MLB

5:54 PM ET Sarah SpainespnW.com Close Sarah Spain (follow her on Twitter @SarahSpain) is the co-host of Spain & Fitz on ESPN Radio, host of the That’s What She Said podcast, a SportsCenter reporter and an espnW columnist since 2010. She was a heptathlete at Cornell and is a lifelong Chicago sports fan. Longtime baseball

7:55 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Personal memorabilia from the career of Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench was auctioned for just under $2 million. The sale that involved live and online bidding ended Saturday at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory in Kentucky, not far from where Bench was a 14-time All-Star

2:02 AM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Ryan Tepera? Baseball fans love to argue over who should win big awards. But there likely was no debate Thursday about the most surprising name on the list of players getting National League MVP votes. That was Tepera, the Chicago Cubs reliever who was 0-1 with a

11:08 AM ET Associated Press FREEHOLD, N.J. — Former New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden has been sentenced to a year of probation in connection with a drug arrest in New Jersey in 2019. Gooden appeared before a judge in a virtual proceeding on Thursday. He had pleaded guilty in August 2019 to one count

10:57 AM ET The Miami Marlins are hiring Kim Ng as their new general manager, making her Major League Baseball’s first female and first Asian American GM, the team announced Friday. Ng has most recently served as MLB’s senior vice president of baseball operations. She has also served as assistant general manager for the New

6:32 PM ET White Sox superstar first baseman Jose Abreu won the AL Most Valuable Player Award on Thursday after helping power Chicago to its first playoff berth in 12 years. The 33-year-old slugger received 21 of 30 first-place votes and 374 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Abreu finished

2:40 PM ET Kim Ng became the first female general manager in Major League Baseball history on Friday, when she was hired by the Miami Marlins. The 51-year-old’s resume tells the story of a baseball lifer who has been an integral part of the sport for three decades. Here are five things to know about

7:00 PM ET ESPN News Services Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman easily won the NL MVP award Thursday, topping off a trying year that saw him become so ill with COVID-19 he prayed “please don’t take me.” Freeman got 28 of the 30 first-place ballots in voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association

6:52 PM ET A season that started on the COVID-19 restricted list ended with the 2020 NL MVP for Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman. Here’s a closer look at the stats and performances that separated Freeman from finalists Mookie Betts and Manny Machado for the award. The number that says it best 1.102. Freeman’s

6:23 PM ET The American League MVP race in the shortened 60-game 2020 season came down to a pair of sluggers named Jose from the AL Central (and third-place finisher DJ LeMahieu). Here’s why Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu edged Cleveland Indians infielder Jose Ramirez for the AL’s top individual honor. The number

7:04 PM ET ESPN News Services The Cincinnati Reds‘ Trevor Bauer has won the National League Cy Young Award, giving Cincinnati its first winner of the award. Bauer topped fellow finalists Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs and Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets in the voting announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of

9:50 PM ET The NL Cy Young race between Trevor Bauer, Yu Darvish and Jacob deGrom was arguably the most intriguing battle of this awards season. Here’s a closer look at the stats and performances that made Bauer the winner, the first in the history of the Cincinnati Reds. The number that says it best

5:52 PM ET ESPN News Services Catcher J.T. Realmuto, outfielder George Springer and second baseman DJ LeMahieu rejected their qualifying offers on Wednesday, the deadline for players who received the $18.9 million offer to decide on it. Right-hander Trevor Bauer had previously rejected his offer. If the four players sign with another team in free

6:22 PM ET ESPN News Services Miami’s Don Mattingly was named National League Manager of the Year on Tuesday after guiding the Marlins to their first playoff appearance since 2003 despite dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that paused their season and ravaged the roster. The Marlins’ 31-29 record was Mattingly’s first winning season in his

5:56 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Steven Cohen promises splashes of cash Mets fans expect from his billions — within reason. “If I don’t win a World Series in the next three to five years, ” he said Tuesday, “I would consider that slightly disappointing.” Four days after buying the Mets from the

3:57 PM ET Alex Cora figured he would eventually get back into baseball — maybe in two or three years. But not this quickly and not back as manager of the Boston Red Sox, the team he guided to a World Series title in 2018. Cora and the Red Sox mutually parted ways in January

6:57 PM ET ESPN News Services Seattle Mariners center fielder Kyle Lewis is the unanimous winner of the American League Rookie of the Year award. The 25-year-old Lewis was one of baseball’s breakout stars during the pandemic-shortened season, batting .262 with 11 homers and 28 RBIs in 58 games. He led big league rookies with

8:57 PM ET Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa was charged with driving under the influence after he allegedly ran his car into a curb in February, leaving it smoking on the side of a Phoenix-area road, according to court records obtained by ESPN. It is the second known drunken driving arrest for La