Yankees' Severino frustrated by being shut down again  —  SHARE URL EMAIL FBMSNGR WHATSAPP SMS  —  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino says it is “definitely frustrating” to be shut down in spring training for the second consecutive year.

A's Mike Fiers says he's received death threats, plans to keep Astros ring  —  MESA, Ariz. — Mike Fiers acknowledged Thursday that he has received threats of physical violence since his public comments ignited MLB's investigation into the Astros' cheating scandal, but he's not overly concerned.

Hector Neris, Phillies agree to $4.6M deal, avoid arbitration hearing  —  PHOENIX — Reliever Hector Neris avoided a salary arbitration hearing with the Philadelphia Phillies by agreeing to a $4.6 million, one-year contract.  —  The deal reached Thursday night includes a $7 million team option for 2021 with no buyout.

Marlins hope ‘continuity’ between pitchers & coach results in improvement on the mound  —  Mel Stottlemyre Jr. knew the challenge he had ahead of him last season.  —  He had a young, impressionable pitching staff to work with and was in his first season as the Miami Marlins' pitching coach.

Royals counting on Mike Montgomery to help anchor starting rotation  —  Last summer, the Kansas City Royals took advantage of Salvador Perez's season-ending surgery and turned that bad break into an experienced addition to the pitching staff with an eye towards this year's starting rotation.

Bryce Harper has no regrets entering Year 2 with Phillies: ‘Just so happy to be here’  —  CLEARWATER, Fla. — There were no TV trucks with reporters breathlessly filming his arrival.  —  There weren't throngs of fans screaming at the first sight of him.  —  Oh, how life has changed at Philadelphia Phillies spring training camp.

Phillies will unveil a new-look Phanatic on Sunday  —  CLEARWATER, Fla. — You might have heard that slugger Rhys Hoskins made some changes to his batting stance and swing over the winter.  —  Hoskins isn't the only prominent Phillie who made some adjustments in the off-season.

Rays prospect Brendan McKay slowed by shoulder stiffness  —  The two-way player is concentrating on pitching, but has yet to throw his first spring training bullpen session.  —  PORT CHARLOTTE — As the Rays transition from spring training workouts to games, two-way prospect Brendan McKay …

Rick Porcello is focused on having tunnel vision this year, starting with his Mets debut  —  PORT ST. LUCIE — Rick Porcello doesn't have to wait long to show the Mets that he's moved past his miserable 2019 campaign.  —  The Mets have slotted the free agent acquisition to open …

Mariners Claim Taylor Williams, Designate Phillips Valdez  —  The Mariners have claimed reliever Taylor Williams off waivers from the Brewers, per a club announcement.  The Seattle org designated fellow 28-year-old righty Phillips Valdez to create roster space.

David Ortiz, Derek Jeter already recognize greatness in Red Sox' Rafael Devers  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Rafael Devers understands most questions in English before they're translated into Spanish by Red Sox communications manager Bryan Almonte.  —  But on Friday morning at JetBlue Park …

The Obscenely Early ZiPS Projected Standings  —  Naturally, once the ZiPS elves have finished baking the ZiPS, the first thing I want to do — at least after actually getting some sleep — is to crank out some ZiPS projected standings.  So let's wrap up ZiPS Week (I'm possibly the only person calling …