Mike Trout is about to cash in.Big time.Trout and the Los Angeles Angels are close to finalizing a $432 million, 12-year contract that would shatter the record for the largest deal in North American sports history, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.The deal was disclosed Tuesday by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been finalized. The contract was likely to be announced by the end of this week, the person said.Trout would set a baseball record for career earnings at about $513 million, surpassing the roughly $448 million Alex Rodriguez took in with Seattle, Texas and the New York Yankees from 1994-2017.Trout's latest deal would top the new $330 million, 12-year contract between Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies, and Trout's $36 million average annual value would surpass pitcher Zack Greinke's $34.4 million in a six-year deal with Arizona that started in 2016. The contract... [More]

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — The New York Yankees reached into the remainder of the free-agent market to bolster their ailing rotation, agreeing Monday to a minor league contract with Gio Gonzalez.If added to the 40-man roster, the 33-year-old left-hander would get a $3 million salary while in the major leagues and the chance to $9 million in performance bonuses: $300,000 for each start through 30. He was a far cheaper alternative to higher-priced options such as Dallas Keuchel."Being a couple guys down, to have a guy like him still available, a luxury to be able to add him just for some depth," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "He's certainly good enough to be very much in the mix of things. But we'll see how far along he is and if we're at a point where he's in play actually for the next couple, few weeks."New York ace Luis Severino is sidelined by right shoulder inflammation and will not be available until May at the earliest. In addition, CC Sabathia is likely to miss the first week or two... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Jung Ho Kang and Erik Gonzalez have won starting jobs in the infield with the Pittsburgh Pirates.General manager Neal Huntington said Monday that Kang has beaten out Colin Moran at third base and Erik Gonzalez has won the shortstop competition over Kevin Newman."It was not an easy decision because all four guys, in their own way, had legitimate claims to be the regular," Huntington said.Kang is just 5 for 28 (.185) with 13 strikeouts this spring but all five hits have been solo home runs. Moran was 6 for 28 (.214) with a double and a homer through the weekend.Moran, however, had committed four errors while Kang had two."The power has been real," manager Clint Hurdle said of Kang. "It's spring training, but it's five homers. We don't have anybody else that's hit five homers."Kang missed the entire 2017 season and the beginning of 2018 because he was unable to secure a work visa to travel from his native South Korea following a third DUI arrest. He then underwent wrist... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Jung Ho Kang and Erik Gonzalez have won starting jobs in the infield with the Pittsburgh Pirates.General manager Neal Huntington said Monday that Kang has beaten out Colin Moran at third base and Erik Gonzalez has won the shortstop competition over Kevin Newman."It was not an easy decision because all four guys, in their own way, had legitimate claims to be the regular," Huntington said.Kang is just 5 for 28 (.185) with 13 strikeouts this spring but all five hits have been solo home runs. Moran was 6 for 28 (.214) with a double and a homer through the weekend.Moran, however, had committed four errors while Kang had two."The power has been real," manager Clint Hurdle said of Kang. "It's spring training, but it's five homers. We don't have anybody else that's hit five homers."Kang missed the entire 2017 season and the beginning of 2018 because he was unable to secure a work visa to travel from his native South Korea following a third DUI arrest. He then underwent wrist... [More]

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — The New York Yankees reached into the remainder of the free-agent market to bolster their ailing rotation, agreeing Monday to a minor league contract with Gio Gonzalez.If added to the 40-man roster, the 33-year-old left-hander would get a $3 million salary while in the major leagues and the chance to earn performance bonuses. He was a far cheaper alternative to higher-priced options such as Dallas Keuchel."Being a couple guys down, to have a guy like him still available, a luxury to be able to add him just for some depth," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "He's certainly good enough to be very much in the mix of things. But we'll see how far along he is and if we're at a point where he's in play actually for the next couple, few weeks."New York ace Luis Severino is sidelined by right shoulder inflammation and will not be available until May at the earliest. In addition, CC Sabathia is likely to miss the first week or two as he recovers from an offseason that included... [More]

