6:15 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Major League Baseball on Thursday outlined a litany of experimental rules it plans to implement at different minor league levels this season, including banning some forms of defensive shifts, more games governed

2:47 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Outfielder Billy Hamilton won’t make Cleveland’s roster, and the Indians are trying to find him another team this spring. Manager Terry Francona said the club told Hamilton on Thursday that he wasn’t part of their plans. The Indians will try to trade Hamilton, who signed a minor league

7:00 AM ET DAVID PRICE CALLED opting out of the 2020 MLB season “the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make.” He felt the strain and the doubt most on Opening Day and at the start of the postseason. But when Price watched from home as Julio Urias struck out Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Willy

6:05 PM ET Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. — A sports gambler faces up to five years in federal prison for threatening social media messages sent to players with the Tampa Bay Rays. Benjamin Tucker Patz, 24, of Napa, California, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Tampa federal court to transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce, according

2:54 PM ET Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas — – The Texas Rangers could have a full house for their home opener next month after debuting their new 40,518-seat stadium without fans in the stands for their games last season. If that happens, the Rangers could be the first team in Major League Baseball or any

7:00 AM ET The February 24, 1997 issue of Sports Illustrated featured the young smiling faces of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on the cover, with the billing that the pair “head up the finest group of shortstops since World War II.” The article highlighted an up-and-coming young class that included Jeter, Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra

9:35 PM ET Associated Press Stephen Strasburg pronounced his fastball command better than it was before his carpal tunnel surgery and said his first game action in nearly seven full months essentially was the same as any other Grapefruit League debut after throwing 1 2/3 innings Tuesday night against the Houston Astros. “It didn’t really

2:48 PM ET Associated Press HOUSTON — – Jake Odorizzi decided to fashion his game like Zack Greinke’s when he was still in high school. Now entering his 10th season in the majors, the right-hander has become teammates with the man he’s looked up to for so long after Odorizzi signed with the Houston Astros.

7:09 PM ET GLENDALE, Ariz. — David Price watched the 2020 season as a spectator and was often struck by the talent throughout the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting rotation. When the offseason progressed and word began to spread that his team might ultimately add Trevor Bauer, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, Price

8:21 PM ET Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — Rheal Cormier, the durable left-hander who spent 16 seasons in the majors and remarkably pitched in the Olympics before and after his time in the big leagues, died Monday. He was 53. The Philadelphia Phillies said Cormier died of cancer at his home in New Brunswick, Canada. Cormier