2:29 AM ET Former Major League Baseball players Luis Valbuena and Jose Castillo were killed in a car accident on Thursday night, a spokesperson for their Venezuelan team, Cardenales de Lara, confirmed. Valbuena was 33. Castillo was 37. Valbuena played 11 seasons in the majors, including his final two with the Los Angeles Angels, who

5:10 PM ET ESPN News Services Free-agent second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who slumped badly in 2018 after a career season in 2017, has reached a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, according to a report. Terms were not released. The Athletic first reported the deal is for $7.5 million, plus incentives. The Twins

10:11 AM ET Nathan Eovaldi is returning to the Boston Red Sox after agreeing to re-sign with the team, according to multiple reports. The biggest cheers at the premiere of the Red Sox 2018 World Series video was free agent Nathan Eovaldi, who wasn’t in attendance. Alex Cora said when Eovaldi threw 97 pitches in

8:38 PM ET ESPN News Services MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is no fan of defensive shifts, and now he might be able to do something about it. Baseball’s competition committee last month gave Manfred strong backing to try to put something in place to limit shifts, the Athletic reported on Wednesday. Manfred made it clear

7:06 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Baseball players are concerned the Seattle Mariners have become yet another rebuilding team and might be joined by others following a season of steep attendance drops among clubs that faded early and never contended for the playoffs. Union head Tony Clark and new collective bargaining director

9:00 AM ET Signing Patrick Corbin doesn’t mean the Nationals are done with Bryce Harper. But it is one more sign that they’re more than prepared for life without him. To be perfectly clear, Corbin isn’t a power-hitting outfielder like Harper. He’s a starting pitcher, and a pretty darned good one at that. In fact,

7:22 PM ET Free agent catcher Robinson Chirinos has agreed to a one-year deal with the Houston Astros. Chirinos, 34, who confirmed the agreement to FOX26, hit .222 for the Rangers last season with 18 home runs and 65 RBIs, both career highs. He and Max Stassi are expected to be the primary catchers for

5:57 PM ET Mike Rizzo is not afraid of a little risk. When he targets a player — as he’s done a few times as the Nationals’ GM, whether it’s Jayson Werth, Max Scherzer or now Patrick Corbin — he’s nearly always been willing to tack on the extra year or increase his bid by

9:58 AM ET For agents, there is a lot of time spent in client management, in making sure the player understands how the market works. Most would probably like to sign quickly, to settle the future and have something concrete to tell family members at the holiday gatherings. But mostly it does not work out

8:38 PM ET The Boston Red Sox have accepted an invitation to go to the White House, and manager Alex Cora, who has been critical of President Trump’s comments on Puerto Rico, says he will attend. Red Sox president Sam Kennedy announced the visit Monday, at a screening of the team’s World Series documentary. He