Moustakas, Grandal Decline Mutual Options; Brewers Outright Austin, Spangenberg  —  The Brewers have announced some early-offseason roster moves.  As anticipated, Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal have each declined their side of mutual options and will become free agents.

Matheny hired as Royals' manager, says something ‘very special about to happen’ in KC  —  The Royals hired Mike Matheny as their 17th manager in franchise history Thursday.  —  Matheny, 49, a former major league manager with the St. Louis Cardinals, takes over for Ned Yost, who retired after the 2019 season.

Mets Name Carlos Beltran Manager  —  The Mets have officially named Carlos Beltran their next manager.  He'll reportedly earn approximately $3MM over the guaranteed three-year term, with a club option to follow.  —  If indeed a deal is ticked and tied, it'll launch a fascinating new chapter in Mets history.

Juan Soto Had His First Beer With Nationals Teammates After Winning World Series  —  Juan Soto turned 21 just in time to celebrate winning the World Series with his Nationals teammates.  —  While the Nationals celebrated winning their first World Series in franchise history on Wednesday night …

Travis d'Arnaud, Avisail Garcia, Eric Sogard among Rays' free agents  —  The end of the World Series is the start of free agency and roster shuffling for Rays, other teams with an eye toward 2020.  —  ST. PETERSBURG — The end of the World Series is the beginning of free agency …

Why did those World Series games last so long?  —  MLB, Houston Astros, Washington Nationals  —  Baseball's regular season has the pace-of-play problem with which we're all familiar: Many of the 2,430 games take on dead time until they are boring, lulling.  It's a good dish, watered down until you don't love it as much.

Former Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton Arrested On Allegation Of Injury To A Child  —  NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton turned himself in this afternoon in Fort Worth on an allegation of injury to a child, a 3rd degree felony.  —  CBS 11's Jason Allen …

Chapman Hopes For Extension With Yankees, Will Otherwise Exercise Opt-Out Clause  —  Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman is pursuing an extension but otherwise plans to utilize the opt-out clause in his five-year contract, per MLB Network's Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

Proposal for free-agent signing deadline in Major League Baseball dies quickly  —  Major League Baseball this month proposed a deadline in free agency for any player signing a multi-year deal.  The deal was a non-starter for the Major League Baseball Players Association, citing an impact on leverage and ultimately, salaries.

Rangers Acquire Welington Castillo  —  The Rangers have acquired catcher Welington Castillo and international draft bonus pool money from the White Sox in exchange for minor league outfielder and corner infielder Jonah McReynolds, as per Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake (Twitter link).

Joe Maddon doing charity work, talking Rays, Cubs and more baseball  —  Wearing the bright red of his new/old Angels squad, Maddon shared thoughts on his former teams, the Trop and more.  —  Updated  —  Earlier today  —  TAMPA - The red T-shirt was a little bright, but Joe Maddon thought the color looked good on him.

Astros' Gerrit Cole: 'I don't have a crystal ball'  —  After calling himself “unemployed” and saying he would speak with media as “an affiliate of myself” following Wednesday night's loss in Game 7 of the World Series, Astros starter Gerrit Cole clarified his comments.

Yankees Decline 2020 Option On Edwin Encarnacion  —  The Yankees announced Thursday that they've declined their $20MM option on first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion.  He'll instead be paid a hefty $5MM buyout and enter the free-agent market.  —  This has long been viewed …