Latest news with #BaseballTonight
Newsweek
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Yankees' $90 Million 3-Time All-Star 'Obvious Guy to Be Dealt' Amid Losing Streak
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The New York Yankees were able to end a harsh scoring drought on Wednesday, but their losing streak grew to a concerning six games. After struggling against the lowly Los Angeles Angels for the third game in a row, the Yankees are searching for answers at the plate without a clear solution in sight. "You play 162, you're gonna hit a little rut like this," Aaron Judge said after the game, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. "But you can't give up. You can't mope about it." As the Yankees look to return to the World Series this year with better results than they had last season, time could be running out to make the kind of change that prevents a rut like this from persisting. And for ESPN's Buster Olney, there is a clear candidate to be moved off the team. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 11: DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees walks into the dugout before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on April 11, 2022 in... NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 11: DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees walks into the dugout before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on April 11, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo) More Elsa/Getty "Look, if you're thinking about possible change with this lineup, the guy to watch, no question, is DJ LeMahieu," Olney said on the "Baseball Tonight" podcast. "He's 36 years old. He turns 37 next month. ... I think part of the reason the Yankees put Jazz Chisholm at third base when he came off the injured list was they want to maintain flexibility in case they decide to make a change. LeMahieu would be the obvious guy to be dealt if they decide to do that." The Yankees could be searching for a right-handed bat to improve their lineup and the infield seems like the obvious place to put such an addition, as the team already has a logjam at designated hitter and in the outfield. But trading away LeMahieu to make room for a new face would be an ignominious end for the veteran after he signed a $90 million contract to join the Yankees. LeMahieu has been a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove Award winner and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner in his 15-year career, but his playing days could be numbered. He is slashing just .244/.333/.341 so far this season and consistently deals with injury setbacks. As a result, he might find himself on a new team by the trade deadline as the Yankees look to turn their offense around. More MLB: Mets' Francisco Lindor Makes Pete Alonso Contract Prediction
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Not calling up Roman Anthony sends bad message to fans, ex-Red Sox pitcher says
The more Roman Anthony continues to set Triple-A on fire with offense, the more fans wonder what more he has to do to get called up to the Red Sox. Anthony, baseball's No. 1 prospect, is slashing .288/.423/.491 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI — including a 497-foot grand slam he hit over the weekend. Advertisement How the Red Sox have handled Anthony was a big topic of discussion during ESPN's 'Baseball Tonight' podcast. 'If you are held back and you deserve it and you're doing everything that you're supposed to be doing like Roman Anthony is, it just negates that purity. I don't know if I'm saying it right,' ex-Yankees pitcher David Cone said. 'It sends a bad message to the whole organization, it sends a bad message to the whole fan base,' he continued. 'Anyone who cares about the Red Sox knows this kid has earned his way to the big leagues and he's being held back, and he deserves to be here. There's something that just doesn't pass the smell test there.' There's been speculation the Red Sox are manipulating Anthony's service time by not calling him up, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow recently said if they are going to call Anthony up, they want him to play every day. With a logjam in the outfield with Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela, it makes it difficult to get Anthony into the lineup. Advertisement 'You find a way. You're supposed to get your best players on the field,' Cone said. 'You're not supposed to retain roster spots because of contracts, or because there's not a proper fit, or because you think he needs to work on something else that he clearly doesn't. He's earned it' Red Sox manager Alex Cora was peppered with questions about Anthony over the weekend, but said he can't speak to whether he'll be with the team when it returns to Fenway Park on Monday. 'My mind is with the 26 guys we have here,' Cora said. More Red Sox coverage Read the original article on MassLive.
