6:53 AM ET Keith LawESPN Senior Writer Close Senior baseball analyst for Insider Was special asst. to Blue Jays GM Wrote for Baseball Prospectus Follow on Twitter Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email Welcome to ESPN’s annual ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball. Top 100 prospects: 1-50 | 51-100 Just missed Top farm

10:00 AM ET Relief pitchers are increasingly like NFL running backs — their performance can have high impact, sometimes for a relatively short window of time, and they are mostly compensated as if they are disposable. Teams will search for just the right bullpen piece, and when they find him, he’ll get the ball time

8:36 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Jack McKeon, 88, has been hired as a senior adviser for the Washington Nationals, sources confirmed to ESPN. McKeon’s son, Kasey, is the Nationals’ director of player procurement. A two-time National League

3:06 PM ET The Oakland Athletics announced Tuesday that they have hired former Mets’ general manager Sandy Alderson as senior adviser to baseball operations. “I am really excited to return to the A’s and the Bay Area,” Alderson said. “His mentorship and friendship have been invaluable to me over the course of my career, and

7:16 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Free agent reliever Shawn Kelley and the Texas Rangers agreed to a one-year, $2.75 million deal Monday, lengthening Texas’ bullpen with a contract that includes a club option for 2020, league sources

6:31 PM ET Associated Press MILWAUKEE — Now 35, Ryan Braun is years past his dominant, MVP self. Yet the aging slugger is trying to set himself up to be a part of the Milwaukee Brewers‘ promising future. Specifically, Braun is doing something he’s never done: changing his swing. And to do that, he’s been

9:16 AM ET It was a slow sports weekend, so I watched a couple of baseball games … from 1978. The YES Network, home of the New York Yankees, replayed some Yankee Classics — shockingly, the channel only shows games the Yankees win — and the two games I watched were Game 3 from the

9:53 PM ET Second baseman Whit Merrifield and the Kansas City Royals have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $16.25 million total, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Merrifield led the American League last season in both hits (192) and stolen bases (45), while batting .304 with 12 home runs and 60 RBIs. The

2:09 PM ET Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts said Saturday night that he won’t accompany his teammates when they visit the White House on May 9. “I won’t be going there,” Betts told The Boston Globe at the Baseball Writers Association of America awards dinner in New York. “I decided not to.” Betts, who