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REPORTED BY: Fox Sports . MORE: New faces, new places | Brewers looking to re-sign K-Rod | Nats’ latest move spells big trouble for rest of NL THE DETAILS: With onetime closer Casey Janssen heading to Washington to be a set-up man for the Nationals, the Jays want someone other than listed closer Brett Cecil (six career saves) finishing games. LAST SEASON: A 2014 All-Star, Rodriguez was dominant in the Brewers’ bullpen, saving 44 games while posting a 3....

REPORTED BY: MLB.com’s Phil Rogers MORE: The 11 most controversial players in MLB history THE DETAILS: The Dodgers would prefer to deal Carl Crawford, as Rogers notes, but it’s Ethier who is drawing interest from teams with remaining outfield needs. Ethier is set to begin the season as L.A.’s fourth outfielder and will become a 10-and-5 player in April, thus gaining the right to veto any trade. He has two years and $38 million remaining on his contract....

The highly anticipated event has lifted spirits in the offseason-ridden MLB, and fans and pundits alike cannot quell their excitement. They’ve taken to various forms of social media to speculate who they think is on their way to Cooperstown. Jon Morosi, an MLB Network broadcaster, spilled the beans on Twitter on who he thought deserved a seat at the 2023 HOF, much to the disgust of baseball fans on Twitter....

After a controversial outing in Blue Jays vs. Yankees on Tuesday, umpires made themselves the center of attention twice again Wednesday in Dodgers vs. Pirates and Red Sox vs. Braves. Jansen Visconti vs. Wil Crowe The first instance came during a day game in Pittsburgh. With the Dodgers’ Trea Turner at the plate, Pirates pitcher Wil Crowe delivered a 1-0 slider in at the belt. It was treated by all parties as a routine strike, but when it became apparent that Visconti’s right arm wasn’t going up, Crowe paused....

1. All that stuff about the Red Sox burning bridges by trading Lester at the deadline after they couldn’t reach a deal with him on an extension? Complete nonsense. As Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported, Boston was the runner-up in the Lester bidding — in the end, the Red Sox just didn’t offer enough money. It wasn’t about hurt feelings over a trade or the botched earlier negotiations at all....

The 2019 Winter Meetings come to you from the West Coast this year, starting Sunday, and there will be no shortage of starpower being discussed over the five days by the bay. Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon are the big three free agents still floating without employers this offseason, and you can bet their names will come up a lot over the next week as players, agents and front-office members from all 30 squads meet in California....

If the early goings of this offseason are any indication, then the Winter Meetings in San Diego are going to be pretty explosive. We’ve already seen the signings of Zack Wheeler, Yasmani Grandal and Will Smith, three of the hottest free agents on the market. Entering this year’s event, we’ve got some massive names still available: Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg are three of the most valuable players searching for new homes....

Valeri scored for the eighth consecutive game – an MLS record – as the Timbers were edged 2-1 by Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Albert Rusnak opened the scoring for hosts RSL in stunning fashion, his 25-yard effort beating Jeff Attinella in the 14th minute. But Valeri broke the MLS record and equalised just after halftime, heading in a fine Dairon Asprilla cross. However, Jefferson Savarino scored a brilliant winner for the home side, ending the Timbers’ four-match unbeaten run....

That player was Ilie Sanchez, and so far this season the Barcelona academy product has proven to be worth the wait. Galaxy stars lead MLS Team of the Week Sanchez is by no means a flashy player, and he has barely registered much attention from casual MLS observers. He has yet to score a goal or record an assist, and doesn’t make highlight-reel plays. What he has done so masterfully since arriving this winter is serve as the midfield conductor to tie everything together, providing the perfect link between Sporting KC’s defense and attack....

Crew owner Anthony Precourt announced in October that he is considering moving the team for the 2019 campaign unless the club is able to build a new stadium in downtown Columbus. Although Crew ownership met with Columbus officials last month, Garber said negotiations were stalled because of the city’s unwillingness to accept concurrent talks with Austin. “Like every professional sports league we never want to relocate a team,” Garber said....

