The ' 2021 season was quite the ride. They were in first place in late June and by late July a purge of nearly every tradeable a set transpired. They were predictably a pretty bad team, overall, the rest of the way. Now the goal for club president Jed Hoyer is to build the next contender. How soon will that happen?Some of that depends upon how aggre sive the Cubs are this offseason. They currently only have about $67 million in payroll committed to 2022 and they were over $200 million in 2019. Given the "biblical lo ses" comments from chairman Tom Ricketts in facing empty ballparks for 2020 and how relatively empty Wrigley Field was in September of 2021, surely they don't want to mire in obscurity for long. Hoyer has said the team is willing to spend some money in free agency this offseason, too.Hoyer hasn't been shy in pointing out the top priority is the rotation. has already been added in a slightly savvy waiver claim. He and appear to be the only sure things, though Tony Phillips Jersey it's po sible and either or will get a shot.Would they spend big enough to land or even ? It's unclear, but Stroman seems like an excellent fit. It feels like an ideal offseason would be landing someone of Stroman's ilk along with a high-upside arm that would cost le s like a or Carlos Rodn. It's unclear what kind of arms they'd be interested in via trade. Would the flip inside the division? Would the Cubs cough up the prospect currency needed to get Rollie Fingers Jersey from the A's when he's entering his age-33 season? Both seem unlikely.No, free agency seems like the path here and my hunch is they'll look at more volume from the Gray-Rodn group than going totally on the high end. There's still a path to succe s here if they hit on the right pitchers. Something like Gray, Miley, Hendricks, Wood and Mills/Steele/Thompson could end up being a serviceable rotation, so long as they are getting the most out of every arm.It's po sible the Cubs found some valuable players down the stretch in , and while and could also prove to be useful. If the Cubs are looking to contend, however, there needs to be more surefire thunder.The first place everyone wants to look would be shortstop. doesn't have power, has been injury-prone to this point in his career and is likely an average-at-best defender at short. He should be a more a utility man. There are five stud free agent shortstops, too, with a Javier Bez reunion being at least a remote po sibility. , 27 Mark McGwire Jersey , is the name we've heard most connected to the Cubs. 's price is likely going to be higher than the Cubs want to pay. is going to be 32 next year and the Cubs surely would want someone younger given that contending in 2022 might not be the most realistic plan. is 29 and coming off a rough season.I'd say it's Seager or nothing among the shortstops, unle s Bez's market bottoms out and he takes a one-year, show-me deal like Semien did with the . Speaking of po sible reunions -- especially with the good chance the DH comes to the NL -- , and should all be on Hoyer's radar. Among non-returnees, and also make sense in this group as considerations. As constructed, the lineup needs another Santiago Casilla Jersey bopper.Believe it or not, the Cubs' best offensive month in 2021 was the last one, hitting .265/.343/.446 against a league average slash of .250/.320/.423. If Ortega, Schwindel and Wisdom prove to be for real and can find any sort of consistency (he hit .323/.400/.665 with 14 homers in his last 44 games), adding something like Seager and Soler -- remember, will be added to the mix as well -- makes the offense look pretty strong.If the Cubs are doing something like adding Stroman, Seager, Soler and another starting pitcher, there is absolutely no reason to trade Contreras. In this case, he should be extended. He's one of the better catchers in baseball, especially now that he's learned how to frame. He was already one of the highest-upside bats and has as good an arm as anyone, but now the framing added means he's very valuable. He's coming off his best career WAR season. He's also one year away from free agency. If all the offseason shopping is going to come in looking for bargains on short deals just to patchwork a decent but non-contending team, just trade Contreras.Hoyer needs to find the sweet spot here. If the Cubs are planning on at least pretending to contend in 2022, Contreras needs to be around and they shouldn't send him into the season the same way they did Bez, and last year. An extension needs to get done. This would show the fan base the front office has the ability to do so with a championship core player and would further establish Contreras as a team leader for the next contending Cubs.If no extension is going to Glenn Hubbard Jersey happen, again, trade Contreras. The free agent catcher cla s is brutal and enough teams planning to contend would love to have him aboard. It also takes the po sibility of a Contreras in-season injury crushing his trade value off the table. He's a catcher and gets hit by pitches a good number of times when he's batting, so there's plenty of risk of that happening.

