BALTIMORE (AP) — Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias was hired Friday to rebuild the Baltimore Orioles, who traded many of their star players last season before finishing with the worst record in the majors.Elias will carry the title of executive vice president and general manager. He will "oversee all baseball operations for the club and have full autonomy to build his staff and make decisions on all baseball matters," the Orioles said in a statement.Elias will be introduced at a news conference in Baltimore on Monday.The 35-year-old Elias comes to the Orioles after working as scouting director and assistant GM in Houston, where he helped transform a last-place team into 2017 World Series champions.Elias replaces executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette, who was fired with manager Buck Showalter in October after Baltimore's dreadful 47-115 season.One of Elias' first tasks will be to find a new manager. He can then turn his attention toward reconstructing a team... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias has been hired to rebuild the Baltimore Orioles, who traded many of their star players last season before finishing with the worst record in the majors.Elias will carry the title of executive vice president and general manager. He will "oversee all baseball operations for the club and have full autonomy to build his staff and make decisions on all baseball matters," according to the Orioles, who made the announcement Friday in a press release.Elias will be introduced at a news conference in Baltimore on Monday.The 35-year-old Elias comes to the Orioles after working as scouting director and assistant GM in Houston, where he helped transform a last-place team into 2017 World Series champions.Elias replaces executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette, who was fired with manager Buck Showalter in October after Baltimore's dreadful 47-115 season.One of Elias' first tasks will be to find a new manager. He can then... [More]

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Coming off a strong showing against a team of Major League Baseball All-Stars, Japan manager Atsunori Inaba has every reason to be confident about his team's chances of winning a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.Japan won the six-game exhibition series 5-1 against an MLB squad featuring National League Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna Jr., fellow nominee Juan Soto and veteran catcher and nine-time gold glove winner Yadier Molina.The tour was a chance for Inaba to gauge the progress of his young players ahead of the Olympics their capital will be hosting in less than two years. Players like 23-year-old Seiji Uebayashi and Sosuke Genda stepped up against the major leaguers and performed well."I told my players to play this series with Tokyo 2020 in mind," Inaba said. "We used a lot of young players and it was a valuable experience for them. I hope they continue making progress."The host country has set an ambitious target of 30 gold medals at the 2020 Games and few... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Marlins are in the midst of a rebranding campaign, and it's unclear whether the effort will include keeping National League Most Valuable Players for a change.As of now, the Marlins are merely making cosmetic tweaks, unveiling a new logo and color scheme for Derek Jeter's year-old ownership regime.The downtrodden franchise celebrated its new look at a red-carpet event Thursday night just as Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich was being named the NL MVP. That makes it two consecutive winners of the award traded by the Marlins last offseason, with Yelich joining 2017 MVP Giancarlo Stanton, now with the New York Yankees.The trades were part of a payroll purge and rebuilding effort under the ownership, and Jeter said he understands why the deals might make the franchise a target of derision."I get it. It's a complicated history," he said. "I understand that sometimes we take the blame for what has happened here in the past. We have to prove that wrong."We want... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mookie Betts is ready to become an ambassador for baseball, now that he's won a batting title, World Series and Most Valuable Player award with Boston."I enjoy being kind of a face around the game. I've kind of used this pedestal or whatever you want to say to spread knowledge that the game is fun," he said Thursday after his runaway victory for the AL MVP award.Milwaukee's Christian Yelich was close to a unanimous pick for the NL honor. A 26-year-old outfielder just like Betts, Yelich also won a batting championship and led his team to a division title. But while Betts has been with the Red Sox since he signed after the 2011 amateur draft, Yelich didn't join the Brewers until he was dealt to Milwaukee last January by the payroll-paring Miami Marlins."I'm thankful it all worked out because being traded, you never know how it's going to be," Yelich said. "Luckily for myself, it all went amazing."Yelich is signed through 2021 and his deal includes a team option for the following... [More]

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]

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]

ATLANTA (AP) — Flush with cash, the New York Yankees may take a run at Manny Machado.But first, the slugging infielder would have some explaining to do.Arriving in Atlanta for two days of owners meetings at a hotel next to the Braves' SunTrust Park, Hal Steinbrenner discussed the state of a team that has one of baseball's most dynamic young rosters but came up short in the playoffs the last two seasons.The Yankees owner has plenty of money to spend after coming in under the luxury tax threshold last season for the first time since the penalty took effect in 2003. While the top priority is starting pitching, New York is also mentioned as a contender for one of the winter's biggest free-agent prizes.Machado is a dynamic player but comes with plenty of baggage, including the reputation as a dirty player and his admission that he's "not the type of player that's going to be Johnny Hustle " after he jogged out a groundball during the NL Championship Series."Certainly, those comments are troubling,"... [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]

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

NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu was the only player to accept among the seven given $17.9 million qualifying offers by their former teams on Nov. 2.Ryu accepted the offer before Monday's deadline and is considered a signed player. He is just the sixth to accept among the 80 qualifying offers made since the process began in 2012.A 31-year-old left-hander, Ryu was 7-3 with a 1.97 ERA in 15 starts, sidelined from May 2 to Aug. 15 by a groin injury.Among those who didn't accept were outfielder Bryce Harper (Washington), closer Craig Kimbrel (Boston), left-handers Patrick Corbin (Arizona) and Dallas Keuchel (Houston), outfielder A.J. Pollock (Arizona) and catcher Yasmani Grandal (Dodgers).If a player who turned down a qualifying offer signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former club will receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports