Orioles to decline 5-year Camden Yards lease extension, seek to secure long-term agreement

The Orioles will decline an option to extend their Camden Yards lease by five more years, planning instead to secure a longer-term, more comprehensive stadium agreement, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

The lease expires at the end of 2023, and the baseball team expects to reach a new agreement by then with the Maryland Stadium Authority, the sources told The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday. They are familiar with the thinking of negotiators, but requested anonymity because the decision had not yet been announced.

Orioles spokeswoman Jennifer Grondahl declined to comment.

The bigger deal is expected to commit the team to Baltimore for many more years, as well as outline plans for upgrades to the state-owned ballpark. ...

Ex-girlfriend alleges Mets outfielder assaulted her in Syracuse; warrant, lawsuit target player

A woman is alleging that a New York Mets outfielder physically and verbally abused her in Syracuse last year.

Khalil Lee, 24, is named in a warrant issued by Syracuse police for criminal obstruction of breath, a charge often associated with domestic incidents.

Lee is also named in a lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday alleging he abused his former girlfriend while playing for the Syracuse Mets.

In the lawsuit, Lee’s former girlfriend, Keriwyn Hill, of Brooklyn, alleges that on May 7, 2022, Lee assaulted her by pulling her hair and choking her during an argument. Hill says the assault left multiple bruises and marks on her body.

Hill, now 26, went to the Syracuse police the next day and reported the assault.

MLB Network Exits YouTube TV Ahead of Spring Training After Contract Dispute

The MLB Network is being dropped by YouTube TV after the two parties failed to reach a contract renewal agreement, according to an email sent to YouTube TV subscribers on Tuesday.

Though subscribers to YouTube TV’s base plan will still be able to watch select national Major League Baseball Games on Fox, ESPN and TBS, any saved recordings of content from the MLB Network will be lost as the result of the failed negotiations.(Before Tuesday, the MLB Network was available as part of YouTube’s $64.99 monthly base plan.)

“We apologize for the news and will continue conversations with the MLB to advocate on your behalf, in the hope of restoring their content on YouTube TV,” the email to subscribers said. A representative for the MLB ...

Blue Jays adding Chad Green on 2-year deal (source)

Chad Green is heading to the Blue Jays on a two-year deal, a source tells MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports the deal is for $8.5 million, with options for 2025 and ‘26.

Toronto has not confirmed the deal—although Green’s agency posted a tweet about it—which is notably structured to accommodate Green’s timeline for a return from Tommy John surgery, which he had in early June of last season.

The right-hander, who turns 32 in May, was having another solid campaign before he departed the Yankees’ May 19 loss to the Orioles with forearm discomfort. The unfortunate surgery prognosis was made public a few days later. He finished the year with a 3.00 ERA in 15 innings pitched.

The Luckiest Pitching Staff in History

Mathewson’s inclusion on this staff shows that “great” and “lucky” aren’t mutually exclusive.

LAT:  Ralph Avila, who helped Dodgers develop a pipeline in Latin America, dies at 92

Ralph Avila, an influential former Dodgers executive and scout who led the organization’s efforts to develop players in Latin America, particularly in the Dominican Republic, during his tenure from 1970 to 1999, died Monday at 92.

...

One of Avila’s biggest contributions was helping to create the Dodgers’ Campo Las Palmas academy in the Dominican Republic. The academy, which opened in 1987, was the first in the Dominican to be operated by a major league team — a productive template for player development that other clubs soon followed, turning the country into the biggest hot spot for big league talent outside of the United States.

Avila also helped sign dozens of majors leaguers during his time with the Dodgers, which ended ...

Cubs’ World Series champ Dexter Fowler retires

“It’s here. I’m hanging up my cleats,” Fowler wrote. “From an 18-year-old draft pick in Colorado to a “vet” in Anaheim—there are a few things I will never forget ... Getting THAT call to the big leagues in September 2008. Wow. My world was spinning. My first ‘you’ve been traded to Houston’ heart pounding call.

“The feeling of bliss while hearing the words ‘All-Star’. Never knew what it felt like t be that guy! Forever grateful. Soaking wet and freezing on the field with tears in my eyes after winning the World Series in Chicago. The comfort of calling St Louis home and being a Red Bird. Today is one of those moments metaphorically step down from your throne with a standing ovation, tip of the cap, and the world stops spinning. I’m mostly ...

MLB expansion: Nashville group led by Dave Stewart makes a pitch for Music City [$]

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Music City Baseball considers the music industry a vital cog in the franchise’s success. Loar envisioned the ballpark as only a portion of the appeal for the complex, a multi-purpose space complete with shops and restaurants. There would also be concert spaces which could host artist residencies akin to those found in Las Vegas, where successful acts can play for weeks at a time. “You can’t really just build it around baseball,” Loar said. “It has to be something more than that.”

