Fernandez was a tremendous talent on the mound with a bright future, but he was also a charismatic figure loved and respected by coaches, players and fans. Several MLB players shared their feelings about Hernandez on social media after learning of his death. MORE: Notable sports deaths of 2016

AL EAST (Westgate World Series odds: TOR 12/1, BOS 12/1, BAL 12/1, NYY 100/1, TB 1,000/1) The opening odds to win division at MGM Resorts showed the AL East was expected to be the most competitive division and at the halfway point it’s the only division with its second-place team being less than 5.5 games back. Baltimore has a two-game lead over the Red Sox and Blue Jays and 7....

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told Forbes.com’s Maury Brown that a new study of balls is underway and that a report will be submitted “shortly after the World Series.” The study is being conducted by the same scientists who examined balls in 2017 and 2018 in response to a spike in home runs that began in 2016. The main conclusion of their May 2018 report was that reduced drag on balls in flight may have contributed to the increase....

MLB odds: Current betting lines from Las Vegas Tonight, Houston plays the second of a four-game series at Detroit, and even after a tough 6-5 loss in 11-innings yesterday, the Astros still have the best road record in baseball (12-5). Alfredo Simon (4-2, 3.04 ERA) takes the mound for Detroit, and he’s a +102 dog vs. Houston’s Collin McHugh (5-1, 4.09), behind whom the Astros are 7-1 this season. McHugh’s +5....

The 2017 MLB season is officially underway and brings with it a host of story lines to follow, including: Can the Cubs repeat? Will the Indians finally go all the way? How will the Braves’ new stadium play? Is Gary Sanchez really this good? Which players and teams will surprise us? There’s no shortage of predictions for how things will play out, but we’re going to give you more anyway....

Now, April 7 is here, and so is baseball. Now, gamblers will be able to bet on the sport almost every day for the duration of the summer and through September. That’s the beauty of betting MLB contests. Once the season starts, there are always games on which to bet, though it can be tricky to do so early in the season. Why? Part of it is the unpredictable nature of baseball....

Baseball’s season has been put on hold since the COVID-19 outbreak ground sports to a halt two months ago. Opening Day was scheduled for March 26, but as the virus spread across the U.S. the MLB postponed it indefinitely, leaving ballparks desolately empty. With some of the 50 states slowly beginning to reopen, however, the MLB has been actively exploring plans to resume training as early as next month and get the regular season underway in July....

Not without its speed bumps, the 60-game MLB regular season has officially concluded, giving way to the debut of the Wild Card Series this upcoming Tuesday. And wild it shall be. With expanded playoffs arriving in a big way this postseason, Tuesday debuts a new playoff structure that may be here to stay: Eight teams from each league will engage in a best-of-three series hosted in the higher-seeded team’s ballpark....

Standing in their way are the NL East champions Nationals, who are limping into the postseason with a number of injuries to their All-Stars. Washington will be without ace Stephen Strasburg (flexor mass strain) and catcher Wilson Ramos (torn ACL) but fellow All-Stars Bryce Harper (thumb) and Daniel Murphy (buttocks) played sparingly the final two weeks of the regular season. Here’s what you need to know. MLB PLAYOFFS 2016: Top 50 players in the postseason...

The Cubs looked a little rusty at the plate, but Javier Baez’s fly ball in the eighth inning fought through the cold breeze to fall in the basket just over the left-field wall. MORE: The 50 best players in the playoffs Cubs fans in attendance went wild, calling for Baez to come back out for a curtain call. He didn’t leave them hanging. Three takeaways from the Cubs’ Game 1 win:...

The 21-year-old outfielder failed to run out a fly ball he believed to be a home run during the Braves’ 7-6 loss in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Cardinals on Thursday. Acuna’s fly ball bounced off the wall and because he didn’t run the ball out it resulted in a single. Teammate Ozzie Albies then grounded out to second which moved Acuna to second base, but had he run out the play he would have moved to third on Albies’ groundout and Freddie Freeman would have had an opportunity to hit a sac fly to score a run....

The center fielder took away a sure home run from the Dodgers’ David Freese in the first inning of Game 2 of the NLCS on Saturday, leaping to snatch the ball from the top of the wall. MORE: Ranking final four teams by World Series chances Cain made up for a ninth-inning miscue that went in and out of his glove on Friday night and nearly led to a Dodgers comeback....

Baseball officials have had talks with the operators of the Olympic Stadium in London about holding games there as soon as 2017, The Telegraph reported over the weekend. The centerpiece venue of the 2012 Summer Olympics will be the home of the Premier League’s West Ham United beginning next summer, with capacity reduced to about 54,000 seats from the 80,000 it held three years ago. It’s no surprise MLB wants to get in on the European market, but finding a suitable venue has been a challenge....

The problem is, the Marlins, as a team that habitually trades players away, are not in the business of giving out no-trade clauses. Sometimes, rules are made to be broken, and if there is a player for whom it would be worthwhile to make an exception, it would be Stanton. HOT STOVE: Top 10 free-agent infielders | Outfielders | Pitchers | Catchers The Marlins are not ruling it out....

While players on 40-man rosters are currently not subject to tests for marijuana, the league still scans and suspends minor league athletes for positive tests. This proposed change, then, would standardize the testing process for pro players at all levels. Additionally, the drug agreement is expected to specifically address opioid use, aiming to to rehabilitate users rather than punish them. Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died in a hotel room in Southlake, Texas, on July 1, and an autopsy found evidence of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system....

Opening Day was scheduled for Thursday, but earlier this month the MLB decided to postpone the season with the U.S. in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as is the case with the NBA, NHL and MLS, the league stated it will follow guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention two weeks ago, which suggested events drawing crowds bigger than 50 people should be canceled or postponed until mid-May at least....

The later rounds of the 2015 MLB Draft had an air of nepotism, in particular the Phillies selecting several players with familial ties to the organization. MORE: First-round selections | Worst No. 1 picks | Best selections in slots 1-50 | Father’s Day in sports Philadelphia selected Maryland outfielder Andrew Amaro on Wednesday in the 35th round. Amaro is the nephew of Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. The Phillies also selected Griffin Morandini out of Pennsylvania’s Garnet Valley High School in the 39th round....

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander has been adovcating for better protection since a fan was hit in the head by a foul ball back in August. Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said an extension of protective netting at ballparks will be discussed at the offseason’s owners’ meetings.MORE: Top 15 pitching free agents | MLB must send message about domestic violence Manfred said the task won’t be easy. “If you go out and look at the ballparks, it becomes evident that a simple, uniform (policy) — for example, a net to the edge of the dugout — is not workable, given the variation in designs of the stadium,” he said, via the Providence Journal....

That's a juicy tidbit for a market that grows hotter by the day as baseball's general managers prepare to meet starting Monday in Orlando, Fla. Even before formal summit begins you can bet swap talk will take precedent. MORE: Tulowitzki talk | Kemp rumors hot | BoSox want Tim Hudson | And Mark Trumbo? Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports’ respected insider, noted recently the Dodgers are ready, willing and able to entertain offers for Kemp, Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford....