TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Buffalo and elected to become a free agent.The 28-year-old spent the entire 2019 season on the injured list following surgery on his left knee."I look forward to what is in store for me, but I will always miss putting on that Blue Jays uniform and representing such a beautiful country," Travis wrote in a statement Thursday.He had a .274 average with 35 home runs and 153 RBIs in four seasons with Toronto.Acquired from Detroit in a November 2014 trade, Travis became the fourth player with the Blue Jays to homer in his first big league game.___More AP MLB coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Mets first baseman Pete Alonso and Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez have been picked as this year's top rookies by Baseball Digest.Alonso was a unanimous choice in the National League, and Álvarez received six of seven first-place votes to take the AL honor. The other one went to Eloy Jiménez of the Chicago White Sox.Alonso set a rookie record with 53 home runs for New York, becoming the first rookie to lead the majors outright in homers. He finished the season with 120 RBIs and a .941 OPS.Álvarez made his debut June 9 and batted .313 with 27 homers, 78 RBIs and a 1.067 OPS in only 87 games for the American League champions.Both players are finalists and favorites for the Rookie of the Year awards to be announced Monday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants have narrowed their search for a new manager to three finalists, a person with direct knowledge of the process said.Former Phillies manager Gape Kapler, Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro are the final three vying to replace Bruce Bochy, the person said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the candidates' names haven't been made public.Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi is taking his time making the hire. He has known since February that Bochy would retire.Others who had been considered were Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren, Giants coaches Ron Wotus and Hensley Meulens, and Athletics coach Mark Kotsay.The 44-year-old Kapler was fired Oct. 10 after two seasons in Philadelphia and a 161-163 record. With Bryce Harper their blockbuster acquisition, the Phillies finished 81-81 for their first non-losing season since 2012.Last week, Espada's Astros lost Game 7 of the World Series to the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Milwaukee closer Josh Hader just made the cutoff for salary arbitration eligibility with 2 years, 115 days of major league service.Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías also is on the list of 23 so-called Super 2s with 2 years, 117 days. The cutoff was down significantly from 2 years, 134 days last offseason.Miami left-hander Jarlin García just missed with 2 years, 114 days, and Arizona right-hander Luke Weaver had 2 years, 112 days.The top 22% of players by service time with at least two years but less than three are eligible for arbitration as long as they had at least 86 days of service this year. They join the older group of 3- to 6-year players.Players and teams are scheduled to exchange proposed salaries on Jan. 10, and hearings for those lacking agreements will be scheduled for Feb. 3 to 21 in Phoenix.The New York Yankees have four Super 2s: right-handers Luis Cessa and Jonathan Holder, left-hander Jordan Montgomery and third baseman Gio Urshela.Urías is joined... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg and Nationals outfielder Juan Soto have been selected as joint winners of the Babe Ruth award as postseason MVP in voting by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.They will be honored at the chapter's 97th annual dinner on Jan. 25 in Manhattan.Mets rookie Pete Alonso was named recipient of the Joe DiMaggio Toast of the Town award and the Ben Epstein/Dan Castellano Good Guy award on Wednesday. The Yankees' DJ LeMahieu was selected New York player of the year.Mets broadcaster Ron Darling, who returned to the TV booth in June following treatment for thyroid cancer, will receive the Arthur and Milton Richman You Gotta Have Heart award. Yankees radio play-by-play broadcaster John Sterling, whose streak ended in July after 30 years and 5,060 consecutive regular season and postseason games, will get the Casey Stengel You Could Look It Up award.Retiring Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was voted the William J. Slocum... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals manager Mike Shildt has a new three-year contract through the 2022 season.Shildt was hired in 2018 and his initial deal ran through 2020.At its end-of-season news conference Tuesday, St. Louis announced president of baseball operations John Mozeliak received a three-year extension through 2023. The Cardinals exercised a 2020 option on general manager Mike Girsch and gave him a two-year extension through 2022."What Mo and his group have accomplished since he took over in 2008 as the head of our baseball ops is pretty impressive," Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. "We've been in the playoffs seven times. We've had 12 consecutive winning seasons, two pennants, a world championship. ... We continue to have a robust farm system, which is not easy to do. When you have winning seasons, you don't draft high. But we've got a very strong scouting and player development group."Hired as interim manager to replace Mike Matheny on July 14, 2018, and given the job that... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Madison Bumgarner was among 10 free agents who received $17.8 million qualifying offers from their former teams on Monday, a move that likely will decrease demand for the 30-year-old left-hander.Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, went 9-9 with a 3.90 ERA over 34 starts this year after two injury-shortened seasons. San Francisco also made a qualifying offer to left-handed reliever Will Smith.Six pitchers received the qualifying offers among the 168 free agents, including right-handers Gerrit Cole (Houston), Stephen Strasburg (Washington), Zack Wheeler (New York Mets) and Jake Odorizzi (Minnesota). The others given the offers were third basemen Anthony Rendon (Washington) and Josh Donaldson (Atlanta), first baseman José Abreu (Chicago White Sox) and outfielder Marcell Ozuna (St. Louis).On the day before free agents can start negotiating contracts with all teams, Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez decided to stay in Boston instead of becoming a free agent, declining... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman and Oakland shortstop Marcus Semien are finalists for the AL MVP award.Trout is seeking his third MVP after winning in 2014 and '16. He finished second in 2012, '13, '15 and '18.Washington third baseman Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger and Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich are the top three for the NL honor. Yelich won last year's NL MVP award with 29 of 30 first-place votes.Houston's Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander are finalists for the AL Cy Young Award along with Tampa Bay's Charlie Morton, the Baseball Writers' Association of America said Monday. Verlander won the 2011 Cy Young with Detroit, when he also was voted MVP.New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom is a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award after getting 29 of 30 first-place votes last year. He is competing with Washington's Max Scherzer and the Dodgers' Hyun-Jin Ryu. Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young winner.Mets... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman and Oakland shortstop Marcus Semien are finalists for the AL MVP award.Trout is seeking his third MVP after winning in 2014 and '16. He finished second in 2012, '13, '15 and '18.Washington third baseman Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger and Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich are the top three for the NL honor. Yelich won last year's NL MVP award with 29 of 30 first-place votes.Houston's Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander are finalists for the AL Cy Young Award along with Tampa Bay's Charlie Morton, the Baseball Writers' Association of America said. Verlander won the 2011 Cy Young with Detroit, when he also was voted MVP.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Phillies have declined club options on left-hander Jason Vargas and right-handers Jared Hughes and Pat Neshek.Vargas was 1-4 with a 5.37 ERA in 11 starts with the Phillies, who acquired him on July 29 from the Mets. He gets a $2 million buyout instead of $8 million for 2020, and New York is sending the Phillies $2 million to offset the cost of the buyout.Hughes had a 3.91 ERA in 25 appearances with the Phillies. He receives a $250,000 buyout instead of $3 million for 2020.Neshek pitched 18 innings in 2019 and only 42 1/3 over the past two seasons while earning $16.5 million. He gets a $750,000 buyout instead of $7 million for 2020.Philadelphia said pitchers Jerad Eickhoff, Mike Morin, Blake Parker and Edubray Ramos and infielder Phil Gosselin all had refused outright assignments to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and had elected to become free agents.Pitchers Víctor Arano, Seranthony Domínguez, David Robertson, Robert Stock and Adam Morgan and outfielder Andrew McCutchen were reinstated from the 60-day injured list, and outfielder Odubel Herrera was reinstated from the restricted list.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Phillies have declined club options on left-hander Jason Vargas and right-handers Jared Hughes and Pat Neshek.Vargas was 1-4 with a 5.37 ERA in 11 starts with the Phillies, who acquired him on July 29 from the Mets. He gets a $2 million buyout instead of $8 million for 2020, and New York is sending the Phillies $2 million to offset the cost of the buyout.Hughes had a 3.91 ERA in 25 appearances with the Phillies. He receives a $250,000 buyout instead of $3 million for 2020.Neshek pitched 18 innings in 2019 and only 42 1/3 over the past two seasons while earning $16.5 million. He gets a $750,000 buyout instead of $7 million for 2020.Philadelphia said pitchers Jerad Eickhoff, Mike Morin, Blake Parker and Edubray Ramos and infielder Phil Gosselin all had refused outright assignments to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and had elected to become free agents.Pitchers Víctor Arano, Seranthony Domínguez, David Robertson, Robert Stock and Adam Morgan and outfielder Andrew McCutchen were reinstated from the 60-day injured list, and outfielder Odubel Herrera was reinstated from the restricted list.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Madison Bumgarner was among 10 free agents who received $17.8 million qualifying offers from their former teams on Monday, a move that likely will decrease demand for the 30-year-old left-hander.Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, went 9-9 with a 3.90 ERA over 34 starts this year after two injury-shortened seasons. San Francisco also made a qualifying offer to left-handed reliever Will Smith.Six pitchers received the qualifying offers, including right-handers Gerrit Cole (Houston), Stephen Strasburg (Washington), Zack Wheeler (New York Mets) and Jake Odorizzi (Minnesota). The others given the offers were third basemen Anthony Rendon (Washington) and Josh Donaldson (Atlanta), first baseman José Abreu (Chicago White Sox) and outfielder Marcell Ozuna (St. Louis).On the day before free agents can start negotiating contracts with all teams, Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez decided to stay in Boston instead of becoming a free agent, declining an option that would have... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Elvis Andrus is staying with the Rangers after the shortstop passed up on a second chance to opt out of his contract and become a free agent.Andrus has $43 million and three years left on his contract in Texas.He just completed his 11th season with the Rangers. The 31-year-old shortstop is the team's longest-tenured player, and the only player remaining from their only two World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.Andrus hit .275 with 12 homers, 72 RBIs and 31 stolen bases in 147 games this year. He is a .275 career hitter with 73 homers and a team-record 302 stolen bases.He also had the opportunity to opt out after the 2018 season, when he was limited to 97 games because of a fractured right elbow. The two potential opt-outs were part of the $120 million, eight-year deal he signed before the 2015 season.Texas also reinstated right-hander Jesse Chavez, All-Star slugger Joey Gallo and lefty Taylor Hearn from the 60-day injured list on Monday.Tim Federowicz elected to become a free agent after the Rangers assigned the catcher outright to Triple-A Nashville.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Twins have declined a $7.5 million option on left-hander Martin Pérez and made a $17.8 million qualifying offer to All-Star right-hander Jake Odorizzi.Pérez will receive a $500,000 buyout as part of a contract agreed to last winter that paid him a $3.5 million salary this year.The 28-year-old was 10-7 with a 5.12 ERA in 29 starts and three relief appearances this year, striking out 135 and walking 67 in 165 1/3 innings. He is 53-56 with a 4.72 ERA in eight major league seasons that include 157 starts and 16 relief appearances.Odorizzi, 29, was a career-best 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA and a career-high 178 strikeouts. He is 22-17 in two seasons since the Twins acquired him from Tampa Bay.Minnesota also said Monday the New York Mets claimed left-hander Stephen Gonsalves off waivers. Minnesota right-hander Kohl Stewart refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester and elected to become a free agent.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ATLANTA (AP) — The Braves are bringing back outfielder Nick Markakis in what will likely be a reduced role next season, but Julio Teheran's long tenure with the team could be over.Atlanta announced Monday it had re-signed Markakis and catcher Tyler Flowers to $4 million, one-year contracts for 2020 after declining their team options.Teheran, the first pitcher to make six straight opening-day starts for Atlanta, also had a club option for 2020. The team turned that down, making the 28-year-old right-hander a free agent after completing a $32.4 million, six-year contract."He's been here a long time," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. "He's been a big part of the organization."Atlanta opted against a $12 million option for Teheran in 2020, instead paying a $1 million buyout. The move was not unexpected on the heels of Teheran being left off the postseason roster after going 10-11 with a 3.81 ERA, though he was added back to the squad as an injury replacement when Chris Martin went down... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez has decided to stay in Boston instead of becoming a free agent, declining an option that would have voided the last three years of the contract he signed after teams had reported to spring training in 2018.The move saves the Red Sox from shopping for a new DH but also complicates their plan to cut salaries and get under baseball's luxury tax threshold. The team's payroll for the tax was a big league-high $243 million this year and Boston has made it a goal to get under the $208 million threshold for next season while also signing 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts to a long-term deal.Boston signed Martinez after a long negotiation in one of baseball's slowest-moving free agent markets since the collusion scandal of the 1980s. After hitting the fewest homers in the AL in 2017, the year after David Ortiz retired, the team needed a DH. And Martinez was still looking for a job as spring training began.To seal the $110 million, five-year deal, the... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pirates have exercised their 2020 options on pitcher Chris Archer and center fielder Starling Marte.Archer is scheduled to make $9 million next season and Marte $11.5 million following Pittsburgh's decisions Monday.A 31-year-old right-hander, Archer has struggled since joining the Pirates at the trade deadline in 2018 in a swap that sent right-hander Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Austin Meadow to Tampa Bay. Archer is 6-12 with a 4.92 ERA in Pittsburgh, including a 3-9 mark with a 5.19 ERA last season. The Pirates are in need of rotational depth with ace Jameson Taillon already ruled out for 2020 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.Archer agreed to a $25.5 million, six-year contract with Tampa Bay in 2014 that included two team options. The 2020 option carried a $1.75 million buyout. Archer's deal includes an $11 million option for 2021 with a $250,000 buyout.Marte, 31, is arguably coming off the best season of his eight-year career, hitting .295 while setting career... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Madison Bumgarner has received a $17.8 million qualifying offer from the San Francisco Giants, a move that likely will decrease demand for him in the free-agent market.San Francisco's decision Monday means a team signing Bumgarner would lose at least one pick in next year's amateur draft as compensation unless a deal is struck after the draft starts in June. Compensation caused pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel to wait until after the draft to sign 2019 contracts.San Francisco also made a qualifying offer to left-handed reliever Will Smith, who went 6-0 with a 2.76 ERA and 34 saves in 63 appearances.Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, all but said his goodbye to San Francisco on the season's final day.He didn't pitch Sept. 29 as originally planned in a 9-0 loss to the Dodgers on the last day of the regular season and manager Bruce Bochy's final game leading into retirement but drew a rousing standing ovation before lining out as a pinch-hitter with two outs... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Madison Bumgarner has received a $17.8 million qualifying offer from the San Francisco Giants, a move that likely will decrease demand for him in the free-agent market.San Francisco's decision Monday means a team signing Bumgarner would lose at least one pick in next year's amateur draft as compensation unless a deal is struck after the draft starts in June. Compensation caused pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel to wait until after the draft to sign 2019 contracts.San Francisco also made a qualifying offer to left-handed reliever Will Smith, who went 6-0 with a 2.76 ERA and 34 saves in 63 appearances.Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, all but said his goodbye to San Francisco on the season's final day.He didn't pitch Sept. 29 as originally planned in a 9-0 loss to the Dodgers on the last day of the regular season and manager Bruce Bochy's final game leading into retirement but drew a rousing standing ovation before lining out as a pinch-hitter with two outs... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez has decided to keep his contract with the Red Sox instead of becoming a free agent again.Martinez signed a $110 million, five-year deal after teams had started reporting to spring training in 2018.In his two seasons in Boston, the 32-year-old slugger has averaged just short of 40 homers and 118 RBIs, along with a .317 average and .985 OPS. He was fourth, behind teammate Mookie Betts, in the AL MVP voting in 2018, when the Red Sox won a franchise-record 108 games and the World Series.Martinez has three years and $62.5 million remaining on the deal: $23.75 million for 2020 and $19,375,000 for both 2021 and 2022. He had to make the opt-out decision Monday. He also has the option to opt out after each of the next two seasons, as long as he does not spend a lengthy period on the injured list.Boston had the highest payroll in baseball last season — $243 million for purposes of the luxury tax — and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports