with some lines seemingly prepared and practiced, perhaps even laundered through some Boras Corp office

Seymour Siwoff, the statistics maven who turned the Elias Sports Bureau into the place to go for exact information on teams and athletes for more than a half-century, died Friday. He was 99. Siwoff owned Elias for more than 70 years before selling it to his grandson in March 2018. He started as an accountant

NEW YORK — The number of major leaguers allowed to use otherwise-banned drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder dropped to the lowest level since the sport started issuing annual reports in 2008. The results come in a report issued Monday by Thomas Martin, the independent program administrator for the joint drug program of Major

The Baltimore Orioles have placed slugging second baseman Jonathan Villar on outright waivers, according to multiple reports. Wednesday’s move, which appears designed to help the Orioles trade Villar out of Baltimore ahead of Monday’s non-tender deadline, was first reported by MASN Sports. The Baltimore-based sports network reported Villar was placed on outright waivers after the

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco is rehabilitating from arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle and is expected to be fully recovered in plenty of time for spring training. The Twins announced Wednesday that Polanco underwent a debridement procedure Friday in Los Angeles with Dr. Richard Ferkel to address a chronic impingement injury stemming