RUMOR: The Mets and Braves are interested in signing Yoenis Cespedes to a short-term contract, but the slugger is seeking a long-term pact. MORE: Introducing the Bobby Bonilla All-$tars | Why the remaining FA market is so puzzling REPORTED BY: Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. DETAILS: After Cespedes saved the Mets’ season, leading them all the way to the World Series, it appears New York is only willing to give the Cuban slugger a one-year deal....

Officials are looking into controversial comments made by Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles, according to CBS Baltimore . During the Orioles 15-4 shellacking of the New York Yankees on Tuesday, a pair of fans ran on to the field. After the game, the O's center fielder said: “I let them know how I felt, obviously a lot of choice words because I think it’s idiotic for people to run on the field and I think the punishment needs to be a lot harsher....

O’Dowd, now a regular analyst for the network, is in his fourth decade of involvement with the MLB Draft, though. O’Dowd’s front-office career started with the Orioles, and in 1988 he moved to Cleveland to become the director of player development, then was promoted to assistant GM in 1993. In 1999, he was named general manager of the Colorado Rockies, and he held that post for 15 years. MORE: SN’s latest MLB Mock Draft...

Overrated huh? Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has been anything but that the last two days. A day after his three home-run performance, the 22-year-old followed with an additional two homers against the Braves. Harper is now the youngest player in MLB history with five long balls in a two-game span and has 10 homers on the season. Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 11th, Mariners first baseman Logan Morrison hit an estimated 440-foot walkoff homer to give the Mariners a 4-3 win over the Athletics....

Reigning National League MVP Clayton Kershaw fired yet another gem Thursday, a three-hit shutout against the Mets at Citi Field. He struck out 11 without issuing a walk in the 3-0 Dodgers victory. He also carried a perfect game into the seventh inning before Curtis Granderson broke it up with a leadoff single. MORE: See which active players are bound for the Hall of Fame | Cowherd’s statements on Dominicans in baseball were stupid...

The Bears, rather Cubs, shut out the Browns, err, Indians, in a 17-0 shellacking Wednesday night at Progressive Field. MORE: Joc better than Duke in field? Scully argues case | Gallo crushes HR off Kershaw Cubs rookie Kris Bryant smacked his first career grand slam (off Indians outfielder David Murphy) as part of a seven-run ninth inning that added an exclamation point to Chicago’s dominance. Six players had multiple hits for the Cubs, who pounded out 18 in all, including seven for extra bases and four home runs....

The current deal expires Dec. 1, which means the two sides have just over a week to reach an agreement. It would mark the first MLB lockout in 21 years. MORE: The 40 most influential people in baseball history According to the report, owners have become frustrated with the players’ union not moving at a quicker pace to get many important issues resolved. Three of the largest issues at play are the proposal of an international draft, the competitive-balance tax and the Joint Drug Agreement....

The Rangers clinched the American League West title on Sept. 23. Seven days later, Texas secured the best regular-season record in the AL and the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. MORE: Major league standings Entering Friday’s play with a magic number of one to clinch home-field advantage over the Red Sox, the Rangers locked up the top spot with a 3-1 win over the Rays. Carlos Beltran and Rougned Odor went deep for Texas while Yu Darvish hurled six innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts for his seventh win of the season....

Why’d we wait? Honestly, even though the one-game wild-card contests are dramatic and make for good television, they’re a silly (OK, dumb) way to decide which teams advance toward the World Series. Baseball is a sport that rewards team depth and talent and the ability to wear down an opponent over a series of games. Determining who advances based on just one game spits in the face of the 162-game schedule....

Begins: Thursday, October 2, 2014 ALDS - Detroit Tigers (90-72) at Baltimore Orioles (96-66) Series Price: Tigers -150/+130 (Golden Nugget) Season Series: Tigers won 5-1 AL Pennant odds: Tigers 9/5, Orioles 13/4 (Westgate) World Series odds: Tigers 9/2, Orioles 7/1 (Westgate) Game 1: Max Scherzer (18-5, 3.15 ERA) -124, 7 OV -115 vs. Chris Tillman (13-6, 3.34) (betting preview, picks) Game 2: Justin Verlander (15-12, 4.54) vs. BALT - TBA (Friday)...

