Mel Antonen

MLB, players union roll the dice on expanded postseason for 2020

July 23, 2020, 5:45pm

Baseball's postseason will have a new NBA- and NHL-like wrinkle when October arrives, at least with the number of playoff teams. Baseball's wacky season will continue into a newly designed postseason. As the 60-game schedule began Thursday night in Washington, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced an agreement that six more teams will be added to the postseason. Originally, there were 10 teams. Now 16 teams have a chance to make the World Series. The NBA and NHL each...

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Hope and uncertainty color start of 2020 season

July 23, 2020, 5:11am

Nationals Orioles

Hope and uncertainty color start of 2020 season

The Major League Baseball season starts Thursday night with the first two games in Washington and Los Angeles. By far, the 60-game schedule is not only the shortest in history, it's also the most unusual, framed by a killer pandemic, labor strife, social-justice issues and questions about whether the season would - or should - be launched at all. The season was supposed to start March 26, but spring training camps in Arizona and Florida were shut down March 12 because of a spiking coronavirus...

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Baseball will look different in many ways in this crazy year

July 21, 2020, 11:09am

Let's say on opening night at Nationals Park this happens: Bottom of the fifth, the Nationals' Trea Turner hits a pop to short left field. Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner charges in, shortstop Gleyber Torres goes out. The two defenders have the descending ball surrounded. Torres twists and turns and then the ball hits inside Torres' glove and falls to the ground. Turner checks in at second base. Is that a double or a two-base error? Normally, the official scorer, sitting behind home plate...

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NL East preview: Nats boast pitching prowess to take division crown from Braves

July 20, 2020, 10:27am

Nationals

NL East preview: Nats boast pitching prowess to take division crown from Braves

Projected finish: Nationals, Braves, Phillies, Mets, Marlins The Braves are taking aim at winning their third consecutive National League East title. And if they make it to October, the goal is to redirect their losing postseason history. Since 2002, the Braves have been to the postseason nine times without advancing beyond their first series or game. They've lost in one wild card game and eight NL Division Series. In a sense, they are reliving their 1990s, when the Braves won 14 consecutive...

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AL East preview: Rays challenging Yankees for divisional supremacy

July 20, 2020, 10:15am

Orioles

AL East preview: Rays challenging Yankees for divisional supremacy

Projected finish: Rays, Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, Red Sox. The Yankees and Rays couldn't be more distant financially or historically. The Yankees' 2020 season will be considered a bust if they don't win their franchise's 28th World Series come October. The Rays have been to the World Series once, losing to Philadelphia in 2008. Just getting there again would be a dream. The Rays play in a domed stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla., that is usually more empty than full, even with a winning...

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NL Central preview: Retooled Reds could be tough to beat in wide-open division

July 17, 2020, 10:00am

Nationals

NL Central preview: Retooled Reds could be tough to beat in wide-open division

Projected finish: Reds, Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, Pirates. After missing the postseason for three consecutive Octobers, the Cardinals will defend their National League Central title without one of their best power hitters and questions about their run-scoring capabilities. The Cardinals finished two games ahead of the wild card Brewers in 2019 and their season ended when the Nationals swept them in the NL Championship Series. Their weak lineup was no match for Nationals pitching. Last season,...

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AL Central preview: Can White Sox or Indians overcome Twins' powerful lineup?

July 17, 2020, 9:49am

Orioles

AL Central preview: Can White Sox or Indians overcome Twins' powerful lineup?

Projected order of finish in 2020: Twins, White Sox, Indians, Tigers, Royals. The Twins slugged their way to an American League Central championship in 2019 with 307 home runs. Their lineup may even be more dangerous in this shortened season. The Twins signed Josh Donaldson, who hit 37 home runs for the Braves, in the offseason. Donaldson, 34, will be an upgrade defensively at third base over Miguel SanÃ³, who moves to first base after C.J. Cron (25 home runs) wasn't offered a contract. The...

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NL West preview: Dodgers again look like class of the division

July 16, 2020, 2:46pm

Nationals

NL West preview: Dodgers again look like class of the division

Projected order of finish for 2020: Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Giants, Rockies. Since 2013, the Dodgers have averaged 96 victories a season in winning seven consecutive National League West championships. That consistency hasn't shown up in the postseason. The Dodgers lost to Houston in 2017 World Series and to Boston in 2018 World Series. Last season, the Nationals eliminated the Dodgers in the Division Series. The Dodgers haven't won a World Series since 1988, the year of Kirk Gibson's...

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AL West preview: A's look strong, but cannot afford to be slow out of the gate

July 16, 2020, 2:38pm

Orioles

AL West preview: A's look strong, but cannot afford to be slow out of the gate

Projected finish for 2020: A's, Rangers, Astros, Angels, Mariners. After two consecutive seasons of 97 victories and wild card postseason losses, the Athletics are the favorites to win American League West this season. That's assuming Oakland gets off to a fast start, something that hasn't happened in the last two years. In a 60-game season, the Athletics can't afford another slow start. In 2018, the A's were 31-29 after 60 games, good for fourth place in the AL West. Last season, the team...

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Nats fan Fauci hopes fans can return to MLB games later this season

July 15, 2020, 9:23am

Nationals Orioles

Nats fan Fauci hopes fans can return to MLB games later this season

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, is a baseball nut. His voice fills with excitement talking about the Nationals' World Series title. His coronavirus mask is covered with Nationals logos. An autographed Patrick Corbin jersey hangs in his D.C. home. And even though a deadly coronavirus outbreak has hammered the United States and caused Major League Baseball to reduce this season's schedule to 60 games played in stadiums with no fans, hope springs eternal with...

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Looking at MLB's pandemic response and the 2020 schedule

July 07, 2020, 6:58am

Nationals Orioles

Looking at MLB's pandemic response and the 2020 schedule

Major League Baseball's summer version of spring training is off to a rocky start with conflicting messages for a sport trying to restart during a pandemic. On Monday, the fourth day of training, the inefficient return of the players' coronavirus test results brought new questions about whether baseball can get its 60-game season off the ground. Also on Monday, Major League Baseball announced the schedule for a 60-game season that reduces travel by keeping American League East, West and...

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AL East camp preview: Pitching-strong Rays will challenge Yankees for division supremacy

June 30, 2020, 9:18am

Orioles

AL East camp preview: Pitching-strong Rays will challenge Yankees for division supremacy

Baseball is back with the wackiest, shortest and potentially dangerous season of all time. Haul out the asterisks. A schedule has yet to be released, but games start July 23-24. A batter chasing a .400 average could define this season. A 10-game hitting streak could mean MVP candidacy. There will be no fans in the stands - at least at the start of the 60-game schedule - and a summer version of spring training starts Wednesday when players begin reporting to home parks across the...

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NL East camp preview: Looking at possible DHs as pitchers will focus on mound work

June 30, 2020, 8:23am

Nationals

NL East camp preview: Looking at possible DHs as pitchers will focus on mound work

The century-old debate about the designated hitter has come to an end - at least for this season. The coronavirus changed for 2020 the look of baseball - no fans at games, runner on second to start extra innings, a 60-game schedule - but it also might change history and tear down the final wall that stands between the National and American leagues. When the regular season starts July 23-24, the NL teams will use the designated hitter in all of its games, not just when they are playing in AL...

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A personal tale from the front line of battling COVID-19

June 24, 2020, 2:57pm

Nationals Orioles

A personal tale from the front line of battling COVID-19

Baseball is ramping up, and so is the coronavirus. As fans anticipate baseball's start next month, the acceleration of COVID-19 could still put a premature end to the 60-game season or even to the postseason. The virus is nothing to take lightly. I know first-hand. In 2020, I have battled two formidable foes while facing life-and-death situations: I knocked out a rare autoimmune disease that attacked my liver and gave me - at best - a 50-50 chance of survival. Before my treatments ended, I...

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Change is the buzz word as baseball revs up to resume 2020 campaign

June 24, 2020, 5:25am

Nationals Orioles

Change is the buzz word as baseball revs up to resume 2020 campaign

Finally. After months of acrimonious negotiations, there's going to be a baseball season. It will be the most abbreviated season in the game's history - 60 games - and brings back memories of 1981, when labor issues couldn't be resolved and teams played about 105 games each. So forget about watching those replays of classic historical games. Say goodbye to watching Game 7 of the Braves-Twins World Series in 1991. Or the 1995 American League Division Series Game 5 between the Mariners and the...

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Astros fire Luhnow and Hinch after MLB levies penalties in sign-stealing case

January 13, 2020, 12:24pm

Nationals Orioles

Astros fire Luhnow and Hinch after MLB levies penalties in sign-stealing case

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were suspended by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred Monday for allowing the team's uniformed personnel to steal signs electronically during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Luhnow and Hinch were suspended through the 2020 World Series. The Astros also were fined $5 million - the maximum allowed under MLB rules - and they'll have to forfeit first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. About an hour the initial report...

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With rotation shored up, Rangers on the rise

December 16, 2019, 5:49am

Nationals

With rotation shored up, Rangers on the rise

Anthony Rendon, are you paying attention? Do you think that you made a bad career decision? The Angels have third baseman Rendon, but the team that might have the best chance of beating the Astros in the American League West in 2020 is the Texas Rangers. Why? Because the Rangers are building a rotation this offseason, and their latest addition is Corey Kluber, the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner the Rangers got from Cleveland in a trade on Sunday. So, I wonder if Rendon, after...

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Addition of Rendon gives Angels powerful lineup, but they still need pitching help

December 12, 2019, 4:56am

Nationals

Addition of Rendon gives Angels powerful lineup, but they still need pitching help

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals lost another home-grown superstar and the Angels have another superstar in their lineup. And it looks as though there are going to be plenty of 13-11 games next season in Anaheim. Anthony Rendon, a free-agent third baseman whose late-inning postseason heroics helped the Nationals win the World Series, has signed a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Last offseason, the Nationals lost outfielder Bryce Harper, who signed a $330 million contract...

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Manfred: Investigation of Astros on sign stealing continues toward uncertain discipline

December 11, 2019, 1:35pm

Nationals Orioles

Manfred: Investigation of Astros on sign stealing continues toward uncertain discipline

SAN DIEGO - Evev though Major League Baseball has interviewed 60 witnesses, and read 76,000 emails and troves of instant messages investigating the Astros' alleged electronic sign stealing, commissioner Rob Manfred isn't sure when the investigation will finish and what the appropriate discipline will be. "The review has caused us to conclude that we have to some followup interviewing," Manfred said at a Winter Meetings press conference Wednesday at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. "It is my...

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Cole's deal eclipses Strasburg's, focus turns to Bumgarner, Ryu

December 11, 2019, 6:03am

Nationals Orioles

Cole's deal eclipses Strasburg's, focus turns to Bumgarner, Ryu

SAN DIEGO - Stephen Strasburg's record $245 million contract with the Nationals didn't last long. That's because the New York Yankees are back. They've shed their conservative financial image. The Yankees signed free-agent starter Gerrit Cole to richest contract ever given to a pitcher - nine years and $324 million - late Tuesday night at the Winter Meetings. Cole's average salary is $36 million, also a record, beating Zack Greinke's $34.4 million. Cole's yearly average is higher than...