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The impacts were undeniable, with either a push toward October or actual World Series performance: Justin Verlander in Houston (2017), Nathan Eovaldi in Boston (2018), Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist in Kansas City (2015), Jake Peavy in San Francisco (2014) and Aroldis Chapman in Chicago (2016). MORE: Here’s how to watch ‘ChangeUp,’ an MLB whiparound show, for free on DAZN So it’s understandable if fan bases with high expectations are more than a bit steamed now that the only trade deadline of the 2019 season has come and gone and their favorite teams did next to nothing....

With the Washington Nationals reportedly interested, the D-backs could soon find themselves playing king of the Hill. That’s because the New York Yankees also have mounting interest. Earlier this week, reports said the Toronto Blue Jays were in the mix as well. It appears Hill’s value is increasing. Off to a slow start to the season, Hill came out of the All-Star break with a vengeance. He seems more relaxed at the plate and is not trying so hard to pull the ball, according to the Arizona Republic....

REPORTED BY: Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal MORE: NL stars who may be on the move | More NL movers | Best free agent first basemen THE DETAILS: The report also says Atlanta is “shopping everyone owed money” in an attempt to clear cap space for a club rebuild. Starter Julio Teheran, right fielder Nick Markakis and center fielder Cameron Maybin could also be shipped this winter. LAST SEASON: Plagued by wrist and oblique injuries, Freeman batted ....

Even if they somehow got to 78 wins by the end of September, that would probably leave them at least 20 games out of even the second wild-card spot — that’s how good the top of the American League is this season. So what should the Rangers do with the rest of their season? Compete, of course. Play spoiler, if possible, sure. FAGAN: The greatest pitching performance you’ve never heard of...

"There are a number of teams willing to make multiyear offers for his services beyond anything Boston would do," the report says. Drew, who turns 31 in March, played for the Red Sox in 2013 on a one-year, $9.5-million deal. He hit .253/.333/.443 with 13 home runs and eight triples while playing solid defense. But he struggled at the plate in the postseason. Agent Scott Boras says several teams are interested in Drew....

The Blue Jays need to sell. The fans know it. Jays GM Ross Atkins knows it. So what’s holding them up? MORE: Worst in-season trade for every AL team | And every NL team There’s plenty of talent on this Jays team that can be traded. It’s a question of who — if anyone — they’re willing to part with. Toronto is probably in better position to move one or two pieces and still be able to compete in 2018....

MORE: Worst in-season trades for every AL franchiseTHE DETAILS: Bautista, 35 will be a free agent at the end of the season, but the Blue Jays slugger hopes to stay with the club that took a chance on him in 2008. The two sides tabled extension talks that were rumored in the five-year, $150 million range. It’s also worth noting Bautista owns 10-and-5 rights, meaning he can veto any trade....

According to the Boston Globe, one such team doing so is Philadelphia, which is listening to offers for starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson. MORE: MLB ump-turned-hero Steve Palermo dead at 67 Hellickson, the AL Rookie of the Year in 2011 with the Rays, bounced back in 2016 in his first year in Philly after a three-year rut. Last season, he went 12-10 with a 3.71 ERA and 154 strikeouts in 189 innings pitched....

In the days leading up to the event, Shohei Ohtani chose the Angels, and the Marlins found a trading partner for Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees. With those two blockbuster transactions out of the way, it made sense that the proverbial floodgates would open, and we would see a frenzy of trades and free-agent signings. That didn’t exactly happen. MORE: Ranking the top 101 MLB free agents for 2018 We did see some movement, of course....

Er, *Bautista, but you know whom Eskin, a veteran Philly radio/TV man, meant. PHOTOS: SN ranks the top 25 free agents No one else was reporting this Tuesday night, so it was either super-exclusive or super-premature. Canadian Press baseball writer Shi Davidi is, at best, in the premature camp: "Here" being the general managers' meetings in Orlando, where the had Phillies signed free-agent outfielder Marlon Byrd earlier in the day....

With the Dodgers’ 10-6 win over the Rockies and the Diamondbacks’ 15-8 win over the Red Sox on Friday, both teams keep on tacking on franchise records. With Arizona’s 15 runs on Friday, it has now scored 56 runs through eight games this season while doing so with 19 home runs. Both of those are franchise bests. MORE: Watch ‘ChangeUp,’ a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN As amazing as those numbers are, with Max Muncy’s home run in the fourth inning of Los Angeles’ win, the Dodgers extended their franchise record for consecutive games to start a season with a homer to eight....

The Mets pitcher mowed down quite a few Rockies batters in New York’s 5-3 victory over Colorado. The 28-year-old recorded 10 strikeouts through six innings of work at Citi Field. But Matz wasn’t the only member of the Mets to shine, as Pete Alonso and Carlos Gomez each notched home runs on the night. Colorado’s Jon Gray was no slouch though and totaled eight strikeouts of his own. His team’s failure to get extra-base hits just left them short-handed....

MORE: Nine absurd MLB.TV blackout restrictions In the past MLB.TV users could only purchase a leaguewide subscription giving them access to all 30 teams’ out-of-market games but will now have the option to watch only their favorite team’s games. The new option is only available for out-of-market customers, meaning fans will still have to deal with MLB’s blackout restrictions. It’s unclear how much the new streaming option will cost customers....

The match features Toronto FC hosting the Seattle Sounders at BMO Field on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on FOX, UniMas, TSN and RDS. Tickets for the game were distributed through Toronto FC’s season ticket holder pre-sale, the Sounders’ away game allotment and the public sale, which took place Monday. BMO Field will have an increased capacity of 36,000 for MLS Cup.

MLS president Mark Abbott said in a statement after the vote that the league looks forward to working with the Orlando ownership group to finalize the agreement to bring a franchise to the central Florida city. The Orange County Commission's vote was 5-2 Tuesday night. It came after a six-hour meeting that included comments from more than 100 members of the community speaking mostly in support. Earlier this month, city officials voted unanimously on the same funding plan to help the minor league USL Pro League Orlando City Soccer Club build the 18,000-seat, soccer-specific stadium....

But what - and where - does Iniesta’s future hold? With potential offers from Europe, the United States and China he will have a tough decision to make when it comes to taking the next step in his brilliant career. While some doubt still remains over his next club, all indications at least suggest that it will be outside of Europe. That may come as some disappointment to Manchester City, who had been linked to a possible reunion between Iniesta and his beloved former coach, Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium....

D.C. United won a playoff game on Saturday afternoon, but was still knocked out of the postseason. “It’s a tough way to go out,” defender Bobby Boswell said after the game. “I don’t think I’ve ever won a playoff game and been eliminated.” But that’s exactly what happened on Saturday. DCU defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1 in front of a sold-out crowd at RFK Stadium, but was eliminated after a 3-2 aggregate loss....

Former Juventus forward Giovinco scored twice, including a stunning second-half free kick, and set up another as Toronto upstaged Orlando 3-1 in MLS on Wednesday. WATCH: Giovinco’s stunning free kick High-flying Toronto made a fine start away at Orlando City Stadium, United States international Jozy Altidore breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute. Giovinco played through Altidore, who coolly slotted the ball underneath Orlando goalkeeper Joe Bendick. Toronto doubled the lead within a minute of the second half when Altidore turned provider, this time unselfishly squaring the ball to Giovinco....

On Decision Day, the Timbers came from behind to beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 and climb to the top of the west. A second Western Conference success appeared unlikely for the Timbers when they fell behind to a Kendall Waston header just before the half-hour mark. However, Liam Ridgewell levelled for Caleb Porter’s Portland just three minutes later, putting away a rebound to make it 1-1. Darren Mattocks side-footed in what proved to be the winner in the 48th minute as Portland finished top of the conference....