MLB

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays start their season with a spring training game Friday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies. Tickets starting at $9 are still available. The first 1,000 fans will receive a DJ Kitty Mascot Head. The game …

Aubrey Huff played in the majors for 13 seasons (2000-12) and was never paid more than $10 million a year. And now he’s wishing he were playing nowadays so he could earn some Manny Machado money. Huff tweeted the following after learning of Machado’s 10-year, $300-million deal with the San Diego

The Brewers recently held their second annual presale of Cubs game tickets for Wisconsin-residents only, a marketing gimmick created to give Cheeseheads first dibs at the teams’ 10 meetings at Miller Park this season. “If last season’s Game 163 taught us anything, it’s that every single

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox’ lineup for Friday’s spring training opener vs Northeastern is set. Well, most of it anyway. During his press conference Thursday at JetBlue Park, manager Alex Cora revealed who will be playing. “Blake [Swihart] is catching, Christian [Vazquez] is DH’ing

For 25 years, labor peace has prevailed in Major League Baseball, players and ownership alike getting rich in the years after an eight-month work stoppage canceled the 1994 World Series and imperiled the ’95 season. The players themselves enjoyed an even longer streak: Since Marvin Miller guided

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Longtime Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo has died after collapsing at the team’s spring training ballpark. The newspaper said Cafardo had an embolism Thursday and Red Sox medical staff was unable to revive him. Cafardo joined the Globe in 1989 and covered the Red

Brodie Van Wagenen on the Mets’ depth PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Before Jeff McNeil, there was TJ Rivera. Rivera emerged during the 2016-17 seasons as an offensive threat with the ability to put the ball in play. He hit good pitching, and even started the 2016 wild-card game.  But the 2017 season ended

What I’m Hearing: Ted Berg spoke with highly-touted MLB prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. about having to wait for his chance to play ball in the majors. Every baseball season produces its share of unexpected success stories – players who may not have had much fanfare entering spring training, but who

“The best thing about baseball and sports in general is the human element,” Hamels said. “Look at what Tom Brady has been able to accomplish, or Drew Brees, in football . . . There are guys that don’t let the average come into play when they are associated with age. Jon and I, and

It’s a strange thing to say about a team that won 95 games in 2018, but the Cubs are headed into the 2019 season as underdogs. Those final two days of last season shifted the tone of the franchise dramatically. The NL Central has only gotten tougher since then, and one major key for the Cubs to return

David Schoenfield ESPN Senior Writer Close Senior writer of SweetSpot baseball blog Former deputy editor of Page 2 Been with ESPN.com since 1995 Follow on Twitter The offseason is always about waiting … waiting for baseball to be back. But this offse…

LAKELAND, FL (WTVB) – The Detroit Tigers open the exhibition schedule this afternoon as they host Southeastern University at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. Spencer Turnbull will start for Detroit, while 2018 number-one pick Casey Mize and…

HONORABLE MENTION: ‘BLAZER’ AND ‘SPARKY’ Don Blasingame, aka “Blazer,” handled much of the leadoff duties from 1955 to 1959. In ’57, he scored 99 runs from the leadoff spot, contributed eight home runs, 56 runs batted in and 18 steals. Maybe the shortstop’s best overall

JUPITER, Fla. • First baseman Paul Goldschmidt likely will be playing sometime this weekend when the Cardinals begin their exhibition schedule here against Miami on Saturday and then Washington in their home opener on Sunday. “And then we can ease Andr…

HONORABLE MENTION: ‘BLAZER’ AND ‘SPARKY’ Don Blasingame, aka “Blazer,” handled much of the leadoff duties from 1955 to 1959. In ’57, he scored 99 runs from the leadoff spot, contributed eight home runs, 56 runs batted in and 18 steals. Maybe the shortstop’s best overall