baseball-players Page 38 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Fernando Tatis Jr. signs 14-year, $340 million deal with Padres and that’s awesome
Pitchers and catchers reported to training camps on Wednesday, and the San Diego Padres marked the traditional passage of spring by turning the baseball world on its head by announcing they had signed Fernando Tatis, Jr. to a staggering 14-year, $340 million contract, according to reports....

Hold on to your Grapefruits, it’s time for pitchers and catchers
Spring training starts this week, with pitchers and catchers day arriving on Wednesday for eight teams, and the rest of the majors getting going on Thursday or Friday. Hopefully, this year’s ramp-up to the season will go more smoothly than 2020, when the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues had to shut dow...

The Makur Maker experiment at Howard failed, but, that’s no reason to start ignoring HBCU sports again
It was never going to work. Not in a million years....

Stop the seasons now and let’s get sports right
We learned this week that the Biden administration wants the start of baseball season to be delayed, a desire that at this point stands to go unfulfilled because the Major League Baseball Players Association is not willing to let ownership link such a delay with a reopening of their collective barga...

MLB's biggest question answered as Twins add promising pitcher; also, Dodgers sign jerkwad Bauer
The wait is over, and one of baseball’s top contenders can move toward spring training confident that its new addition to the pitching staff will be just the man to put them over the top....

Story, Lindor and Tatis are the best crop of shortstops since A-Rod, Jeter and Nomar
People really like to post rankings, because they generate a lot of conversations and tend to rile people up with strong feelings about players or teams. “You have WHO ranked at No. 1? You have to be kidding. No way.” It’s a good time. In fact, I love posting rankings. I love sharing my opinions and...

The Nets might just have too much
Most eyes were on Brooklyn again last night, as the Clippers, the hottest team in the league, were the guests of the NBA’s latest and most vibrant science experiment in the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets came out on top 124-120, with Kyrie Irving going for 39, James Harden merely “settling” for a triple-do...

Masahiro Tanaka to return to Japan, why this Yankee fan is happy for him
It sucks that Masahiro Tanaka will no longer be a Yankee, but at least I don’t have to root against him on another MLB team....

Texans hire David Culley, hope he can beg Deshaun Watson to stay
Well, they know football soap operas in Texas....

Phillies forced to bring back J.T. Realmuto because they made a decade’s worth of mistakes
The Phillies acted as if the franchise — which has lost more games than any professional team in the world of sports since its inception — didn’t have to bring back J.T. Realmuto. However, the 138-year old organization with just two World Series championships to its credit, had no choice. After trad...

Just contract the Pirates already
I know how that sounds. Just another big market resident showing up just long enough, take a brief look around, turn my nose up, and declare Pittsburgh not worth the time. ...

Trevor Bauer’s inability to not be a jerk could cost him; Laine traded for Dubois
Trevor Bauer remains unsigned, and Ken Rosenthal reported on the Mets’ interest in the Cy Young winner on Friday night, including Bauer putting some spin on a big reason that a New York team would be reluctant to sign him, namely his own description of himself as being “good at two things in this wo...

Josh Gibson and the Long Gone Summers That Should Have Been
The following is adapted from the podcast script for Stick to Pods Episode 11, “Josh Gibson,” which originally aired on April 12, 2018...

Nats Send Big Wet President To World Series After Failing To Send Runners Home
In the 1976 film Freaky Friday, a mother and daughter learn to forgive one another after a Friday the 13th spell forces the two to switch bodies for a day and experience the other’s life. The lesson at the end is that one of the best ways to resolve conflicts is by seeing the world through another p...

The Next Great Cuban Baseball Prospect Is Officially A Free Agent
Nineteen-year-old Cuban outfielder Luis Robert was declared a free agent yesterday, and will be free to sign with a team starting May 20. At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, he’s considered one of the best international prospects on the market—second only to the already legendary Shohei Otani....

MLB Agent Goes On Trial For His Role In Smuggling Cuban Prospects Into America
The federal trial is underway in Miami for agent Bartolo Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada, who are accused of participating in smuggling operations that brought Cuban baseball players to America. ...

'Baseball's Bolshevik': Why The Martyrdom Of Curt Flood Still Matters
You’re probably familiar with the story of Curt Flood, the ballplayer whose refusal in 1969 to accept a trade was the first major skirmish in the fight for free agency. You’re certainly familiar with his legacy, which today alone hangs over the news of the NBA’s media megadeal. Retro Report, via The...

Quintin Berry Gets Ejected, Runs Bases, Slides Into Home
If you've been wondering what happened to Quintin Berry, the guy who stole some bases for the Detroit Tigers that one time, here is your answer: he's playing Triple-A ball for the Norfolk Tides and just not giving a fuck....

What If All Baseball Players Were Fat?
Upon several viewings of Bartolo Colon's hilarious plate appearances, the Deadspin staff discussed what baseball would be like if every player looked like the husky Mets hurler. Or, really, just fat. So here's some recent MLB highlights where we made all the baseball players fat. Video's above, GIFs...

Charting The Decline Of The Black Baseball Player
A few years back, baseball writer and SABR member Mark Armour tracked the integration of baseball from 1947 to 1986, the 40 seasons after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Why 1986? That year would begin a precipitous decline in the number of African Americans, to less than half the high-wat...