Anthony Rizzo is only 35. But with spring training games underway, he continues to linger on the free-agent market. Rizzo wants to play. He’s healthy enough to play. Yet he knows the end of his career might be near. “I’ve definitely thought about it. I think I have a lot to give to the game…
By Chad Jennings, Aaron Gleeman and Tim Britton The semester was about to end, and too many of our students still hadn’t finished their homework, much less taken their final exam. Giving them grades took a while. But now that spring training is in full swing — and now that Jack Flaherty, Pete Alonso and…
Pitchers and catchers have officially reported, full-squad workouts are almost here and spring training games start in a week. Although there are still some quality free agents on the market, most of the offseason moves have been made, so it’s time for my first MLB power rankings of the year. Let’s take stock of the…
It’s hard enough when your favorite team’s best player leaves town. It’s even harder to watch that star player join a rival. And nothing in fandom compares to the pain of watching that star take the team you hate to heights your favorite club never reached. When a star jumps from one rival to another,…
Welcome to this year’s ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball. I’ve been compiling and writing such rankings for 18 years now, and those of you who’ve read them before will find the format here similar to those from the recent past. My farm reports covering at least 20 prospects in each team’s system,…
NEW YORK — The passage of time is an unavoidable conversation these days for Rob Manfred, the 66-year-old commissioner of Major League Baseball. Sitting in a conference room at his Manhattan office this month, he scurried out mid-sentence to retrieve a piece of paper, a small square with ruled interlocking lines and a dot in…
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — He had walked through these massive red doors before — seven times before. But this was different. This was visit No. 8, on a frosty, 14-degree Thursday morning in January. This time, Ichiro Suzuki was walking through these doors, of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as one of the legends. “This…
New York Yankees catcher Austin Romine was buckling his shinguards in the dugout when he heard a booming voice and immediately looked up. It was CC Sabathia. He was pissed. “First dude,” Sabathia said. It was Sept. 27, 2018. Sabathia was set on revenge against the Tampa Bay Rays, after reliever Andrew Kittredge aimed a…
Could Ichiro Suzuki become the second-ever player unanimously voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum? Will Billy Wagner pick up the five votes he missed last year to gain entry in his final year of eligibility? Will CC Sabathia make it to Cooperstown on his first try? Heading into the Jan. 21…
There are still a number of difference-making free agents on the board and likely some significant trades still to come, but let’s take stock of each team’s offseason moves — or lack thereof. The teams that have had the best offseasons so far include the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Diamondbacks, Cubs and Red Sox. The worst?…