NEW YORK (AP) Former Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox executive Theo Epstein has been hired by Major League Baseball as a consultant for on-field matters and will evaluate possible rule changes.

Epstein will work with baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, the owners’ competition committee and analytics experts, MLB said Thursday,

”As the game evolves, we all have an interest in ensuring the changes we see on the field make the game as entertaining and action-packed as possible for the fans, while preserving all that makes baseball so special,” Epstein said in a statement.

MLB is considering possible rules changes such as expanding the designated hitter to the National League. The DH was adopted by the American League for the 1973 season and was used by the NL as an experiment last year during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Manfred would like to speed to pace of play, which rose to a record average of 3 hours, 5 minutes, 35 seconds for nine-inning games last season, up from 3:00:44 in 2018 and 2:46 in 2005.

Epstein was the Red Sox general manager from 2003-11, putting together the team that won the 2004 World Series for the Boston’s first title since 1918, and then another championship team in 2007.

He was the Cubs’ president of baseball operations from 2012-20 and guided Chicago to the 2016 World Series title, the team’s first since 1908.

”Theo is one of the most accomplished and thoughtful people in our sport,” Manfred said in a statement.

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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Left-hander Nik Turley was traded to the Athletics on Thursday from the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash, giving Oakland a reliable reliever for late in games after losing closer Liam Hendriks in free agency.

Turley went 0-3 with a 4.98 ERA and one save over 25 relief outings – most by any big league rookie – spanning 21 2/3 innings for the Pirates in the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season.

The 31-year-old Turley made his major league debut with Minnesota in 2017 then didn’t pitch the next two years after working back from Tommy John elbow ligament reconstructive surgery.

Oakland won the AL West at 36-24 for its third straight playoff berth then beat the White Sox in the wild-card round before losing in a four-game AL Division Series to rival Houston last fall.

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NEW YORK (AP) Jose Martinez and the New York Mets agreed Thursday to a one-year contract that pays $1 million while he is in the major leagues and $225,000 while he’s in the minors.

He can earn $500,000 in performance bonuses for plate appearances: $100,000 each for 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500.

The 32-year-old first baseman and outfielder hit .182 with four doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs last year for the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him in a trade on Aug. 30.

He has a .289 career average with 43 homers and 182 RBIs in four major league seasons.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) New Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Corey Knebel agreed to a $5.25 million, one-year contract on Thursday that avoided salary arbitration.

The 29-year-old was acquired from Milwaukee on Dec. 2 ahead of the deadline for teams to offer 2021 contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters. He earned $1,898,148 in prorated pay last year from a $5,125,000 salary.

Knebel was an All-Star in 2017 and a key part of the Brewers’ bullpen during their run to the 2018 NL Championship Series. The right-hander missed the 2019 season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow and struggled after returning last season.

Knebel’s best season came in 2017, when he went 1-4 with 39 saves and a 1.78 ERA in 76 appearances. He had a 6.08 ERA in 15 games last season.

The 2013 first-round draft pick has a career ERA of 3.31 with 57 saves in 239 relief appearances. He pitched eight games for Detroit in 2014 and had been with Milwaukee ever since.

Six players remain eligible to exchange proposed arbitration salaries with the World Series champion Dodgers on Friday: outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, shortstop Corey Seager, right-hander Walker Buehler, catcher Austin Barnes, right-hander Dylan Floro and left-hander Julio Urias.

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NEW YORK (AP) Former Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox executive Theo Epstein has been hired by Major League Baseball as a consultant for on-field matters and will evaluate possible rule changes.

Epstein will work with baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, the owners’ competition committee and analytics experts, MLB said Thursday,

”As the game evolves, we all have an interest in ensuring the changes we see on the field make the game as entertaining and action-packed as possible for the fans, while preserving all that makes baseball so special,” Epstein said in a statement.

MLB is considering possible rules changes such as expanding the designated hitter to the National League. The DH was adopted by the American League for the 1973 season and was used by the NL as an experiment last year during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Manfred would like to speed to pace of play, which rose to a record average of 3 hours, 5 minutes, 35 seconds for nine-inning games last season, up from 3:00:44 in 2018 and 2:46 in 2005.

Epstein was the Red Sox general manager from 2003-11, putting together the team that won the 2004 World Series for the Boston’s first title since 1918, and then another championship team in 2007.

He was the Cubs’ president of baseball operations from 2012-20 and guided Chicago to the 2016 World Series title, the team’s first since 1908.

”Theo is one of the most accomplished and thoughtful people in our sport,” Manfred said in a statement.

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NEW YORK (AP) Jose Martinez and the New York Mets agreed Thursday to a one-year contract that pays $1 million while he is in the major leagues and $225,000 while he’s in the minors.

He can earn $500,000 in performance bonuses for plate appearances: $100,000 each for 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500.

The 32-year-old first baseman and outfielder hit .182 with four doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs last year for the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him in a trade on Aug. 30.

He has a .289 career average with 43 homers and 182 RBIs in four major league seasons.

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Left-hander Nik Turley was traded to the Athletics on Thursday from the Pittsburgh Pirates for $60,000, giving Oakland a reliable reliever for late in games after losing closer Liam Hendriks in free agency.

Turley went 0-3 with a 4.98 ERA and one save over 25 relief outings – most by any big league rookie – spanning 21 2/3 innings for the Pirates in the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season.

