PHILADELPHIA — A baseball offseason often unfolds like one of those if/then “Choose Your Own Adventure” children’s books, with the path to filling one roster need hinging on a previous move to address another.

In the Phillies’ case, Chapter 1 is all about Kyle Schwarber.

Because if the Phillies re-sign Schwarber — “a real ...Read more

The Dodgers, it turns out, chose the perfect costume in which to parade on this scariest of Halloween nights.

They were dressed as the Dodgers.

The Yoshinobu Yamamoto-firing Dodgers. The Mookie Betts-blasting Dodgers. The energetic-and-inspired Dodgers.

The listless team of the previous two games was gone. The inspired team of the previous ...Read more

TORONTO — On Wednesday, the longest night of the Dodgers’ season got dragged into the early hours of the next morning.

In Game 5 of the World Series, the team had been embarrassed on its home field, getting shut down and outplayed in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays that sent them to the airport with their season on the brink.

When the ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — "In Pittsburgh, we need to be making bets on guys that are not proven." — Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, Sept. 30, 2025

Talk about stoking excitement. Cherington got this offseason off to a rousing start with those immortal words. And they should probably be our guide as we morbidly await a critical offseason and ...Read more

TORONTO — It was a miserably cold, rainy and gray afternoon outside Rogers Centre on Thursday.

Inside the stadium, however, the Los Angeles Dodgers found some rays of emotional sunshine.

No, this is not where the team wanted to be, facing a 3-2 deficit in the World Series entering Game 6 on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.

And ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Age didn’t limit Blake Butera as he rose through the Rays minor league department, managing the first of four seasons at 25 — barely older than his players — and being named senior director of player development at 31.

Now 33, Butera is set to be hired as manager of the Washington Nationals — the youngest to lead a big ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Born a Midwesterner, adopted by Southerners, Tony Vitello was a long way from home when he was introduced Thursday as the next manager of the San Francisco Giants. It wasn’t, however, the first time the 47-year-old headed west while charting unfamiliar terrain.

“He was probably the most passionate about baseball of all the...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — New Giants manager Tony Vitello has a message for the fan base on his first day of work:

He has no idea how this is going to go.

“I wish I had an answer in my own head to be honest with you,” Vitello said. “Because as I first got here, I was like, man, there are a lot of unknowns.”

There sure are.

Vitello is the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Was Edgardo Henriquez the best option to pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the seventh inning with two outs and runners on the corners?

Maybe, maybe not.

And that was the problem.

The problem was that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't have a choice that was clearly better than to place the game in the hands of a hard-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — You remember the stickers. You might even have one yourself.

They were the stickers that reproduced the Fox Sports score box, showing the New York Yankees leading the Dodgers, 5-0, with two outs in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series.

The Dodgers would clinch the series that night, because the Yankees imploded in ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Braves’ manager search now is in its fourth week.

That’s a healthy amount of time to hire a manager. But by the standards of president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos, it’s possibly not enough at all.

That’s why growing speculation that the hire will be Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach Danny ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — I’ve seen plenty of player-management spats over the years, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one as strange as that which has unfolded between Bryce Harper and Dave Dombrowski.

In a span of less than two weeks, we went from Dombrowski comparing Harper to a player who is currently batting third for a team two wins away from...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A week ago, the Dodgers finally seemed to be reaching their long-elusive ceiling.

They had won nine of their first 10 postseason games. They were coupling historic starting pitching with opportunistic offense and just enough production out of the bullpen. They were seen as heavy World Series favorites against the Toronto Blue ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Unfathomable. Unwatchable. Unbearable.

Undone.

The richest team in baseball is splitting apart at the seams, tearing under stress, fraying beyond recognition, collecting on the floor of the 2025 baseball season in heaping piles of disappointment.

Soon, the supposedly greatest collection of players in Dodgers history could be ...Read more

SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners fans can still feel the sting of the Toronto Blue Jays’ comeback win in Game 7 of the ALCS last week. While Seattleites grieve the end of their team’s most successful postseason run ever and put dreams of a World Series debut to bed, it’s not all bad news for the Emerald City.

Approximately 250 Blue Jays fans ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Derek Shelton, who coached for the Minnesota Twins under both Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli, will succeed Baldelli as the team’s manager.

The hiring was confirmed Wednesday by a source with knowledge of the move.

Shelton was manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates for six seasons, starting in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani wore the same mask of calm that he always wears.

He spoke with detachment, as he often does.

By the time Ohtani walked into the interview room at Dodger Stadium after his team's 6-2 defeat in Game 4 of the World Series, however, he was already devising his redemption.

"Of course, I'd like to prepare to be ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — If your lineup decisions are making international headlines, that is generally not a sign that your offense is running smoothly.

On Tuesday, the South Korean news site Chosun presented its readers with this headline:

"Hyesong Kim Benched as Dodgers Start .093 Hitter"

Andy Pages is no longer an .093 hitter. After another ...Read more

Tim Jamieson took the chance.

Following Tony Vitello’s freshman season at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., a former NAIA program that transitioned to Division II, his father, Greg, reached out to Jamieson.

Greg Vitello and Jamieson had known each other for quite some time by that point. The former was a legendary baseball and soccer ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Late-night parties always come with a price.

And on Tuesday, the Dodgers were reminded of the day-after cost.

Just 17 hours removed from their 18-inning marathon in Game 3 of the World Series, both the Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays seemed to be playing at a slower, more sluggish pace on early Tuesday evening. Their offenses...Read more