Baseball

For the second time in less than a year, the Boston Red Sox have paid a heavy price for a left-handed starter they hope can take them over the top. Actually, better make that a very heavy price.

But just like the first time, you can see where they're coming from.

As the San Diego Padres plan for the future, they continue to raid the Boston Red Sox's loaded farm system to find answers.

The Chicago Cubs (53-35) lost 15 of their last 21 games heading into the MLB All-Star break, including nine of 11, but they are still +375 favorites (bet $100 to win $375) to end their championship drought at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

There are some skills Alex Rodriguez will never lose. He'll always be able to tell us how good he is, how hard he works, how great he can be.

"I've been working really hard, tweaking, running and training," he told reporters, including Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. "My time will come."

In an era in which teams like the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros have seen an organizational renaissance after overhauling their minor league systems, the term “rebuild” is thrown around as frequently as pie dough in a pizza kitchen.

Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter and first baseman Edwin Encarnacion will play out the rest of the 2016 season without negotiating any further on a new contract.

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It was all about the Kansas City Royals and the American League at Tuesday's 2016 MLB All-Star Game at Petco Park in San Diego.

A year ago, Mike Trout took home MVP honors, but it was the Royals who took advantage of the home-field advantage to triumph in the World Series.

This year, Kansas City's Eric Hosmer took home the MVP award in the 4-2 win, putting his Royals in an advantageous position to defend the title while giving the American League a dominant fourth win in a row.

Welcome to the second edition of Bleacher Report's MLB rivalry series.

In the weeks to come, we'll be highlighting some of the biggest head-to-head rivalries in our national pastime and shining light on the past, present and future of those matchups.

SAN DIEGO — On the plane ride to California, where so many over the years have found only fool's gold, David Ortiz gathered his young Boston Red Sox All-Star teammates and delivered an All-Star message.

He looked at Jackie Bradley Jr. Looked at Mookie Betts. Looked at Xander Bogaerts and Steven Wright. It was a JetBlue charter flight from Boston, and they were eating burgers, but it was Big Papi's message they devoured.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz is reportedly being coveted by multiple teams in the midst of a strong 2016 campaign.

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