Alameda County is attempting to sell its stake in ownership to the A’s, but Oakland is suing to try and stop the transaction. The move apparently blindsided the A’s and prompted MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to tell local government officials the team might relocate to Las Vegas if the lawsuit isn’t dropped, The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the threat, and Schaaf confirmed it in an interview with KTVU...

Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Thursday a number of new wrinkles for next season, including an expanded slate of games on Sunday, April 3. TOP FREE AGENTS: 25 best | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF Rather than just one Sunday night game as a lead-in to the regular Opening Day schedule Monday, MLB will present a Sunday tripleheader on ESPN capped by a World Series rematch....

Los Angeles has one of the worst farm systems in baseball, so the team lacks the blue chip minor league prospects it would take to land the 2012 AL Cy Young winner. And GM Jerry Dipoto has no intention of trading away major league talent to get Price. “We’re not looking to move pieces from our major league club,” Dipoto told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re open to the idea of getting deeper on the pitching side....

As the trade deadline approaches, there are not many players on whom the Astros can drive a hard bargain in an effort to add to their stockpile of prospects. Houston has only nine players signed for more than $1 million this year, as the process of tearing down the organization to build it back up again reached the foundation level and is heading in the right direction. MORE: MLB scoreboard Still, this is a last place team, and last place teams try to maximize the value of the contracts of the players who don’t figure to be around when the team is ready to contend again....

The distilled version: We’ll listen, too, if the Rox come to us. And, Tulowitzki is one of the greatest athletes ever. MORE: Red Sox shopping Cespedes? | Jays deal Lind to Brewers for Estrada Paul Cohen, the shortsop’s agent, told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal that even though Tulowitzki loves playing in Colorado, the reality is that anyone can be traded. “It happened to Gretzky, to Shaquille O’Neal, to Joe Montana....

Or maybe not. In any case, if the Giants are interested, they could have competition for the 29-year right hander, whom the Cubs are willing to trade for the right package of prospects. The Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Angels are "in the picture" as well, Nightengale reports. Samardzija, who is eligible for free agency following the 2015 season, is likely to be the top starting pitcher available in this year's trade market, unless the Rays put David Price on the block....

One executive told MLB Network that Seattle is “trying to trade everyone.” That includes Dee Gordon, Ryon Healy, Edwin Encarnacion, Tim Beckham and Mike Leake. ESPN reported on Saturday, the Mariners have already been in discussions with the Phillies on a deal for outfielder Jay Bruce. So it appears the sell off is about to begin. After starting the season 13-2, Seattle finished the month of April 18-14 and May at 25-35....

Rumor: At least one of the superstar trio of Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts and Kris Bryant will be traded this offseason. Source: MLB Network’s Jon Morosi Need to know: On one hand, each of those three superstars has been at least mentioned as a possible trade candidate, so in that way it’s not shocking. But on the other hand, this tweet is worded a bit more firmly than a speculative, “Oh, this guy might get traded for the right can’t-say-no deal at some point before his contract ends....

REPORTED BY: Jim Bowden, ESPN MORE: These NL teams wish they could redo these trades DETAILS: It seems like Kemp has been in the league forever, but at just 31 years old he should have a handful of prime years left. And if the Padres are willing to pay most of his $21.75 million salary in addition to the $3.5 being paid by the Dodgers, as Bowden reported, his power bat could be valuable in the middle of the order with Freddie Freeman....

“My agent (Melvin Roman) told me both Arizona and Detroit have interest,” Navarro told the Toronto Sun on Monday. The veteran has been relegated to a backup role with the acqusition of Russell Martin. Arizona appears to have the biggest need, with Tuffy Gosewisch atop the depth chart. Gosewisch, 31, has started 42 games behind the plate for the Diamondbacks over the last two seasons. Arizona also has veteran Gerald Laird in camp on a minor league deal, but he doesn’t figure to be an every-day option....

