JOSH BELL

Rowan Kavner spotlights five free-agent signings who could rebound with their new clubs next season.

Pedro Moura's new weekly baseball column examines the Rangers' risky rotation, the Giants' contract creativity and the Guardians' power play.

Aaron Judge remains a free agent as baseball's winter meetings continue in San Diego.

Cole Kuiper saw a report on Twitter: Aaron Judge was nearing a deal with the San Francisco Giants. Cole called his father, Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper, to share the good news. Then the report was scrubbed, and Cole had to get back to his vacationing dad.

Framber Valdez will start Game 2 of the World Series for the Houston Astros on Saturday night against Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies.

No U.S.-born Black players are projected to be on World Series rosters when the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros meet this week.

Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies were rolling along this postseason.

Brandon Drury hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a five-run rally in the fifth inning and the San Diego Padres stunned Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 to tie their all-wild card NL Championship Series at one game apiece.

Juan Soto, Manny Machado and unlikely star Trent Grisham went silent for the San Diego Padres, giving the Petco Park faithful little to get loud about in the city’s first NL Championship Series since 1998.

Bryce Harper homered again, Kyle Schwarber hit a jaw-dropping, 488-foot drive and Zack Wheeler was brilliant in throwing one-hit ball for seven innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Diego Padres 2-0 in the opening game of the all-wild card NL Championship Series.

As a rare October rainstorm drenched Petco Park in the eighth inning, nobody at the packed downtown home of the San Diego Padres flinched.

Trea Turner homered and doubled as the Los Angeles Dodgers started fast and held off the San Diego Padres 5-3 in their NL Division Series opener.

The panic meter exploded after Friday's embarrassing loss, but the New York Mets staved off elimination with a huge win over the Padres on Saturday.

Pete Alonso launched a tiebreaking homer and Jacob deGrom pitched well enough to help save the New York Mets’ season with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres that evened their wild-card playoff series at one game apiece.

The New York Mets find themselves on the verge of getting aced out.

The Mets paid Max Scherzer $43 million this year for October - instead, he had the worst start of the season, giving up four homers in the loss.

Josh Bell and Manny Machado smashed two of San Diego’s four home runs off Max Scherzer, and the Padres romped past the New York Mets 7-1 in their playoff opener.

For two teams that finished second fiddle in their divisions, the Padres and Mets bring an awful lot of star power into the playoffs.

Blake Snell held St. Louis hitless until Albert Pujols beat the shift for a single with two outs in the seventh inning and the San Diego Padres beat the NL Central-leading Cardinals 1-0.

San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin says he reached out to suspended All-Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. in a phone call.

Brandon Drury hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the sixth and Austin Nola’s two-run homer capped a seven-run rally that carried the San Diego Padres to a wild 13-7 win against the San Francisco Giants.

Manny Machado hit a game-ending, three-run homer and Juan Soto connected for his first long ball with the San Diego Padres, who overcame a blown save by Josh Hader to beat the San Francisco Giants 7-4.

Juan Soto has arrived at Petco Park promising to bring “good vibes” to the San Diego Padres and issuing a warning to opposing teams.

This is quite a time to be a season ticket holder for the San Diego Padres.

Jacob deGrom allowed one run on three hits and struck out six in five innings in his season debut before a bullpen meltdown cost the New York Mets in a 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Baseball’s trade deadline day was an action-packed affair — and no one had more fun than the Padres.

The Washington Nationals have reportedly agreed to trade superstar outfielder Juan Soto and slugger Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres for six players in one of the biggest blockbusters in MLB trade deadline history.

The San Diego Padres have acquired superstar outfielder Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals in one of baseball’s biggest deals at the trade deadline.

The Juan Soto sweepstakes come down to the wire, with baseball’s trade deadline fast approaching at 6 p.m. EDT.

When Juan Soto turned down a $440 million, 15-year deal to stay with the Washington Nationals, it ensured Tuesday’s trade deadline would have a little juice.

Juan Soto could be the biggest star dealt before the Major League Baseball trade deadline if the Washington Nationals choose to make that move.

Luis Garcia hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the last-place Washington Nationals rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3 for their second straight win against the NL West leaders.

Jesse Winker hit his second solo homer of the day and the Seattle Mariners won their 10th straight game, edging the Washington Nationals 2-1 to sweep a doubleheader.

Washington star Juan Soto is being checked out after exiting a game early because of an injured left calf.

Bryan Reynolds hit a career-high three homers and drove in six runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Washington Nationals 8-7.

Dansby Swanson and the Atlanta Braves won their 12th straight game, beating the Washington Nationals 9-5 despite losing All-Star second baseman Ozzie Albies to a broken left foot.

Yadiel Hernandez and Maikel Franco homered and the Washington Nationals ended the Houston Astros’ 11-game winning streak with a 13-6 romp.

Taijuan Walker pitched seven no-fuss innings and the New York Mets remained unbeaten in 10 series this season, cruising past the sloppy Washington Nationals 4-1.

Shohei Ohtani hit a tying, two-run double in the ninth inning, Anthony Rendon followed with a game-ending single against his former team and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Washington Nationals 5-4.

Austin Slater smacked a three-run homer as part of a seven-run second inning against struggling Washington starter Patrick Corbin, and the San Francisco Giants cruised past the Nationals 7-1.

Rookie Seth Beer had three hits and three RBIs, and Daulton Varsho added a two-run homer to help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Washington Nationals 11-2.

Nelson Cruz hit his 450th home run and added a tiebreaking two-run single in three-run eighth inning that lifted the Washington Nationals over the Mets 4-2 and prevented New York from an opening four-game sweep.

A benches-clearing interruption after Mets star Francisco Lindor was hit by a pitch overshadowed Max Scherzer’s return to Nationals Park even as the three-time Cy Young Award winner pitched New York to a 7-3 victory over Washington.

Benches and bullpens emptied and the Mets and Nationals confronted each other on the infield grass after Francisco Lindor was struck by a pitch from Steve Cishek in the fifth inning.

Will Strasburg bounce back from surgery? Will Corbin and Robles hit their strides? Unknowns make interesting baseball.

Christian Vázquez tripled home the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox moved to the brink of a postseason berth with a 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

Javier Báez and his New York Mets teammates turned the boos at Citi Field to cheers this weekend — and turned their thumbs upside down at frustrated fans.

Rookie reliever Daniel Camarena hit a stunning grand slam off Washington ace Max Scherzer and the San Diego Padres overcame an eight-run deficit, finally beating the Nationals 9-8 on Trent Grisham’s RBI single in the ninth inning.

Trea Turner completed his record-tying third career cycle by hitting a sixth-inning triple for the Washington Nationals, accomplishing the feat on his 28th birthday in a 15-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Starlin Castro hit a go-ahead, two-run single off closer Hector Neris in the ninth inning and the Washington Nationals rallied three times to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 13-12.

Max Scherzer threw his glove and hat to the grass, then stared down Phillies manager Joe Girardi after getting checked for a third time by umpires for sticky stuff as the Washington Nationals beat Philadelphia 3-2.

Jon Lester pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning to gain his first win for Washington, Kyle Schwarber backed him with four RBIs on a pair of home runs and the Nationals beat the New York Mets 6-2 to split a day-night doubleheader.

For a third straight year, the Washington Nationals have dug themselves an early hole.

In a bizarre scene, stadium workers using tractors scrambled to hoist the protective netting behind home plate after it suddenly collapsed Sunday, interrupting the Philadelphia Phillies’ 12-6 win over the Washington Nationals.

Stephen Strasburg pitched into the sixth inning in his return from the injured list, allowing just one hit as the Washington Nationals defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-2.

Willson Contreras, Jason Heyward and Javier Báez homered off Jon Lester in his return to Chicago, and the Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 7-3.

Major League Baseball has been experiencing a power surge over the last few seasons will balls flying out of the ball park at rates higher than any time in history. But, while the league and Bell have plenty to celebrate, Monday was a day of mourning after the news broke that Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs had died. The record-setting month is part of what looks to be a record-setting season for the league in number of souvenir balls for the fans. Through Sundays action, teams had hit 3,421 homers in 1,255 games good for a rate of 2.73 per game. Players and teams from around the league also offered their condolences to the Angels organization and the Skaggs family for a life ended too soon.