NEW YORK (AP) — Boston's Mookie Betts and Milwaukee's Christian Yelich were runaway winners of the Most Valuable Player awards after the 26-year-old outfielders each led their teams to first-place finishes with dominant seasons that included batting titles.Betts received 28 first-place votes and 410 points from the Baseball Writers' Association of America in balloting announced Thursday.Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, a two-time MVP, followed with one first-place vote and 265 points. Trout tied the record of four second-place finishes shared by Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Albert Pujols. Trout won in 2014 and 2016; was finished second in '12, '13 and '15; and was fourth in 2017.Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez was third with 208 points, and Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez was next with one first and 198 points.Betts hit a major league-leading .346 with 32 homers, 80 RBIs and 30 stolen bases as the leadoff hitter for the Red Sox, who won a team-record 108 games and... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich was a runaway winner for the National League Most Valuable Player award after helping the Brewers return to the playoffs for the first time in seven years.Yelich received 29 first-place votes and 415 points from the Baseball Writers' Association of America in balloting announced Thursday.Chicago Cubs infielder Javier Baez was next with 250 points, followed by Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado with 203. Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman finished fourth with 174, and the other first-place vote went to New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, the NL Cy Young Award winner, who finished fifth.Acquired from the payroll-paring Miami Marlins about a month before spring training, the 26-year-old Yelich won his first NL batting title — and the first in Brewers history — with a .326 average. He set career highs with 36 homers and 110 RBIs and had a 1.000 OPS.Yelich nearly became the NL's first Triple Crown winner since Joe Medwick in 1937, finishing... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Peace in baseball is at hand — well, at feet.Major League Baseball and the players' association ended a footwear flap Thursday, agreeing to loosen restrictions on the colors of spikes that may be used.Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber and Steve Cishek of the Chicago Cubs wore black spikes in May despite a warning from the commissioner's office that they were violating a regulation requiring that at least 51 percent of the exterior of a player's shoes be the club's designated primary shoe color. For the Cubs, that color is blue.The majority requirement was eliminated under the new agreement. Players may now wear shows with black, white, any colors on the team's uniform and additional colors approved by the team.Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says "we believe that this agreement strikes the appropriate balance between the shared goal of permitting players to express their individuality while maintaining reasonable restrictions on shoe colors and designs."The new rules take effect for next season."Players welcome the expanded opportunity to express themselves and engage with fans through innovative design," union head Tony Clark says.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom says he has not yet chosen a new agent after Brodie Van Wagenen left his agency to become Mets general manager, and the NL Cy Young Award winner is open to discussing a contract extension with New York.Speaking on Wednesday night after being awarded his first Cy Young, deGrom said he is still "trying to figure everything out" after Van Wagenen gave up his career as an agent to deGrom, Yoenis Cespedes, Todd Frazier and others to become the Mets' general manager last month.The 30-year-old right-hander is under contractual control with New York through the 2020 season. He says he is open to signing an extension with the Mets, but says no discussions have begun. He says his "goal is to continue to keep an open dialogue and just see where things go."Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon has said there are provisions in Van Wagenen's contract "to deal with any conflicts of interest." Some players and rival agents have expressed concerns about Van Wagenen flipping labor-relations roles.___Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake_Seiner___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander had just 10 victories, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.The AL prize also reflected a change in voters' values, with Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beating out past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first Cy Young. Snell pitched just 180 2/3 innings, fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter. Over full seasons, Snell is the second starter to win the award with fewer than 200 innings after Clayton Kershaw logged 198 1/3 in 2014."I definitely think the game has changed in that aspect," deGrom said."I feel like it's just turning more into quality of work and what did you accomplish in those innings," Snell said. "I think that's just the way it's going."DeGrom easily beat out Washington's Max Scherzer,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander had just 10 victories, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.The AL prize also reflected a change in voters' values, with Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beating out past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first Cy Young. Snell pitched just 180 2/3 innings, fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter. Over full seasons, Snell is the second starter to win the award with fewer than 200 innings after Clayton Kershaw logged 198 1/3 in 2014."I definitely think the game has changed in that aspect," deGrom said."I feel like it's just turning more into quality of work and what did you accomplish in those innings," Snell said. "I think that's just the way it's going."DeGrom easily beat out Washington's Max Scherzer,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander won just 10 games, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.DeGrom easily beat out Washington's Max Scherzer, who was seeking a third straight Cy Young and fourth overall. DeGrom got 29 first-place votes and 207 points from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Scherzer had the other first-place vote.Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beat out past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first AL Cy Young after leading the majors with 21 victories.In his first season after chopping off his distinctive long hair, deGrom cut down hitters from start to finish despite little help from teammates. He had a 1.70 ERA, the lowest in the NL since Zack Greinke's 1.66 mark in 2015. Yet the 30-year-old right-hander... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets has easily won the National League Cy Young Award, and Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays has edged out two past winners for the American League prize.DeGrom won just 10 games, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter. He got 29 first-place votes and 207 points in voting announced Wednesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Washington's Max Scherzer got the other first-place vote and finished second while seeking a third straight Cy Young and fourth overall.Snell narrowly beat Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first AL Cy Young after leading the majors with 21 victories.In his first season after chopping off his distinctive long hair, deGrom cut down hitters from start to finish despite little help from teammates. He had a 1.70 ERA, the lowest in the NL since Zack Greinke's 1.66 mark in 2015. Yet the 30-year-old right-hander went 10-9, eclipsing the low bar among starters set by Seattle's Felix Hernandez when he... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays has won his first AL Cy Young Award in a tight race over past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber.Snell got 17 first-place votes and 169 points in voting announced Wednesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America to 13 firsts and 154 points for Verlander. Boston's Chris Sale was third with 59 points.The left-hander nicknamed Snellzilla led the majors with 21 victories, and his 1.89 ERA was tops in the AL. The 25-year-old left-hander pitched just 180 2/3 innings, 33 1/3 fewer than Verlander, but his dominance was enough to sway the electorate.Verlander led the AL with 290 strikeouts while going 16-9 with a 2.52 ERA for AL West champion Houson. This is his third second-place finish since winning the Cy Young and MVP in 2011 with Detroit.Kluber was attempting to win his second straight Cy Young and third overall. He went 20-7 with a 2.89 ERA for AL Central champion Cleveland and led the AL with 215 innings.The NL prize was to be announced later Wednesday.___Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake_Seiner___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Indians traded one of their extra pieces. They're keeping their bigger ones — for now.Cleveland began what could be a busy offseason on Wednesday by dealing versatile infielder Erik Gonzalez to the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a five-player swap.The AL Central champions sent the 27-year-old Gonzalez, who appeared in 81 games for the Indians last season, along with minor league right-handers Tahnaj Thomas and Dante Mendoza to the Pirates for outfielder Jordan Luplow and infielder Max Moroff.Gonzalez batted .265 with one homer and 16 RBIs last season for Cleveland, which signed the Dominican native in 2009. And while he filled a valuable utility role, he was not going to crack the starting lineup behind All-Stars Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez."That was a tough thing for us," Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. "We've had multiple conversations with Erik about it. He's done so many things to impact the organization in his time with us, from... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Bob Melvin's job was a lot different as a rookie manager with Seattle in 2002, and even when he was voted Manager of the Year with Arizona in 2007 and Oakland in 2012."Organizations and certainly front offices are more a part of it now, and you have to understand that," Melvin said Tuesday after winning his third manager award.Melvin won the American League honor after leading the Athletics to the playoffs despite the lowest opening-day payroll in the major leagues.Atlanta's Brian Snitker won the National League award following a surprising first-place finish, a reward for a 63-year-old baseball lifer who has spent 42 seasons with the Braves. He thought back to how he returned to the minor leagues in 1986, 1991 and 2004 after stints on the staff of the big league Braves."Hey, I've been recycled three times from the major leagues as a coach," he said. "Everything that I've been through I think has prepared me better to understand what these guys go through and what this job... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Oakland's Bob Melvin was voted Manager of the Year for the third time, winning the American League honor Tuesday after leading the Athletics to the playoffs despite the lowest opening-day payroll in the major leagues.Atlanta's Brian Snitker won the National League award following the Braves' surprising first-place finish.Melvin received 18 first-place votes, 19 seconds and one third for 121 points from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He is the eighth manager to win three or more times and is one shy of the record shared by Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa. Melvin won with Oakland in 2012 and took the NL honor with Arizona in 2007.His A's went 97-65 — a 22-win improvement over 2017 — even with a $68.6 million payroll when the season began. They overcame a 34-36 start to go a big league-best from June 16 on, even though Jharel Cotton, A.J. Puk, Sean Manaea, Brett Anderson and several other starting pitchers got hurt. They lost to the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright has had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for an injury that kept him out of the World Series.The team says Dr. Riley Williams operated Monday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Williams also performed a debridement to remove damaged tissue.Wright was removed from the Division Series roster following the opener against the New York Yankees, a day after reinjuring his left knee during a workout.An All-Star in 2016, Wright started the 2018 season late following recovery from left knee surgery and a 15-game domestic violence suspension. The 34-year-old right-hander made four starts and six relief appearances, went back on the disabled list in late June because of the knee, then returned in September.Wright went 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA in four starts and 16 relief appearances.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Yes, the narrative of Joe Mauer's career was missing a championship chapter. That plotline stalled for a few years while the star was set back by injuries.Still, this story of the Minnesota native with the smooth left-handed swing who played for the Twins the entire time sure was made for a movie.Six weeks after Mauer symbolically donned his catcher's gear for one last crouch behind the plate in the final inning of the season , Mauer formalized his goodbye to the game at a tear-filled-yet-cheerful news conference to wrap up a 15-year major league career at age 35."I've been fortunate enough to have the personal accolades, and I really do believe that's a byproduct of how the team does, and those things just come along with it," Mauer said. "But I'd want to be known as a great teammate, a great person, and a guy who gave it everything he had."Even the closing credits were memorable.Mauer carefully flipped through a stack of note cards over a 15-minute thank-you on Monday... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Starter Dallas Keuchel has declined the one-year qualifying offer the Houston Astros offered him.Keuchel could still sign with the Astros, but if he signs with another team before next year's draft the Astros will receive a compensation draft pick in the 2019 draft.Monday was the deadline for players who received qualifying offers to accept or decline them.Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young winner, was drafted by the Astros in 2009 and has spent his entire career in Houston.He went 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in an AL-leading 34 starts last season and is 76-63 with a 3.66 ERA in 192 games in his career.The 30-year-old left-hander's best season came the year he won the Cy Young when he won a career-high 20 games with a career-low 2.48 ERA in 33 starts.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Mauer is leaving the playing field after a 15-year major league career, but not Minnesota or the Twins.Mauer formalized his goodbye to the game on Monday at a news conference packed with people he's close to.With his wife, Maddie, due any day with the couple's third child, Mauer's focus in retirement for now will be fatherhood. He said he'll stay connected to his hometown team in some capacity and will raise his kids in Minnesota.Mauer joined the organization in 2001 as the first overall pick in the draft out of Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul. His eyes watered and his voice cracked as he thanked then-general manager Terry Ryan for taking him. Mauer was even more emotional when mentioning his gratitude to family members.___More AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

HOUSTON (AP) — It's a girl for supermodel Kate Upton and her husband Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander.Upton used her Instagram site to announce the birth of the couple's first child — Genevieve Upton Verlander — and the date Nov. 7. The site features a black-and-white photo of an infant with her hand to her mouth.Further details about the baby and where the child was born weren't released.Upton and Verlander wed last November in Italy, after the pitching ace helped the Astros win their first World Series. Upton in July announced the pregnancy, also on Instagram, in a post with the hashtag "pregnant in Miami."

HOUSTON (AP) — It's a girl for supermodel Kate Upton and her husband Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander.Upton used her Instagram site to announce the birth of the couple's first child — Genevieve Upton Verlander — and the date Nov. 7. The site features a black-and-white photo of an infant with her hand to her mouth.Further details about the baby and where the child was born weren't released.Upton and Verlander wed last November in Italy, after the pitching ace helped the Astros win their first World Series. Upton in July announced the pregnancy, also on Instagram, in a post with the hashtag "pregnant in Miami."

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Mauer is retiring after 15 major league seasons, six All-Star games, three Gold Glove awards, three batting titles and 2,123 career hits, all with his hometown Minnesota Twins."Thank you, Minnesota Twins, and thank you, fans, for making my career as special and memorable as it was," Mauer wrote in a full-page ad that will run Sunday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Because of you I can leave the game I love with a full and grateful heart."Mauer's eight-year, $184 million contract expired the day after the World Series ended, creating a natural parting from the game he grew up with in St. Paul, less than 10 miles from the downtown Minneapolis ballparks he called home with the Twins."The decision came down to my health and my family," Mauer wrote. "The risk of a concussion is always there, and I was reminded of that this season when I missed 30 games as a result of diving for a foul ball. That's all it took this time around and it was all... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Mauer is retiring after 15 major league seasons, six All-Star games, three Gold Glove awards, three batting titles and 2,123 career hits, all with his hometown Minnesota Twins."Thank you, Minnesota Twins, and thank you, fans, for making my career as special and memorable as it was," Mauer wrote in a full-page ad that will run Sunday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Because of you I can leave the game I love with a full and grateful heart."Mauer's eight-year, $184 million contract expired the day after the World Series ended, creating a natural parting from the game he grew up with in St. Paul, less than 10 miles from the downtown Minneapolis ballparks he called home with the Twins."The decision came down to my health and my family," Mauer wrote. "The risk of a concussion is always there, and I was reminded of that this season when I missed 30 games as a result of diving for a foul ball. That's all it took this time around and it was all I need to bring me back to... [More]