His eyes perked up. “Just seeing his athleticism is special, puts him at that category of the catcher that’s a little bit more the newer catcher, athletic, can run, can pretty much do everything,” Mattingly said. “He’s an interesting guy back there. I think he’s a guy that baseball, in general, will get to know better over time. I think he definitely should have been in consideration (for the All-Star Game), but when you’ve got Posey and Molina …”...

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reported Sunday that the Rangers are “intrigued” by possibly trading for Miguel Andujar, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury that required surgery. Sullivan added that the Yankees “would expect much in a trade” but offered no specifics. He speculated that a relief pitcher could be part of the return. ANALYSIS: Evaluating recent moves by Rangers, other clubs Andujar, 24, established himself as an offensive threat in 2018 with 27 home runs and a 130 wRC+ in 149 games....

Houston became just the third team in MLB history to have multiple 10-plus game winning streaks before June 1. The only other teams to do that were the 1955 Dodgers and the 1941 Cardinals. MORE: Watch ‘ChangeUp,’ a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN It took a 7-3 victory against Boston to do so, but this game was decided well before the ninth inning. The Astros opened with a five-run first inning and never looked back....

Two teams could hit 300 or more as the Twins are on pace to do it and the Yankees have a shot, as well, and both of those organizations are getting well-deserved credit for their success. In Houston, though, the Astros have been somewhat forgotten. But as they showed on Tuesday by scoring six runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings off of American League Cy Young candidate Charlie Morton in a 15-1 win over the Rays, this lineup is as good as any in MLB....

By virtue of Cubs and Brewers losses on Wednesday, the divisional rivals remain in a tie for the second wild-card spot in the National League. Both teams had chances to move to within one game of the Nationals in the top spot, as Washington lost to the Cardinals, but it was not meant to be as Chicago fell 3-2 to the Reds in extra innings and the Brewers took a 2-1 loss to the Padres....

The Dodgers struck a deal with the Rays for left-handed reliever Adam Kolarek, who doesn’t remind anyone of their top relief target, Pirates flamethrower Felipe Vazquez. And they got light-hitting utility infielder Jedd Gyorko from the Cardinals. That’s it. While many Dodgers fans were unhappy the team didn’t make a bigger acquisition, the Dodgers can make the case they’re already set for the postseason, thank you very much. They entered the day with MLB’s best record, and they added an exclamation point to that in their afternoon game against the Rockies....

The Rangers pitching staff was so effective, they handed New York its first shut out in 220 games to break the second-longest streak in MLB history. The Yankees’ streak was only shy of a 308-game stretch by the 1931-33 Yankees’ team. The last time this current team was shut out was June 30, 2018, by the Red Sox. Minor had the help of relievers Shawn Kelley and Emmanuel Clase and got an offensive boost from Elvis Andrus, who was 3 for 5 at the plate....

With former England internationals Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard set to join World Cup winners Kaka and David Villa in MLS along with two new clubs, there are plenty of things to watch out for. MORE: Sunderland scandal | Terry will stay at Chelsea A new Galaxy Bruce Arena’s Galaxy side begins its quest to defend the MLS Cup on Friday, but will do so without one of its key figures from recent years, Landon Donovan, who retired after helping to lift the cup and later had the MVP award named after him....

MORE: ASG photos | Biggest summer transfers | Soccer’s beautiful fans | WAGs Playing in his 14th straight MLS All-Star Game, Donovan scored the winning goal by finishing off a Diego Valeri pass and beating German World Cup hero Manuel Neuer in the 71st minute. A minute later he walked off to a well-earned ovation, commanding the respect of the Timbers fans more accustomed to booing the LA Galaxy midfielder’s every move....

The German-born manager was admitted to the hospital earlier in the month and was reportedly in intensive care. His family released a statement on Wednesday that the former LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and Columbus Crew manager had passed away. It reads: “On Tuesday, December 25, Sigi Schmid passed away at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles due to a personal health matter. Our family is deeply saddened by his passing and is taking this time to grieve the loss of a tremendous husband, father, leader and mentor....