SEATTLE — The notion of clinching their first-ever berth in the World Series this week in front of their home fans ended Thursday evening. Any hasty plans for an overdone Champagne celebration at T-Mobile Park featuring Humpy the Salmon should have been incinerated after the drubbing they absorbed 24 hours earlier.

The now-questionable ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The smart money is on José Alvarado, Justin Crawford and Kyle Schwarber being part of the Phillies roster next season.

Max Kepler, Ranger Suárez and, yes, Nick Castellanos are a different story.

Dave Dombrowski didn’t offer many direct answers in his year-end news conference Thursday, but the Phillies president did provide...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Milwaukee Brewers have no chance.

Neither will the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays.

The clear truth emerged from the Dodger Stadium shadows late Thursday amid a downtown-shaking roar of delight and disbelief.

This is ridiculous. This is simply ridiculous, how well the Dodgers are playing, how close the history books ...Read more

NEW YORK — With Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman hosting a postmortem press conference at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the Yankees’ surgically repaired shortstop dominated the conversation.

Anthony Volpe, who underwent a left shoulder arthroscopic labral procedure on Tuesday after playing with a partially torn labrum for most of the 2025 season...Read more

NEW YORK — While the Yankees will be without Anthony Volpe on Opening Day after the shortstop had his left shoulder surgically repaired, a far more important member of the team’s lineup avoided the knife.

That would be Aaron Judge, who will not have his right elbow operated on this offseason after suffering a right flexor strain midway ...Read more

SEATTLE — As far as advice goes, this might be the most futile piece possible for Mariners fans to follow.

I'll give it a shot anyway.

Relax.

Fill those lungs to capacity and exhale. Lift those lips into a smile. Things are good right now — even if they don't feel like it.

Yes, your team just endured one of its most lopsided losses of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers aren't supposed to be making this look so easy.

From Day 1 in spring training, this was the season storyline: Can the Dodgers become the first major league team in 25 years to repeat as champions?

Easy to understand. Hard to do.

But a deeper look reveals a degree of difficulty beneath the storyline.

The New York ...Read more

SEATTLE — Game on, and on to Game 4.

The Toronto Blue Jays rocked George Kirby and the Mariners, 13-4, in Game 3 on Wednesday night, silencing a sold-out Seattle crowd and climbing back into this best-of-seven American League Championship Series in emphatic fashion.

Party-like vibes had taken over T-Mobile Park early Wednesday evening, after...Read more

LOS ANGELES — At 5:37 p.m. Wednesday, Michael Buble's "Feeling Good" blared from the Dodger Stadium speakers.

Shohei Ohtani came strolling to the plate with a bat in his hands.

There was no one in the stands, of course. Nor an opposing pitcher on the mound. The Dodgers, on this workout day after returning from Milwaukee, were still some 22 ...Read more

NEW YORK — After playing through a partially torn labrum for most of the 2025 season, Anthony Volpe underwent surgery on his left shoulder on Tuesday.

The procedure, reported by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, was performed by Yankees team doctor Christopher Ahmad. The hope is that Volpe will be ready for the start of the 2026 season, ...Read more

CHICAGO — Four days after the Chicago Cubs’ season ended in the National League Division Series, team President Jed Hoyer reflected.

Hoyer, during his annual end-of-season news conference Wednesday at Wrigley Field, described how proud he felt of the team with its consistency, effort and connection to the fans while also acknowledging that ...Read more

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Witness testimony began Wednesday with an accusation of negligent supervision in the high stakes trial against the Angels by the family of deceased pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Tim Mead, an Angels employee of 40 years, was portrayed by the plaintiffs' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, during four hours of direct examination as a well-meaning...Read more

MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers haven't so much beaten opponents this postseason as they have worn them down. A lineup that underperformed for much of the summer has been relentless, resourceful and unstoppable in the fall.

And deep. Did we mention deep? Because while the Dodgers have stars at the top of that lineup, it's been the players...Read more

MILWAUKEE — Teoscar Hernández doesn't believe in ghosts.

But just the same, the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder declined to stay with the team at the historic — and allegedly haunted — Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee during the first two games of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers this week.

Hernández told ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs should have some extra motivation for 2026 after Milwaukee Brewers reliever Trevor Megill brought an “L” flag to his team’s postgame picture following Saturday’s National League Division Series-clinching win at American Family Field.

It was one last way to taunt the Cubs — the Brewers’ archrivals in the ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers have used the slogan “Magic Brew” as the tagline for their postseason run.

On Tuesday night, the Dodgers made it feel like the magic was running out.

In their first truly stress-free win of these playoffs, the Dodgers slowly suffocated the Brewers in a 5-1 Game 2 victory in the National League ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — Technically, Roki Sasaki was available to pitch in relief for the Dodgers on Tuesday night.

Realistically, he wasn’t.

“I wouldn’t say unavailable,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “But it is unlikely that we will use him.”

The Dodgers had only one potential silver bullet, and it wasn’t even loaded for ...Read more

BOSTON — When Alex Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox this past spring that included opt outs after each season, it seemed clear the veteran third baseman would try his luck on the open market at some point.

Now, it appears that time has come.

According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, Bregman plans to exercise his opt...Read more