Newsweek
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Blue Jays Reportedly Expected to Refuse Bo Bichette Trade, Change His Position
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Toronto Blue Jays earned a win in their series with the Philadelphia Phillies after posting nine runs on Thursday and it could be a sign they've turned their season around. The team was a bit of a disappointment after it struggled out of the gate even with the additions of Jeff Hoffman, Anthony Santander and Andres Gimenez to the roster. Now the Blue Jays are above .500 with plenty of time to build some momentum toward the playoffs. Even with several weeks before the trade deadline arrives, the moderate success of the season up to this point seems to have settled any speculation that the Blue Jays might trade away star shortstop Bo Bichette as he heads toward free agency at the end of the year. Speaking with Jeff Passan on a recent episode of ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" podcast, Buster Olney noted the team is expected to refuse any trade inquiries on Bichette, given their primary executives' contract situations and investments up to this point. TORONTO, CANADA - MARCH 28: Bo Bichette #11 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on before playing the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on March 28, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by) TORONTO, CANADA - MARCH 28: Bo Bichette #11 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on before playing the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on March 28, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by) Sousa/Getty "No, because of the context of the Blue Jays, the fact that this is the last year for (president) Mark Shapiro in his contract, it's the next to last year for Ross Atkins their general manager, they spent $500 million on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to sign him to a long-term deal, they just did these renovations that went in place last year," Olney said. " And so, what I've heard is, people with other teams, basically saying, 'Yeah, there's no way they'll do that. There's no way they'd wave a white flag as early as July.'" However, Olney added that Bichette is expected to see a different sort of move, as he's no longer inspiring confidence as an everyday shortstop. "In doing this reporting, a lot of what I'm hearing is, 'Yeah, he's not a shortstop anymore. He needs to change positions,' " Olney said. Bichette has a .974 fielding percentage at shortstop so far this year, making it the second year in a row in which he's underperforming the league average. He has also seen his offense dip both this year and last compared to a stronger campaign two years ago, possibly because of the challenges of his defensive role. So, even as the Blue Jays hold onto every contributing asset they can for the remainder of the season, it seems Bichette could be poised for a move elsewhere on the diamond soon. More MLB: Nashville White Sox? Jerry Reinsdorf to Sell Team, Raising Fears of Move
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NBC reportedly makes offer to take over ESPN's MLB deal, ‘Sunday Night Baseball' after split
'Sunday Night Baseball' might be headed to NBC next season. NBC Universal made an offer to Major League Baseball earlier this month that would have it take over ESPN's package of regular-season and postseason games, according to the Wall Street Journal. Specifics of that deal are not yet known. It's also unclear when that deal could be finalized, though the two sides have apparently been in talks for several weeks. NBC is offering significantly less than the $550 million per year ESPN is currently paying, per the report. ESPN announced earlier this year it had 'mutually agreed' to terminate its deal with MLB after the 2025 season. That ends a partnership that has been going on for more than three decades. ESPN and MLB were under contract through 2028, but they had an opt-out clause for earlier this year. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has reportedly said the league has 'not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN's platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage.' Meanwhile, ESPN has been asking for MLB to take a lower rights fee — it reportedly wanted to cut the fee by more than half, down to no more than $200 million per year — but MLB declined. ESPN started broadcasting MLB games in 1990. It has carried regular-season games, various playoff games, the Home Run Derby, the show 'Baseball Tonight' and more. The split marks the latest broadcast transition for MLB, which has reached deals with multiple streaming services in recent years, including Apple TV, The Roku Channel and Amazon Prime. Also, Diamond Sports Group, which ran more than a dozen teams' regional sports networks, went bankrupt, and that has led some teams to start their own streaming services under the league's watch. If NBC is successful in landing baseball, it would mark the network's latest expansion into the sports world. NBC is preparing to start broadcasting NBA games on the network and on Peacock again next season, more than 20 years after the league left the network.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NBC reportedly makes offer to take over ESPN's MLB deal, ‘Sunday Night Baseball' after split
'Sunday Night Baseball' may be headed to NBC next season. NBC Universal made an offer to Major League Baseball earlier this month that would have it take over ESPN's package of regular season and postseason games , according to the Wall Street Journal. Advertisement Specifics of that deal are not yet known. It's unclear when that deal could be finalized either, though the two sides have apparently been in talks for several weeks. NBC is offering significantly less than the $550 million per year that ESPN is currently paying, per the report. ESPN announced earlier this year that it had 'mutually agreed' to terminate its deal with MLB after the 2025 season. That ends a partnership that has been going on for more than three decades. ESPN and MLB were under contract through 2028, but they had an opt-out clause for earlier this year. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has reportedly complained that the league has 'not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN's platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage.' ESPN has been asking for MLB to take a lower rights fee — it reportedly wanted to cut it by more than half, down to no more than $200 million a year — though MLB had declined. ESPN first started broadcasting MLB games in 1990. It has carried regular season games, various playoff games, the Home Run Derby, its 'Baseball Tonight' show and more. The split marks the latest transition broadcast-wise for MLB, which has reached deals with multiple different streaming services in recent years — including Apple TV, The Roku Channel, Amazon Prime and more. Diamond Sports Group, which ran more than a dozen team's regional sports networks, went bankrupt, too. That has led some teams to have to start their own streaming services under the league's watch. If NBC is successful in landing baseball, it would mark the latest expansion the network has made in the sports world in recent years. NBC is preparing to start broadcasting NBA games on the network and on Peacock again next season, more than 20 years after it left the network.
