1:37 PM ET Brad Ausmus, former manager of the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels, has been hired as bench coach for the Oakland Athletics, providing some much-needed experience to the coaching staff of rookie manager Mark Kotsay. The A’s finalized Kotsay’s coaching staff on Friday, also announcing the promotion of Tommy Everidge to

Jan 12, 2022 Elian Soto, Juan Soto‘s younger sibling, has verbally agreed to join his brother’s Washington Nationals just days after declaring his intentions to sign with the New York Mets, a source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Elian Soto, a 16-year-old outfielder and third baseman, wouldn’t be eligible to formally sign until next year’s

Jan 13, 2022 Associated Press Travis Snider says he has retired after eight major league seasons. “I have contemplated this day for for a while but the time has finally come for me to hang up the spikes,” he wrote Thursday on Instagram. “I have spent many waking hours and sleepless nights trying to find

Jan 14, 2022 A lot of the credit for the Atlanta Braves’ postseason surge was rightly attributed to the midseason deals made by general manager Alex Anthopoulos, because without Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall and Joc Pederson, Atlanta would not have hosted a championship parade. But what may have been lost in that narrative

5:37 PM ET Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Jesse Rogers Close ESPN Staff Writer Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. Major League Baseball on Thursday made its first labor proposal since locking out

4:15 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The Atlantic League is restoring its pitching mound to 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate and returning strike zone judgment to umpires after experimenting with moving the rubber back a foot and using an automatic ball-strike system. The independent league announced the changes Thursday as part

7:00 AM ET NEW YORK — Walking through the doors of Mr. Throwback is like climbing through a wardrobe that leads you to the gates of sports Narnia. The vintage sportswear store in the East Village of New York City is a sea of snapback hats, jerseys, Starter jackets and 1990s toys. Michael Jordan posters

7:00 AM ET About 15 minutes before first pitch of a Nationals-Braves game last summer, one of Juan Soto‘s sprints took him into the outfield, out behind second base, and he paused to say hi to Ozzie Albies, who talks to everyone, and after a moment, Ronald Acuña Jr. joined in, listening more than talking.

6:26 PM ET ESPN News Services While the magnitude of having his number being retired by the New York Mets is “sinking in,” Keith Hernandez can only wonder if the Hall of Fame could still be in his future after falling off the ballot in 2004 after nine years. Hernandez, a captain and commentator beloved

4:36 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Rachel Balkovec is aware of the negativity in her social media feeds and tries to leave it there. Her sisters see it, too, and can’t help but pass along certain disparaging reactions to her barrier-breaking journey. “It’s hilarious to me,” Balkovec said. “Because it’s the American dream.”