With the final hurdles cleared for a 2020 MLB season, the likes of which we’ve never seen before, we asked ESPN’s baseball writers, reporters and editors for their best guesses as to what we’ll witness during this abbreviated campaign. What teams and players are best suited for the shortened season? And who will struggle? Which […]
Continue readingWell, there are no flyovers, no cracks of the bat, no peanuts or Cracker Jack. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be Power Rankings. On what would have been Opening Day, we compile the votes of ESPN’s baseball reporters, writers and editors and unveil our rankings for all 30 teams, looking at where they stand […]
Continue readingOnly one World Series favorite entering the season actually won the World Series in the decade we just completed. Wait, let’s put that another way: A team that was one of the top five favorites entering the season won the World Series only once over the past decade. The 2019 Washington Nationals didn’t necessarily feel […]
Continue reading“I was very embarrassed,” Akiyama said through translator Luke Shinoda. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow now.” He’ll get plenty more chances. Cincinnati signed Akiyama to a $21 million, three-year deal as part of its expensive offseason makeover. Akiyama, 31, became a free agent after his ninth season with the Seibu Lions in Japan’s Pacific League, […]
Continue readingWhen spring training kicked off a year ago, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado remained unsigned. The drama this year will center around the Houston Astros: their cheating scandal, reactions from other players about the Astros’ cheating scandal, the possibility of other teams throwing at Astros hitters in spring training, the counter-reaction from Astros pitchers and […]
Continue readingCastellanos languished in the downtrodden Detroit Tigers lineup for months last season before the trade-deadline escape to the Chicago Cubs. Then, of course, he was properly motivated in his contract year to hit .321 with 16 home runs and 37 extra-base hits in a mere 51 games. Could Castellanos produce to this level for a […]
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