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12:20 PM ET, April 1, 2021

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 Top News: 
ESPN:
2021 MLB season preview: Power rankings, best (and worst) case and most exciting player for all 30 teams  —  After a shortened 60-game schedule in 2020, Major League Baseball returns to a full 162-game season in 2021.  —  The Los Angeles Dodgers ruled last year's unusual campaign …
RELATED:
Gabe Lacques / USA Today:
At 21, Fernando Tatis Jr. already carries the ‘Face of Baseball’ label, even as MLB aims to diversify the field  —  For all its modernization, baseball remains the most deliberate of pastimes, where patience is rewarded, seven-month sample sizes outflank isolated moments of brilliance …
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
2021 MLB expert predictions, award picks: Can Dodgers win another World Series?  —  No Major League Baseball team has won back-to-back World Series titles in 20 years, but the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers head into 2021 as the favorite to reign again in October.  —  But things won't come easy for the Dodgers.
Thomas Harrigan / MLB.com:
Experts pick 2021 division winners, champion  —  Although there were many twists and turns in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the year ended with a result that wasn't all that surprising, as the Dodgers won the World Series.  It was a finish our prognosticators saw coming before Opening Day.
Gabe Lacques / USA Today:
The $1 billion quintet: Breaking down MLB's epic free agent shortstop class
Discussion: MLB Baseball News …
ESPN:
New York Mets and All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor agree to 10-year, $341 million deal, source says  —  The New York Mets and shortstop Francisco Lindor have agreed to a 10-year, $341 million deal, a source told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Wednesday.  —  Lindor's deal will be the third largest based …
RELATED:
Deesha Thosar / New York Daily News:
Pete Alonso wants Mets to open the checkbook for Francisco Lindor: 'Pay him 400′ million  —  Francisco Lindor received a polar bear-sized endorsement - his biggest one yet - from a teammate who wants the Mets to open their checkbook and give the shortstop whatever he wants.
Deesha Thosar / New York Daily News:
Francisco Lindor rejects 10-year, $325 million offer Mets call ‘best and final’  —  The Mets have made their “best and final offer” for Francisco Lindor, according to a source.  But it's well below the shortstop's asking price.  —  The team offered Lindor a long-term deal to stay in New York for 10 years …
Tim Healey / Newsday:
Francisco Lindor contract watch continues as Mets and shortstop swap offers  —  Mets spring training is over.  Francisco Lindor Contract Extension Watch 2021 is not.  —  With about two days left until the Lindor-imposed deadline for the sides to agree to a deal, Lindor and the Mets remained far apart …
Justin Toscano / NorthJersey.com:
Talented 2021 NY Mets hope to make a run and win World Series
Discussion: The Journal News
Jackie Bradley Jr / The Players' Tribune:
Dear Red Sox Nation  —  Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images  —  As a 21-year-old entering the 2011 draft, I could never have imagined how the next 10 years would unfold.  —  But I know now that I'll never forget them.  —  My journey started like it does for many young Red Sox prospects: in Lowell with the Spinners.
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Umpire Angel Hernandez loses race discrimination lawsuit against MLB  —  NEW YORK — Umpire Angel Hernandez lost his lawsuit against Major League Baseball alleging racial discrimination.  —  The Cuba-born Hernandez sued in 2017 in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, with the case later moved to New York.
University of North Carolina Athletics:
Roy Williams To Retire From Coaching After 48 Years  —  CHAPEL HILL—Roy Williams, who led the University of North Carolina to three NCAA championships, is retiring after 33 seasons and 903 wins as a college basketball head coach.  —  The 2007 Naismith Hall of Fame inductee will address …
The Ringer:
The New Baseball Still Seems Juiced  —  MLB is debuting a ball this season that's supposed to decrease the distance of deep fly balls and by extension, quite possibly the volume of home runs.  Yet the data from spring training appear to tell a different story.  —  SHARE All sharing options
 
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 More News: 
Tommy Birch / Des Moines Register:
Iowa Cubs broadcaster Alex Cohen is the subject of a new ‘House Hunters’ episode
Discussion: Bleed Cubbie Blue
Joon Lee / ESPN:
New York Mets' Pete Alonso to issue NFT to aid minor leaguers
Discussion: MLB Baseball News …
 Earlier Picks: 
David Purdum / ESPN:
Scoring, home runs down in spring training with new balls in play
Discussion: baseballmusings.com
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
Major League Baseball relaxing COVID-19 protocols for fully vaccinated players, staff
Discussion: ESPN and Sports Illustrated
 

 
From WeSmirch:

Beth Harris / Associated Press:
Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87

People:
Gypsy Rose Blanchard Announces Separation from Husband 3 Months After Prison Release

The East Hampton Star:
March 18, 2024  —  An actress whose career included both film and television credits …

 
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