Paul Goldschmidt and Robinson Cano have already switched teams this offseason, going to the Cardinals and Mets in major trades.As for Manny Machado and Bryce Harper — the jewels of the free agent market — they're still waiting.Patrick Corbin and Josh Donaldson are already signed, but there are plenty of significant free agents still available heading into the winter meetings this week. The market appears less sluggish than a year ago, and Machado and Harper will remain focal points.Here's a look at the top free agents — broken down by position — who are still available. Players are listed with their most recent teams, with their ages in parentheses:LEFT-HANDED STARTERDallas Keuchel, Astros (30)With Corbin off the board , Keuchel may be the top remaining starter on the market. He slipped a bit after his Cy Young-winning performance of 2015, but this past season was encouraging from a health standpoint. He made a career-high 34 starts and posted a 3.74 ERA.Other options: J.A. Happ hasn't... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi's marathon relief performance in Game 3 of the World Series is a moment that will resonate in Red Sox history.Boston rewarded him with a $68 million, four-year contract."We're very happy to have Nathan back with us," Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in a statement as the deal was announced Thursday. "He did a tremendous job for us last season, playing a significant role in helping us win the division and the World Series. His performance in the postseason was outstanding, both as a starting pitcher and as a reliever."A 28-year-old right-hander who has had a pair of Tommy John surgeries, Eovaldi was acquired by Boston from Tampa Bay on July 25. He went 3-3 with a 3.33 ERA down the stretch. He made four starts against the Yankees, going 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA, and beat the New York in Game 3 of the AL Division Series, when he gave up one run in seven innings.In six postseason appearances, including two starts, Eovaldi went 2-1 with a... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi's marathon relief performance in Game 3 of the World Series is a moment that will resonate in Red Sox history.Boston rewarded him with a $68 million, four-year contract."We're very happy to have Nathan back with us," Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in a statement as the deal was announced Thursday. "He did a tremendous job for us last season, playing a significant role in helping us win the division and the World Series. His performance in the postseason was outstanding, both as a starting pitcher and as a reliever."A 28-year-old right-hander who has had a pair of Tommy John surgeries, Eovaldi was acquired by Boston from Tampa Bay on July 25. He went 3-3 with a 3.33 ERA down the stretch. He made four starts against the Yankees, going 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA, and beat the New York in Game 3 of the AL Division Series, when he gave up one run in seven innings.In six postseason appearances, including two starts, Eovaldi went 2-1 with a... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Beltre went into this offseason pretty sure he had played his last game after 21 big league seasons."I just waited a little longer than I wanted to," Beltre said, explaining Friday he wanted to make sure he wasn't one of those players who retired and then had desire to get back on the field. "I was waiting for that, but I didn't get it."While Beltre knows he will miss baseball, the four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove third baseman said he is "completely happy" with his decision.Beltre, who spent the last eight seasons of his Hall of Fame-caliber career with the Texas Rangers, said goodbye in a laughter-filled news conference at the ballpark where he joined the 3,000-hit club in 2017.There were no tears from the 39-year-old Beltre, who had announced his decision 10 days earlier and answered questions for about 30 minutes."I didn't expect to be emotional because I'm really happy with what I am doing," said Beltre, pointing out that he didn't even have... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — World Series MVP Steve Pearce says it was a "no-brainer" to return to the Red Sox for another year."This was the place that I wanted to be," he said on a conference call Monday, three days after agreeing to a $6.5 million, one-year deal with the defending champions. "The chemistry we had on and off the field, wanting to defend a title, that's a big deal."A 35-year-old journeyman who has played for seven teams — including the entire AL East — in a 12-year career, Pearce arrived in Boston at the end of June and spent most of this time with the Red Sox platooning at first base with Mitch Moreland.Pearce batted .279 in 50 games for Boston in the regular season, hitting seven homers — five of them against the New York Yankees, including three on Aug. 2. In five World Series games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he batted .333 with three homers, two of them in the Game 5 clincher, to earn MVP honors."The team I was on, everything that was done there, bringing everybody back, it... [More]

Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox just keep winning.Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Ian Kinsler won Gold Gloves for the World Series champion Red Sox on Sunday night, and the Atlanta Braves also were recognized for their fielding excellence this season.The 26-year-old Betts won for the third straight year. He also is a top contender for the AL MVP award.Kinsler got his second Gold Glove at second base, and Bradley won for the first time in center. Teammate Andrew Benintendi also was nominated, but Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon took home his sixth Gold Glove instead.Atlanta added three Gold Gloves to its surprise NL East title this season. Freddie Freeman and Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo tied for the award at first base, and center fielder Ender Inciarte and right fielder Nick Markakis also were honored for the Braves.It's the third straight Gold Glove for Inciarte. Markakis won for the first time in the NL and third time overall, ending Jason Heyward's run of four in a row.Oakland,... [More]

Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Ian Kinsler have won Gold Gloves for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.It's the third straight for Betts in right field. Kinsler got his second Gold Glove at second base, and Bradley won for the first time in center.The prizes for defensive excellence were announced Sunday night.Oakland and Colorado each had two Gold Glove winners in the infield. First baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Matt Chapman were recognized for the Athletics, and second baseman D.J. LeMahieu and third baseman Nolan Arenao won for the Rockies.Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons and Royals left fielder Alex Gordon also won in the AL.Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs and Freddie Freeman of the Braves tied for the NL award at first. Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed, Pirates left fielder Corey Dickerson, Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte and Braves right fielder Nick Markakis also won in the NL.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — The last time Dave Dombrowski built a World Series champion, he had to start dismantling it before the celebratory champagne had a chance to dry.He's hoping to defend the title for real next year."It is significantly different than the last time," he said on Thursday, four days after the Red Sox won their fourth title in 15 years and Dombrowski earned a ring to go with the one he won with the binge-and-purge Florida Marlins of the late 1990s."This will be the first time in my career that we will be going to spring training as the defending champions," said Dombrowski, who avoided the term after selling off the stars that won it all in Miami in 1997. "Sometimes when guys become free agents they receive offers they can't refuse. But we'd like to keep this team together."After winning the Series in five games on Sunday night, flying back to Boston on Monday and then holding their increasingly routine duck boat parade through the city on Wednesday, the Red Sox are the last team... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man ahead of his time more than 40 years ago, Dave Dombrowski studied to become a general manager.Going into his junior year at Western Michigan's Lee Honors College in 1977, he started work on his thesis: "The General Manager, 'The Man in the Middle'" and wrote letters to every GM in the big leagues.About half responded to his questionnaire, which ended with a request for a follow-up interview, and Roland Hemond of the Chicago White Sox invited him to come to Comiskey Park.Dombrowski asked about jobs in baseball, and Hemond suggested he go to the winter meetings in Honolulu. So Dombrowski headed to Hawaii, learned the White Sox were seeking an administrative assistant, cut short his senior year and started work Jan. 3 at age 21 after negotiating an $8,000 salary — $1,000 more than originally offered.And with that began a career that led to a World Series title with the 1997 Florida Marlins, AL pennants with Detroit in 2006 and '12 and a second championship with the... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier swung bananas from a rope over the dugout railing.How appropriate. The longest game in World Series history was bananas.Twenty-three players on each team, including nine pitchers.Eighteen innings — four more than any of the previous 662 World Series games.Seven hours, 20 minutes — 1:39 longer than any Series game played before and 15 minutes more than all four games of the 1939 World Series combined.Walker Buehler threw the first pitch in autumn twilight at 5:10 p.m.Max Muncy homered on the 561st and last at 12:30 a.m., when most of America was asleep and even fans in Alaska and in Hawaii were struggling to stay up.Ernie Banks would have been happy — the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox filled his oft-said desire: Let's play two! "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was played twice, during the seventh-inning stretch and the 14th inning elongation."It was an amazing game," Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig said. "I'm a little tired. But we're ready to come back... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier swung bananas from a rope over the dugout railing.How appropriate. The longest game in World Series history was bananas.Twenty-three players on each team, including nine pitchers.Eighteen innings — four more than any of the previous 662 World Series games.Seven hours, 20 minutes — 1:39 longer than any Series game played before and 15 minutes more than all four games of the 1939 World Series combined.Walker Buehler threw the first pitch in autumn twilight at 5:10 p.m.Max Muncy homered on the 561st and last at 12:30 a.m., when most of America was asleep and even fans in Alaska and in Hawaii were struggling to stay up.Ernie Banks would have been happy — the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox filled his oft-said desire: Let's play two! "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was played twice, during the seventh-inning stretch and the 14th inning elongation."It was an amazing game," Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig said. "I'm a little tired. But we're ready to come back... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier swung bananas from a rope over the dugout railing.How appropriate. The longest game in World Series history was bananas.Twenty-three players on each team, including nine pitchers.Eighteen innings — four more than any of the previous 662 World Series games.Seven hours, 20 minutes — 1:39 longer than any Series game played before.Walker Buehler threw the first pitch in autumn twilight at 5:10 p.m.Max Muncy homered on the 561st and last at 12:30 a.m., when most of America was asleep and even fans in Alaska and in Hawaii were struggling to stay up.Ernie Banks would have been happy — the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox filled his oft-said desire: Let's play two! "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was played twice, during the seventh-inning stretch and the 14th inning elongation."It was an amazing game," Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig said. "I'm a little tired. But we're ready to come back tomorrow."Then he looked at his watch and corrected himself."In a couple... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier swung bananas from a rope over the dugout railing.How appropriate. The longest game in World Series was bananas.Twenty-three players on each team, including nine pitchers.Eighteen innings — four more than any of the previous 662 World Series games.Seven hours, 70 minutes — 1:39 longer than any Series game played before.Walker Buehler threw the first pitch in autumn twilight at 5:10 p.m.Max Muncy homered on the 561st and last at 12:30 a.m., when most of America was asleep and even fans up in Alaska and out in Hawaii were struggling to stay up.Ernie Banks would have been happy — the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox filled his oft-said desire: Let's play two! "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was played twice, during the seventh-inning stretch and the 14th inning elongation."It was an amazing game," Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig said. "I'm a little tired. But we're ready to come back tomorrow."Then he looked at his watch and corrected himself."In a couple... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — This was a true fall classic for Eduardo Nunez.The Boston third baseman became a one-man blooper reel when he flipped, tripped, tumbled and sprawled Friday night in Game 3 of the World Series."He was all over the place, huh?" Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.All that, and he didn't even enter until the 10th inning.Nunez wound up hitting the dirt — and the seats — at Dodger Stadium in the longest Series game ever, a 3-2 win in 18 innings by Los Angeles that cut Boston's edge to 2-1."A little sore today, but I'll be fine tomorrow," Nunez said.In a crazy game with lots of late twists and turns, no one better exemplified that than Nunez.His follies began in the Boston 13th when, with Nunez batting, Brock Holt took off from first on a pitch that bounced. Catcher Austin Barnes scrambled to retrieve the ball in the batter's box, burrowed into Nunez's legs and spun him hard onto his back ."When the catcher ran over him, he felt he was in bad shape," Cora said. "But like I told... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier swung bananas from a rope over the dugout railing.How appropriate. The longest game in World Series was bananas.Twenty-three players on each team, including nine pitchers.Eighteen innings — four more than any of the previous 662 World Series games.Seven hours, 70 minutes — 1:39 longer than any Series game played before.Walker Buehler threw the first pitch in autumn twilight at 5:10 p.m.Max Muncy homered on the 561st and last at 12:30 a.m., when most of America was asleep and even fans up in Alaska and out in Hawaii were struggling to stay up.Ernie Banks would have been happy — the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox filled his oft-said desire: Let's play two! "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was played twice, during the seventh-inning stretch and the 14th inning elongation."It was an amazing game," Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig said. "I'm a little tired. But we're ready to come back tomorrow."Then he looked at his watch and corrected himself."In a couple... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Now Alex Cora's in trouble.Boston's manager went for a commanding lead in the World Series, using David Price and Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.But Los Angeles won 3-2 in 18 innings Friday night, trimming Boston's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Now Cora has to come up with a starting pitcher for Game 4.After failing to answer the first time when asked, Cora spelled out his situation."TBA" he said, then repeating for extra emphasis: "TBA."Cora's Game 3 moves almost worked. Jackie Bradley Jr.'s eighth-inning home run off Kenley Jansen tied it at 1, and the Red Sox went ahead in the 13th when Eduardo Nunez reached on an infield single that pitcher Scott Alexander threw wildly to first for an error that allowed Brock Holt to come home from second.But Max Muncy walked off Nathan Eovaldi leading off the bottom half, tagged up and went to second when third baseman Eduardo Nunez fell into the seats catching Cody Bellinger's... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi seemed to have a rubber arm. Maybe that second Tommy John surgery turned him into a bionic pitcher.Until the 97th pitch of an outing that was among the most unusual in World Series history, until the 561st pitch of an epic endurance test that sprawled across the night for 18 innings, he finally got beat.Eovaldi allowed Max Muncy's opposite-field homer to left-center on a cutter that hung over the high, outside corner, ending the longest World Series game ever after 7 hours, 20 minutes. The Dodgers' 3-2 win over Boston on Friday cut Los Angeles' World Series deficit to 2-1."After the game was over I started crying," Red Sox starter Rick Porcello said. "He literally gave everything he had on every single pitch."Before this week, Eovaldi had never pitched on consecutive days in his major league career.Now the 28-year-old right-hander was sent to the mound by manager Alex Cora for the third time in four days. In the World Series. Throwing 98 mph in his seventh... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi seemed to have a rubber arm. Maybe that second Tommy John surgery turned him into a bionic pitcher.Until the 97th pitch of an outing that was among the most unusual in World Series history, until the 561st pitch of an epic endurance test that sprawled across the night for 18 innings, he finally got beat.Eovaldi allowed Max Muncy's opposite-field homer to left-center on a cutter that hung over the high, outside corner, ending the longest World Series game ever after 7 hours, 20 minutes. The Dodgers' 3-2 win over Boston on Friday cut Los Angeles' World Series deficit to 2-1."After the game was over I started crying," Red Sox starter Rick Porcello said. "He literally gave everything he had on every single pitch."Before this week, Eovaldi had never pitched on consecutive days in his major league career.Now the 28-year-old right-hander was sent to the mound by manager Alex Cora for the third time in four days. In the World Series. Throwing 98 mph in his seventh... [More]

You would've thought the Boston Red Sox were in a must-win situation.They put everything they had into one of the greatest games — really, two games — in World Series history.Now, even though Boston is still ahead, it feels like the Los Angeles Dodgers have all the momentum.In an epic marathon that lasted a staggering 7 hours and 20 minutes, stretching from Friday night well into Saturday morning, the Red Sox put all their cards on the table and still came away with a losing hand.Max Muncy led off the bottom of the 18th with a walk-off homer, finally finishing off the longest game — in both time and innings — in World Series history. The Dodgers emerged with a 3-2 victory , cutting their deficit in the series to a now-manageable two games to one.Sure, it was only one victory.It felt like so much more.The Red Sox staggered off the field with their pitching staff in shambles, namely because they tried to get seven innings — SEVEN! — from Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen.Who will start Game... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Now Alex Cora's in trouble.Boston's manager went for a commanding lead in the World Series, using David Price and Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.But Los Angeles won 3-2 in 18 innings Friday night, trimming Boston's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Now Cora has to come up with a starting pitcher for Game 4.After failing to answer the first time when asked, Cora spelled out his situation."TBA" he said, then repeating for extra emphasis: "TBA."Cora's Game 3 moves almost worked. Jackie Bradley Jr.'s eighth-inning home run off Kenley Jansen tied it at 1, and the Red Sox went ahead in the 13th when Eduardo Nunez reached on an infield single that pitcher Scott Alexander threw wildly to first for an error that allowed Brock Holt to come home from second.But Max Muncy walked off Nathan Eovaldi leading off the bottom half, tagged up and went to second when third baseman Eduardo Nunez fell into the seats catching Cody Bellinger's... [More]