The 31-year-old Turley made his major league debut with Minnesota in 2017 then didn’t pitch the next two years after working back from Tommy John elbow ligament reconstructive surgery.

Oakland won the AL West at 36-24 for its third straight playoff berth then beat the White Sox in the wild-card round before losing in a four-game AL Division Series to rival Houston last fall.

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

NEW YORK (AP) Major League Baseball is suspending all political contributions in the wake of last week’s invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a mob loyal to President Donald Trump, joining a wave of major corporations rethinking their efforts to lobby Washington.

”In light of the unprecedented events last week at the U.S. Capitol, MLB is suspending contributions from its Political Action Committee pending a review of our political contribution policy going forward,” the league said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Following the insurrection last week by Trump supporters while Congress attempted to certify the results of the presidential election, many companies have said they will avoid making donations to members of the House and Senate who voted to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. Others, like MLB, have postponed political giving to both political parties altogether.

MLB is the first of the major professional sports leagues to say it would alter its lobbying strategy in the wake of the deadly Capitol riots.

The Office of The Commissioner of Major League Baseball Political Action Committee has donated $669,375 to Senate and House candidates since the 2016 election cycle, with 52.4% of that money going to Republican candidates, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.

Among its lobbying successes was a bill in 2018 that exempted minor league baseball players making as little as $5,500 per season from federal minimum wage laws, preempting a lawsuit from three players filed four years earlier. The ”Save America’s Pastime Act” appeared on page 1,967 of a $1.3 trillion spending bill.

Since the 2016 election cycle, MLB has made contributions to two senators and nine representatives who were among those opposing certification of Biden’s victory.

The Senate Republicans are Ted Cruz (Texas) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), and the House Republicans are Roger Williams (Texas), Kevin McCarthy (California), David Schweikert (Arizona), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma), Adrian Smith (Nebraska), Michael Burgess (Texas), Rick Crawford (Arkansas) and Elise Stefanik (New York).

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Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake-Seiner

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

NEW YORK (AP) Major League Baseball is suspending all political contributions in the wake of last week’s invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a mob loyal to President Donald Trump, joining a wave of major corporations rethinking their efforts to lobby Washington.

”In light of the unprecedented events last week at the U.S. Capitol, MLB is suspending contributions from its Political Action Committee pending a review of our political contribution policy going forward,” the league said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The National Football League said it will reconsider its donations but did not commit to suspending them.

”We are re-evaluating our political giving policies through the Gridiron PAC,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the AP in a statement Wednesday.

Following the insurrection last week by Trump supporters while Congress attempted to certify the results of the presidential election, many companies have said they will avoid making donations to members of the House and Senate who voted to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. Others, like MLB, have postponed political giving to both political parties altogether.

MLB was the first of the major professional sports leagues to say it would halt lobbying through its PAC in the wake of the deadly Capitol riots.

The Office of The Commissioner of Major League Baseball Political Action Committee has donated $669,375 to Senate and House candidates since the 2016 election cycle, with 52.4% of that money going to Republican candidates, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.

Among its lobbying successes was a bill in 2018 that exempted minor league baseball players making as little as $5,500 per season from federal minimum wage laws, preempting a lawsuit from three players filed four years earlier. The ”Save America’s Pastime Act” appeared on page 1,967 of a $1.3 trillion spending bill.

Since the 2016 election cycle, MLB has made contributions to two senators and nine representatives who were among those opposing certification of Biden’s victory.

The Senate Republicans are Ted Cruz (Texas) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), and the House Republicans are Roger Williams (Texas), Kevin McCarthy (California), David Schweikert (Arizona), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma), Adrian Smith (Nebraska), Michael Burgess (Texas), Rick Crawford (Arkansas) and Elise Stefanik (New York).

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AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner contributed to this report.

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Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake-Seiner

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

NEW YORK (AP) Major League Baseball is suspending all political contributions in the wake of last week’s invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a mob loyal to President Donald Trump, joining a wave of major corporations rethinking their efforts to lobby Washington.

”In light of the unprecedented events last week at the U.S. Capitol, MLB is suspending contributions from its Political Action Committee pending a review of our political contribution policy going forward,” the league said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Following the insurrection last week by Trump supporters while Congress attempted to certify the results of the presidential election, many companies have said they will avoid making donations to members of the House and Senate who voted to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. Others, like MLB, have postponed political giving to both political parties altogether.

MLB is the first of the major professional sports leagues to say it would alter its lobbying strategy in the wake of the deadly Capitol riots.

The Office of The Commissioner of Major League Baseball Political Action Committee has donated $669,375 to Senate and House candidates since the 2016 election cycle, with 52.4% of that money going to Republican candidates, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.

Among its lobbying successes was a bill in 2018 that exempted minor league baseball players making as little as $5,500 per season from federal minimum wage laws, preempting a lawsuit from three players filed four years earlier. The ”Save America’s Pastime Act” appeared on page 1,967 of a $1.3 trillion spending bill.

Since the 2016 election cycle, MLB has made contributions to two senators and nine representatives who were among those opposing certification of Biden’s victory.

The Senate Republicans are Ted Cruz (Texas) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), and the House Republicans are Roger Williams (Texas), Kevin McCarthy (California), David Schweikert (Arizona), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma), Adrian Smith (Nebraska), Michael Burgess (Texas), Rick Crawford (Arkansas) and Elise Stefanik (New York).

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Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake-Seiner

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports