Posts

The news comes just one day after FC Dallas was forced to pull out of the MLS is Back tournament altogether, with 10 players and one coach testing positive for Covid-19 after arriving at the league’s campus in Orlando. Now, a series of positive tests for Nashville have altered plans even further, with five players testing positive ahead of Wednesday’s tournament opener. Nashville had originally been scheduled to kickstart the tournament against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, with Orlando City’s clash with Inter Miami also taking place on the tournament’s opening day....

Paired with a Reds (64-97) win, the Phillies (62-99) secured the worst record in baseball to clinch the No. 1 pick in the 2016 MLB Draft. It’s the first time the club has had the first pick since 1998 when it selected Pat Burrell. MORE: MLB playoff scenarios It’s been a dismal rebuilding season for the Phillies, who traded away Jonathan Papelbon and Cole Hamels and watched batters Chase Utley and Ben Revere battle injuries....

A quarter of the way through the season, we’re starting to see the fruits of these signings. While some players – such as Trevor Story on the Red Sox – are just heating up, others have made an immediate impact. While we can’t yet discern winners and losers from the 2021-22 free agency mad scramble, there’s enough to build a progress report from some of the notable signings last offseason....

That was because dominant closers Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and, to a lesser extent, Mark Melancon hit the open the market. Combined, the three finishers signed for an astronomical $228 million as the Dodgers, Yankees and Giants emptied their wallets. MORE: Ranking the top 101 MLB free agents for 2018 This year’s free-agent class of relievers won’t get the same buzz, but there are still some talented pitchers available, including another trio of closers....

The Los Angeles Dodgers aim to become only the first time to reach the World Series three years in a row since the New York Yankees achieved the feat between 1998 and 2001. The Dodgers will also hope to go one better than they did in the last two seasons, when they lost the World Series to the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox respectively. The Astros are one of four teams to have won 100 regular season games this year and arrive into the postseason looking to win a second title in three years....

For those who don’t know, those who are eligible to be selected in this year’s draft include international prospects or high school players signed or drafted in 2014, or college players taken in 2015. Only players who are not on their team’s 40-man rosters can be selected. Teams pay $100,000 to select a player, and they have to keep him on their 25-man roster throughout the entirety of the 2019 season, otherwise, he will be returned to his former team for $50,000....

It took three starts, but Johnny Cueto finally got his first win as a member of the Royals. Cueto was dominant Monday night in his home debut against the Tigers, tossing a complete-game shutout while scattering four hits and striking out eight in a 4-0 win. Cueto was traded to the Royals from the Reds on July 26. His first start in a Royals uniform July 31 against the Blue Jays resulted in a no-decision....

The Mario Kart tournament had a high profile roster: Nick Markakis, Ender Inciarte, Sean Rodriguez, Jim Johnson, and Jace Peterson all took part in the competition, with each racer competing across 6 individual races. The winner was the one who accumulated the most points across each leg of the competition, and that ended up being Nick Markakis. The 22-year-old right fielder already has two Golden Glove Awards, but he clearly has to make some additional room in his trophy cabinet for a Grand Prix Cup....

It was confirmed earlier this month that MLB The Show 21 is coming to Xbox because Major League Baseball, the organization, wanted to push its availability further. However, because San Diego Studio is a subsidiary of Sony, players who got early access to MLB The Show 21 yesterday via its Jackie Robinson or Deluxe edition sets came across an odd situation wherein Sony-related logos appeared as the game started up....

How bad has it been? The Rangers currently have 13 players on the disabled list, led by Prince Fielder, and have had 51 players appear in a game already, which is tied for the fifth-highest total in team history. The 2008 Rangers used 55 players, and with September call-ups still to come, that record seems destined to be broken. Another way the Rangers figure to add to their total number of players used is replacing those who get traded between now and the end of the month....

It’s a move with a big backstory. Morales played for Seattle in 2013, hitting 23 homers with a .277 average and .785 OPS. The Mariners extended a qualifying offer after the season, but Morales didn’t accept and instead became a free agent. With the draft-pick compensation attached, though, no team signed him, and he stayed on the market until after June’s draft and teams no longer had to give up a pick to sign the slugger....

Cashner has been below replacement level this year and is a rental. Rea has been below replacement level this year and is under team control through 2021. Guerrero is 25, has two innings of major league experience and owns a 4.10 ERA for his minor league career, including 5.30 between Double-A and Triple-A this year. MORE: Jay Bruce, Jonathan Lucroy lead list of available big bats If this is an impact acquisition, it’s one because the Marlins, operating these days as “Pittsburgh South” after hiring pitching guru Jim Benedict last fall, are able to work some magic with their imported arms....

The 33-year-old signed with the Timbers as a free agent this past offseason, having previously played for the LA Galaxy, the Columbus Crew, the San Jose Earthquakes, Real Salt Lake and New York City FC. READ MORE: Bradley Wright-Phillips leads MLS Team of the Week Grabavoy, who has compiled 17 goals and 31 assists over 301 regular season matches, won MLS Cup titles with the Galaxy in 2005 and RSL in 2009....

Wondolowski’s San Jose Earthquakes welcome Orlando City to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, with Wondolowski one goal shy of 100 Major League Soccer regular-season goals. The 32-year-old took his tally to 99 during the Earthquakes’ 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew last time out. Only Landon Donovan (144), Jeff Cunningham (134), Jaime Moreno (133), Ante Razov (114), Jason Kreis (108), Dwayne De Rosario (104), Taylor Twellman (101) and Edson Buddle (100) have scored more goals in MLS history....

Aside from the late drama on the pitch that earned the San Jose Earthquakes a playoff spot, records fell all around the league. Toronto FC set the most impressive mark, with the club’s 2-2 draw against Atlanta United running the team’s total haul for the season to 69 points, the most ever for an MLS team in a season. That same match saw a crowd of 71,874 pack the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, setting a new standalone game record for the league, though in this case Atlanta was merely replacing its own record set earlier this season against Orlando City....

MLS released the full schedule for the 2016 campaign, having already announced each team’s home opener, with the season running from March 6 to Oct. 23. The schedule will include a previously announced break June 3-17 for the Copa America Centenario, which will be hosted in the United States. MORE: Review: 2015 in American soccer | Will Ferrell a co-owner of new MLS franchise The 2016 season will feature an increased presence for the league on major networks, with nationally televised matches again set for Fridays on UniMas and Sundays on the Fox and ESPN families....

Jason Kreis returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time since being dismissed as New York City FC coach, and he returns with an Orlando City enjoying an excellent start to the season. Howard questions security in fan incident Familiar foes LA and Seattle square off for the first time this season and they enter in slightly unfamiliar positions. Traditionally among the top dogs in the Western Conference, they are both currently in the bottom half of the West standings as they look to shake off slow starts to the season....

It became official Tuesday when Yankees pitcher Stephen Tarpley struck out Rays shortstop Willy Adames in the fifth inning of Tampa Bay’s 2-1 win, marking the 41,208th strikeout of the year to break the record that was set in 2018. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the number of strikeouts reached the 30,000 mark in 1998. It wasn’t until 2017 that the number of strikeouts broke 40,000 for the first time, with 40,104 for the season....