Padres could be suitor for World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg  —  Team knows it has to add players, which means a bump in payroll; could bring San Diego State alum Stephen Strasburg home  —  The Padres' cover has been blown.  —  After two offseasons of essentially sneaking up on baseball …

The luxury-tax implications of Aroldis Chapman's Yankees extension  —  The Yankees stayed relatively payroll neutral when it comes to the luxury tax with their extension for Aroldis Chapman.  —  Chapman could have opted out of the final two years at $30 million left on his five-year contract by midnight Saturday.

Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado headlines Gold Glove winners with 7th straight  —  Nolan Arenado extended his streak of winning a Rawlings Gold Glove Award in every season of his career on Sunday, when the Colorado Rockies star captured the award for National League third basemen for the seventh consecutive year.

Phillies' Jake Arrieta exercises $20 million option for 2020  —  PHILADELPHIA — Jake Arrieta is staying with the Philadelphia Phillies, exercising a $20 million player option for 2020 on Saturday.  —  A 33-year-old right-hander, Arrieta was 8-8 with a 4.64 ERA in 24 starts this year.

Automated Strike Zone Whiffs At Arizona Fall League  —  In his start in the Arizona Fall League's annual Fall Stars Game, Royals prospect Daniel Lynch was extremely impressive.  The 6-foot-6 lefthander whiffed two hitters in a scoreless inning and showed a fastball that reached 99 mph.

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.

Flattery won't get you anywhere with the Rays  —  Rays Tales: Losing top exec and coaches to other teams has become a regular issue, and somewhat of a compliment.  —  ST. PETERSBURG — If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, repeatedly having top staffers hired away by your competitors has to rank a pretty close second.

Brewers Select Angel Perdomo  —  The Brewers have selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Angel Perdomo, according to an official club announcement.  He'll be added to the 40-man roster, which now sits at 32 players.  —  Perdomo, 25, was originally signed by the Blue Jays …

Sean Doolittle on declining White House invite: 'I don't want to hang out with somebody who talks like that'  —  Ever since Sean Doolittle was traded to the Washington Nationals in the summer of 2017, the reliever was often asked whether he would visit the White House after winning the World Series.

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.