17+ hour, 19+ min ago (267+ words) Japan's chances at defending its World Baseball Classic title received quite a boost Monday. "Thank you to all the fans for another great season," he wrote. "I'll train hard and look forward to seeing you all next year." Ohtani was nothing short of dominant in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He won the Pool B MVP during round-robin play and then took home the entire tournament MVP while leading his country to a championship. As a pitcher, he finished with a 2-0 record, save and 1.86 ERA, while as a hitter he slashed .436/.606/.739 with four doubles, nine runs scored and eight RBI. The two-way star was also a featured player in the tournament's biggest moment. His then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout stepped to the plate in the ninth inning of the championship game with the bases loaded and two outs. Japan was…...

21+ hour, 1+ min ago (251+ words) The New York Yankees may be a strange source for worries about payrolls being too high in Major League Baseball, but owner Hal Steinbrenner expressed "concern" about the Los Angeles Dodgers winning back-to-back titles. Los Angeles had the highest active payroll in the league last season and have certainly turned heads with moves such as deferring significant money to pay for stars such as Shoehei Ohtani. But that doesn't make it any less strange to hear such concern coming from the Yankees. After all, they were fourth in the league in active payroll in 2025 after they led the league in the category in 2024. And they have built up the reputation as being one of the sport's biggest spenders for decades, especially when Hal's father, George, was the team owner. There is a reason the Yankees were known as the Evil…...

18+ hour, 20+ min ago (290+ words) To hear Brandon Nimmo tell it, he was traded more because the Texas Rangers wanted him and less because the New York Mets preferred to get rid of him. "The Mets would not have brought this trade if they didn't feel like it put the Mets in the best position to win going forward," he said, per SNY. "They made it very apparent that they weren't actively shopping me but that the Rangers really, really, really wanted me." Nimmo had to approve the deal given his no-trade clause, and he opened up about that decision process as well. "From my perspective " I tried to familiarize myself with the Rangers and where they were at because this was going to be a huge decision for me," he said. "Spring training is in Arizona, we live in Port St. Lucie, Florida. We…...