Baseball

The Houston Astros have Dallas Keuchel, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. And they have Carlos Correa, who just added an AL Rookie of the Year trophy to his case.

If you're searching for reasons to be excited about the 2016 'Stros, in other words, you don't have to look far.

Boston Red Sox outfielder David Murphy has exercised an opt-out clause in his contract, forcing the team to place him on its 40-man roster or release him by Tuesday.

Eric O’Flaherty is returning to the Atlanta Braves. 

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's Independence Day?

The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros had to call their spring training game early on Friday when some pretty daunting storm clouds rolled in during their 1-1 tie.

Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee likened the scene to one straight out of the 1996 thriller: 

San Diego Padres starting pitcher James Shields has once again cropped up in trade rumors with the regular season rapidly approaching. 

Continue for updates.

The Philadelphia Phillies announced on Friday they have signed manager Pete Mackanin to a new two-year contract for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. 

The deal also includes a club option for the 2018 season and replaces the contract Mackanin signed back in September of 2015, per the team. 

Tommy John surgery has become as much a brand name as Band-Aid, Kleenex or Coke. We accept the once-experimental surgery as a surefire remedy to fix a pitcher’s arm.

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta is dealing with a blister on his right throwing hand leading up to Opening Day, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.

Continue for updates.

New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto left Wednesday's spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays because of back stiffness. 

Continue for updates. 

According to Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, starting pitcher Daniel Norris has "nondisplaced fractures in [his] spinous process," per MLB.com's Jason Beck.

Continue for updates.