Chicago White Sox

Roki Sasaki’s contract situation, signing process and suitors, explained

Roki Sasaki’s contract situation, signing process and suitors, explained

The first bombshell of Major League Baseball’s offseason landed Saturday when the Chiba Lotte Marines announced 23-year-old pitching phenom Roki Sasaki will be able to sign with an MLB club this winter. “I will do my best to climb up from a minor-league contract and become the best player in the world,” Sasaki said in […]

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Roki Sasaki, coveted Japanese ace, will be made available to MLB teams: Will Dodgers strike again?

Roki Sasaki, coveted Japanese ace, will be made available to MLB teams: Will Dodgers strike again?

Roki Sasaki, a premier pitcher in Japan and the No. 3 ranked player in The Athletic’s top 40 MLB free agent big board, is on the precipice of making his long-anticipated jump to Major League Baseball. The Chiba Lotte Marines, Sasaki’s club in Nippon Professional Baseball, announced early Saturday morning that they will post the

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Projecting MLB free agent contracts for Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and other top players

Projecting MLB free agent contracts for Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and other top players

When Michael Bluth charged his own brother, Gob, for a Bluth frozen banana in a season one episode of “Arrested Development,” his mother Lucille chided him. “I mean it’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost: $10?” “You’ve never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you?” I think of that line a lot this

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Keith Law’s top 50 MLB free agents: Juan Soto headlines a decent overall class

Keith Law’s top 50 MLB free agents: Juan Soto headlines a decent overall class

This winter’s free agent class looks a bit better than last year’s dismal group, highlighted by one all-time superstar, after which there’s a decent tier of potential impact players on both sides of the ball if very few other players you could reasonably call “stars.” This is my ranking of the top 50 free agents

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What’s it like to see the field for the final out of a World Series win? Catchers share memories

What’s it like to see the field for the final out of a World Series win? Catchers share memories

A catcher aims to be a fly on the wall. “If you go through a game and nobody knows you’re back there, that’s the ultimate compliment,” A.J. Pierzynski said. It’s the only position that sees every other player on the field, including the batter, when the final out is recorded. Pierzynski knows. He watched from

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Top 45 MLB free agents for 2024-25 with contract predictions, team fits: Will Soto get $600M+?

Top 45 MLB free agents for 2024-25 with contract predictions, team fits: Will Soto get 0M+?

MLB free agency is almost here so it’s time for my annual ranking of the top free agents with contract predictions and the best team fits for each player. Eligible players technically become free agents the day after the World Series ends but cannot sign with a new team until five days after the final out. This year’s

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Ranking the 18 MLB teams that didn’t make the playoffs: Who is best-positioned for 2025?

Ranking the 18 MLB teams that didn’t make the playoffs: Who is best-positioned for 2025?

There are 18 teams that didn’t make the MLB postseason, so while we all enjoy October baseball, I thought I’d power-rank the non-playoff teams based on who is best-positioned to contend in 2025. I did the same thing a year ago, listing the Padres, Mets and Yankees as three of the top five non-playoff teams

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How MLB players cope with — and grow from — playing on a terrible team: ‘You find ways’

How MLB players cope with — and grow from — playing on a terrible team: ‘You find ways’

CHICAGO — A mere mention of the year 1991 elicited a pained groan from Sandy Alomar Jr. as he leaned against a railing in the Cleveland Guardians’ dugout. Three decades have passed. Alomar played for seven teams across 20 seasons, appeared in 49 playoff games, won an All-Star Game MVP award and supplied a slew

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Where do the 2024 Chicago White Sox rank among the worst teams in any sport?

Where do the 2024 Chicago White Sox rank among the worst teams in any sport?

By Rustin Dodd, Zack Meisel and Andy McCullough When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snapped a record 26-game losing streak in December 1977, head coach John McKay tried to look on the bright side. “Three or four plane crashes and we’re in the playoffs,” he said. It was hard to blame him. The year before, the

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