It always seems that on cold October nights, whoever is manning the hot corner for the Yankees tends to play a big role in the team’s postseason success. Each third baseman listed had his moment(s). Each of them meant something to the team’s playoff runs. Enter Todd Frazier. Now with his third team in seven seasons in The Show (and his second team this year), Frazier is anything but conventional: the swing, the Frank Sinatra walk-up music, the natural charisma and the “it” factor....

But it was just as effective, and the frenzied crowd at Kauffman Stadium loved it as their Royals grabbed control of a winner-take-all Game 5. PHOTOS: Best moments of ALDS | MORE: Five takeaways from Blue Jays ALDS win The Astros had snagged a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run homer by Luis Valbuena, and the score remained there into the fourth. With one out in the bottom of the frame, Lorenzo Cain reached on an excuse-me checked-swing single....

Terry Francona, who called on relief ace Andrew Miller in the fifth inning of Cleveland’s win over Boston on Thursday, may be the lead author, but Roberts is in on the revolution, maybe the John Jay (no, not the Padres outfielder) to Francona’s Alexander Hamilton if you think of each of these playoff games as something like the Federalist Papers. MORE: The 50 best players in the playoffs The keyword of the new book is leverage, namely, getting the best relievers into the game in the situations where they will have the most effect, rather than managing to statistics like the save....

To simplify that even further, anyone can win a game at any time, but it also applies to entire series. There may not be any sport in the U.S. with more parity than baseball. Think that’s crazy? LeBron James went to eight straight NBA Finals and Tom Brady has been to eight Super Bowls and eight straight AFC Championship games. Since Brady came into the NFL, 28 MLB teams have been to league championship series, 19 have been to the World Series and 12 different teams have won it....

The National League gets the ball rolling when the St. Louis Cardinals face the Braves in Atlanta, before the Washington Nationals travel to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers, who have reached the World Series and lost in each of the last two seasons. The quartet is back in action on Friday, when it will be joined by the four American League representatives. The Houston Astros host the Tampa Bay Rays, who have qualified through the wild card game, before the New York Yankees begin their quest for a first World Series appearance in a decade later in the evening when they take on the Minnesota Twins....

Boston and Houston were the two best teams in the regular season winning 108 and 103 games, respectively. So how well do these two teams stack up against each other? MORE: Watch Astros-Red Sox live on fuboTV (7-day free trial) Sporting News breaks down three keys to the ALCS. Boston’s bullpen While Chris Sale, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi are all serviceable starters for the Red Sox, the bullpen is Boston’s Achilles heel....

Will Mets fans look at this season as a thumbs up or thumbs down? Let’s look at how things stand heading into September. MORE: Braves’ Ron Washington is a master of the fungo: “He’s the GOAT” Orioles (Aug. 2 ranking: 23). The Orioles beat the Yankees, 7-1, on Aug. 2. Since then, they’re 2-23. Yep, that’s last-place stuff. Fun fact, though: The two wins came on back-to-back days, by a combined score of 23-7 against the Angels....

Smith was suspended on May 21 after it was discovered he had a “foreign substance” on his arm. He appealed the suspension and won, leading to the lesser amount of games. Shortly after Smith’s suspension, the league punished Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz eight games for also having a foreign substance. Matusz also appealed his suspenion, but there’s been no word on his status. Smith provided a brief explanation for the substance to reporters after he was ejected from the May game....

MORE: The worst (and best) MLB trade rumors The Red Sox just signed David Price to a seven-year, $217 million deal Tuesday, and the Tigers signed Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year, $110 million deal on Monday. The moves seem to have prompted Los Angeles into action as they look to tie down last season’s NL Cy Young runner-up. It’s worth mentioning the proposed deal could also be a smokescreen set out by the Dodgers hoping to raise the price for the Giants....