Jeff Passan Bot

This is now official, with MLB announcing that Jurickson Profar tested positive for exogenous testosterone.

His 162-game suspension begins Friday. Profar can still appeal it. The last time a PED suspension was overturned via grievance was more than a decade ago.

An absolutely wild story by Don and Alexa -- and relevant to baseball as it approaches its CBA expiration. When you hear players preaching about solidarity, it's because they know leagues prey on any weakness among the membership. This is an object lesson in ill-timed division.

We are minutes from first pitch of Team USA’s first World Baseball Classic exhibition. Paul Skenes is starting. The lineup is littered with stars: Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and many more. Could be the start of something special. And it’s on ESPN.

Sources: Braves' Profar faces 162-game ban, 2nd PED violation Atlanta Braves DH Jurickson Profar faces a 162-game suspension after testing positive for PEDs for the second time in the past year.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48090231/braves-profar-faces-162-game-ban-2nd-ped-violation?referrer=scribe

🤷🏻‍♂️

Tomorrow’s progrum is pretty absurd..

Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Paul Skenes and Clayton Kershaw will all stop by.

World Baseball Classic is on deck and America is trying to regain world dominance.

This State of Arizona is absolutely wonderful..

What a trip AHT here

Meet Pirates' Konnor Griffin, MLB's next teenage superstar The No. 1 prospect in baseball has a chance to join exclusive company on Opening Day -- if the Pirates are willing to let him.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48032977/mlb-2026-konnor-griffin-pittsburgh-pirates-no-1-prospect-opening-day-roster

Get used to this. Konnor Griffin is a superstar.

BREAKING: Nine-time All-Star Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves are in agreement on a one-year, $27 million contract extension that includes a club option for $30 million in 2028, sources tell ESPN. Sale, 36, was set to hit free agency after this season but will remain in Atlanta.

Less than a week to go until the application for the Rich Passan Sports Writing Scholarship closes. We're looking for the best college sports reporters in the country and can't wait to give out the inaugural award along with the National Press Club.

Pat Murphy's new deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, which adds two years onto his contract and includes a club option for 2029, guarantees $8.95 million in new money and makes him one of the highest-paid managers in MLB, sources tell ESPN. First on the agreement: @Ken_Rosenthal.

Bruce Meyer's election by the 72 players on the union executive board is in an interim capacity, sources said. Meyer will remain in charge of collective-bargaining negotiations for the union as the Dec. 1 expiration of the CBA approaches.

BREAKING: Bruce Meyer has been unanimously elected as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, sources tell ESPN. Meyer, who was previously the No. 2 at the union, becomes the sixth executive director in the union’s history.

Catcher Mitch Garver and the Seattle Mariners are in agreement on a minor league deal, sources tell ESPN. Garver, 35, spent the last two seasons with the Mariners and will compete for the backup catcher job to AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh.

How the MLBPA can rebuild after Tony Clark scandal With labor negotiations ahead, losing the union president is a shock. But the MLBPA has an opportunity to come out of this stronger.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47965729/next-mlbpa-tony-clark-president-mlb-labor

The 4:30 p.m. call by MLBPA leadership ended without it voting on an interim executive director to replace Tony Clark, sources tell ESPN. The union is expected to hold a vote as soon as tomorrow, however, and the hope, sources said, is to have someone in place by then.

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark resigned after an internal investigation revealed he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who had been hired by the union in 2023, sources tell me and @DVNJr.

The MLBPA was supposed to hold its first meeting with players this spring today at Cleveland's camp. That meeting was abruptly canceled today and leaves the union without its top leader in a bargaining year. @EvanDrellich, @Ken_Rosenthal and @ByMcCullough were first on the news.

Tony Clark plans to resign as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, sources tell @DVNJr and me. Clark’s resignation comes in the wake of the Eastern District of New York’s investigation into alleged financial improprieties at the union.

The Padres have signed AJ Preller, their president of baseball operations, to a long-awaited extension.

Source: SP Germán Márquez and the Padres are in agreement on a 1-year deal.

Márquez, 30, looks to bounce back from a rough first year back from Tommy John surgery and will do it in a far more favorable environment. Not long ago, he was one of game’s most durable starters.

Source: The D-backs have agreed on a one-year deal to bring back SP Zac Gallen, pending physical.

First: @SteveGilbertMLB and @nickpiecoro.

Trade news: The Toronto Blue Jays acquired outfielder Jesus Sanchez from the Houston Astros for outfielder Joey Loperfido, whom they had traded to Toronto in the Yusei Kikuchi deal at the 2024 deadline.

Detroit Pistons All-Star and Arlington, Texas native Cade Cunningham has purchased a minority ownership stake of his hometown MLB team, the Texas Rangers, he told ESPN.

NEWS out of Florida, where MLB owners voted to enforce a rule: First and third base coaches must stay in their boxes until the pitch is thrown. Why the crackdown? Story here:

What Kyle Tucker's Dodgers contract means for MLB labor peace MLB fans are angry -- and players and owners are, too. What did this offseason mean for baseball's coming labor strife?

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47620464/mlb-2026-kyle-tucker-los-angeles-dodgers-free-agency-labor-cba-offseason

Sources: Orioles, Chris Bassitt reach 1-year, $18.5M contract Reliable veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt and the Orioles are in agreement on a one-year, $18.5 million contract, sources told ESPN.

News, always free at ESPN, on Chris Bassitt's one-year, $18.5 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles that brings their free agent spending to more than $200 million guaranteed: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47903189/sources-orioles-chris-bassitt-reach-1-year-185m-contract

Chris Bassitt’s deal with the Orioles, which is pending physical, includes a $3 million signing bonus and $500,000 in incentives if he starts 27 games. Which he has done each of the last five seasons, during which his 880.1 innings rank eighth among all MLB pitchers.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt and the Baltimore Orioles are in agreement on a one-year, $18.5 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Bassitt, 36, joins an overhauled O’s rotation that also added Shane Baz and re-signed Zach Eflin to join Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer.