Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. and the Houston Astros are in agreement on a five-year, $85 million contract extension, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. McCullers is coming off a solid 2020 when he returned after missing a season following Tommy John surgery. He went 3-3 with a 3.93 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 11 starts. The extension […]

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Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. In an attempt to crack down on the use of foreign substances on baseballs for the upcoming season, Major League Baseball will inspect balls taken out of play, analyze spin rate data and increase monitoring of dugouts and clubhouses. The new policies, outlined in a memo obtained by […]

Over the past three days, we have revealed our MLB Rank list of the top 100 players in baseball for the 2021 season. Now that the full ranking has been unveiled, it’s time for the real fun to begin — debating who is too high, too low and who should have the biggest gripes about not making the top 100 […]

MESA, Ariz. — Lefty Ben Bowden is having an excellent camp and he might be pitching his way onto the Rockies roster. He tossed another scoreless inning of relief Tuesday against Oakland, notching two strikeouts. In eight Cactus League appearances, Bowden has posted a 1.35 ERA (one earned run over 6 1/3 innings) with 11 strikeouts and just two walks. […]

ESPN MLB Insider Kiley McDaniel covers MLB prospects, the MLB Draft and more, including trades and free agency. Has worked for four MLB teams. To coincide with ESPN’s ranking of the top 100 players in baseball for 2021, the exercise here is to predict who will be the next to make our MLB Rank list from each of the 30 […]

Who will be the best players of the 2021 MLB season? As the countdown to Opening Day (Thursday, April 1) continues, we gathered ESPN’s baseball experts to determine our annual MLB Rank list of the top 100 players in the sport. To reach our final order, we presented our panel with pairings of the biggest names in the game and […]

Manager Bud Black dropped hints early in spring training that C.J. Cron would make the Rockies’ roster if Cron were healthy. The veteran did more than just stay healthy, he impressed in all areas of his game. Now he’s turned a minor-league contract into a spot on the big-league roster as Colorado’s starting first baseman. “Yesterday, when we officially made […]

COLORADO SPRINGS — Baye Fall rose high into the air with defenders draped on his towering 6-foot-11 frame as the Lutheran sophomore forward hammered the basketball through the rim with two-handed fury. Look out below. “No matter how many times you see it, I feel like I’m blessed to get a front-row seat to watch,” Lutheran boys basketball coach Bill […]