MLB

HAVANA (AP) A lineup of Cuban-born baseball stars, including some of the most famous defectors in recent memory, made a triumphant return to the island Tuesday as part of the first Major League Baseball trip here since 1999.Once the object of official disdain in Cuba for leaving the...

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) - The first thing Dayton Moore makes clear is that he never set out to change how baseball clubs are built. He simply wanted to win games, something the Kansas City Royals had repeatedly failed to do for nearly three decades.Never once did Moore think he'd...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A California utility lists Oakland Athletics' executive Billy Beane as among the top excessive water users in a district east of San Francisco.A September report from the East Bay Municipal Utility District shows Beane, who was the subject of the Oscar-nominated film ''Moneyball,'' used about...

PHOENIX (AP) The Arizona Diamondbacks have hired Dave Magadan as their hitting coach.The 53-year-old Magadan spent the last three seasons as hitting coach of the Texas Rangers. Before that, he was hitting coach for the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox.In Magadan's first year in Boston, 2007,...

CLEVELAND (AP) - A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians have agreed to a five-year contract.The deal includes two club options, the person told the AP on Saturday night. Kluber's deal is contingent upon...

AP Baseball WriterBig daddy: Freeman takes newborn home, homers, gets 4 hitsBy RONALD BLUMNEW YORK (AP) Freddie Freeman took his newborn son and wife home from a hospital, stayed up through most of the night and headed from Atlanta to New York.This is what adrenaline can do: He...

ATLANTA (AP) Veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski will return for another season with the Atlanta Braves after agreeing to a $3 million, one-year contract.The 38-year-old Pierzynski was a rare bright spot for the Braves this past season. Signed to serve mainly as a backup, he wound up handling the...

Rays sign free agent C Ramos to 2-year, $12.5 million dealST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Rays have finalized a two-year, $12.5 million contract with free agent catcher Wilson Ramos.The signing announced Monday provides the 29-year-old, who's recovering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee,...

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Free-agent catcher Michael McKenry has signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers that includes an invitation to major league spring training.AL West champion Texas also signed left-hander Donnie Veal to a minor league contract on Wednesday.McKenry has appeared in the majors with Colorado...

The Latest: Indians' Napoli not starting Game 4 of SeriesCHICAGO (AP) The Latest on The World Series (all times local):---3:25 p.m.Indians slugger Mike Napoli is not in the starting lineup for Game 4.Napoli is batting just .184 in the playoffs and World Series with 15 strikeouts. He was...

AP Sports WriterMets sign shortstop Jose Reyes to minor league contractBy CHARLES ODUMATLANTA (AP) The New York Mets signed shortstop Jose Reyes to a minor league contract on Saturday, creating a reunion with the team's former star who now must overcome a suspension for domestic violence as he...

ST. LOUIS (AP) Since 2011, the bill for clubhouse carpet cleaning and/or replacement has been high for the St. Louis Cardinals. It's a price willingly paid for all those champagne fests, every step of the way.Like clockwork, October arrives and so do the Cardinals, primed for another deep...