Wood goes six, Giants beat Royals for 4th straight win June 14 sharefacebooktwitterredditlink SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Alex Wood pitched four-hit ball over six innings for his first win in more than a month, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Monday night.Thairo Estrada hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth and Brandon Crawford doubled in two runs, lifting the Giants to their Josh Reddick Jersey fourth straight win and sixth in eight games. Austin Slater walked twice and scored twice.The Giants were limited to five hits but drew a season-high nine walks, four of which scored.When were at our best offensively were seeing a lot of pitches, Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. I think there were some easier takes for us tonight but I thought we did a nice job of sticking with our game plan and our approach.Coming off his best start of the season when he went seven innings against the Rockies, Wood (4-5) had five strikeouts and one walk. The left-hander retired his final 10 batters after Bobby Witt Jr.s RBI single in the third, ending his night after 80 pitches.It came le s than two weeks after Wood was upset and complained when Kapler removed him in the sixth inning from a game in Miami after throwing 90 pitches. The Giants trailed 1-0 at the time and lost 3-0.This time Kapler said he made the change because Wood sat for an extended period in the sixth when the Royals made a pitching change mid-inning.We just felt like it was the right time to go to a clean inning for our bullpen right there, Kapler said.Wood agreed.I think it had been 15-20 minutes before they made the pitching change, and I was going to go back out, Wood said. I didnt know much longer that inning was going to go so we just figured give (a reliever) enough time to warm up and get a clean inning and take it down from there. Carlos Lee Jersey I thought it made sense. Glad it worked out.Mauricio Llovera, Jake McGee and Camilo Doval each retired three batters to complete the six-hitter.Estrada lined a 2-2 pitch from Amir Garrett (1-1) into left-center to drive in Slater. Slater led off the inning with a pinch-hit walk and took second on a wild pitch.Crawford, who struck out before Estradas tiebreaking hit, hit a two- George Springer Jersey run double off Arodys Vizcano in the seventh.The Giants scored their first two runs after Royals starter Brady Singer lost control and walked four consecutive batters in the third two with the bases loaded.Not a ton of hits but a lot of good at-bats which led to walks and a couple hits at the right time, Crawford said.Singer, who had only walked four batters all season, finished with five and allowed two hits over five innings.The Royals led 2-0 on Whit Merrifields sacrifice fly and an infield RBI single by Witt that glanced off Woods glove and trickled away.MOVESThe Giants optioned OF Heliot Ramos to Triple-A Sacramento and recalled Llovera.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: RHP Zack Greinke (right flexor strain) pitched one-hit Marwin Gonzalez Jersey ball over five innings in his first rehab start for Triple-A Omaha. OF Edward Olivares (right quad strain) had a hit and drew three walks in the same game. ... RHP Joel Payamps was placed on the Injured List with an undisclosed injury. RHP Daniel Mengden was selected from Omaha to replace Payamps.UP NEXTGiants RHP Logan Webb (5-2, 3.77 ERA) has one victory over his previous five starts. Royals LHP Kris Bubic (0-3, 9.13) has two wins in 10 interleague starts.