The few free agent signings you’ve made of late paid off well, and you made a few shrewd trades. Things went swimmingly, especially once you brought in a big slugger in a midseason trade and he went absolutely bonkers. Times are good, but that slugger just hit free agency. Your core is still mostly intact, but your players are getting older and there isn’t a lot going on in your farm system....

Each contender from 2018 is looking to keep that moniker for next season, but they will have to address certain needs that make that a possibility. MORE: Top 79 free agents | Hot stove tracker From free agency to scouring the trade market to even repairing a managerial situation, there will be a task that takes precedence atop teams’ winter to-do lists. Los Angeles Dodgers Priority: Rectify Dave Roberts’ contract situation....

MLB odds: Today’s lines from Las Vegas | World Series futures Giants (69-62) vs. Dodgers (73-57) Madison Bumgarner (16-6, 2.97 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke (14-3, 1.61 ERA) Line: Dodgers -130Total: 6 (OVER +100)Time: 10:10 p.m. ET Money coming in on the Giants is undoubtedly due to Bumgarner’s recent form. In the last month, he is 5-0, compiling a 1.43 ERA and 53/4/0 K/BB/HR ratio in 37 2/3 innings. The southpaw’s few blemishes during this span occurred on the road, where he has been vulnerable this season (8-4, 4....

Well, baseball has a problem with pitchers throwing fastballs at batters’ heads. You know the most recent visible incident, the catalyst for this column and others like it across the country — Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes threw a 90-mph fastball behind the head of Orioles superstar Manny Machado on Sunday. I don’t really care about the lead-up to that pitch. For the purposes of what we’re going to talk about here, it doesn’t matter....

With a dangerous lineup performing well from top to bottom, the Blue Jays appear to be unstoppable after surging to another lopsided victory Sunday. Toronto capped a dominant weekend with a 13-5 win to complete a three-game sweep of the Red Sox by a collective score of 31-19. The loss extended Boston’s losing streak to six games. The Red Sox were humiliated in a second consecutive sweep while Toronto tied a franchise record with its 11th straight win....

Baseball is about as difficult to predict as the ending of a Christopher Nolan movie, but that won’t stop us from trying. Below you’ll find the SN MLB staff’s predictions and Twitter handles, so you can laugh at us and tell us how wrong we are. MORE: Opening Day schedule for all 30 teams Ryan Fagan (@ryanfagan) American League East: YankeesCentral: ClevelandWest: Astros National League East: NationalsCentral: CubsWest: Dodgers...

It’s the start of a new season. Hope is springing eternal. The excitement of what might happen is intoxicating. We are waiting to be wowed, and if we are not laser focused on any one particular team, we are rarely disappointed. FOSTER: 21 things I really want to see during the 2021 MLB season So, to kick off the 2021 season, let’s look at the 21 most impressive individual performances over the past 100 years of baseball’s Opening Day....

Check The Linemakers on Sporting News’ odds page for current baseball lines from Las Vegas. Washington Nationals -104 (vs New York Mets) Joe Ross (2-1, 2.66 ERA) vs. Jacob deGrom (9-6, 2.14 ERA) The NL East-leading Nationals showed some class in beating the Mets 7-2 on Monday night. The Nationals are 27-18 at home this season while the Mets are 16-31 on the road. With the odds close to 50/50, we are going with the Nationals all the way to -134, since they win 57....

Still, as of the eve of the NLCS, Roberts felt fairly confident that his shortstop would be in the starting lineup for Game 1. So it came as a bit of a shock on Saturday morning, the Dodgers announced their NLCS roster, and it didn’t include the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. Seager was, of course, disappointed by the development. MORE: Each MLB team’s most heartbreaking October memory...

Ethier had just failed to move Justin Turner from second to third base in the third inning of Game 5 of the NLDS, so frustration, rather than straight insubordination, is a real possibility. MORE: Top NLDS photos Ethier didn’t help his cause when he again failed to move Turner his next time up in the fifth. At this rate, his first-inning RBI single and terrific sliding catch in right field will be long forgotten....

That’s how tough it was for Boston to get a hit against Cleveland ace Corey Kluber in Game 2 of the ALDS on Friday. Kluber pitched seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts in leading the Indians to a 6-0 win at Progressive Field. MORE: Top 50 players in the playoffs The 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner is pitching for something more now, and it showed. He had been nursing a slight groin injury suffered in his last start, but he timed up the longer TV breaks between innings to stay loose....

Ortiz’s legendary run with the Red Sox came to an end Monday night with Boston’s 4-3 loss to Cleveland, in which the designated hitter went 0-for-1 with two walks and a sacrifice fly. After leading the Red Sox to titles in 2004 (their first since 1918), 2007 and 2013, Ortiz could not make it four, as Boston got swept by the American League Central champions in the best-of-five division series....

Success in the season’s first month doesn’t guarantee success in the season’s following five months. Heck, success in April doesn’t even guarantee success in May or June. Remember Chris Shelton? In his first 13 games of 2006, Shelton hit nine home runs, five doubles, three triples and had 17 RBIs for the Tigers. MORE: SN’s MLB Power Rankings for May It was incredible, watching him crush the ball day after day....

Six players and both managers received varying suspensions, with Reds manager David Bell getting hit with six games and Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle receiving two. Pittsburgh pitcher Keone Kela received the largest suspension of 10 games for “intentionally throwing a pitch in the area of the head of Derek Dietrich”, while Cincinnati pitcher Amir Garrett got an eight-game ban for initiating the brawl by charging the Pirates’ dugout from the mound....

According to the New York Daily News, the Yankees have talked to the St. Louis Cardinals about a possible trade for third baseman David Freese, the 2011 World Series MVP. The report says it’s “unclear” what the Cardinals would want in return for Freese but speculates “it might not be much.” After a big postseason in 2011 and an All-Star season in 2012, the 30-year-old Freese struggled in 2013, hitting ....

That’s the focal point of just about every conversation surrounding the team these days. Will they send Matt Kemp away, and if they decide to make that move, how much of the remaining $114 million he’s owed are they willing to eat? What kind of return could they get for a former MVP runner-up who hasn’t looked much like an MVP candidate lately? The Mariners, Red Sox, Indians and Rangers have all been connected, at least loosely to interest in Kemp....

Boston’s Jon Lester took on Tampa Bay’s David Price at Tropicana Field, and Price was credited with the win in the Rays’ 6-4 victory. Lester received a no-decision. MORE: Sox looking at Phillies’ Hamels? | Yankees going after Lee? | Mariners thinking big Both left-handers have been dumped into the rumor mill for similar reasons: They’re due big, big money in the near future. The Sox can afford to keep Lester, who can become a free agent after this season, but haven’t yet offered him enough to re-sign....

Despite their consistent denial that they would trade a reportedly disgruntled Fernandez, the Marlins apparently would be willing to listen to offers for the right-hander — although teams that have spoken to the Marlins told ESPN that Miami’s asking price is so high that it might mean he would remain with the team. A Yahoo! Sports report drops big names as possible pieces in a potential deal. MORE: Biggest bargains in the free agent bin | Best and worst Hot Stove rumors...

Nothing wrong with that. Most teams are fine. But it’s not about them, Phillies fans. It’s about why you think they deserve your fandom. You deserve a team that makes you feel like you’ve been struck by lightning. Don’t you dare settle for fine. MORE: Blue Jays should celebrate return home with strong deadline moves With apologies to Roy Kent for stealing his material, that’s what the Phillies have been for four years now: fine....