Category: Baseball

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American League Cy Young 2025

Tarik Skubal: +400 (bet $10 to win $50 total)
Garrett Crochet: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Cole Ragans: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Jacob deGrom: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
Gerrit Cole: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Logan Gilbert: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Framber Valdez: +1700 (bet $10 to win $180 total)

What to know: Detroit’s Tarik Skubal was last season’s winner in the AL, and for good reason. He won the pitching triple crown in the AL, leading his league in wins (18), strikeouts (228), and ERA (2.39). It was truly Skubal’s breakout year. Entering 2024, he was 23-27 all time as a starter and had a career high of 164 strikeouts back in 2021. Second on the oddsboard is Boston’s Garrett Crochet, last season’s AL Comeback Player of the Year after returning from Tommy John surgery. Despite going just 6-12 as a member of the White Sox, he struck out a career-high 209 batters last season.

National League Cy Young 2025

Paul Skenes: +300 (bet $10 to win $40 total)
Zack Wheeler: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Chris Sale: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Blake Snell: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Corbin Burnes: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Dylan Cease: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Tyler Glasnow: +1700 (bet $10 to win $180 total)

What to know: Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes was so good last year, he almost won the NL Cy Young as a rookie, finishing third behind Atlanta’s Chris Sale (last year’s winner) and Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler. Skenes’ 1.96 ERA would have put him well below Sale’s league-leading mark of 2.38, but Skenes’ 133 innings pitched did not qualify him to lead in that category. Still, in those 133 innings, he tallied an impressive 170 strikeouts. As for Wheeler, he opens in second on the oddsboard after finishing second in voting last season. He tallied 224 Ks in 200 innings pitched in 2024.

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Initially, the 27-year-old felt a “mega-painful” sensation after swallowing a bite of lettuce for 15 minutes, feeling the pain in his throat that eventually subsided. While May brushed aside any concern once the pain went away, his wife, Millie, urged him to go to the emergency room. 

That’s when he found out that the rupture of his esophagus was severe enough that he needed to undergo emergency surgery.

May described the surgery as “essentially a full abdominal surgery.” 

At the time, May was set to commence a rehab stint in the minors, as he was working his way back to the majors after undergoing a Tommy John revision and surgery for a flexor tendon injury.

Instead of making a comeback for the eventual World Series champions, though, May had to start at square one with his rehab. He couldn’t begin light throwing again until November and was advised not to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds for six months.

The whole situation caused May to view life in a greater sense.

“It just kind of gives me a different viewpoint on a lot of things in life,” May told the Los Angeles Times. “Just seeing how something so non-baseball-related can just be like — it can be gone in a second. And the stuff it put my wife through, it definitely gave me [a feeling] of, ‘Wow, stuff can change like that.’ It was definitely very scary.”

May was cleared to begin full-strength training in January. He’s hoping to play a role in the Dodgers’ loaded rotation that could include the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Rori Sasaki when the season opens. 

But May, who was one of the Dodgers’ top prospects when he made his MLB debut in 2019, has only made 46 appearances since 2019, with 2020 being the only time he’s started at least 10 games in a season. He’s 12-9 with a 3.10 ERA over his career.

“If I’m healthy, I feel like I have a spot on this rotation,” May said. “I just have to go out and prove that.”

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American League MVP 2025

Aaron Judge: +300 (bet $10 to win $40 total)
Bobby Witt Jr.: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Yordan Alvarez: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Gunnar Henderson: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Jose Ramirez: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Corey Seager: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Mike Trout: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: +1700 (bet $10 to win $180 total)

What to know: Last year’s winner is this year’s favorite. Aaron Judge won his second career AL MVP at the conclusion of last season, in conjunction with leading the Yankees to their first World Series berth since 2009. He was also an All-MLB first-team selection for the third time, after leading baseball in home runs (58), RBIs (144) and WAR (10.8), and finishing third in batting average (.322). Second to Judge on the oddsboard is Kansas City’s young superstar, Bobby Witt Jr. Last season, at 24, Witt was the MLB batting champion (.332), an All-Star, an All-MLB first-team member, a Gold Glove winner and won the Silver Slugger Award. Sheesh — Judge has some competition.

National League MVP 2025

Shohei Ohtani: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Juan Soto: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)
Fernando Tatis Jr.: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Mookie Betts: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Bryce Harper: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Kyle Tucker: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Ronald Acuna Jr.: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Francisco Lindor: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)

What to know: Shohei Ohtani is in the same boat as Judge, opening the year as favorite after winning the NL MVP last season. He finished second in the league in home runs (54), second in RBIs (130), second in WAR (9.2) and fourth in batting average (.310). Most impressively, he became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, all while leading the Dodgers to a World Series title in his first season with the franchise. By winning MVP last year, Ohtani became the second player in MLB history to win MVP in both leagues (Frank Robinson). Second to Ohtani on the oddsboard is Juan Soto, who, at 26, is a three-time All-MLB first-team selection but has never won an MVP. He just signed the largest contract in MLB history this offseason, joining the Mets on a 15-year, $765 million contract.

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It did not mean he agreed with it.

“I know where I stand,” he continued.

Trout has played in just 266 of a possible 648 games over the last four injury-riddled seasons. During that time, though, he ranks fourth in OPS among players with at least 1,000 plate appearances. He is also the only player worth at least 12 WAR in fewer than 300 games played over that stretch.

When Trout’s on the field, the 33-year-old remains one of baseball’s star talents, even if he’s not the perennial MVP candidate he was throughout the 2010s.

“When he plays, we’re different,” general manager Perry Minasian said. “When his name’s in the lineup, and you walk to the park and you look at the lineup, it just feels different.”

Though the last couple of years have represented a decline from his peak form, Trout still hit 32% better than the league average in 2023 and 40% better in his brief showing last season before he tore the meniscus in his left knee twice, requiring two separate surgeries.

So, while he understands why some might look at his absences and think there are 38 players better than him right now, the injuries haven’t diminished his self-belief or lessened his confidence in what he can accomplish. MLB’s ranking, Trout said, is just another source of motivation.

“I know what I’m capable of,” Trout said. “Last couple years have been tough, some fluke things. I’m trying to put myself in the best position to be out there for the whole season, and there’s obviously things I can improve on, and we’re working on that.”

The Angels are working on it, too.

It has been more than 10 years — 4,186 days, to be exact — since the last time Trout played a position other than center field. Trout was 22 years old on Sept. 2, 2013, when he saw action in left field. It was even longer, back when Trout was 20 years old during the 2012 season, the last time he logged an inning in right field.

Now, that latter spot will be his home for the foreseeable future.

In an effort to preserve Trout’s health and keep Taylor Ward in left field, Minasian and manager Ron Washington told Trout on Sunday that he’ll be bumping over to right. Trout will also mix in some days at designated hitter — perhaps once a week, Washington confirmed — but his time as the club’s full-time center fielder is over.

“I knew it was coming,” Trout said, “just got to get used to it. I just want to be on the field.”

Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak will get most of the reps in center. Adell was a Gold Glove finalist in right field last season, while Moniak played 98 games in center after Trout’s injury. The biggest adjustment for any player moving from center to right, Moniak said, is the angles.

“Center field, you’re kind of straight on, squared up to the hitter and pitcher,” Moniak explained. “Balls coming off the bat, they tend to stay pretty true. When you’re playing right field, everything seems to be running away from you.”

Washington is not concerned about Trout’s ability to recalibrate.

“Mike is an athlete,” Washington said. “He’ll figure it out. The only thing that I think we’re concerned about, and we got with everyone, is the communication. We don’t need nobody running into Mike Trout.”

Trout appears amenable to the switch, much more so than he was three years ago. Before the 2022 season, Joe Maddon broached the idea of Trout potentially moving off of center. Twenty-four hours later, Maddon and the Angels backtracked. The concept was immediately shut down by Trout, who voiced his desire to remain in center while acknowledging that he might be open to moving to a corner spot “down the road.”

That road, after a litany of injuries the last few years, is now here.

“It’s just keeping him on the field,” Minasian said. “There’s no secret. He’s dying to play.”

Trout played in 53 games during the shortened 60-game season in 2020 and in more than 130 games each of the two years prior to that. He has not reached that 130-game mark in a season since.

In 2021, he suffered a season-ending calf strain while running the bases. In 2022, he dealt with a back injury that some briefly worried might be career-altering. In 2023, he suffered a hamate fracture in his wrist on a swing. Last year, he tore his meniscus in April and underwent surgery in May. He returned for a rehab game in July only to learn that he had suffered another tear just above the last one, requiring season-ending surgery. Over the last four years, he has made just 41 starts after the All-Star break.

While none of the injuries he sustained were a direct result of a play in center field, the Angels hope the move will remove some responsibility from his plate, give him a better chance to play a full season and create some memorable moments at a ballpark with a home-run boundary only 8-feet high at the right-field wall.

“I think Mike’s going to be one of the best right fielders in the game,” Washington said.