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports in this topic American League National League Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants Alex Wood Kansas City Royals Logan Webb Edward Olivares Kris Bubic Brandon Crawford Brady Singer Alex Wood Austin Slater Whit Merrifield Jake McGee Camilo Doval Colorado Rockies San Francisco Giants Kansas City Royals share World Cup fans find booze at hotels, Qatar's 1 liquor store Qatar's strict rules regarding alcohol have drawn attention as it hosts the World Cup 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Sterling leaves England World Cup camp after home break-in England forward Raheem Sterling has left his teams World Cup camp in Qatar and returned to the U.K. after a break-in at his home 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Ronaldo looks to shine like Mbapp and Me si at World Cup Cristiano Ronaldo has been overshadowed by the brilliance of Lionel Me si and Kylian Mbapp so far at the World Cup 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Ottawa hosts Los Angeles after Giroux's 2-goal game The Ottawa Senators host the Los Angeles Kings after Brian McCann Jersey Claude Giroux's two-goal game against the San Jose Sharks in the Senators' 5-2 win 2 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Penguins host the Blue Jackets following Kapanen's hat trick The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Columbus Blue Jackets after Kasperi Kapanen's hat trick against the St. Louis Blues in the Penguins' 6-2 win 2 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS

In an alternate universe, Bryce Harper is taking swings for the Astros.Before the then-Washington National hit free agency following the 2018 season, Harper was reportedly on the trade block. The Nationals had offered to extend Harper, but the former league MVP was destined to hit free agency and make mega bucks.But that didn't deter his suitors, including the team that his Phillies face off against in the 2022 World Series.Among the teams that were after Harper's services in 2018 Mike Scott Jersey were Oakland, Cleveland and most importantly, Houston, which was looking to add some pop to its outfield to defend its 2017 World Series ring. In 2020, it was revealed that the Astros were planning to trade pitcherJ.B. Bukauskas and two other minor leaguers in the deal.Ultimately, , fearing that a trade would harm the relationship with Harper and hurt their chances at re-signing him in the offseason.FAGAN:Harper, though, was seemingly OK with the idea of a trade. , he explained that he would have been fine with a trade, and there would have been no bad blood with the organization:I really wish they wouldve came up to me and talked to me about it. If they wouldve, I wouldve been like, Guys, what just Jose Altuve Jersey happened with Aroldis Chapman? They just got Gleyber Torres with the frickin' Yankees, whos an absolute stud. Why not do that? Why not? Were out of it. I will come out and Carlos Lee Jersey say whatever you guys want to make to organization look good. I don't care. Say that you guys got four frickin' prospects, a pitcher, a catcher whoever you guys got, and if you try to sign me back that next year, I'm totally for that. I'll have no bad blood. Ill have no disrespect to you guys. You just made your organization better for the next, whatever years and you po sibly sign me back.Coincidentally, Houston was still hot after Harper even following the season. Harper said the team offered a one-year deal worth an "absurd" amount of money, but Harper couldn't turn down the 13-year, $330 million deal he got from Philadelphia.MORE: in the trade than just Bukauskas: infielders Abraham Toro, Randy Cesar, Josh James and lefty pitcher Kent Emanuel also would have been in the deal. Bukauskas was eventually traded to the Diamondbacks in a package Preston Tucker Jersey for Zack Greinke, and would pitch to a 7.79 ERA over 17 1/3 innings in 2021. James would become a relief arm for the Astros, but would deal with injuries in 2021 and 2022. Toro would stick in the lineup for Houston until he was traded in 2021 to the Mariners for Rafael Montero and Kendall Graveman. Emanuel would pitch just 17 2/3 innings for the Astros in 2021 before having to go Tommy John surgery. Coincidentally, the Phillies would claim him off waivers in November 2019, but he has yet to pitch for the team while he's rehabbed. Cesar, now Evan Gattis Jersey 27, has yet to make his major-league debut.MORE:So, all in all, a friendly reminder that prospects are suspects, all. While it was never a guarantee that Harper would have ended up in Houston long-term, the "What If?" remains as the two teams face off in the 2022 Fall Cla sic.

Rays 4, Twins Seth Roberts Jersey 2 March 29 sharefacebooktwitterredditlink in this topic Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball Minnesota Twins Minnesota Twins share World Cup fans find booze at hotels, Qatar's 1 liquor store Qatar's strict rules regarding alcohol have drawn attention as it hosts the World Cup 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED Blank Jersey PRESS Sterling leaves England World Cup camp after home break-in England forward Raheem Sterling has left his teams World Cup camp in Qatar and returned to the U.K. after a break-in at his home 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Ronaldo looks to shine Laquon Treadwell Women Jersey like Mbapp and Me si at World Cup Cristiano Ronaldo has been overshadowed by the brilliance of Lionel Me si and Kylian Mbapp so far at the World Cup 2 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Ottawa hosts Los Angeles after Giroux's 2- Jake Kumerow Men Jersey goal game The Ottawa Senators host the Los Angeles Kings after Claude Giroux's two-goal game against the San Jose Sharks in the Senators' 5-2 win 2 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED Dion Lewis Jersey PRESS Penguins host the Blue Jackets following Kapanen's hat trick The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Columbus Blue Jackets after Kasperi Kapanen's hat trick against the St. Louis Blues in the Penguins' 6-2 win 2 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS

The ' ALCS roster looks a little different headed into Game 1 against the on Wednesday, most notably with the addition of shortstop . Here's the full roster: Our roster is set for the ALCS New York Yankees (@Yankees) Peraza, Juan Thornhill Men Jersey 22, gives the Yankees' their best option at shortstop, particularly in light of ongoing inability to produce adequately with the bat. Peraza came into the 2022 season as a consensus overall top-100 prospect, and then he put up a solid .778 OPS at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Following a September call-up to Tyreek Hill Women Jersey the Bronx, Peraza thrived acro s 18 games with the Yankees: a .306/.404/.429 slash line with one home run, three doubles, and six walks. It remains to be seen how manager Aaron Boone uses Peraza in the upcoming series, but he surely presents the Yankees with the highest upside at shortstop.Other changes include the addition of right-hander Nick Foles Men Jersey . Montas, normally a starter, disappointed after his deadline Joe Mixon Youth Jersey addition from the A's. He's been laid up for some time because of a shoulder injury, and he's almost certainly in line to come out of the bullpen for Boone. Also new to the roster is 27-year-old rookie right-hander , who made just 12 relief appearances for the Yankees during the regular season. Plucked off the roster the Yankees had in place for the ALDS are left-hander , utility man , and most Everson Griffen Women Jersey significantly outfielder , against the . Elsewhere, infielder , outfielder , and reliever remain sidelined after mi sing the ALDS with injuries and reliever .

The first month of the 2021 MLB season is freshly behind us, and that means it's time to take a look back over those first four weeks for purposes of enriching, life-affirming internet URL clicks. So come with us, won't you?We'll conduct this retrospective by handing out some nonexistent hardware and generally declaring the best/most notable/most memorable baseball phenomena from the month that was. Remember that this can only end if it first begins, so let us do that -- i.e., begin.Note: All stats, team records, standings, and references thereof are current as of Thursday morning.The Buccos were universally expected to be a superfund site in Chris Taylor Jersey the standings this season, thanks largely to ongoing roster disinvestment. Given that they won at just a .317 clip during the abbreviated 2020 season and then bid adieu to useful contributors like , , and via trade. Their lone major league free agent addition? That would be lefty starter . As a consequence of all that plus the low baseline, it wasn't unusual to see the 2021 Pirates projected for a lo s tally well north of 100. That may still happen, but at this writing Derek Shelton's squadron is a thoroughly respectable 12-12 and only a half-game back of second place in the NL Central. No, they're not likely to continue playing .500 ball over the long haul, but thus far Pittsburgh has majorly defied expectations in a good way. Also in the discu sion: ; , The Mets swung a blockbuster trade with Cleveland to acquire the All-Star shortstop this past offseason, and not long before Opening Day they signed him to a $341 million extension. Suffice it to Corey Seager Jersey say, expectations for Lindor in Queens were swelling leading into the 2021 season. After the first month, however, he's undershot those expectations by a grim margin. Right now, Lindor owns a slash line of .203/.317/.261 with just two extra-base hits in 19 games. To put those numbers in perspective, Lindor coming into the 2021 season had a career line of .285/.346/.488. Obviously, Lindor is going to find his level at some point, and the defense and base-running remain elite. Until the bat comes around, though, .Also in the discu sion: ; ; , ; , ; , Buxton, when healthy, has long been in the elite cla s of defensive center fielders, and he's also perhaps the fastest player in , which helps him add big value on the bases. This season, he's added stratospheric production at the plate to the mix. Presently, Buxton is slashing a patently absurd .438/.471/.938, which comes to a no le s absurd OPS+ of 304. That kind of production would put him in the April MVP discu sion even if he an top-of-the-scale fielder at an up-the-middle position. While this particular exercise isn't concerned with what is or isn't sustainable, Buxton's tremendously strong batted ball indicators suggest .Also in the discu sion: , ; Yermin Mercedes, White Sox; , Angels; Jr., ; , ; , Of further note is that three of the names above -- Buxton, Trout, and Mercedes -- are still hitting above .400 for Cody Bellinger Jersey the season. It's way too early to start paying serious attention to that sort of thing, but that would be a nifty little subplot should one of them make a serious charge at the hallowed mark that hasn't been reached since 1941. The Braves' young star is batting .341/.441/.718 on the season. He's tied for the major league lead in home runs and runs scored, and he leads the NL in OPS, OPS+, slugging, and total bases. On the baserunning front, Acua is 3 for 3 in steals, he's taken the Enrique Hernandez Jersey extra base an impre sive 73 percent of the time, and he's yet to hit into a double play. On top of all that, he remains tremendous with the glove.Also in the discu sion: , Mets; , ; , ; , ; , ; , Phillies; , ; , (yes, it's been a good month for NL catchers)Duffy hasn't logged quite as many innings as some of his competitors for this fake award, but it's hard to look away from that 0.39 ERA and 4.50 K/BB ratio. While Duffy has a five-pitch repertoire, he throws the fastball or slider almost two-thirds of the time. Opposing hitters are batting just .189 and .174, respectively, against those two offerings this season. Also in the discu sion: Carlos Rodn, White Sox; , ; , ; , Yankees; , DeGrom carries on as the most dominant starting pitcher in all baseball. He's been that for some time, and this season he's added a touch of fastball velo to his already devastating repertoire. In 35 innings, he's struck out 59 batters against just four walks and pitched to a 0.51 ERA with no unearned runs allowed. In matters related, deGrom has averaged 98.9 mph with his four-seamer.Also in the discu sion: Joe Musgrove, ; , Dodgers; , ; , Giants; , Brewers; , Brewers; , Reds Honestly, you can argue that 's was slightly more impre sive. Maybe you can argue Joe Kelly Jersey the same about 's . Once you bake in the importance of the moment, however, it's got to be Mookie Betts' walk-off catch against the Padres on April 18. Dig it:Bottom of the ninth, two on, two out, Dodgers up by two, lines one to center, and Betts preserves the win. If he doesn't make that catch, the game is tied and Pham might be in scoring position. Throw in the tensions of this burgeoning rivalry, and, yeah, that's your play of the year so far.

Mets' Lindor back in lineup at shortstop after finger injury June 3 sharefacebooktwitterredditlink LOS ANGELES (AP) Francisco Lindor returned to the New York Mets' lineup Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers after mi sing the first game of the series when he slammed his finger while closing a hotel door.Lindor said he was told by trainers after getting an X-ray Thursday that he has a fracture somewhere in the tip of his right middle finger, Chris Taylor Jersey but it is not much of a concern. Lindor went out and threw on the field before manager Buck Showalter inserted him into the lineup at shortstop.It feels like I don't have a fingerprint, but I was able to throw, Lindor said in the clubhouse after going through fielding drills. That was the one thing I was a little more concerned about.Lindor was closing one of two double doors in his hotel room, shortly after the Mets arrived in Los Angeles, when his finger got slammed. The nail bed remains blackened, but the swelling has subsided.Lindor and the Jackie Robinson Jersey Mets are hoping that the injury does not cool him off. He is fourth in the majors with 43 A. J. Pollock Jersey RBIs and fifth in runs scored with 37.Over his last 18 games, Lindor is batting .324 with three home runs, 24 RBIs and three stolen bases. He has raised his batting average 30 points to .261 during that span.The Mets went into Friday night's game 35-18 and with an 9 1/2-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sport in this topic National League Major League Baseball New York Mets Francisco Lindor Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets share World Cup fans find booze at hotels, Qatar's 1 liquor store Qatar's strict rules regarding alcohol have drawn attention as it hosts the World Cup 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Sterling leaves England World Cup camp after home break-in England forward Raheem Sterling has left his teams World Cup camp in Qatar and returned to the U.K. after a break-in at his home 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Ronaldo looks to Enrique Hernandez Jersey shine like Mbapp and Me si at World Cup Cristiano Ronaldo has been overshadowed by the brilliance of Lionel Me si and Kylian Mbapp so far at the World Cup 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Ottawa hosts Los Angeles after Giroux's 2-goal game The Ottawa Senators host the Los Angeles Kings after Claude Giroux's two-goal game against the San Jose Sharks in the Senators' 5-2 win 2 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Penguins host the Blue Jackets following Kapanen's hat trick The Pittsburgh Penguins Joc Pederson Jersey host the Columbus Blue Jackets after Kasperi Kapanen's hat trick against the St. Louis Blues in the Penguins' 6-2 win 2 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS

The and -- separated by the NL West by just 1.5 games -- are in the middle of a very big series, and in big series, there are big moments,. Padres outfielder shined in one last night. In the sixth inning of Monday's game, Grisham hit a game-tying solo home run off of . The long ball, which Grisham stood and watch leave the park, came at a critical moment Bobby Evans Jersey in the game and helped San Diego eventually win the contest, 7-2, over their division rivals.Following the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expre sed displeasure regarding the fact that Grisham admired his Nickell Robey-Coleman Jersey home run for a few seconds after he hit it."I don't mind guys admiring a homer; certainly it's a big game, big hit," . "Really like the player. But I just felt to overstay at home plate, against a guy like Clayton, who's got the respect of everyone in the big leagues for what he's done in this game, I just took exception to that. There's a certain respect that you give a guy if you homer against him."Roberts was right in describing the home run as a "big hit." Grisham tied what was a very important game for the Padres. With the win, the Dodgers' National League West lead shrank to just 1.5 games with the regular season winding down. Combating what Roberts said, Grisham did reveal that he didn't mean any disrespect by his extended home run trot."It happened naturally in the moment," Grisham said. "It's a big situation off of a big pitcher in a big Cam Akers Jersey game. We looked forward to this series. It was one of the biggest series of the year. The look in the dugout was: 'Hey let's go, let's pick it up... Let's go get this game.'"When Grisham was rounding the bases, the Dodgers dugout had some words for him and Grisham talked right back. However, Josh Reynolds Jersey nothing else came of the incident throughout the rest of Monday's game. This isn't the first time that the Padres have been the subject of ire from an opposing team when it comes to a home run. Last month, Jr. hit a grand slam against the on a 3-0 pitch when the Padres were already leading 10-3. Many claimed Tatis Jr. broke one of baseball's many "unwritten rules" by swinging in that count with his team up by so many runs.It's also worth noting that the Dodgers were in a similar situation last season, but the roles were reversed.Dodgers slugger hit a towering home run off of then pitcher that landed Marqui Christian Jersey in McCovey Cove at Oracle Park. Muncy took his time admiring his home run and Bumgarner took exception to it. "I told him if you don't want to watch me watch the ball," Muncy said after the game, "You can go in the ocean and get it."