A look at what's happening around the majors today:STANTON RETURNSYankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is set to come off the injured list for a game against the Rays. Stanton has been sidelined since March 31 with biceps, shoulder and calf injuries, but seemed ready for a return during a minor league rehab start with four homers in five games. Stanton re-joins a stacked lineup that just added DH Edwin Encarnación via trade, and star Aaron Judge is expected to return from a left oblique strain in the next few days, as well.NO TOUCHYPadres star Manny Machado has denied making contact with plate umpire Bill Welke after being ejected for arguing a called third strike Saturday night and said he will appeal his one-game suspension and fine. MLB said the punishment, imposed by Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre, was for "aggressively arguing and making contact" with Welke. Asked if he made contact, Machado said: "Not that I believe." The 26-year-old Machado is batting .261 with 13 home runs and 39... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Tuesday:STANTON RETURNSYankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is set to come off the injured list for a game against the Rays. Stanton has been sidelined since March 31 with biceps, shoulder and calf injuries, but seemed ready for a return during a minor league rehab start with four homers in five games. Stanton re-joins a stacked lineup that just added DH Edwin Encarnación via trade, and star Aaron Judge is expected to return from a left oblique strain in the next few days, as well.NO TOUCHYPadres star Manny Machado has denied making contact with plate umpire Bill Welke after being ejected for arguing a called third strike Saturday night and said he will appeal his one-game suspension and fine. MLB said the punishment, imposed by Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre, was for "aggressively arguing and making contact" with Welke. Asked if he made contact, Machado said: "Not that I believe." The 26-year-old Machado is batting .261 with 13 home runs and... [More]

Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel finally have jobs, and each also has a chance to affect the playoff race in the National League.It was no surprise they both ended up with contenders. Kimbrel signed with the Chicago Cubs, Keuchel with the Atlanta Braves. If the season ended now, those teams would be in the postseason, and adding these pitchers could be the equivalent of making a major pickup at the trade deadline — only the Cubs and Braves did it sooner.Kimbrel's role with Chicago isn't hard to predict. The 31-year-old closer has 333 saves in his career, including 42 last year with the champion Red Sox. The Cubs have been without closer Brandon Morrow, who is coming off elbow surgery. They have some other relievers with closing experience in Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Pedro Strop, and even without Kimbrel, they're atop the NL Central at the moment. But slotting Kimbrel in as the closer could create a domino effect that makes the whole bullpen more imposing.Keuchel joins an Atlanta... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — After missing more than one-third of a season while waiting for the right offer, Craig Kimbrel found a home with the Chicago Cubs."Am I disappointed at where I am? No. not all at all. I'm very happy where I am," Kimbrel said Friday after the Cubs finalized a three-year contract that guarantees the closer $43 million.Kimbrel helped Boston win the World Series, then turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Red Sox in November and waited.And waited."I don't think waiting around trying to find out who I'm going work for the next year has really been the hardest thing I've been through," he said. "If anything, there's blessings as well. Good to be home, spend time with family."Spring training came and went. And still the 31-year-old right-hander did not get an offer he liked."We kind of understood kind of how the lay of the land was going throughout the offseason, the offers we were getting, the offers we were not getting," Kimbrel said. "I obviously had a lot of... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — After missing more than one-third of a season while waiting for the right offer, Craig Kimbrel found a home with the Chicago Cubs."Am I disappointed at where I am? No. not all at all. I'm very happy where I am," Kimbrel said Friday after the Cubs finalized a three-year contract that guarantees the closer $43 million.Kimbrel helped Boston win the World Series, then turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Red Sox in November and waited.And waited."I don't think waiting around trying to find out who I'm going work for the next year has really been the hardest thing I've been through," he said. "If anything, there's blessings as well. Good to be home, spend time with family."Spring training came and went. And still the 31-year-old right-hander did not get an offer he liked."We kind of understood kind of how the lay of the land was going throughout the offseason, the offers we were getting, the offers we were not getting," Kimbrel said. "I obviously had a lot of... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — After missing more than one-third of a season while waiting for the right offer, Craig Kimbrel found a home with the Chicago Cubs."Am I disappointed at where I am? No. not all at all. I'm very happy where I am," Kimbrel said Friday after the Cubs finalized a three-year contract that guarantees the closer $43 million.Kimbrel helped Boston win the World Series, then turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Red Sox in November and waited.And waited."I don't think waiting around trying to find out who I'm going work for the next year has really been the hardest thing I've been through," he said. "If anything, there's blessings as well. Good to be home, spend time with family."Spring training came and went. And still the 31-year-old right-hander did not get an offer he liked."We kind of understood kind of how the lay of the land was going throughout the offseason, the offers we were getting, the offers we were not getting," Kimbrel said. "I obviously had a lot of... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel has agreed to a three-year contract with the Cubs that guarantees $43 million in a big move to strengthen Chicago's bullpen.The team said Friday he passed his physical and will be optioned to Triple-A Iowa.Kimbrel gets $10 million this year — a prorated share of his $16,173,913 listed salary — and $16 million in each of the following two seasons.Chicago has a $16 million option for 2022 with a $1 million buyout. The option would become guaranteed if he has at least 110 games finished in 2021-22 combined, including a minimum 55 in 2021, and he does not have a non-temporary injury.He has a full no-trade provision this year, and a limited no-trade provision for 2020 in which he must by this Oct. 31 designate eight teams he can't be deal to without his consent.The addition plugs a major hole for Chicago, which has been beset by blown saves but is still tied for the NL Central lead. Brandon Morrow is going slowly after a setback in his recovery... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel has agreed to a three-year contract with the Cubs in a big move to strengthen Chicago's bullpen.The team said Friday he passed his physical and will be optioned to Triple-A Iowa.The addition plugs a major hole for Chicago, which has been beset by blown saves but is still tied for the NL Central lead. Brandon Morrow is going slowly after a setback in his recovery from offseason elbow surgery, and Pedro Strop just returned after another hamstring injury.Even before the deal was announced Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he thought Kimbrel would be ready to pitch in about three weeks."I would imagine in the position that's he's been in, he had some kind of a strategy of program mapped out," Maddon said Thursday. "The first thing you do is find out and then set up program. You think about a three-week window, normally it sounds right."Once Kimbrel is ready to go, Strop will likely move back to his usual setup role and Steve Cishek will be freed up... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel has agreed to a contract with the Cubs in a big move to strengthen Chicago's bullpen.The team said Friday he passed his physical. Contract terms were not disclosed.The addition plugs a major hole for Chicago, which has been beset by blown saves but is still tied for the NL Central lead. Brandon Morrow is going slowly after he had a setback in his recovery from offseason elbow surgery, and Pedro Strop just returned after being sidelined by another hamstring injury.Even before the deal was announced Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he thought Kimbrel would be ready to pitch in about three weeks."I would imagine in the position that's he's been in, he had some kind of a strategy of program mapped out," Maddon said Thursday. "The first thing you do is find out and then set up program. You think about a three-week window, normally it sounds right."Once Kimbrel is ready to go, Strop will likely move back to his usual setup role and Steve Cishek will... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel has agreed to a contract with the Chicago Cubs.The team said Friday he has passed his physical. Contract terms were not disclosed.The addition plugs a major hole for Chicago, which has been beset by blown saves. Brandon Morrow is going slowly after he had a setback in his recovery from offseason elbow surgery, and Pedro Strop just returned after being sidelined by another hamstring injury.The 31-year-old Kimbrel has 333 career saves and a 1.91 ERA over nine seasons with Atlanta, San Diego and Boston. The hard-throwing right-hander also is averaging an exceptional 14.7 strikeouts per nine innings for his career.___Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — Cubs manager Joe Maddon is projecting how to use Craig Kimbrel, even before Chicago announces a deal with the free agent closer.Maddon said Thursday he thought the 31-year-old right-hander might be ready to pitch in about three weeks."I would imagine in the position that's he's been in, he had some kind of a strategy of program mapped out," Maddon said. "The first thing you do is find out and then set up program. You think about a three-week window, normally it sounds right. Think about relief pitchers in spring training. Conventionally it would be like that kind of a window. But you've got to talk to the guy first and see what he's been doing."Kimbrel, who has 333 saves and a 1.91 ERA over nine major league seasons, turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from Boston last November and remained a free agent. Starting this week, a team could sign him without the loss of amateur draft picks or international signing bonus pool allocation.Chicago's bullpen has 11 blown saves this year. Brandon Morrow has not returned from offseason elbow surgery, and Pedro Strop came back Tuesday from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since May 6. Strop and Steve Cishek have been closing."When you get a guy like Kimbrel, whoever was being utilized, who was in that role easily steps aside," he said. "When the whole group realize this makes us better, then everybody falls in line."___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Using the search engine at Baseball-Reference.com, The Associated Press evaluated each team's draft performance from 1996 through 2018, adding up wins above replacement (WAR) figures for drafted players.For each pick, the player's career WAR was added to the appropriate total for the team, depending on whether or not the player signed with the team after being drafted. Some players had their WAR totals included multiple times, if they were drafted more than once.Stats are through May 25. Compensation picks were considered part of the first round where applicable.___ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKSTotal WAR for all drafted players: 581.8 (MLB rank: 4th)Total WAR for drafted players who signed: 440.1 (rank: 5th)Total WAR for drafted players who did not sign: 141.7Impact players (10 WAR or more) drafted: 17 (rank: tie-9th)Impact players drafted and signed: 13 (rank: 12th)Most recent impact player drafted and signed: Trevor Bauer, 2011, first round, pick No. 3 (15.2 WAR)Lowest pick for impact player drafted... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:EVEN MORE FREEAll-Star starter Dallas Keuchel and imposing closer Craig Kimbrel, the last two top free agents on the market, can sign without their new teams having to forfeit amateur draft picks as compensation. Both turned down $17.9 million qualifying offers in November, Keuchel from Houston and Kimbrel from the World Series champion Boston Red Sox. Under baseball's labor contract, compensation is eliminated for free agents who sign starting on the day the amateur draft begins.Before Monday, a new team signing either player would have lost at least one draft pick and possibly two, and some teams would have lost international signing bonus allocation.PICK 'EMThe Baltimore Orioles make the first selection when the Major League Baseball draft begins at MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.The top prospects include Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman, Texas high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. — son of the former big league pitcher... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Monday:EVEN MORE FREEAll-Star starter Dallas Keuchel and imposing closer Craig Kimbrel, the last two top free agents on the market, can sign without their new teams having to forfeit amateur draft picks as compensation. Both turned down $17.9 million qualifying offers in November, Keuchel from Houston and Kimbrel from the World Series champion Boston Red Sox. Under baseball's labor contract, compensation is eliminated for free agents who sign starting on the day the amateur draft begins.Before Monday, a new team signing either player would have lost at least one draft pick and possibly two, and some teams would have lost international signing bonus allocation.PICK 'EMThe Baltimore Orioles make the first selection when the Major League Baseball draft begins at MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.The top prospects include Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman, Texas high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. — son of the former big league pitcher... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel, the last two top free agents on the market, can sign starting Monday without their new teams having to forfeit amateur draft picks as compensation.Both turned down $17.9 million qualifying offers in November, Keuchel from Houston and Kimbrel from the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.Under baseball's labor contract, compensation is eliminated for free agents who sign starting on the day the amateur draft begins.Keuchel, a 31-year-old left-hander, was 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in 34 starts last season for the Astros. A two-time All-Star, he won the AL Cy Young Award in 2015. He struck out 216 that year, but he fanned 153 last season, when he had a $13.2 million, one-year deal.He is 76-63 with a 3.66 ERA in seven major league seasons, all with the Astros.Kimbrel is a seven-time All-Star who led the NL in saves in both 2013 and 2014 after tying for the lead in 2011 and 2012. The 31-year-old right-hander has 333 saves in 367 chances... [More]

May 261916 — Benny Kauff of the Giants was picked off first base three times by Boston's Lefty Tyler. The miscues didn't hurt as New York won its 14th consecutive road victory beating the Braves, 12-1.1925 — In Detroit's 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, Ty Cobb became the first to collect 1,000 career extra-base hits. He finished his career with 1,139.1929 — Pinch-hitters Pat Crawford of the Giants and Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit grand slams in New York's 15-9 victory.1930 — Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians, who fanned only three times in 353 at-bats during the season, was struck out twice in the same game by Pat Caraway of the White Sox.1933 — Philadelphia's Chuck Klein hit for cycle in a 5-4 14-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Dizzy Dean went the distance for St. Louis.1937 — Billy Sullivan and Bruce Campbell appeared for the Cleveland Indians as pinch hitters. Each hit a home run, making it the first time two American League pinch hitters hit home runs in the same... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Big deals for Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and others that included large signing bonuses masked an otherwise flat market for the second straight offseason that caused Major League Baseball's opening-day payrolls to drop by $43 million for 2019.Payrolls, however, rose by $131 million when using the averages of multiyear contracts. Following a winter in which many journeymen took cuts, a string of stars signed huge long-term agreements during March and April.Since the end of last season, teams agreed to a record $4.195 billion in guarantees beyond 2019, breaking the previous mark for out-year commitments of $3.414 billion set following the 2013 season, according to figures compiled by the commissioner's office and obtained by The Associated Press.Just three teams are on track to pay the luxury tax. World Series champion Boston projects to owe $11.8 million, the Chicago Cubs $5.3 million and the New York Yankees just under $4 million. Figures will fluctuate during the season because... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Big deals for Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and others that included large signing bonuses masked an otherwise flat market for the second straight offseason that caused Major League Baseball's opening-day payrolls to drop by $43 million for 2019.Payrolls, however, rose by $131 million when using the averages of multiyear contracts. Following a winter in which many journeymen took cuts, a string of stars signed huge long-term deals during March and April.Since the end of last season, teams agreed to a record $4.195 billion in guarantees beyond 2019, breaking the previous mark for out-year commitments of $3.414 billion set following the 2013 season, according to figures compiled by the commissioner's office and obtained by The Associated Press.Just three teams are on track to pay luxury tax. World Series champion Boston projects to owe $11.8 million, the Chicago Cubs $5.3 million and the New York Yankees just under $4 million. Figures will fluctuate during the season due to roster... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:CLOSER NEEDEDThe Braves have a big hole in their bullpen now that closer Arodys Vizcaino will miss the rest of the season after having right shoulder surgery. General manager Alex Anthopoulos has heard fans chanting at SunTrust Park for the team to sign free agent closer Craig Kimbrel and bring him back to Atlanta, and he indicated the Braves are exploring all available options."There's been a ton of turnover from the beginning of camp to where we are today," Anthopoulos said. "I think it goes without saying we're going to look to do what we can both internally and externally."The NL East champion Braves have recently used A.J. Minter as their closer, but he's struggled.DISCIPLINE DAY?Major League Baseball will certainly review at the bench-clearing fray that erupted after Kansas City's Brad Keller drilled Tim Anderson with a fastball on Wednesday. In his previous at-bat, the energetic White Sox shortstop had spiked his bat to celebrate... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Thursday:CLOSER NEEDEDThe Braves have a big hole in their bullpen now that closer Arodys Vizcaino will miss the rest of the season after having right shoulder surgery. General manager Alex Anthopoulos has heard fans chanting at SunTrust Park for the team to sign free agent closer Craig Kimbrel and bring him back to Atlanta, and he indicated the Braves are exploring all available options."There's been a ton of turnover from the beginning of camp to where we are today," Anthopoulos said. "I think it goes without saying we're going to look to do what we can both internally and externally."The NL East champion Braves have recently used A.J. Minter as their closer, but he's struggled.DISCIPLINE DAY?Major League Baseball will certainly review at the bench-clearing fray that erupted after Kansas City's Brad Keller drilled Tim Anderson with a fastball on Wednesday. In his previous at-bat, the energetic White Sox shortstop had spiked his bat to celebrate... [More]