Trout said he didn’t do anything differently to prepare for the switch this offseason, but he plans on seeking out Torii Hunter, who joined the Angels’ staff as a special assistant last season, at some point this spring for advice. Hunter won nine Gold Gloves as a center fielder before making a similar transition to right at 34.

Trout also reported to camp a bit lighter than he had in recent years.

“I think that was one of my goals coming into spring,” Trout explained, “just feeling more like myself, a little faster.”

That goal falls in line with the one he had before last season, when he set out to steal more bases. He had as many in 29 games last year (six) as he had in his previous four seasons combined and was on pace for his first 30-steal season since 2016 before the injury. Despite the efforts being taken to reduce the wear and tear on his body going forward, Trout doesn’t plan on altering or limiting his aggressiveness.

He still believes he’s the best player on the field, even if his placement on the top-100 list suggests others are questioning it.

“Yeah,” he said, “stuff like that I think fires you up a little bit.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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As the Blue Jays have worked to secure a long-term extension for their franchise player this offseason, Guerrero replied “no” when asked if they were close to an agreement.

“They have their numbers; I have my numbers,” Guerrero said.

If Guerrero remains true to his word and doesn’t sign an extension during the season, he’ll almost certainly be the most sought-after free agent next winter. The 25-year-old has been one of the game’s best first basemen since he was called up in 2019, earning an All-Star nod in each of the last four seasons. He was one of the most productive hitters in the American League in 2024, batting .323 to go with 30 homers, 103 RBIs and a .940 OPS.

It stands to reason that Guerrero will also become the next player to receive a monster payday after Juan Soto inked a record 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets in December. Guerrero, though, insisted that Soto’s contract didn’t impact his negotiations with the Blue Jays this offseason. 

“Soto’s deal had nothing to do with my decision at all,” Guerrero said. “Even before that, I knew my value. I knew my number.”

[Related: Who could break Juan Soto’s $765M record? First look at future MLB free-agent classes]

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins maintained that their offers to Guerrero resembled the spike in salaries for MLB’s top stars, saying the team was “very, very aggressive” and “exhausted the communication, the ideas, the thoughts and communicated every dollar.”

“The offers that we made for Vlad would’ve been record-setting and would’ve made him one of the highest-paid players in the game,” Atkins told reporters.

Now, the Blue Jays might face a difficult in-season decision. With Guerrero heading for free agency, the Blue Jays risk losing him for nothing more than a compensatory pick. Guerrero has told those close to him that he would “love” to play for the Boston Red Sox, according to USA Today. 

Toronto could get ahead of that by trading him in-season, which would seemingly net a haul of another team’s top prospects and/or young players. But the Blue Jays are currently planning to keep Guerrero and will reassess a possible trade ahead of the deadline in July, ESPN reported.

Guerrero’s extension deadline aligned with the Blue Jays’ first full-squad practice of spring training. Toronto is seeking to make the playoffs in 2025 after missing it in 2024 following two straight appearances. The Blue Jays were aggressive and linked to many big-name free agents this offseason, but struggled to land the majority of the players they pursued. They were able to sign outfielder Anthony Santander, right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer, reliever Jeff Hoffman and second baseman Andrés Giménez.

Yet with the New York Yankees and Red Sox reloading this offseason and the Baltimore Orioles‘ young core still growing, the path for the Blue Jays to make the playoffs in 2025 presumably became tougher. As free agency looms for Guerrero, winning will be a main factor in his decision on what contract he’ll sign.

“My dad played a lot of years, and he never won the World Series,” Guerrero said. “And I always say my personal goal is to win a World Series and give the ring to my dad. So that’s all I’m looking for.”

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has already said he expects Yamamoto to start the opener, with Sasaki a possibility for Game 2 if he is ready in his build-up to big-league action. If Sasaki makes that start, it will represent the top international free agent’s highly-anticipated MLB debut after signing with the Dodgers in January. Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Imanaga will pitch in Japan, though he has yet to reveal if it will be the Opening Day contest.

Ohtani is expected to be ready to hit but not pitch in time for the series opener following offseason shoulder surgery and a 2023 UCL repair. Ohtani, despite not pitching last season, still won his third MVP award in his first year with the Dodgers in a historic 50/50 season.

Imanaga and Yamamoto are both entering their second big-league seasons and coming off exceptional rookie campaigns. Imanaga went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in an All-Star season that saw him finish fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and fifth in Cy Young voting. Yamamoto, who became the highest-paid pitcher ever when he signed a 12-year, $325-million contract with the Dodgers before last season, was 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA during the regular season and allowed one run in 6.1 innings in Game 2 of the World Series.

RELATED: ‘We were there when no one was’: The inside story on the Dodgers landing Rōki Sasaki

The 2025 Tokyo Series will mark the sixth time that MLB begins its regular season in Japan’s capital and the 25th anniversary of the first regular-season games in the country, which took place in 2000 between the Cubs and Mets.

It is also the second straight year that the Dodgers will begin their season in Asia, following last year’s Seoul Series in Korea against the Padres.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner. 

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When asked if he would be willing to become a designated hitter, without waiting for his interpreter to relay the question, Devers said, “No.”

The Red Sox signed Bregman on Saturday to a three-year, $120 million contract that includes a $5 million signing bonus. A two-time All-Star, Bregman has hit more than 20 home runs each of the past three seasons.

Landing Bregman was a key, the Red Sox hoped, to ending a stretch in which Boston has missed the playoffs five of the past six years.

Devers signed an 11-year, $331 million contract in January 2023 and has been even more productive in recent seasons than Bregman. Devers hit 28 homers and drove in 83 runs last season despite playing just 138 games because of an assortment of injuries. The year before, he had 33 homers and 100 RBIs while playing in 153 games.

That production and the financial investment by the Red Sox could give Devers some leverage in his push to stay at third.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora noted that Devers “was very vocal last year” about how the club needed to improve.

“The decisions that are going to be made here about roster construction and about what we’re going to do in the future, we’re going to make sure we have the best team possible out there,” Cora said. “(Devers) has a lot of pride. We know that. He feels like he’s a third baseman. He’s going to work out as a third baseman and then we’ll make decisions accordingly.

“I think here it’s not about Bregman or Devers or Cora. It’s about the Red Sox. Whatever decision we make is for the benefit of the team.”

Cora said Bregman could wind up at second or third base and Devers at third or DH.

“There’s competition here,” Cora said. “I think flexibility and versatility are huge for us.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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“I kind of threw everything on the table as in what’s best for me bodywise to keep me on the field,” he said Monday. “I came to the conclusion that I’m going to go to right field. I’ll try it out and see where it goes.”

Trout said there could be situations where he plays center field, but his focus will be on learning his new spot.

“I knew it was coming, but I’ve just got to get used to it,” Trout said. “I just want to be on the field.”

He also could see time at designated hitter and maybe get more off days.

“I’ve just got to be honest with them on how I feel,” Trout said. “They obviously will try to give me days off, but I want to be out there.”

He declined changing outfield spots three years ago when it was offered under then-manager Joe Maddon.

“Just look at my last couple of years,” Trout said. “I want to preserve the legs and go out there and run some balls down in right.”

Trout played just 29 games last season because of surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

He missed all but 36 games of the 2021 season with a strained calf, and Trout was out for several weeks in 2022 with a back injury. Trout then broke a bone in his hand in 2023, missing all but one game after July 3.

Maybe by making the move to right, the Angels will get more out of Trout, who dominated the league in his first decade in the majors and now makes more than $37 million. In his most recent MVP season in 2019, Trout batted .291 with 45 home runs and 104 RBIs.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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In addition, outfielder Trent Grisham pulled a hamstring a few weeks ago in training but is running at close to full speed.

“He shouldn’t be too far behind,” Boone said.

Bench coach Brad Ausmus pulled a hamstring badly in a pickup basketball game on Saturday, Boone said.

Boone referenced his own January 2004 injury, when he tore his left ACL in a pickup basketball game and missed the season — a mishap that caused the Yankees to acquire Alex Rodriguez from Texas.

“Obviously, I advise them not to do that, understandably, but he wanted to take his 55-year-old act out there anyway,” Boone said.

Asked whether he was on the other team, Boone responded: “Absolutely not.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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The Dodgers have ruled out Ohtani as a pitching option in Tokyo, about 280 miles south of his hometown in Japan, when they open the season against the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and 19.

Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said he’s hoping “sooner than later,” Ohtani will be cleared to pitch.

The 30-year-old Ohtani said he threw a sweeper for the first time on Wednesday, mixing it in with his other pitchers.

He is also recovering from a partially torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder, an injury from sliding into second base during the World Series. Ohtani has been able to take swings during workouts, but acknowledged his range of motion is limited.

Ohtani played 159 of 162 games last season as the team’s designated hitter and won his third MVP award and first in the NL and became the first in baseball to join the 50/50 club by hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases.

He capped 2024 by winning The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the third time, tying him with basketball great Michael Jordan. He trails four-time winners Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and LeBron James.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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