Yordano Ventura Dies In Car Crash  —  Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic on Sunday morning.  This was a separate crash from the one that took the life of fellow Dominican Andy Marte.  Ventura was 25 years old.

Beat reporter Jordan Bastian answers Tribe fans' questions  —  The Fangraphs projection for Edwin Encarnacion is pretty similar to Mike Napoli's 2016 campaign.  The basis for their projection and a bit of regression from EE seems to be age and park factor.  Do you think that …

Dodgers Acquire Logan Forsythe From Rays  —  The Dodgers have finally found their next second baseman after a rumor-filled offseason, officially striking a deal with the Rays to acquire Logan Forsythe.  Prized young righty Jose De Leon is heading to Tampa Bay in return in the 1-for-1 swap.

Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka sitting out of World Baseball Classic … The Yankees can breathe a sigh of relief.  Righthander Masahiro Tanaka said Monday that he will not take part in the World Baseball Classic in March.  —  Tanaka, a member of the Japanese team that won the 2009 WBC …

How Much Hope and Faith Is in Major League Baseball?  —  Editor's Note: This article was originally printed in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2017.  You can purchase a copy of it here. … In 2000, baseball was in a competitive crisis.  Success was increasingly tied to payroll, creating a struggle for many small-market teams.

Prospectus Feature: Command and Control by Jeff Long, Jonathan Judge and Harry Pavlidis  —  About a year and a half ago, Baseball Prospectus revealed a suite of catching stats that formed the basis for our industry-leading valuation of catchers.  These new stats would shape how we perceived …

Best of the rest free agents  —  Even after a big week when home-run champion Mark Trumbo and mercurial star Jose Bautista found jobs with their old teams, yet another home-run champion (Chris Carter) plus a 30-100 man (Mike Napoli), several more big hitters, two closers …

Blue Jays Claim Juan Graterol, Designate Leonel Campos  —  The Blue Jays announced on Monday that they've claimed catcher Juan Graterol off waivers from the Angels and designated right-hander Leonel Campos for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Altuve, Odor have Venezuela loaded at second  —  The Astros' Jose Altuve and the Rangers' Rougned Odor are among the best Venezuelan-born — correction: Earth-born — infielders in baseball today.  —  And they play the same position, which presents a quandary for Venezuelan manager Omar Vizquel ahead of the World Baseball Classic.

Man who allegedly pulled fire alarm in Steelers hotel arraigned  —  “I'm drunk.  I'm stupid.  I'm a Pats fan.”  —  That's what Dennis Harrison told State Police early Sunday after he allegedly pulled a fire alarm inside the Boston Hilton Logan Airport hotel on a dare …

Franco needs to become next Phillies superstar  —  A single superstar can be the foundation.  Get one and the building can begin in earnest.  —  “Over the last couple of years it has been, as I call it, an experiment,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said last week in describing the team's 2015 and 2016 seasons.