Maddon signed with the Cubs just days after exercising an opt-out clause in his contract. Almost immediately, the Rays made the tampering allegations, which the Cubs and Maddon’s agent have adamantly denied. MORE: Why SN picks Cubs to win World Series | Team owner: Prediction ’not completely crazy' New baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday he will rule on the case before opening night, April 5, when the Cubs play host to the Cardinals....

Rumor: The Braves have made Madison Bumgarner a priority. Source: Alex Pavlovic, NBC Sports, Bay Area Need to know: Madison Bumgarner is only 30 years old, which seems weird because he’s been around for parts of 11 seasons. And despite not being MADISON BUMGARNER the past few years because of various injuries and perhaps some natural regression, it’s quite possible he has more strong seasons left. His stats since 2017: 19-25, 3....

By the time the Mariners beat the Orioles, 6-5 in 10 innings, at shortly after 1:30 a.m. ET, it was the first time in baseball history all 15 home teams won on the same day. MORE: 70s baseball caps, ranked by a 90s kid | MLB’s most dominant pitchers Viewing every game as a 50-50 win-lose proposition independent of all other factors, STATS figured (via ESPN) the odds of a home sweep on a night with a full MLB schedule at 1 in 32,768....

Let’s take a look at the full odds boards for the American League and National League MVP race and highlight some of the best bets, intriguing values, and top sleepers to win each award. MORE MLB FUTURES: ROYs | Cy Youngs | World Series All odds courtesy of Sports Interaction AL MVP odds 2022 AL MVP odds: Best bet Jose Ramirez, Guardians +461 As things currently stand, Aaron Judge is the deserved favorite, as he’s the best player on the best team with the most home runs in the majors (25)....

Players who aren’t afraid to not only call out the cheaters, but players who are not afraid to stand behind their words. Baseball needs players like Mike Fiers. Cheaters don’t deserve protection. They don’t deserve complicit silence. And this antiquated notion that Fiers is the one who is wrong has to end. We’ve heard that idea from many in baseball, first back in November when The Athletic’s article with Fiers’ comments was originally published, and then Jessica Mendoza last week and Pedro Martinez this week....

With Giancarlo Stanton and Dee Gordon out because of injuries, Marlins ace Jose Fernandez knows run support is hard to come by, but that is OK for the 22-year-old phenom. He’ll just do it himself. MORE: NL Fleeting Four: Short stays, big impacts | The Barr-Bungled Banner, 25 years later Making his fourth start of 2015 since returning from Tommy John surgery, Fernandez was dominant on the mound striking out 11 batters over seven innings....

For the first time this season, three MLB games went into extra innings, but none were as long as the Red Sox-Yankees game. The 19-inning contest was so long that Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira aged a year in the process. His 35th birthday is Saturday, and Friday night’s game finished at 2:13 a.m. ET, not long after Mookie Betts drove in Xander Bogaerts with a sacrifice fly. MORE: Power outage at Yankee Stadium | Batter Buchholz warned | First Pitch: Saturday’s matchups...

Price (3-1, 3.32 ERA) hasn’t factored in a decision in his last three starts, but the Tigers have won eight of his nine starts this season, which makes him the fifth most profitable starter in baseball. Detroit has won five straight behind him, yet tonight he is offered at his second-lowest price of the season at -115; he was -105 in his second start of the season when the Tigers won at Cleveland against Corey Kluber....

5 debut MLB players to watch on Opening Day 2022 Jeremy Peña for the Houston Astros With the departure of club star Carlos Correa to the Minnesota Twins, the Houston Astros named 24-year-old Jeremy Peña the starting shortstop for Opening Day. The man hailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, was originally selected by the Atlanta Braves as the 39th overall pick in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. He did not sign with the team, however, as he chose to play college baseball for the University of Maine Black Bears....

Tanaka surrendered just three hits and struck out eight over seven shutout innings to lead the Yankees to a 5-0 home victory over Houston. With the win, New York takes a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. PHILLIPS: Tanaka’s big-game history began in high school Greg Bird gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second inning, and Aaron Judge drove in a run one inning later with a double....