MLB

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Already a World Series MVP, six-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove catcher, Salvador Perez became something else when he stepped onto the main stage at the Kansas City Royals‘ annual FanFest: a U.S. citizen. Perez took his oath of citizenship on Friday, the completion of a five-year process that he described

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alex Gordon agreed to consent to a trade by the Royals starting June 16, an unusual provision in his new one-year, $4 million contract. Gordon has spent his entire career with the Royals and has the right to block trades under baseball’s collective bargaining agreement because he has at least 10

NEW YORK — The Mets made it official, hiring Luis Rojas as their manager to replace Carlos Beltran. New York announced the move Thursday, a week after Beltran departed without managing a game. Rojas, who had been the Mets’ quality-control coach, was given a multiyear contract. “I will work tirelessly to help this team win,”

For years on the internet, there was a sizable cottage industry built on the claim that Derek Jeter was overrated. In the five years since Jeter retired, new takes in that vein have grown sparse. And don’t we miss them? This week, with Jeter falling just short of becoming the second player to win unanimous

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is using its financial muscle to support the U.S. women’s softball team, which already is assured a spot in the Tokyo Olympics while the American men’s baseball team struggles to qualify. MLB announced an agreement Thursday to become the presenting sponsor of the women’s “Stand Beside Her” tour, a

Colorado Rockies All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado said Wednesday that he is finished talking publicly about his relationship with the club. “There has been a lot of stuff going on that nobody knows about, and I was reacting to what was said, and [that] was out of character for me because I’m very private with

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies have signed left-hander Francisco Liriano, right-handers Bud Norris and Drew Storen, and infielder Neil Walker to minor league contracts with invitations to attend major league spring training. Liriano was 5-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 69 relief appearances for Pittsburgh last season. The 36-year-old Liriano is 112-114 with a 4.15

Commissioner Rob Manfred said Major League Baseball plans to use a computerized camera system to call balls and strikes during spring training games this year, expanding the sport’s implementation of “robot umpires.” Manfred announced MLB’s plans Wednesday during an interview with Fox Business Network, saying that the “camera-based system” will be “more accurate than a

ATLANTA — Free agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna and the Atlanta Braves reached an $18 million, one-year deal Tuesday that puts him on the team he helped beat in the playoffs last October. Ozuna hit .429 with two home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals in their five-game win over the Braves in the National League

The votes are in! Let’s check in on the winners and losers from Tuesday’s Hall of Fame voting results, which saw Derek Jeter get elected in his first year on the ballot, Larry Walker make it in his final year on the ballot, and Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds finish with similar totals as a

Dustin Pedroia‘s lengthy comeback attempt endured another roadblock, as the Boston Red Sox second baseman suffered a significant setback with his left knee, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. Pedroia has played just nine games over the past two seasons, collecting three hits in 34 plate appearances while trying to return from a knee injury suffered

2:22 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” The disillusionment that has percolated for months in behind-the-scenes meetings between Colorado Rockies leadership and the camp of star Nolan Arenado bled into the public sphere on Monday. After Rockies general manager

The Colorado Rockies will head to spring training with Nolan Arenado on the roster. That’s according to general manager Jeff Bridich, who acknowledged to the Denver Post on Monday that his team did listen to offers for the All-Star third baseman but nothing that was of interest. “With the season coming up and spring training

The Baseball Hall of Fame will announce the results of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting for the Class of 2020 on Tuesday. Based on ballots that have been made public, Derek Jeter might become only the second player elected unanimously by the voters, joining longtime Yankees teammate Mariano Rivera, who was honored with

You’d like to think that competing professionals would operate ethically, within the bounds of propriety as well as the written rules. But that’s not true in the field of journalism, or politics, or professional sports; there always have been and always will be those willing to trade shards or whole slices of integrity for an

HOUSTON — A week filled with fines, suspensions, firings and impromptu press conferences as a result of their sign-stealing scandal, ended awkwardly in Houston Saturday, with the Astros meeting and greeting fans and media at their annual winter festival. Two of the team’s biggest stars — Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman — took center stage:

ST. LOUIS — Harrison Bader is confident he’ll be in center field for the St. Louis Cardinals when the season begins. Bader was in St. Louis on Saturday taking part in the annual Cardinals Winter Warm-Up. “I’m the starting center fielder,” the 25-year-old Bader said. “It’s my position. I’m going to take it. There’s no

Any player on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list will not be considered for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, even after the banned individual’s death, a hall spokesman told ESPN on Saturday. “This designation remains in place after an individual’s passing,” said Jon Shestakofsky, a Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum spokesman. The Hall