ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals and Adam Wainwright have agreed to a contract for the 2020 season, increasing the likelihood the veteran pitcher finishes his career with the only major league team for which he has ever played.The 38-year-old Wainwright was drafted by the Braves in 2000 and traded to the Cardinals three years later. He made his major league debut in 2005 and has been a stalwart for St. Louis the past 14 seasons, going 162-95 with a 3.39 ERA and three All-Star game appearances.He played last season on a $2 million deal and proved he was still effective, going 14-10 with a 4.19 ERA while helping the Cardinals reach the National League Championship Series.Wainwright was especially valuable down the stretch. He had a 2.97 ERA in September and a 1.62 ERA in the postseason, where the Cardinals were ousted by eventual World Series champion Washington."We are excited to have Adam returning for 2020 and look forward to watching him continue to add to his tremendous career... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals and Adam Wainwright have agreed to a contract for next season, raising the likelihood that the veteran pitcher finishes his career with the only major league team he has ever played for.Terms of the deal Tuesday were not disclosed.The 38-year-old Wainwright was drafted by the Braves in 2000 and traded to the Cardinals three years later. He made his major league debut in 2005 and has been a stalwart for St. Louis over the past 14 seasons, going 162-95 with a 3.39 ERA and three All-Star game appearances.He played last season on a $2 million deal and proved he was still effective, going 14-10 with a 4.19 ERA while helping the Cardinals reach the National League Championship Series.Only two players, Jesse Haines and Bob Gibson, have played more seasons for the Cardinals.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia is hoping to return to the Boston Red Sox next year after playing in just nine games during the past two seasons because of his injured left knee."Every indication I've gotten is that he's feeling good and intending on playing," Chaim Bloom, Boston's new chief baseball officer, said Monday after arriving at the annual general managers meetings.The 36-year-old second baseman lives in nearby Chandler, and Bloom has exchanged texts in the hope of setting up a meeting."I know he's working pretty hard to make sure he's in as good a shape as possible," Bloom said. "But mostly, certainly for me, a lot of it is going to be just getting to know him. Knowing his importance here and to this organization, wanted to make sure to build a rapport with him as quickly as I could."A four-time All-Star and the 2008 AL MVP, Pedroia has been slowed since a slide into his surgically repaired left knee at second base by Baltimore's Manny Machado on April 21, 2017. Pedroia... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays general manager Erik Neander has been voted Major League Baseball's Executive of the Year.Tampa Bay was 96-66, the second-most wins in team history, despite a big league-low payroll of $66 million. The Rays beat Oakland in the AL wild-card game, then lost to Houston in a five-game Division Series.Neander's moves included acquiring outfielder Austin Meadows and pitcher Tyler Glasnow at the 2018 trade deadline from Pittsburgh for pitcher Chris Archer, and signing free agent pitcher Charlie Morton ahead of the 2019 season.The 36-year-old Neander became the Rays' general manager in November 2016 and one year later replaced Matt Silverman as the team's top baseball official.New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman was second in voting announced Monday night on the first day of the annual GM meetings. Oakland Athletics executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane and Minnesota Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey tied for third.Each team has one vote for the award, which began in 2018 and was won by Beane in its initial year.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — After falling short of reaching the World Series for the 10th straight year, the New York Yankees intend to have conversations with top free agent pitchers Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg."It's a good time to be them," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Monday as the general managers meeting began. "Certainly we'll have conversations from our perspective. And they'll either lead to further ones or lesser ones."During a moonlit availability in a courtyard surrounded by palm trees, Cashman confirmed changes in the team's staff, led by Matt Blake replacing Larry Rothschild as pitching coach. He said New York has had conversations with the agents for several of its players who became free agents, including outfielder Brett Gardner, shortstop Didi Gregorius and reliever Dellin Betances.Starting pitching is the Yankees' biggest need following their loss to Houston in a six-game AL Championship Series. Manager Aaron Boone's rotation could use a premier arm to... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia is hoping to return to the Boston Red Sox next year after playing in just nine games during the past two seasons because of his injured left knee."Every indication I've gotten is that he's feeling good and intending on playing," Chaim Bloom, Boston's new chief baseball officer, said Monday after arriving at the annual general managers meetings.The 36-year-old second baseman lives in nearby Chandler, and Bloom has exchanged texts in the hope of setting up a meeting."I know he's working pretty hard to make sure he's in as good a shape as possible," Bloom said. "But mostly, certainly for me, a lot of it is going to be just getting to know him. Knowing his importance here and to this organization, wanted to make sure to build a rapport with him as quickly as I could."A four-time All-Star and the 2008 AL MVP, Pedroia has been slowed since a slide into his surgically repaired left knee at second base by Baltimore's Manny Machado on April 21, 2017. Pedroia had left knee surgery on Oct. 25, 2017, and was limited to three big league games in May 2018 and six this April, including four at second.His contract includes salaries of $13 million next year and $12 million in 2021, and he counts for $13.28 million toward Boston's luxury tax payroll.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia is hoping to return to the Boston Red Sox next year after playing in just nine games during the past two seasons because of his injured left knee."Every indication I've gotten is that he's feeling good and intending on playing," Chaim Bloom, Boston's new chief baseball officer, said Monday after arriving at the annual general managers meetings.The 36-year-old second baseman lives in nearby Chandler, and Bloom has exchanged texts in the hope of setting up a meeting."I know he's working pretty hard to make sure he's in as good a shape as possible," Bloom said. "But mostly, certainly for me, a lot of it is going to be just getting to know him. Knowing his importance here and to this organization, wanted to make sure to build a rapport with him as quickly as I could."A four-time All-Star and the 2008 AL MVP, Pedroia has been slowed since a slide into his surgically repaired left knee at second base by Baltimore's Manny Machado on April 21, 2017. Pedroia had left knee surgery on Oct. 25, 2017, and was limited to three big league games in May 2018 and six this April, including four at second.His contract includes salaries of $13 million next year and $12 million in 2021, and he counts for $13.28 million toward Boston's luxury tax payroll.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CLEVELAND (AP) — Carlos Carrasco's courage while fighting cancer and community service earned him another postseason honor.Carrasco won the Frank Gibbons-Steve Olin Good Guy Award, given annually by the Cleveland chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, for being accommodating with media members as well as for his work in the Cleveland community.The right-hander was honored along with catcher Roberto Pérez, who was named the team's Man of the Year.Carrasco was diagnosed with leukemia in May. The 32-year-old was always available while battling the blood disorder and his inspirational battle became one of baseball's biggest stories this season. Carrasco was a unanimous selection by a panel of writers.Carrasco recently received the Roberto Clemente Award for his charitable efforts.Pérez emerged as one of the Indians' most consistent players in his first season as a full-time starter.After being a backup for the past five seasons, Pérez became a regular when the Indians traded Yan Gomes to Washington last winter. Pérez became the first catcher not to allow a passed ball in at least 118 games since Hall of Famer Johnny Bench in 1975.He also made just three errors in 1,137 total chances while playing on an ankle that required postseason surgery.Pérez batted .239 with a career-24 homers and 63 RBIs.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Brown is back for the San Diego Padres.The Padres unveiled new uniforms Saturday night that feature a brown and gold color scheme, similar to the one used from the franchise's inception in 1969 through 1984.The new uniforms were unveiled at Petco Park in front a few thousand fans by players Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado.Machado modeled the home white uniform with brown pinstripes that included the word Padres in brown on the front, trimmed in gold.Hosmer showed off the solid brown primary road jersey with a yellow San Diego across the front, with sand pants.Tatis modeled a tan alternate road jersey with brown pinstripes. That jersey had San Diego across the front in brown and trimmed in gold.Fans have clamored for years for a return to the brown. The team's primary color scheme for several years has been blue and white."People wanted brown and we gave it to them," executive chairman Ron Fowler said. "Now we've got to start winning baseball games.""It's... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Buffalo and elected to become a free agent.The 28-year-old spent the entire 2019 season on the injured list following surgery on his left knee."I look forward to what is in store for me, but I will always miss putting on that Blue Jays uniform and representing such a beautiful country," Travis wrote in a statement Thursday.He had a .274 average with 35 home runs and 153 RBIs in four seasons with Toronto.Acquired from Detroit in a November 2014 trade, Travis became the fourth player with the Blue Jays to homer in his first big league game.