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Gio Gonzalez and the New York Yankees agreed to a minor league contract Monday.If added to the 40-man roster, the 33-year-old lefty would get a $3 million salary while in the major leagues and the chance to earn performance bonuses.New York had been seeking more pitching following a shoulder injury to ace Luis Severino, who will not be available until May at the earliest. In addition, CC Sabathia is likely to miss the first week or two as he recovers from an offseason that included knee surgery and the insertion of a stent after a blockage was found in an artery from his heart.Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka heads a rotation that includes lefties James Paxton and J.A. Happ. Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Cessa and Domingo German are competing for two open rotation spots.Gonzalez was 10-11 with a 4.21 ERA last year for Washington and Milwaukee, which acquired him on Aug. 31. He was 3-0 in five starts for the Brewers down the stretch, then started Games 1 and 4 of the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was pulled after two innings of the opener and one inning of his second appearance, allowing one run in each.Gonzalez is a two-time All-Star and was 21-12 in 2012, his first season with the Nationals. He just finished the second option season of a contract that wound up being worth $65.5 million over seven seasons.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees ace Luis Severino expects to resume a throwing program in two weeks.Severino will miss his scheduled start on opening day on March 28 because of right shoulder inflammation. He was scratched from his first planned start of spring training on Tuesday after feeling discomfort after throwing his first slider in a pregame bullpen session."It's going to be tough for a little bit, but it's better it happened now than into the season or at the end of the season," Severino said Wednesday. "I think it's something that we can treat now and move forward into the season and I'll be able to pitch."Severino underwent an MRI on Tuesday."I wasn't scared because I knew it was nothing bad," Severino said. "Nothing about my shoulder. I think it was something about my muscles."The 25-year-old right-hander will receive a cortisone shot."You get optimistic from the MRI," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Obviously it's a concerning situation until he's on the mound... [More]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees ace Luis Severino expects to resume a throwing program in two weeks.Severino will miss his scheduled opening-day start on March 28 because of right-shoulder inflammation. He was scratched from his first planned spring-training start on Tuesday after feeling discomfort after throwing his first slider in a pregame bullpen session."It's going to be tough for a little bit, but it's better it happened now than into the season or at the end of the season," Severino said Wednesday. "I think it's something that we can treat now and move forward into the season and I'll be able to pitch."Severino underwent an MRI on Tuesday."I wasn't scared because I knew it was nothing bad," Severino said. "Nothing about my shoulder. I think it was something about my muscles."The 25-year-old right-hander will receive a cortisone shot."You get optimistic from the MRI," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Obviously it's a concerning situation until he's on the mound for... [More]

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is headed for Tommy John surgery and out for the season. New York Yankees ace Luis Severino is shut down, too — at least through opening day.Hours after Severino stopped warming up in the bullpen because of an inflamed right shoulder, the Royals announced more damaging news Tuesday: Perez will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow, keeping the six-time All-Star off the field for the entire year.Perez hurt the elbow during a workout last week and said over the weekend that he was harboring a slim hope he might be able to play through it. Instead, he is expected to undergo surgery Wednesday."There was nothing that can prepare us for this. There was no information we had that led us this direction," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "Salvy was having no issues. He's asymptomatic. He has wear and tear, just like any 28-year-old catcher who's been squatting and catching since he was 12 years old. There was no warning sign... [More]

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is headed for Tommy John surgery and out for the season. New York Yankees ace Luis Severino is shut down, too — at least through opening day.Hours after Severino stopped warming up in the bullpen because of an inflamed right shoulder, the Royals announced more damaging news Tuesday: Perez would have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow, keeping the six-time All-Star off the field for the entire year.Perez hurt the elbow during a workout last week and said over the weekend that he was harboring a slim hope that he might be able to play through it. Instead, he is expected to undergo surgery on Wednesday."There was nothing that can prepare us for this. There was no information we had that led us this direction," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "Salvy was having no issues. He's asymptomatic. He has wear and tear, just like any 28-year-old catcher who's been squatting and catching since he was 12 years old. There was no warning... [More]

New York Yankees ace Luis Severino will miss opening day because of an inflamed right shoulder that acted up while he was getting loose for his first spring training start.Severino felt something wrong when he threw his first slider in the bullpen and was immediately scratched. He won't throw for two weeks, manager Aaron Boone said after a 5-1 win over Atlanta."Obviously, anytime a starting pitcher and a guy like Sevie walks off while he's warming up to start a game, you always get worried and concerned about that," Boone said. "But it sounds like the shoulder is pretty clean, it's just the inflammation issue. So if that's the case, then hopefully two weeks is something that will do the trick, then he can start ramping back up with his throwing program, but we'll re-evaluate it also at the same time."Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, CC Sabathia and J.A. Happ are also projected to be in the Yankees' rotation. Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga and Domingo German are possible short-term replacements... [More]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees ace Luis Severino will miss opening day because of an inflamed right shoulder that caused him to be scratched from his first scheduled spring training start on Tuesday.Severino won't throw for two weeks, manager Aaron Boone said after a 5-1 win over Atlanta."Obviously, anytime a starting pitcher and a guy like Sevie walks off while he's warming up to start a game, you always get worried and concerned about that," Boone said. "But it sounds like the shoulder is pretty clean, it's just the inflammation issue. So if that's the case, then hopefully two weeks is something that will do the trick, then he can start ramping back up with his throwing program, but we'll re-evaluate it also at the same time."Severino, a 25-year-old right-hander, was slated to face the Braves but was replaced by Stephan Tarpley after feeling discomfort after throwing his first slider during his pregame bullpen session."Obviously a bummer," teammate J.A. Happ said. "Glad to hear that... [More]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees ace Luis Severino will miss opening day because of an inflamed right shoulder that caused him to be scratched from his first scheduled spring training start on Tuesday.Severino won't throw for two weeks, manager Aaron Boone said after a 5-1 win over Atlanta."Obviously, anytime a starting pitcher and a guy like Sevie walks off while he's warming up to start a game, you always get worried and concerned about that," Boone said. "But it sounds like the shoulder is pretty clean, it's just the inflammation issue. So if that's the case, then hopefully two weeks is something that will do the trick, then he can start ramping back up with his throwing program, but we'll re-evaluate it also at the same time."Severino, a 25-year-old right-hander, was slated to face the Braves but was replaced by Stephan Tarpley after feeling discomfort after throwing his first slider during his pregame bullpen session."Obviously a bummer," teammate J.A. Happ said. "Glad to hear that... [More]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees ace Luis Severino will miss opening day because of an inflamed right shoulder that caused him to be scratched from his first scheduled spring training start.Severino won't throw for two weeks, manager Aaron Boone said after Tuesday's game against Atlanta.Severino was slated to face the Atlanta Braves but was replaced by Stephan Tarpley."When he was getting warmed up for the game, he just threw a pitch and felt something around the lat or back of the shoulder and just didn't feel right, so walked off," Boone said during the telecast on the Yankees' YES Network. "He's going to see the doctor and get an MRI this afternoon and kind of hope for the best."Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, CC Sabathia and J.A. Happ are also projected to be in the Yankees' rotation, and Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga and Domingo German are possible replacements.Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez are available as free agents.Severino avoided an arbitration hearing with the Yankees and... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Forget about this bullpen obsession for a moment. Believe it or not, plenty of big league teams are still anchored by well-armed rotations.In this age of openers and closers, with relievers starting games and starters rarely finishing them, it might seem starting pitchers have been devalued by executives all over baseball.Dallas Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner, is a 31-year-old free agent still looking for a job. Same for fellow lefty Gio Gonzalez, a two-time All-Star one season removed from going 15-9 with a 2.96 ERA in 201 innings.Meanwhile, short relievers like Zack Britton ($39 million), Jeurys Familia ($30 million), Kelvin Herrera ($18 million) and Joakim Soria ($15 million) had no trouble getting multiyear deals this winter.Doesn't anyone remember what Koufax and Drysdale did for the Dodgers?Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz with the Braves?"At the end of the day, your starting staff is the backbone of your team," Washington ace Max Scherzer said.... [More]

Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel won't be around when the bat and ball bags are opened at spring training throughout Florida and Arizona this week.They are among the dozens of free agents still looking for jobs, joined by Mike Moustakas, Marwin Gonzalez, Carlos Gonzalez and Gio Gonzalez.For the second straight winter, camps are opening with many rosters in exceptional flux."The market will sort itself out," St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said at last week's owners' meetings. "There is a long time between the end of the season and spring training, and there's maybe not so much a sense of urgency on whichever side it happens to be."Among the 164 players who exercised free agency rights at the end of last year's World Series, 84 had announced agreements on the eve of spring training. That is up from 65 of 166 at roughly the same point last season but down from 105 of 158 two years ago.Boston added J.D. Martinez last Feb. 26 and Philadelphia brought... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League Central entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad:___Milwaukee BrewersManager: Craig Counsell (fifth season).2018: 96-67, first place, lost to Dodgers in NLCS.Training Town: Phoenix.Park: Maryvale Baseball Park.First Workout: Feb. 14/19.He's Here: C Yasmani Grandal, OF Ben Gamel, 2B-3B Cory Spangenberg, LHP Alex Claudio, RHP Deolis Guerra, RHP Bobby Wahl, RHP Josh Tomlin.He's Outta Here: 3B Mike Moustakas, LHP Gio Gonzalez, LHP Wade Miley, OF Keon Broxton, OF Domingo Santana, 2B Jonathan Schoop, RHP Joakim Soria, LHP Dan Jennings, OF Curtis Granderson, LHP Xavier Cedeno.Going campin': The Brewers return mostly intact after making it to the NL Championship Series last year in the franchise's first playoff appearance since they also lost the NLCS in 2011. Grandal is a major upgrade behind the plate after he hit 24 homers last year with... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League Central entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad:___Milwaukee BrewersManager: Craig Counsell (fifth season).2018: 96-67, first place, lost to Dodgers in NLCS.Training Town: Phoenix.Park: Maryvale Baseball Park.First Workout: Feb. 14/19.He's Here: C Yasmani Grandal, OF Ben Gamel, 2B-3B Cory Spangenberg, LHP Alex Claudio, RHP Deolis Guerra, RHP Bobby Wahl.He's Outta Here: 3B Mike Moustakas, LHP Gio Gonzalez, LHP Wade Miley, OF Keon Broxton, OF Domingo Santana, 2B Jonathan Schoop, RHP Joakim Soria, LHP Dan Jennings, OF Curtis Granderson, LHP Xavier Cedeno.Going campin': The Brewers return mostly intact after making it to the NL Championship Series last year in the franchise's first playoff appearance since they also lost the NLCS in 2011. Grandal is a major upgrade behind the plate after he hit 24 homers last year with the Dodgers. There... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Mike Moustakas is becoming a free agent again, and so is reliever Joakim Soria.In addition, the Brewers exercised a $3,175,000 option on All-Star right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, who would have been eligible for salary arbitration if it had been declined.Moustakas declined a $15 million mutual option Tuesday.He rejected a $17.4 million qualifying offer and left Kansas City after the 2017 season but was unable to find a long-term deal he liked. He returned to the Royals in mid-March for a one-year contract that included a guaranteed $6.5 million: a $5.5 million salary and $1 million option buyout. Moustakas earned an additional $2.2 million in performance bonuses based on plate appearances, raising his total earnings for 2018 to $8.7 million.A 30-year-old left-handed hitter, Moustakas had a .251 average with 28 homers and 95 RBIs. He hit .256 with eight homers and 33 RBIs in 54 games for Milwaukee, which acquired him from the last-place Royals... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Mike Moustakas is becoming a free agent again, and so is reliever Joakim Soria.Moustakas declined a $15 million mutual option Tuesday.He rejected a $17.4 million qualifying offer and left Kansas City after the 2017 season but was unable to find a long-term deal he liked. He returned to the Royals in mid-March for a one-year contract that included a guaranteed $6.5 million: a $5.5 million salary and $1 million option buyout. Moustakas earned an additional $2.2 million in performance bonuses based on plate appearances, raising his total earnings for 2018 to $8.7 million.A 30-year-old left-handed hitter, Moustakas had a .251 average with 28 homers and 95 RBIs. He hit .256 with eight homers and 33 RBIs in 54 games for Milwaukee, which acquired him from the last-place Royals on July 27."I think he provided our team with what we were looking for when we acquired him: a powerful left-handed bat, he played a really quality third base and we had a... [More]