MLB

7:00 AM ET Who will be the best player of the 2023 MLB season? Opening Day is almost here, which means it’s time to break down how baseball’s elite stack up to each other. To create our annual MLB Rank list of the top 100 players in the sport, we presented a panel of ESPN

12:52 PM ET MIAMI — In 2021, Randy Arozarena put on a green Mexico jersey, logged into his Instagram account and delivered a video message he hoped would be heard by the country’s president. He wanted to be made a citizen and expedite the process as quickly as possible so he could represent Mexico in

3:52 PM ET ESPN News Services Houston Astros star second baseman Jose Altuve had surgery to repair a fractured right thumb and will not resume baseball activities for at least two months, general manager Dana Brown said Wednesday. Altuve, playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, suffered the injury Saturday when he was drilled

10:58 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” MIAMI — The dream matchup happened. Ninth inning. Two outs. One-run game. The best player on the planet, Shohei Ohtani, on the mound for Japan. His teammate and good friend, Mike Trout,

5:00 PM ET Weeks of exciting international baseball has all come down to this: USA vs. Japan. Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout. The final game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic is here, and the tournament’s two most dominant teams will be squaring off tonight in what should be an electrifying showdown. While the United

12:20 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” MIAMI — Truly understanding what the World Baseball Classic means took a little while for Team USA, which at its first workout March 7 realized it was far less a team than

7:08 AM ET Diamond Sports Group, which owns 19 regional sports networks (RSNs), has ventured into bankruptcy, a predictable development that will nonetheless have a major impact on the way fans watch games and the way teams profit off them. Diamond, a Sinclair subsidiary that is known to viewers as Bally Sports, stands as the

12:00 AM ET What’s at stake Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic final between the United States and Japan at Miami’s LoanDepot Park? Oh, just global baseball bragging rights for at least the next three years. It’s the matchup that most baseball fans have been not-so-secretly hoping for throughout the tournament — and it’s

7:00 AM ET Eric GomezMexico writer Three of the four World Baseball Classic semifinalists this year are among the most decorated baseball powers in the world. Sunday night, the U.S., the defending champions, defeated Cuba, who finished third in the inaugural event. Japan, the tournament favorite, has won two titles and never missed the championship

7:00 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Roki Sasaki is 21 years old, and in the eyes of some talent evaluators, he is already in the discussion for the title of best pitcher in the world. Yes, right there

10:43 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” MIAMI — The best No. 9 hitter in the world helped send Team USA to the World Baseball Classic finals. One day after his go-ahead grand slam saved its tournament, Trea Turner

3:25 PM ET MIAMI — Roki Sasaki, potentially the best pitcher in the world who’s not in the major leagues, will take the ball for Japan in its World Baseball Classic semifinal matchup against Mexico from LoanDepot Park on Monday, Japanese manager Hideki Kuriyama announced after his team’s workout Sunday. Sasaki, 21, has posted a

7:00 AM ET PHOENIX — Just over five months since he made his first MLB postseason appearance with the New York Mets, Pete Alonso was gearing up for another pressure-filled stretch of baseball — this time, for Team USA. “My first playoff experience was this past season,” Alonso told the gathered crowd at World Baseball

11:08 PM ET MIAMI — Trea Turner didn’t jog his way to first base. He hopped. Pranced. Flexed. Roared. With his team trailing by two in the eighth inning of its World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game against Venezuela, the Philadelphia Phillies‘ shortstop and Team USA catalyst unleashed a prodigious grand slam, providing the two-run lead

4:29 PM ET ESPN News Services PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo has a strained knee and ankle and will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis, general manager Billy Eppler told reporters on Saturday. “He woke up and had a little knee pain,” Eppler said. “So, we ended up doing

8:24 PM ET MIAMI — Mexico’s manager, Benji Gil, said he doesn’t believe his team should be playing until Saturday. Its quarterfinal game against Puerto Rico in this year’s World Baseball Classic instead took place on Friday night, which meant a tough turnaround for a team that was navigating the pool-play portion of the tournament

10:31 PM ET MIAMI — Trailing late against a star-studded Puerto Rico team, Mexico battled all the way back, stringing together a three-run seventh inning to steal a 5-4 victory in front of a sellout crowd at LoanDepot Park in Friday night’s quarterfinal. Mexico advanced into the semifinals for the first time in five World

3:16 PM ET Marly RiveraESPN Writer Close Marly Rivera is a writer for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com. MIAMI — Will one of the greatest hitters of all time follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest quarterbacks all time? Not according to Miguel Cabrera, who says he has firmly decided to call it a career