Pace-Of-Play Initiatives Get Mixed Reviews In AFL  —  MESA, Ariz.—Major League Baseball is using the Arizona Fall League to test methods to speed up the game, and players so far are mixed about the results.  —  The pace-of-play initiatives are being tested during games at Salt River Fields …

Royals' James Shields passed kidney stone during ALCS but is ready for World Series  —  The back pain surfaced late at night two Sundays ago.  Waves of nausea soon followed.  As the Royals wrapped up their first berth in the World Series since 1985 last week, James Shields was grappling …

Cards expect center fielder to resume offseason routine after 6-8 weeks  —  10/20/14: Cardinals GM John Mozeliak discusses Jon Jay's injury to his left wrist, and his recovery time during the offseason  —  ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals intend to tender Jon Jay, a second-year arbitration-eligible player …

Young awarded Sporting News' AL Comeback Player  —  8/17/14: Chris Young fires six scoreless innings vs. the Tigers, fanning four batters and allowing just four hits to push his record to 12-6  —  SEATTLE — Believing he'd finally overcome a series of shoulder issues that had hindered much of his career …

Bumgarner, Giants silence Royals in opener  —  San Francisco leads 1-0 (as of Tue 10/21)  —  SF 7, @KC 1  —  Scoring Summary  —  P Sandoval doubled to right, G Blanco scored, B Posey thrown out at home.  —  1st  —  H Pence homered to center (421 feet), P Sandoval scored.  —  4th

Palm Beach approves funding for Nats spring complex  —  Your browser does not support iframes.  —  The Nationals' longstanding search for a new spring training home took a potentially significant positive step forward Tuesday when Palm Beach County commissioners voted to approve funding …

Free Agent Profile: Adam LaRoche  —  Though he's not technically a lock to hit the open market due to a $15MM mutual option ($2MM buyout), Adam LaRoche is a near certainty to be a free agent due to the rarity of such options being picked up by both sides of the agreement.

As focus faded and losses picked up in late July, Royals changed their game  —  The sight unnerved Rusty Kuntz as he entered the visitors' clubhouse at Fenway Park on July 20.  The Royals had just dropped their third game in a row, silenced by Boston ace Jon Lester, and had fallen below .500 for the first time in a month.

Zimmer injures shoulder pitching in AFL  —  2014 MLB.com Top Prospects: Kyle Zimmer complements his fastball with a curve, slider and changeup, and is athletic with clean mechanics  —  KANSAS CITY — A slight hitch in an otherwise joyous October came on Saturday, when right-hander Kyle Zimmer …

Reds 3B coach Steve Smith will not return in 2015  —  Steve Smith will not return as the Reds third base coach in 2015, but the rest of Bryan Price's first coaching staff with the Reds is expected to return, the team confirmed on Monday.  —  Smith said he had been told on Sept. 30 …