With Rangers’ return secured, Martín Pérez is in an ideal spot to bet on himself again

But buckle up for some bad news if you think you're going to be able to sign an even halfway decent free agent for that amount, as that number is laughably deflated by the roughly 50 percent of pitchers who made less than $1 million as either arbitration or pre-arbitration players. A more useful number would be the average salary of starting…

As the sun rose Thursday morning and dawn broke on Bruce Bochy and the Texas Rangers' World Series celebration, for the other 29 teams, it merely marked the commencement of Major League Baseball's offseason. Seven Giants officially became free agents: Brandon Crawford, Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, Jakob Junis, John Brebbia, Scott Alexander and Roberto…

The Athletic has live coverage of Stanley Cup Final Game 2 featuring the Panthers vs. Golden Knights SUMMERLIN, Nev. - Whatever the reasoning for the perception, Anthony Duclair was trying to change the narrative about himself as a hockey player and a person. He had reportedly requested his way out of Phoenix. John Tortorella publicly scorched him,…

Earlier this week, as Zack Wheeler neared the end of a six-inning tuneup against minor leaguers on a back field at the Carpenter Complex, Aaron Nola watched. He wore camouflage shorts and a red shirt, and wasn't required to be there that late in the afternoon. But he came anyway. There is a mutual admiration between the Phillies' two…

SURPRISE, Ariz. - The early days of Jacob deGrom's Texas Rangers tenure have been, in many ways, much like his last days with the New York Mets. There was plenty of attention, even here behind Surprise Stadium, a world away from the harsh New York spotlight. Fans carried shiny new deGrom jerseys and hurried around the back fields, hoping he would…

MLB.com predicted the best Texas player in 2023 and he wasn't on the club in 2022. The Texas Rangers have made plenty of noise this offseason when it comes to starting pitching. One of those hurlers could be the team's best player in 2023, according to MLB.com. The site put together predictions on which player would be the best player for each…

Before the pandemic, the Cardinals were an extension happy team. Just look at the 2019 team. Paul Goldschmidt signed an extension in spring training a year before needed. Matt Carpenter signed an extension in April, over a year before needed. They signed Carlos Martinez to a five-year extension before he reached arbitration, locking up two free…

Thirty-three mostly uneventful days have passed on the Major League Baseball calendar since Ryan Pressly induced a Nick Castellanos popup to end the 2022 World Series. But as the baseball world descended on San Diego for the winter meetings this week, the transactions arrived in a flurry. So let's take stock of the first month of the offseason with…

Major League Baseball's 2022 winter meetings blew through San Diego like a three-day whirlwind, sending Justin Verlander to the Mets, Trea Turner to the Phillies, Willson Contreras to the Cardinals, Kenley Jansen to the Red Sox and "Arson Judge" into the pantheon of baseball's greatest Twitter moments. One of our biggest takeaways from the spending…

Though we're still waiting on the biggest, Aaron Judge-sized domino to fall, there have already been quite a few lucrative deals handed out in this year's MLB free-agency cycle. Eleven players have agreed to contracts worth at least $10 million per year, and there could be as many as 40 more at that price point when all is said and done. Not all of…

In franchise lore, the list of all-time Mets starting pitchers for a while now has looked like this: Tom Seaver, and somewhere below grouped closely are Dwight Gooden and Jacob deGrom. It will stay that way. As of Friday night, deGrom is the ace of the Texas Rangers after signing a five-year deal with $185 million guaranteed. He's a generational…

ARLINGTON - Martín Pérez bet on himself last year and liked the results. He's willing to do it again. Unable to work out a satisfactory longer-term extension, Pérez nonetheless stayed true to his vow to stay in Texas by accepting the Rangers' one-year qualifying offer of $19.65 million. The way he figures: Arlington is where he wants to be and if…

A week ago, Jake Odorizzi's agent called the Atlanta Braves to tell them everything was just fine with his client. He'd be happy to stick around another year and forgo the possibility of free agency. The Braves response: "Um, this is awkward." Atlanta had fully been expecting Odorizzi, a trade-deadline pickup from Houston, to opt out of his deal,…

It's a loaded 2023 MLB free agency class this year. Especially with starting pitching. We all saw how the Houston Astros rode starting pitching to the 2022 World Series title. Now several teams will be looking to copy that format by loading up on the top starting pitchers in free agency. Just how deep is starting the pitching pool? Nathan…

The annual MLB general manager meetings were held last week in Las Vegas, and the event is traditionally the rumor-filled calm before the storm. (It's also not to be confused with the winter meetings, which will take place in San Diego from Dec. 4-7 and is when a ton of wheeling and dealing goes down.) Free agents couldn't sign with new teams until…

The Texas Rangers extended the qualifying offer to 2022 All-Star pitcher Martin Perez which might signal a reunion with the lefty. ARLINGTON, Texas - During the 2013 offseason, Martin Perez inked a four-year, $12.5 million contract extension with the Texas Rangers. At the time, the then-22-year-old had pitched in a total of 32 games with the club.…

LAS VEGAS - It's easy to fall for deals that seem too good to be true in Vegas. Free drinks are hardly ever free. Odds at the craps table never actually favor the bettor. There is a reason it's called a "teaser" at the Sports Book. Nobody is losing money at their All You Can Eat buffets. It's a town full of hustles. Which is what made what happened…

MLB free agency gets underway in earnest on Tuesday with a plethora of top-end MLB talent potentially switching teams. Our amNew York staff weighs in on where they think the top 15 free agents will sign. Judge turned down the Yankees' seven-year, $213.5 million extension offer at the start of the season and made bet on himself that was a little…

Tyler Anderson was in that spot, wearing that uniform, for that moment. This was a goal from the second he signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Dodgers in March, with no guarantee of a chance to start nor for any job security beyond this bet on himself. The wager would put him on the mound on a rainy night at Petco Park as the man the…

Last offseason, as spring training was already underway, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine found themselves with an opportunity to land superstar Carlos Correa. With the New York Yankees willing to take on Josh Donaldson's albatross of a contract, the Twins had a hole and money to spend. No longer was this club going to start Isiah Kiner-Falefa at…

After missing all of 2020 and all but two innings in 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, this was always going to be a "prove it" year for Noah Syndergaard. He signed a one-year, $21 million deal with the Angels, hoping to show there's enough left in his surgically repaired, 29-year-old arm to be worthy of a long-term deal this coming…

There were 11 different players who received a contract of $100 million or more in free agency last offseason, led by Corey Seager who signed a 10-year, $325 million deal with the Texas Rangers. That list will likely be shorter this offseason, but there are still a number of high-profile players set to hit the open market, including New York…

WASHINGTON - The Nationals face an uncomfortable reality they've been all-too-familiar with over the years: Stephen Strasburg is hurt again. He hit the IL on Tuesday for the 15th time in his career and fifth time over the last three seasons. It came after he missed the first two months of the season recovering from last summer's thoracic outlet…

Elias Pettersson's contract situation is the most important domino for the Canucks' future. Vancouver's star centre is entering the final season of a three-year bridge contract he signed in 2021 which carries a $7.35 million cap hit. He'll expire as a restricted free agent next summer but will be eligible for unrestricted free agency just one year…

Swing big, Pierre, because this Sanderson kid looks good and the salary cap is about to explode. I'm sure that's the advice Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion received from his support staff in Canada's capital. And I agree: defenseman Jake Sanderson's new eight-year, $64.4 million contract - signed Wednesday - is a strong bet on a player that is…