___More AP MLB coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants have narrowed their search for a new manager to three finalists, a person with direct knowledge of the process said.Former Phillies manager Gape Kapler, Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro are the final three vying to replace Bruce Bochy, the person said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the candidates' names haven't been made public.Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi is taking his time making the hire. He has known since February that Bochy would retire.Others who had been considered were Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren, Giants coaches Ron Wotus and Hensley Meulens, and Athletics coach Mark Kotsay.The 44-year-old Kapler was fired Oct. 10 after two seasons in Philadelphia and a 161-163 record. With Bryce Harper their blockbuster acquisition, the Phillies finished 81-81 for their first non-losing season since 2012.Last week, Espada's Astros lost Game 7 of the World Series to the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Milwaukee closer Josh Hader just made the cutoff for salary arbitration eligibility with 2 years, 115 days of major league service.Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías also is on the list of 23 so-called Super 2s with 2 years, 117 days. The cutoff was down significantly from 2 years, 134 days last offseason.Miami left-hander Jarlin García just missed with 2 years, 114 days, and Arizona right-hander Luke Weaver had 2 years, 112 days.The top 22% of players by service time with at least two years but less than three are eligible for arbitration as long as they had at least 86 days of service this year. They join the older group of 3- to 6-year players.Players and teams are scheduled to exchange proposed salaries on Jan. 10, and hearings for those lacking agreements will be scheduled for Feb. 3 to 21 in Phoenix.The New York Yankees have four Super 2s: right-handers Luis Cessa and Jonathan Holder, left-hander Jordan Montgomery and third baseman Gio Urshela.Urías is joined... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals manager Mike Shildt has a new three-year contract through the 2022 season.Shildt was hired in 2018 and his initial deal ran through 2020.At its end-of-season news conference Tuesday, St. Louis announced president of baseball operations John Mozeliak received a three-year extension through 2023. The Cardinals exercised a 2020 option on general manager Mike Girsch and gave him a two-year extension through 2022."What Mo and his group have accomplished since he took over in 2008 as the head of our baseball ops is pretty impressive," Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. "We've been in the playoffs seven times. We've had 12 consecutive winning seasons, two pennants, a world championship. ... We continue to have a robust farm system, which is not easy to do. When you have winning seasons, you don't draft high. But we've got a very strong scouting and player development group."Hired as interim manager to replace Mike Matheny on July 14, 2018, and given the job that... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Madison Bumgarner was among 10 free agents who received $17.8 million qualifying offers from their former teams on Monday, a move that likely will decrease demand for the 30-year-old left-hander.Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, went 9-9 with a 3.90 ERA over 34 starts this year after two injury-shortened seasons. San Francisco also made a qualifying offer to left-handed reliever Will Smith.Six pitchers received the qualifying offers among the 168 free agents, including right-handers Gerrit Cole (Houston), Stephen Strasburg (Washington), Zack Wheeler (New York Mets) and Jake Odorizzi (Minnesota). The others given the offers were third basemen Anthony Rendon (Washington) and Josh Donaldson (Atlanta), first baseman José Abreu (Chicago White Sox) and outfielder Marcell Ozuna (St. Louis).On the day before free agents can start negotiating contracts with all teams, Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez decided to stay in Boston instead of becoming a free agent, declining... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman and Oakland shortstop Marcus Semien are finalists for the AL MVP award.Trout is seeking his third MVP after winning in 2014 and '16. He finished second in 2012, '13, '15 and '18.Washington third baseman Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger and Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich are the top three for the NL honor. Yelich won last year's NL MVP award with 29 of 30 first-place votes.Houston's Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander are finalists for the AL Cy Young Award along with Tampa Bay's Charlie Morton, the Baseball Writers' Association of America said. Verlander won the 2011 Cy Young with Detroit, when he also was voted MVP.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Phillies have declined club options on left-hander Jason Vargas and right-handers Jared Hughes and Pat Neshek.Vargas was 1-4 with a 5.37 ERA in 11 starts with the Phillies, who acquired him on July 29 from the Mets. He gets a $2 million buyout instead of $8 million for 2020, and New York is sending the Phillies $2 million to offset the cost of the buyout.Hughes had a 3.91 ERA in 25 appearances with the Phillies. He receives a $250,000 buyout instead of $3 million for 2020.Neshek pitched 18 innings in 2019 and only 42 1/3 over the past two seasons while earning $16.5 million. He gets a $750,000 buyout instead of $7 million for 2020.Philadelphia said pitchers Jerad Eickhoff, Mike Morin, Blake Parker and Edubray Ramos and infielder Phil Gosselin all had refused outright assignments to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and had elected to become free agents.Pitchers Víctor Arano, Seranthony Domínguez, David Robertson, Robert Stock and Adam Morgan and outfielder Andrew McCutchen were reinstated from the 60-day injured list, and outfielder Odubel Herrera was reinstated from the restricted list.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Phillies have declined club options on left-hander Jason Vargas and right-handers Jared Hughes and Pat Neshek.Vargas was 1-4 with a 5.37 ERA in 11 starts with the Phillies, who acquired him on July 29 from the Mets. He gets a $2 million buyout instead of $8 million for 2020, and New York is sending the Phillies $2 million to offset the cost of the buyout.Hughes had a 3.91 ERA in 25 appearances with the Phillies. He receives a $250,000 buyout instead of $3 million for 2020.Neshek pitched 18 innings in 2019 and only 42 1/3 over the past two seasons while earning $16.5 million. He gets a $750,000 buyout instead of $7 million for 2020.Philadelphia said pitchers Jerad Eickhoff, Mike Morin, Blake Parker and Edubray Ramos and infielder Phil Gosselin all had refused outright assignments to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and had elected to become free agents.Pitchers Víctor Arano, Seranthony Domínguez, David Robertson, Robert Stock and Adam Morgan and outfielder Andrew McCutchen were reinstated from the 60-day injured list, and outfielder Odubel Herrera was reinstated from the restricted list.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Madison Bumgarner was among 10 free agents who received $17.8 million qualifying offers from their former teams on Monday, a move that likely will decrease demand for the 30-year-old left-hander.Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, went 9-9 with a 3.90 ERA over 34 starts this year after two injury-shortened seasons. San Francisco also made a qualifying offer to left-handed reliever Will Smith.Six pitchers received the qualifying offers, including right-handers Gerrit Cole (Houston), Stephen Strasburg (Washington), Zack Wheeler (New York Mets) and Jake Odorizzi (Minnesota). The others given the offers were third basemen Anthony Rendon (Washington) and Josh Donaldson (Atlanta), first baseman José Abreu (Chicago White Sox) and outfielder Marcell Ozuna (St. Louis).On the day before free agents can start negotiating contracts with all teams, Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez decided to stay in Boston instead of becoming a free agent, declining an option that would have... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Elvis Andrus is staying with the Rangers after the shortstop passed up on a second chance to opt out of his contract and become a free agent.Andrus has $43 million and three years left on his contract in Texas.He just completed his 11th season with the Rangers. The 31-year-old shortstop is the team's longest-tenured player, and the only player remaining from their only two World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.Andrus hit .275 with 12 homers, 72 RBIs and 31 stolen bases in 147 games this year. He is a .275 career hitter with 73 homers and a team-record 302 stolen bases.He also had the opportunity to opt out after the 2018 season, when he was limited to 97 games because of a fractured right elbow. The two potential opt-outs were part of the $120 million, eight-year deal he signed before the 2015 season.Texas also reinstated right-hander Jesse Chavez, All-Star slugger Joey Gallo and lefty Taylor Hearn from the 60-day injured list on Monday.Tim Federowicz elected to become a free agent after the Rangers assigned the catcher outright to Triple-A Nashville.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Twins have declined a $7.5 million option on left-hander Martin Pérez and made a $17.8 million qualifying offer to All-Star right-hander Jake Odorizzi.Pérez will receive a $500,000 buyout as part of a contract agreed to last winter that paid him a $3.5 million salary this year.The 28-year-old was 10-7 with a 5.12 ERA in 29 starts and three relief appearances this year, striking out 135 and walking 67 in 165 1/3 innings. He is 53-56 with a 4.72 ERA in eight major league seasons that include 157 starts and 16 relief appearances.Odorizzi, 29, was a career-best 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA and a career-high 178 strikeouts. He is 22-17 in two seasons since the Twins acquired him from Tampa Bay.Minnesota also said Monday the New York Mets claimed left-hander Stephen Gonsalves off waivers. Minnesota right-hander Kohl Stewart refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester and elected to become a free agent.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports