An erroneous report saying Michael Brantley had agreed to a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays had the outfielder fielding goodbye texts from his Houston Astros teammates most of Wednesday morning. ''There were a lot of a lot of mixed emotions, obviously, in a small timeframe,'' Brantley said Monday. While Brantley never had a deal in place with Toronto, he admitted he was in discussions with the team.
The Cactus League and Arizona community leaders have asked Major League Baseball to delay the start of spring training due to coronavirus concerns just over three weeks before pitchers and catchers are supposed to report. The Cactus League made the request in a letter to Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.
The ball-doctoring case that included Gerrit Cole's — and other pitchers' — names has been thrown out by an Orange County judge, ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported late Monday night.