Loar’s son, Connor, who manages strategic partnerships for the group, pointed to The Battery in Atlanta, Busch Stadium’s Ballpark Village and the revamped Wrigleyville as models. “It’s essentially doing that, but making it ...

Reports: Royals, RHP Zack Greinke agree on deal for 2023

The Royals and Zack Greinke have agreed to a contract for the coming season, according to multiple reports, making it nine seasons over two stints in Kansas City for the six-time All-Star pitcher.

The financial terms of the deal, which was first reported by Kansas City sports radio host Bob Fescoe, were not immediately available. Greinke was paid $13 million last season by the Royals, where he spent his first seven seasons before returning last year and going 3-9 with a 3.68 ERA and striking out 73 over 137 innings for the rebuilding club.

Greinke did spend two stints on the injured list but allowed two runs or fewer in 17 of his 26 starts last season.

Zack Greinke has a one-year deal with the Royals, per source. It’s expected to be ...

Plan outlined for new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, redevelopment

A new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays will be built near the current one under plans unveiled Monday as part of a massive redevelopment project that also includes affordable housing, office space and retail in what was once a thriving Black neighborhood.

Mayor Ken Welch of St. Petersburg, Florida, chose a partnership between the Rays and the Houston-based Hines development company from among four proposals to transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) downtown site where Tropicana Field now sits. Welch said the plan should keep the Rays in St. Petersburg for the long term….

“We think Tampa is a major league market and we want to find a solution that makes the club economically viable in that market,” Manfred said then.

Details remain to be ...

The Continued Demise of the Left-Handed Reliever

In 2022, left-handed relievers performed worse relative to their right-handed compatriots in nearly every significant category. They didn’t experience a dramatic dip in strikeout rate or strikeout-minus-walk rate, but their ERA and FIP were at a ten-year high. Even when you isolate their performance when holding the platoon advantage, left-handed relievers performed worse last year than they had since before the three-batter rule was implemented; their league-adjusted ERA against left-handed batters rose 11 points from 2021 to ‘22, and their FIP- and wOBA- both saw smaller rises as well.

Without the ability to guarantee a run of left-handed batters, teams have had to reconsider the value of rostering a lefty in their bullpen when a ...

Matt Barnes traded to Marlins from Boston (source)

The Marlins added an experienced late-inning option to their bullpen on Monday afternoon by acquiring Matt Barnes and cash considerations from the Red Sox for left-hander Richard Bleier, a source told MLB.com on Monday.

The club did not confirm the news.

The longest-tenured Red Sox player until they designated him for assignment on Tuesday, Barnes had become one of the club’s most trusted relievers by 2016. During the ‘18 World Series championship run, he dominated across 10 playoff appearances.

Barnes became the full-time closer in 2021, recording a 124 ERA+, a 1.12 WHIP and 24 saves in 60 outings. But he struggled down the stretch, and it carried over into ‘22 with a 4.31 ERA, 3.87 FIP and 1.44 WHIP in 44 games. After returning from ...

Longtime righty reliever Darren O’Day retires after 15 seasons

O’Day, 40, featured an unconventional sidearm delivery. He was 42-21 with a 2.59 ERA in 644 games, all in relief. He made his major league debut in 2008 with the Angels and pitched seven seasons, from 2012 to ‘18, for the Baltimore Orioles.

He posted a 4.43 ERA in 30 postseason games, including the 2010 World Series with the Texas Rangers.

O’Day also pitched for the New York Mets and New York Yankees. He pitched for the Braves in 2019-20 before returning for his second stint with the team last season. He became a free agent following the season,

Yankees have bigger issues than Aaron Hicks, Josh Donaldson

Is their depth-chart status about the Yankees being determined to get something for their money? I asked Cashman if everyone on his roster were making the $720,000 minimum this year, would Donaldson still be the starting third baseman and would Hicks still be the frontrunner in left?

“We’re not applying that [status based on salary] standard,” Cashman said. “The hypothetical you played out, it’s not a realistic one. Donaldson has been a hell of a player for quite some time, including defensively last year for us, and offensively last year was really the first year that he went south. So there’s no reason to believe that that’s something that is permanent.

“He transitioned to a new team, and then we’ll just wait and see ...

Rockies’ Monfort calls out Padres spending, roster construction | theScore.com

People in glass houses, and all that.

“What the Padres are doing, I don’t 100% agree with, though I know that our fans probably agree with it. We’ll see how it works out,” Monfort said Saturday, according to the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders.

The Padres are projected to have the third-highest payroll in the league in 2023 at a whopping $251 million. Monfort believes the lucrative contracts handed out by teams this offseason increases the pressure on Colorado to spend.

“That puts a lot of pressure (on us),” Monfort said. “But it’s not just the Padres, it’s the Mets, it’s the Phillies. This has been an interesting year.”

The Unluckiest Pitching Staff in History

Some guys have all the luck.

Not these guys, mind You.

These guys? They never met a black cat they couldn’t cross, a mirror they couldn’t crack.

Rays near 3-year extension with Yandy Díaz (source)

The Rays are set to continue their recent run on multiyear contract extensions, as multiple sources told MLB.com on Saturday they are closing in on a three-year, $24 million deal with infielder Yandy Díaz.

If finalized, Díaz’s contract would include an option for the 2026 season, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and Juan Toribio. Feinsand was the first to report the potential deal, which has not been confirmed by the team.

The guaranteed portion of the extension would cover the 31-year-old Díaz’s final two years of arbitration eligibility, plus his first year of free agency. Having the option picked up would push back his free agency by two years.

Braves extend manager Brian Snitker

The Atlanta Braves today signed manager Brian Snitker to a contract extension through the 2025 season.

Snitker, 67, guided the Braves to 101 wins and the club’s fifth consecutive NL East division crown last season, one year after helping the organization win the fourth World Series title in franchise history. He finished third in the Manager of the Year voting in 2022, after winning the award in 2018. He also was a finalist for the honor in 2019, and finished fourth in 2020 and 2021. 

Snitker completed his 46th season in the Braves organization in 2022, and his sixth full campaign as the Braves manager. He took over on an interim basis on May 17, 2016, before being named Atlanta’s manager on October 11, 2016. The native of Decatur, ...

Sources: Rays, Pete Fairbanks agree to 3-year, $12M extension

Reliever Pete Fairbanks and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed Friday on a three-year, $12 million contract extension with a club option for a fourth season, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN on Friday.

Fairbanks, 29, was dominant over the final 2½ months of the 2022 season, ending the year with 22 scoreless innings in which he struck out 36, allowed 9 hits and walked 3 batters. Fairbanks missed the first 3½ months of the season with a torn lat muscle, but his return resembled the previous two years, in which he’d developed into a strikeout machine.

Sources: Mets, batting champ Jeff McNeil reach $50M extension

National League batting champion Jeff McNeil and the New York Mets agreed Friday to a four-year, $50 million contract extension, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN, ensuring one of the team’s core players will remain in Queens as it looks to win its first World Series since 1986.

The deal, which is pending a physical, includes a fifth-year club option that could take the overall value to $63.75 million, sources told ESPN.

McNeil, who turns 31 a week after Opening Day, was scheduled to go to an arbitration trial with the Mets, where he was requesting $7.75 million and they offered $6.25 million. Instead, the gap spurred conversations about keeping McNeil past his remaining two years of arbitration and landed on buying out two free ...

A radical remodel of local sports TV may come sooner than expected | theScore.com

Travis Sawchik with some more info on the broadcasting situation.

CF Defense In The News: The Current King

Read more at the link.

Elite center field defense was in the news this week. One player who plays it is moving on to another team. Another player expressed his desire to be an elite defender despite never having played the position before as a pro.

Michael A. Taylor is the elite center fielder. Taylor was just traded by the Royals to the Twins for two minor leaguers.

Taylor has led center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved in each of the last two seasons. His 38 Runs Saved since 2021 lead the position and there’s a huge gap between him and No. 2 Myles Straw. Taylor won both a Fielding Bible Award and a Gold Glove in 2021 and narrowly missed winning the former again last season.

Taylor rates particularly well at chasing down fly balls hit ...

Blue Jays to move fences in at Rogers Centre, but raise walls

As part of ongoing renovations to their home ballpark, the Toronto Blue Jays are moving in the outfield fences at the Rogers Centre, which figures to make the venue even more accommodating for power hitters.

On Friday, the Blue Jays officially announced the new outfield dimensions along with the wall heights around the ballpark. They look to be the following:

Left field line: 328 feet with a 14-foot, four-inch wall
Left center: 368 feet with an 11-foot, two-inch wall
Left center power alley: 381 feet with a 12-foot, nine-inch wall
Center field: 400 feet with an eight-foot wall
Right center power alley: 372 feet with a 10-foot, nine-inch wall
Right center: 359 feet with a 14-foot, four-inch wall
Right field line: 328 feet with a ...

MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospects

How often have any of us in the last 20 years been jealous of the Orioles?

The Top 10
1. Gunnar Henderson, 3B/SS, Orioles
2. Corbin Carroll, OF, D-backs
3. Francisco Álvarez, C, Mets
4. Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals
5. Anthony Volpe, SS, Yankees
6. Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies
7. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Orioles
8. Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers
9. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox
10. Elly De La Cruz, SS/3B, Reds

Ray Herbert, Detroit sandlot ace and 1962 AL All-Star, dies

Ray Herbert, a 1962 All-Star Game winning pitcher who threw batting practice for his hometown Detroit Tigers for decades after retiring, died peacefully in Plymouth, Michigan, five days after his 93rd birthday.

Herbert started his big league career with Detroit in 1950 and pitched for four teams over 14 seasons. He was a 20-game winner for the White Sox in 1962, then led the American League with seven shutouts in 1963 with Chicago.

Herbert was a part of a generation of Detroiters who flocked to the diamonds of the city’s historic Northwestern Field, a sandlot that turned out players such as Willie Horton, Bill Freehan and Frank Tanana. It was famed Tigers scout “Wish” Egan who spotted Herbert and his older brother, Donald, on the ...

Dana Brown named new Astros general manager

Dana Brown, a longtime baseball executive who helped the Braves acquire their stable of young talent, was named the Astros’ new general manager on Thursday.

Brown joins the Astros after spending the last four seasons (2019-22) as the vice president of scouting in Atlanta, where he oversaw the drafting of 2022 National League Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II and Harris’ runner-up, pitcher Spencer Strider, along with infielder Vaughn Grissom.

Brown and manager Dusty Baker are the second pairing of a Black general manager and manager, the first being Ken Williams and Jerry Manuel with the White Sox from 2001-03.

Orioles acquire Cole Irvin in trade with Athletics

The Baltimore Orioles acquired left-hander Cole Irvin from the Oakland Athletics on Thursday, bolstering their rotation as they look to take a step forward in the ultracompetitive American League East.

Irvin, who turns 29 this week, emerged as a reliable innings-eater over the last two seasons, throwing 359.1 innings at a 4.11 ERA after the A’s acquired him from Philadelphia for $100,000.

Baltimore used its significant middle-infield depth in the deal, sending 21-year-old Darell Hernaiz to Oakland. The Orioles also received 24-year-old minor league right-hander Kyle Virbitsky as part of the trade.

Gary Peters, two-time White Sox All-Star, dies at 85

Gary Peters, the American League Rookie of the Year in 1963 and an All-Star pitcher for the White Sox in 1964 and ‘67, has died at 85.

Peters led the AL with a 2.63 ERA while winning 19 games as a rookie and was a 20-game winner with a 2.50 ERA for the Sox in 1964. In 1968, the left-hander posted a league-best 1.98 ERA. He pitched for the Sox from 1959-69 before finishing his career with three seasons for the Red Sox.

Peters ranks eighth among White Sox pitchers with 1,098 strikeouts and owned a 3.25 career ERA and 123-105 won-lost record.

In the 1967 All-Star Game at Anaheim Stadium, Peters pitched three perfect innings, strikeouts Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Dick Allen. He also retired Hank Aaron on a ...

After winter revamp of swing in ‘the lab,’ Paul DeJong eyes decisive spring with Cardinals

“This is the first offseason where I’m truly optimistic about the changes.”

Asked how best to illustrate those changes, DeJong shared a split-screen video Wednesday that had synced his new swing on the left to his abandoned swing on the right. The three-second clip showed the hours of work he’s put in over these winter months. Gone is the lift of his left foot, replaced instead with a twist for timing. From that moment it’s clear in the new swing how his head remains still, his sight-line level. What follows is a swing that keeps his torso upright, less lunging for balance, and then doesn’t snap forward until contact. His previous swing came down on the ball with a negative attack angle, as if chopping wood, instead of using ...

Sinclair’s Sports Channels Prepare Bankruptcy, Putting Team Payments at Risk

America’s largest owner of local sports channels is heading toward a complex $8.6 billion debt restructuring in bankruptcy court as it stakes its future on a new direct-to-consumer streaming service.

After leveraging up to buy regional sports networks from Walt Disney Co. in 2019, Diamond Sports Group LLC is suffering from a decline in cable-TV subscribers, spurring negotiations with creditors and major sports leagues about its viability as a going concern. The outcome will have serious implications for the $55 billion world of sports-media rights: the company’s channels showcase Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League games to fans from Detroit and Phoenix to San Diego.

With financial ...